August 29 - Little Chatterboxes

August 21 - Party Details

Hello everyone! I've had a lot of questions about the the birthday cake and play houses, so here you go....

The Princess Cake
One of my girlfriends found this youtube video and sent it to me when she knew I wanted to do a homemade cake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb7OFtNi42M&feature=related.  I watched the video, took some notes and did a practice cake the weekend before the party to make sure I could do it. I'm glad I did the practice cake because I ended up adding another layer to the cake. For those of you who don't watch the youtube video, here is how I created the 'masterpiece':

• 9 inch round cake pans qty 4
• medium size pyrex bowl qty 1
• bake and cool in the freezer for about 45min
• slice off tops of cooled cakes and cut a circular hole in the middle (I used the top of a small paint can)
• stack and frost (apparently this is called the "crumb coat". The video provides great tips on how to smooth the outer edges)
• cool in fridge for an hour or so 
• Wrap the doll in saran wrap, insert in cake, and then frost again and decorate however you want. 

It wasn't hard, but it was time consuming. Amazingly, this cake fed 35 people. And several people had seconds!! If you are planning a princess party, I highly recommend this cake. The little girls loved it. 

The Practice Cake

The Castles

The castles were also a big hit (what child doesn't love a playhouse?). My girlfriend Tammy had a princess party for her daughter Hannah last month and she let us borrow the houses. Both of these cardboard castles can be found on www.wish-works.com. They have a lot of really cute party stuff on this site for kids. 

Tammy made this large cardboard castle out of boxes she had a her house. 

In terms of other decorations, J.D. and my brother Jay blew up about 75 balloons. We tied them to the banisters, fireplace and chairs. 

Here is a cute photo of Julia decorating Cinderella's princess castle with stickers.

And another cute one of J.D. and the kids

August 18 - Spoiled Little Princess

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Julia Bean,
Happy birthday to you. 

I love you more than words can ever describe and I cannot believe you are already 4. 4!! Where has the time gone? I wish I could freeze time forever right now, when all you want to do is play and be a princess (or a fairy). I love you baby girl.  

love forever,
Mommy

Enjoy these pictures from Julia's big day!! A special thanks to Tammy for lending us two princess castles and a carriage. The kids LOVED the play houses. 

Opening presents from Daddy, Uncle Jay, Grammie, Grandpa and some other family members

The new bike is a big hit

Putting on her princess bling before the fiesta

Homemade Princess Cake

Happy Birthday to you!

Craziness! Kids everywhere!

Spoiled Little Princess

Luke and Daddy chillin' after the party

Hanging with Uncle Jay

August 13 - USA, USA!!

Sorry for the lack of blog posts the last few weeks, we were busy pretty much every night watching the Olympics. Since everything was shown time delayed in prime time and I was trying to avoid spoilers, I ignored a lot of calls, texts and emails. So sorry but wow, what an amazing two weeks of sports!! We loved the swimming: Michael Phelps (most gold medals of all time!!), Ryan Lochte and Elizabeth Beisel (great showing by Gators!) and fabulous job by the young Missy Franklin. We loved the women's gymnastics: gold for the Fab Five, gold for Gabby Douglas and gold for Ally Raisman (anyone looking for a good laugh should check out 'McKayla is not impressed' on youtube, absolutely hilarious).  And let's not forget the gold metal performance by American David Boudia on the 10M platform (the first platform metal since Greg Louganis)! Of course, great performances in pretty much every sport, great job athletes from around the world!! 

In non-Olympic news, things are going great here in Houston. J.D. has almost finished the kids bathroom (we just need mirrors and new doors for the vanity) and it looks fabulous. I'll post pictures on the house blog when it's complete. Julia is VERY excited about her upcoming princess party this weekend and had a great time at our second annual girls trip to Schlitterbahn Galveston last Friday. Grammie flew in town to go to and we all have a great time. It was a hot day but the water was the perfect temperature and there was a nice breeze. Julia loved the wave river and went down several slides by herself. And Luke is still quite the rascal, climbing on everything around the house! 

Have a great week everyone!!

Julia is not impressed

Julia putting "her baby Luke" to sleep

Monkey's on the Branches (new game with daddy)

Luke watching daddy install a new fan

Julia explaining detailed instructions to Grammie

Grammie and Luke

Grammie and her grandbabies

Happy Monday!