Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

Not this adorable birthday girl! Look at this precious

Red Riding Hood party from Celebrate Today.

Love the dessert buffet!

Swooning over the cupcakes!

Big, Bad Wolf puppet making.

Party favor baskets filled with personalized chocolates.
These pictures are just form "Part 1" of her party post. Please visit her site for more cuteness.

Thirsty?

On Sunday afternoon, in the 95 degree heat, my kids and I hosted a lemonade stand.

We offered lemonade (of course), lemon cupcakes with chocolate frosting, brownies and sugar cookies. We had friends stop by and kids enjoyed receiving "tips" from appreciative customers.

I used the adorable Lemonade Stand kit from Paper & Cake to impress the neighbors. They really seemed to enjoy the straw tags. When the kids handed over the glass of lemonade and they saw the straw tag, the kids got a tip.

I did have them wear $5 aprons that I purchased at Smart n' Final but Chasen took his off :(

Here is Skyler and Molly enjoying our drive up service.

I'm sure we will have another stand before the end of summer. By Tuesday, it is supposed to be 102 (but it is always hotter) but the weekend should cool off to the mid 80s (fingers crossed!).

Have a great week and stay cool!

If Mark Twain were alive...

...he would LOVE this Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn party I found over at the super talented Kate Landers.
This is a 1 year old celebration for twin boys-how absolutely perfect! The tables and seating were hay bales.

The party favors were hard cover copies of the famous book.

The brunch spread had yummies that Tom and Huck could have eaten, such as fried fish, biscuits, grits and potatoes, and were named after characters in the book.

They even had animals come a visit the guests that Tom and Huck would have encounterd on their adventures such as an owl, snake, turtle, bull frog and an alligator. A local actor came to entertain the guests by telling stories of Tom and Huck and bring the book to life.

What magical celebration!

Click the link above to see more pictures and get all of the amazing details.

Flower from a Knight

Our family went to Medieval Times on Saturday night and Sheridan received a flower from our knight. What did you do this weekend?

1st Day of School

All 3 of my kids started school this morning and all at 3 different schools. I decided to make apple cake pops for the teaching staff at my daughter's school. I didn't have enough time to make apples for the jr high and high school staff. LOL

I used the Bakerella cake pop recipe found here. If you have not visited her website, you must! She is a genius and has a book coming out next month all about cake pops.

I used tags from Parties by Hardie. I used the same set for a back to school party for my Brownie troop.

These are what the pops look like. Since I made my cake pops at night with terrible lighting, I'm using Bakerella's beautiful picture.

Sheridan even got to hold the sign for the teacher. Mrs. Candib was Chasen's teacher in 4th grade as well. She is our school rep for the music center in Los Angeles and is very into the arts and performing (she used to work on Broadway in NY and her hubby is a fim editor). The kids learn a lot in her class, participate in a recycling program and take an end of the year trip to Fort Tejon to live like soliders from the 1870's for a few days.

Chasen's 6th grade teacher from last year called him last night to wish him good luck at his first day of jr. high. We have such amazing teachers at our schools. We are so blessed and that's why I made the pops for them. I'm so glad that they are part of my children's lives.

Books and a Movie

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know how I love to have fun with a purpose. This great idea came from Ashley Ann Photography. Ashley is a young mom in Oklahoma raising her 3 boys and little girl in a creative and thoughtful way. I love visiting her blog everyday.

She invited young friends over to donate books for a local children's hospital and then rewarded them with a book reading and a showing of "Cat in the Hat" in their yard. The adorable invitations came with bookplates for the donors to put in the books that they donated.

I love her popcorn concession stand. Her hubby, Chris, read stories to the kids while waiting for the sky to turn dark.

Thank you, Ashley, for all of your inspiration!

Visit her blog for more pictures and details!