AG zoom birthday party

Posted on November 26, 2020 by tandem in love

ohhhhhh olive’s birthday.

first off…it’s always around thanksgiving and that makes it difficult to plan anything as it’s a major holiday and many people travel. so, i always try to plan a party for her a weekend ahead of her birthday.

well then there’s covid. ohhhhhhh the rona. always getting in people’s way. it first started with a great idea. olive recently became interested in american girl dolls {hello…her friends influenced her LOL} and i thought…’oh! let’s host an american girl doll party at the american girl place in chicago!’. totally a great idea! i told hc that it’d be ideal to host a party there because it would be cheaper than what it would cost for me to host one. LOL #truth i buy that much decor for every party and it’s so much!

we thought, let’s invite a small group of girls, rent a limo, and go to the city to have lunch, explore, and then come home. a quick 2 ish hour party and it would be so much fun!

i have always committed to throwing parties for the girls at home, with only family, up until the age of 5. after that…i’m like…nope. that’s where friends become involved and i’d rather rent a space to host than to hold that in my own home. i don’t want to clean, worry about the food, create all the decor, and honestly…fret over the mess.

so with that in mind, i called american girl place to secure a reservation. first problem…with the pandemic, they didn’t take any reservations more than 30 days out. okuuuurrrr, if anyone knows me, they know i plan parties 4 month in advance. LOL having to deal with 30 days out was annoying but not so bad as i didn’t have to take care of much since i wasn’t hosting it at our house. so, with that…i have to wait a couple months until i could actually make a reservation!

it was finally near the end of october and i could, at last, secure a date and time with AGP. yahoo! i then sped through the motions and ordered invites, bought favors, and ordered all the extra jazz that i possibly could! i didn’t want to do any of that until i could confirm with AGP!

well, the bad news started rolling in. the week i made the reservations, our county and surrounding counties shut down indoor dining. not chicago yet but i was like ohhhhhh noooooooo! i only hoped chicago would stay open. as the weeks rolled by…it was looking dismal. covid infection rates were not looking good everywhere and i was stuck. what do i do??!!

i decided to just throw the party at our house. at that point, chicago had shut down and i didn’t know when it’d open up again. what i didn’t want to do but c’est la vie, non? so last minute, i started organizing and planning for a fete at our place. i ordered a cake, ordered games, ordered decorations, and so on. i was ready! a quick party turnaround and we were set to go!

then the covid struck again. the damn virus entered our household. ughhhhhhhhh. just days before the party. oh my goodness. i was at a loss. what to do?!! what to do?!!! oh olive! i wanted to celebrate her and make it special! so once again, i recalculated.

i decided to throw a zoom party. i put together party bags for all the girls. i brush lettered each of their names onto white bags. i put favor bags {full of AG themed goodies and treats!}, i put games that we were going to play, a craft project, and AG themed plates, cups, and napkins so they all could have lunch together. last but not least, i tied balloons to each bag to create the party ambience!

i porch dropped off all the bags the day of the party and we were ready to go! i picked up olive’s cake on the way back, got her ready in her sparkly AG dress, made her star filled lunch and logged in.

first on the agenda was all the girls having lunch together with their AG dolls and on their AG themed plates and cups. once they all ate, i started the games. we did a ‘do you know the birthday girl?’. all the girls had to answer questions pertaining to olive and at the end, olive said all the answers and whoever got the most right won! second, we played bingo. that was a lot of fun. the girls wanted to play several games and each time we had a different winner. we then did a scavenger hunt. the girls got to run around their house to find all the objects listed on the sheet. it was so fun! after that, the girls grabbed the craft project i placed in the bag and created the cutest paper butterflies.

the party lasted a little over an hour. exactly how long i wanted it to go for. it was soo much fun! what i loved most was that olive had so much fun and she had fun with her friends, zoom and all

her birthday celebration plans were all over the place but in the end, it turned out perfect. she was able to celebrate it with her friends, i was super happy to see her happy, and it felt like a somewhat normal birthday!

happy birthday my dear olive. you mean the world to us. we love you so much. you’re growing into the most beautiful girl and your soul is beyond kind. we are so proud of who you already are and can’t wait to see what you will become. thank you for being you. sweet, kind, loving, thoughtful, sensitive, practical, inquisitive, hard working, and responsible. we love you to the infinity and beyond.

via tandeminlove.com — my sweet girl celebrating her 7th covid style

xoxo

pre-school birthday party

Posted on October 2, 2020 by tandem in love

ellie was invited to her first preschool birthday party for her friend Sienna {back in september}!

sienna and ellie started in prek3 together and will continue on as classmates for the next many, many years to come!

her mom, kelli, hosted the fete at a local princess party place in town. it was a beautiful day out and ellie was super excited to attend her friend’s party. olive had attended a party there for her friend betty, several months prior – right before the shutdown, but i didn’t take her, hc did. so, i had never been to this establishment.

we arrived to a lot of pink and princess everything. the girls could dress up as fairies, by picking out fun tutus, wings, and crowns. ellie was obsessed! she loved the rainbow wings and tutu. she originally picked a pink iridescent skirt but then soon found a matching rainbow one that went perfectly with her colorful wings.

once dressed up, they could walk the runway to show off their pretty gear. couple by couple, the girls working the venue eventually got all the little ones into their make up chairs and painted their faces and bedazzled their hair with a ton of glitter each. LOL i was like, dada is going to be so mad. he hates glitter!

after they had their hair and make up done, the girls then got manis! once everyone was decked out, they all walked the runway again before the pizza and cake was served!

overall, ellie had the best time with her friends! it was nice to be able to go to a party with just ellie’s friends! she’s always hanging out with olive’s friends – which is great! but it’s nice to have her hang out with girls her age, specifically the girls she goes to school with.

thanks kelli and sienna for having us at your party! it was so much fun!

[nice photos by morgan clare photography…bad photos by my iPhone LOL]

[isn’t she adorable? she was happy!]

[getting her make up done]

[getting her nails done]

[they are the cutest and the silliest!]

[werk it finn!]

[she loved dressing up and walking the runway!]

[the birthday girl!]

xoxo

ellie’s 4th birthday ice cream party

Posted on July 11, 2020 by tandem in love

months of scheming with it finally leading up to her fourth birthday party!

i am always stressed before a birthday party because i just take on too much! LOL it’s all me! i had gathered so much decor during our shelter in place and it got out of control! hahaha!

every day i did some sort of project or errand, leading up to her party on saturday. but can you believe i literally spent all day saturday s t i l l putting her party decor together??! cray. down to the very last minute. gah!

i loved her ice cream theme and had so much fun with it! i created the balloon garlands, chalk board sign, bought chalk ice cream cones, and a ton of supplies to decorate the tables with. of course, my talented sister did the florals for me. she does for every party i throw and i am utterly grateful that she is always willing! i always say, it’s not complete without flowers!!! as you will see in all the pictures below, i tried my best to capture all the details!

we had a family party first. for two hours, we had our immediate family inside, celebrating ellie. we did apps and served delicious food from cedar grill {a local restaurant}. while everyone was still eating, the good humor dave ice cream truck came by!

we weren’t sure if it was going to rain later in the day, so hc set up a tent – just in case. he also filled our baby bath tub with ice and drinks for our other guests coming by. we had invited olive and ellie’s school friends and our neighbors to swing by and grab an ice cream bar!

so that turned out a little crazy! our family partied inside and our friends partied outside and we were running back and forth to make sure everything was ok. LOL we wanted to keep our family separate and inside, while our friends socialized outside to keep contact to a minimum. it was hard to manage it all but truly, it was ok. although i felt that i was running around like crazy, it all turned out to be super fun. especially for the kids! they had a blast running around and playing!

once our friends left, we sang happy birthday to miss ellie and served the delicious fun cake! ellie was smitten and so cute in her reaction when we sang to her! so adorable!

thanks to everyone {family, friends, neighbors} who came by to say happy birthday to miss ellie. it turned out to be a beautiful day! ellie was super happy over everything and having all the people she loves here to celebrate her, made it all that much more special.

[the birthday girl]

[she’s so sweet]

[bar area]

[the sweetest sisters]

[dessert table]

[gorgeous ice cream cake by strictly sugar]

[sugar cookies by claire’s cookies]

[favor bags]

[ice cream tablescape]

[i can’t get enough pictures of this cake]

[gorgeous blooms by my sister kim]

[party hats]

[ice cream and macaron chalks]

[party decor]

[floral arrangements by my sister kim]

[hand painted party favor bags]

[i can never have too many angles of this]

[the always silly dan and agata]

[the girls with auntie missy]

[chalk mouse]

[love them]

[kisses]

[gorgeous balloons by paris312]

[such a beautiful garland]

[with gramma]

[avery and lan]

[my silly girls]

[barbara and lynne]

[drink tub]

[ice cream truck party]

[ellie and alex – he gave her a bouquet of flowers! how sweet!]

[little finn and her sweet ice cream dress]

[elly and dekker]

[waiting patiently for the piñata to get hung]

[first strike]

[spencer did the first break!]

[the sweetest friends]

[ready for cake!]

[she’s so sweet]

[happy birthday to you!]

[she gets the melting ice cream cone!]

[DIY cookie kits for the girls! they had so much fun decorating the cookies on their own!]

xoxo

mermaid fete

Posted on December 3, 2019 by tandem in love

per usual, i asked olive what theme she desired for her birthday fete and she declared she wanted a mermaid party! alrighty girlfran!

well, with olive now being in kindergarten…i knew i was going to throw her first friends party and the question was where?? i had stumbled upon the cuuuuuuutest play space called waterlemon several months back and fell in love. the space, aesthetically, is a dream.

nina, the owner, connected with me and we just hit it off! she is bubbly, sweet, smart, and passionate with everything that she does! i knew waterlemon was the place to host olive’s party!!!! it is a beautiful space, the shop is the cutest, and the play area is perfection!

a few weeks leading up to the event, nina and i exchanged one million emails and she was so freakin’ amazing with allllllllll my questions and concerns. she was prompt, patient, and oh so helpful! i was so thankful for her support…it was the first time i was throwing a party outside of our home and the controlling, type A me, who fretted over all the details, was feeling so confident with nina’s guidance.

i diy’d, i detailed, i went a bit overboard with all the decor {naturally} but as i have said in the past…i love it and hate it at the same time but in the end…i love it just a wee bit more.

the day had arrived and we were ready. we hauled all our supplies the day prior and then brought over all the perishables and any supplies we had forgotten the day of. i walked in and was warmly greeted by nina and went to work. let me tell you…paul and nina hustle! they cleaned, they organized, they set up, and they helped me with anything i needed help with. i was so grateful!

one detail i never overlook are flowers. i love flowers. flowers complete any party i throw and i was beyond excited that nina purchases and arranges flowers herself! we collaborated on what i envisioned and she came through! the flowers turned out gorgeous!!!

everyone buzzed around like busy bees. paul, nina, my hubby, and my sister were so wonderful. i was so thankful for my sister, thuy, who assisted me throughout the event. if i didn’t have her help…i would have been a mess and bless her heart for dealing with my high strung, anxiety ridden nature pre-party!

well, we did it…we set the party up just in time and the guests started to arrive. immediately, the girls all meshed and started playing while some parents dropped off and some parents stayed.

the party was a beautiful success! the girls loved the play area and kept themselves entertained the entire time. for a moment, before the party took place, i thought about having the girls do a craft or something fun outside of the play area but nina reassured me that the time flew by and the kids love playing in the space and that was all that was needed. she was right!

they played, and after 45 minutes, they ate, then they played again, then we sang happy birthday and had cake, and then the party was about to end. whaaaaaaaaa?!

we had a great time with the parents that stayed {thanks mike, elias, valerie, kiersten, elisa, and kristin for sticking around!}. 4 o’clock rolled around so fast and i was a bit sad that the party was ending!

hosting a party at waterlemon is easy because paul and nina make it so!!! you party, you leave, and they clean up! not only are they so sweet and thoughtful…their goal is to make it as seamless as possible for those who want to entertain there!

olive and her friends had a GREAT time together {check out the pics!} and i was so happy we chose waterlemon as our party space.

happy birthday my sweet girl…our love for you is immeasurable. the day you were born, my life changed dramatically and i thank God everyday that my journey is this ~ to be a mom…to be your mom {and ellie’s}. thank you for being such an amazing daughter and i wish you endless years of joy, laughter, and love.

[her mermaid party invitation suite]

[olive’s bespoke mermaid dress by annie casale…it just came out of the box, so pardon the wrinkled appearance!]

[the sea inspired tablescape]

[i love fine-tuning the details! shell dessert plates with iridescent plates]

[dessert table]

[i had so much fun decorating the cake!]

[my whole heart]

[mer cookies, scale 6 sign, and gorgeous flowers by nina]

[lucy, olive, me and ellie]

[coral]

[such a gorgeous dress]

[me and valerie]

[food table]

[crabby croissant]

[sweet luisa]

[sea water]

[bubbly and wine for the adults]

[the crew!]

[the crabby croissant hanging out in the sand and seaweed]

[madison and isabel being silly!]

[ready for cake!]

[happy birthday to you!]

[make a wish!]

[the sweetest sisters]

[party favors included two bath bombs, rock candy stick, mermaid cookies, mermaid tail bookmark, tattoos, and a mermaid tail soap]

xoxo

abe’s first birthday party!

Posted on July 1, 2019 by tandem in love

my dear friend dana and scott’s baby abe turned one!

“baby shark a doo da doo baby shark a doo da doo!”

yesssss…it was a shark themed first birthday party but before this song became a fad, dana has loved sharks way before it’s current popularity.

boy oh boy did dana do a fabulous job tying this theme all together! and y’all know me, i love a well thought out, executed theme! just check out the pics below! the snack pails, the shark tail cupcakes, the shark fruit bowl, octopus veggie tray…it was all so darn cute and perfect! also, i can’t forget the amazing cake! helloooooo – it was a wondrous sight! the details, colors, and design of the cake was on point and beautiful, and delicious to boot!

the weather was beyond amazing…the most ideal temperature for an outdoor party and it happened to be one of the first nice, sunny days on a weekend in, what felt like, months.

the girls were super excited to attend the party but they were most excited over the rain play-set sitting on the lawn. holy cow…olive was obsessed. she was pretty much consumed by it the whole duration of the party. the only time she broke away from it was when tunes with tim showed up!

she throughly enjoyed the sing alongs, music, and the show’s finale with bubbles! what a great idea to have entertainment for the kids at the party! he was animated, the songs were catchy, and the kids and adults loved him!

after tim’s session, we all gathered around to sing happy birthday to mr. abe. it was so sweet and fun…first birthdays are always the best! the cake was cut and served and our girls ate way, way, way too much sugar! they both had a slice of cake and a cupcake. yowza!

after the hoopla and the guests dwindled down, hc and i were able to relax and mingle with the remaining peeps that were important! i was able to connect with dana too. during the party, she was running around hosting and i let it be. i definitely know what it’s like to host a big party…it can be stressful, hectic, blurry, and nuts. sometimes you almost can’t think or breathe because there’s so much going on. i am so glad we stuck around a bit after quite a few people left because we could finally visit!

it was such a wonderful afternoon celebrating abe. i love dana, scott, her family, friends, and everyone in-between. cheers to you little man. we wish you many years of love, happiness, and laughter.

[the birthday boy]

[they were obsessed with this toy!]

[olive could not pull herself away from this toy!]

[the prettiest beer can]

[my somber looking sweet peas]

[dana did such a great job with the themed food!!!]

[she had so much fun at the party!]

[octopus veggies]

[tunes with tim was a hit!]

[how sweet are these two?]

[scott, abe, dana, and emily]

[she’s so darn innocent, raw, cute, and sweet]

[the coolest cake! it’s so darn cute and perfect!]

[happy birthday to youuuuuu!]

[that unimpressed face. LOL]

[gimme some cake]

[oh they had junk and more junk and more sugar. that’s how we roll at birthday parties!]

[jeff and marcia]

[nom nom nom]

[rawr!]

[bubbles!]

[bubbles are alllllllways fun]

[they were intrigued by tunes with tim….and the bubbles]

[the hubs – scott and hc]

xoxo

under the sea birthday party

Posted on May 2, 2019 by tandem in love

i was looking forward to spending some time with andrea at her kid’s birthday party. one – i don’t see her enough. two – she’s awesome. i mean, she’s hosting, so i knew it wasn’t going to be one on one time kind of chatting but no matter what the circumstance, it’s always good to see a friend.

we arrived there in a flash and it was a beautiful day out! it was hard to believe that it had snowed alllllll day the day before! once inside, andrea greeted us, we settled in and i started snapping away with my camera.

ellie was not happy at first {as usual}. she cried and clung to us. she acted as if we were throwing her to the wolves with this large group of adults. {eye roll} olive on the other hand meshed right in. she was loving it. first thing we walked into, when we arrived, was the dessert spread and that received a thumbs up from miss olive!

we made our way through and said our hello’s to the usual gang – ginger, katheryn, beth, and patrik. it’s always so good to see them and it was great catching up with everyone.

andrea had a slew of entertainment there! i loved it! such great ideas for an indoor kids birthday party that’s not at an activity center! she had a balloon animal artist and a singer called miss jamie’s farm. the kids looooooooooved it! ellie not so much. the balloon guy made ellie a dog and it freaked her out and she threw it on the floor. miss jamie started singing and ellie cowered back in fear. oh em gee…she’s a riot. i finally made some mom moves and coaxed ellie onto the dance floor and slowly but surely, she started loving miss jamie and her singing! it helped 100% that olive was soooo into it and ellie loved that olive loved it too! anything her big sister does, ellie is game.

the kids ate {lots of pizza, pastas, cheese curds, salads, beef sandwiches, and so much more! there was a copious amount of food!}, they played, they were entertained and super happy!

we sang happy birthday to the kiddos and ginger cut the cake while i passed her the plates. we made a good assembly line although, she was quite swift in cutting the cake and i was a bit slow with handing her fresh plates! i received some coaching on my lack of skills and sped up! LOL. i yelled at andrea for some forks and after that, we were on a roll divvying up the cake to the ravenous kids in front of us.

we were some of the last guests to leave…as we were having so much fun! it was such a great party! i had so much fun and i know the girls did too! thanks andrea and jamie for throwing a fabulous birthday party! many blessings to all the years ahead for annabelle and sebastian! happy birthday kiddos! we love you all!

[andrea – always the consummate host]

[olive had to have any cupcake with a mermaid tail]

[always attached one way or another]

[yum yum macarons]

[mesmerized by the balloon artist]

[olive was so excited!]

[they’re so sweet. oh they melt my heart]

[unicorn]

[colin and katheryn]

[someone really likes to gamble. LOL]

[oh that face]

[y’all. we took, hmmm, maybe 10 pics?? in EVERY pic, ellie literally made a different face. she’s my freakin’ emoji face kid]

[the kids enjoying miss jamie’s farm]

[the sweet birthday girl]

[i love her outfit]

[ellie bullying this poor girl in front of her, who is smaller than her!]

[sebastian and grandma]

[jamie]

[how fun is this cake?!!]

[the birthday girl, ready to make a wish and blow out her candles!]

[ginger, the cake cutter extraordinaire]

xoxo

pump it up

Posted on March 20, 2019 by tandem in love

birthday parties, birthday parties!

we were invited to our neighbor’s grandson’s birthday party. it was at a place called pump it up. i had never heard of it and i truly had no idea what kind of place it was for kids. LOL. once we arrived and walked into the first room, i was like, “ohhhhhhhhhh” a lot of bouncy houses. alright.

we chatted with our neighbor mary and her kids. hc and i found a game where you throw the football into the hole {football bags. hahaha!} and i smoked him. yeahhhhhhh, i got more hole in ones than him. booyah!!

we did our best to get ellie to want to go on one of the bouncy’s but we were failing miserably. fiiiinally though, we sparked an interest in one of the bouncy’s and ellie was enjoying herself although she wouldn’t go further than the ‘stairs’.

olive was gone. she was soooo into the bouncy houses and we hardly ever saw her! hahaha! she’s so good with acclimating into new environments. well, then there was ellie – she cried and screamed and was unhappy in every room we went into. once she liked one bouncy house, it was time to move to another room. we started all over again to get her comfortable with a new bouncy house. then it was time to move onto another room and that girl threw a fit. she screamed and cried every time!

well, the final room was the party room, they were serving juice drinks and cake. they had picnic style benches and olive and ellie were trying to figure out where to sit. i directed them to an area and olive climbed up and ellie followed suit. as she settled her tush onto the bench, she lost her balance and fell straight back onto her back flat on the floor. oh my goodness. that just added onto how irritable she was that afternoon. she started shrieking. like SHRIEKING. i picked her up and ran out into the hallway to calm her down. oh, poor babe was having the worst {yet best time} ever!

once she calmed down, she sipped her juice drink and ate her cake. she was a happy camper. we mingled a bit more with the family as the guests trickled out. after the group had dwindled, hc and i decided to leave and the girls said their goodbyes. it was a great place to throw a party – quick, convenient, and easy clean up! she had such a great time with everyone!

we’re so fortunate to have become such great friends with our neighbors and their kids. we’re so lucky to be surrounded by such good people! thanks kristin and chris for inviting us to brett’s party! we had such a wonderful time!

[always skeptical]

[doing some incredibles 2 moves]

[she was having so much fun]

[on the first bouncy, she wouldn’t go up any further than this point]

[she was constantly bothered and upset…LOL]

[she was having a blast]

[she cried and vied for this pink mobile and when she finally got a chance to ride it, she was on it for 5 seconds. wtf]

[trying to appease the babe]

[finally, finally realizing that these bouncy houses are fun!]

[it was so cute. i couldn’t see her go down the slide but within a few seconds, her head popped up at the bottom! hahaha!]

[there she goes!]

[there goes olive!]

[they were having sooooo much together!]

[oh ellie. she was having a meltdown before this picture and olive was trying to console her]

[the birthday boy and his sister]

[incredibles baby jack jack]

xoxo

down the rabbit hole

Posted on March 12, 2019 by tandem in love

an old friend pam, who i met through my friend carol, when we were – maybe 8-9 years old, hosted a first birthday party for her sweet babe leighton! the theme was alice in wonderland and it was so darn cute and cuuuuuute!

pam went all out. there were fun, festive themed decorations everywhere! an easel greeted us on the walkway. there were decorations on the front door, in the hallway, she made a photo booth, a tea party table…i felt like pam was my long lost sister in the party throwing/hosting department! i loved all the details! it was all so cute and perfect!

olive disappeared as soon as we walked inside. she spied the playroom and was gone forever. i chatted with pam’s bestie becky for a bit and made my rounds saying hello to people i knew. i was able to chat with pam’s mom, carol, for awhile, which was really nice because i don’t get to see her very much! i nibbled on some food, checked up on olive, and mingled a bit with some guests.

i convinced olive to sit down for some fruit and pbj, in which she obliged. she was having so much fun with the other kids! i love that she can mold into the new environments and feel comfortable befriending new people. she tends to play a lot by herself {which is ok} but i love that she can entertain herself and be fine or blend into a group.

after we sang happy birthday to leighton, we snapped some pics in the photo booth, and then later, pam opened up the presents given to leighton. olive was sooooo excited to help! i had to tell her a few times to back down and not prematurely open up gifts that were not hers! hahaha!

olive was very sad to leave. she was having so much fun! it fills my heart with joy that my girl was having a good time! i was a bit sad to pull her away but we needed to get home to the hubs and ellie.

thanks pam and ryan for throwing a wonderful, beautiful birthday party for leighton! it was perfectly done and you two are the best hosts!

[sweet pam!]

[tea party coming right up!]

[presents galore]

[croissant sandwiches]

[how cute is this cake?]

[she was like, no crown please]

[there is goes!]

[pam, leighton, and ryan]

[my sweet girl!

[pam surrounded by kids so excited to open presents]

[me and pampers]

xoxo

first birthday party

Posted on January 28, 2019 by tandem in love

so it begins.

olive was invited to a classmate’s birthday party. her very first birthday party ever! i was so excited over this and so was olive! it’s funny how special it is for me in a mommy sort of way and fun for her because she’ll be with her friends from school!

it was a very cold afternoon and the party was being held at olive’s gymnastics building, how easy and convenient! i had NO idea they hosted parties there! once inside, i signed a waiver and we ran downstairs to be greeted by gwen and george, sam’s parents. all the kids were already on one side of the building, playing with the parachute! i walked olive in, sam saw her and called her over to her. olive happily ran over to sam and joined in on the festivities.

hosting a party there is great! the instructors take care of everything. they are like the pied pipers. they lead the kids all around the gym, engaging them in fun activities, they serve the food, they divvy up the treats, direct the kids, and complete the clean up! how sweet is that? you bring the food, decor, and whatever else and they lead the event for you!

olive had such a great time! she loves playing with her friend sam…she told me that she is the one she plays with most at school. how sweet!

i didn’t take a bunch of pics as the kids were constantly in a different room from the parents plus, i always veer away from that when it involves other people’s kids.

olive’s first friend birthday party was a success! she loved all the activities, the food {she tried carrots for the ‘first’ time and like it!}, she loved the pink frosted cupcake treat, and was so excited over the purple {her favorite color} treat bag she received!

happy birthday sam and cheers to many more birthday parties to come!

[olive eating carrots for the ‘first’ time and she didn’t choke! she actually liked it. duh!]

[the cute favor bags her friend, sam, decorated]

[the kids gathered around the instructor for favors and it’s so funny how close they got to her!]

[with her good friend and birthday girl, sam. it was too cute, sam ran over to olive and gave her a big hug goodbye!]

xoxo

happy 5th birthday my dear olive!

Posted on November 27, 2018 by tandem in love

wow…i can’t believe it’s been five years since this beautiful girl has joined us. it’s surreal. my life changed when she was born. of course it did. but what i mean is…life had meaning. life had purpose. life was fulfilling with her in my world.

in your younger years, you wander. you wonder. you live life self centered. as a mother…you realize that this {having children} is what life is about. my heart is so full and the love that i experience every day is like no other. i feel so incredibly blessed to have her as my child and so fortunate to be able to do this. to raise kind humans and do my damndest to raise someone who can make a difference in this sometimes dark world.

sooooooo, olive’s birthday party turned into a surprise party because i went off of something she said a few months ago. she had watched something on her iPad and said to me, “i want a surprise party!”. i said, “how am i suppose to throw you a surprise party while you’re in the house?” she says, “i’ll just go in my room and when i come out, everyone can say ‘surprise!'” bahahahahahaha! ohmergawd…i LOVE her!!!

so, last minute, i told her guests that it was going to be a surprise party! it worked out perfectly! hc dropped the girls off at my sister, thuy’s place, in the morning. hc and i hustled and decorated the house for the party, readied the apps, and the guests started to flow in. about 15 minutes after the party started, my sister shows up with olive and ellie.

i was so excited. i couldn’t wait to see her reaction! i heard her say to thuy why were there all these cars at our house. ha! she walked in and everyone yelled ‘surprise!’. her facial expression was priceless! i was in heaven seeing her so elated! afterwards, she greeted all her guests and made her way around.

olive chose her brown horse theme. she talked about it for months. months!!! it was the first time she chose her theme, so i was in a bit of a pickle because i have always been the one concocting her themes. now that she is independent and opinionated, she expressed exactly what she wanted for her 5th birthday party and i had to go with it. i was a bit stumped but in the end, i figured it out and we had the most wonderful horse themed party!

side note: i went to party city to get some horse themed balloons. uhhhhhh, i didn’t know they carried NOTHING horse related. whaaaaaaaa?! so, as the young male teenager was ringing me up, i asked him if that was a poop emoji balloon on the wall. he said yes. so i said to him, “i will get that balloon. i can’t believe you guys don’t have anything horse themed for my daughter’s birthday party. i’ll get the poop emoji balloon because i think it’s horse’s shit that you don’t have anything else i can get.” yup. i said that to him. he found it funny too.

well, i hope you enjoy the pics! we had such wonderful time celebrating our baby girl turning 5! happy birthday olive. we are so utterly blessed to have you in our lives. thank you for being you. we love you to infinity and beyond!

[mini horses with mini crowns]