Tea Party Birthday Celebration

Maya was adamant she wanted a tea party celebration for her third birthday. And so, the tea party preparations began!

 I found this tea pot fabric one day and designed the party around it....knowing that I had high aspirations to make fancy tea party dresses. This was my most complicated dress pattern I had yet to make, but I loved the halter style neckline and flowing skirt, so I had to at least give it a try!

Maya spinning in circles, with delight...

Skipping an hour of sleep here and there allowed me to make matching dresses for both Elliana and Maya...which I was very pleased with the results.

Skipping an hour of sleep here and there allowed me to make matching dresses for both children...which I was very pleased with the results.

Given I had spent most of my birthday budget on fabric (seriously, even with coupons, how on Earth is fabric SO expensive?!), I had to make some thrifty shopping choices for the rest of the party.  I scored a complete coordinating set of tea cups and saucers at Goodwill that matched the colors I had already decided to use.

Set of 8 cups and saucers...$6

For snacks and food we served pink cupcakes, finger foods and lots of chocolate covered goodies. Pink lemonade and sweet tea were also served. 

tea party snacks, dainty and cute...

more yummy decadent snacks

Despite the food and table decorations, I still felt the party needed more decorations, but low on cost. I raided my scrapbook paper to find coordinating colors and used this template to cut out tea pot shapes. Once they were cut out, I taped them (yes, high class, I know) to the tulle I had left over from another sewing project. Wah- la! A practically free themed birthday banner for the family room. 

And then, because I was somewhat used to not sleeping at this point, I used the same template to make two more teapots, and made my own pull string pinata in the colors of the tea party. I had learned from my previous party planning days that young children and hitting at pinatas do not mix, so pull string pinata was definitely the way to go! 

Lucky for me, Easter was a few weeks ahead and the cute hats, pearls, gloves and purses were purchased for each girl from the Dollar Spot at Target. We used these cute girly accessories as party favors and adorned the chairs for added decoration.  

For crafts, we used even more tea pot templates pre-cut and gave the girls glitter, pom poms and markers to create their own tea pot to take home. If the party were for an older age group, paint your own pottery would have been fun, but for the target audience of three-year olds...that wasn't in the cards.  

decorating their own tea pots...

At last, present time and cupcakes arrived. I admit, I love that sea of little girls in hats as the birthday girl opens her presents...such a pretty sight! 

The birthday girl selected pink cupcakes, with pink sprinkles of course...

Happy Tea Party to All, and to all a good night! 

Maya - Three Years Old

Last month, we celebrated our this sweet girls birthday. It's still hard to believe that she is already three years old, and a full fledged big kid. No diapers. No pacifiers. Big Girl bed. She's growing up, and what a wonderful little girl she is becoming.


I love Maya's optimism and adventure for life. No ride is too big for this little girl. In fact, sometimes I pray for a healthy level of fear to encompass her as she is so confident and fearless, it is sometimes dangerous.

We began the big day with a pancake breakfast, then ventured to the zoo where we were blessed with amazingly perfect weather! We rode the carousel, observed noisy monkeys and celebrated life to the fullest! Family time is truly wonderful!

 Maya is truly Mommy's little buddy, and we share much more in common than a birthday. We love to craft, sew, cuddle, and crave adventure. We hate shoes and prefer to be barefoot. We love warm weather, the ocean and sand. Sunshine truly makes us happy and we can feel more alive when the sun warms our skin. We are peas in a pod and this little girl is always by my side!

Maya helping me sew

Miss Maya, you are a delight. I am honored to be your momma. Thank you for your constant love, happiness, joy and adventure. Though, the adventure of you stripping at the store last week and running around naked does not need to be relived again anytime soon. :)

Happy Birthday Elliana!

Oh, my goodness. Another year older. I was only half joking when I teased Elliana in the weeks leading up to her birthday that I wasn't ready for her to use two hands to show her age. I mean, seriously, two hands! A whole hand no longer was enough to show how hold she is?! Randomly, Elliana would flash up six little fingers and giggle with delight knowing how I felt about adding a hand to the mix.

I am constantly amazed at the beauty and intelligence of this little girl. In fact, here it is 2:00 am following a full day of birthday celebrations, and my mind is racing with gratitude, eager to capture it all before any details slip my mind.

We began our birthday celebrations at Busken Bakery, where they just happened to have pink iced donuts with purple sprinkles! Matching her birthday outfit! What are the chances?! :) Then off to the Disney Store to look around and the girls enjoyed coloring while watching Frozen on the big screen.

Then we ventured to an annual birthday tradition. BOWLING! Maya was into it for about 10 minutes, before she declared she was done, but I was able to snap this cute photo of sisters sharing the love after Maya bowled. This photo tugs at my heart strings, as it truly embodies their love. Elliana, has such a big heart for her little sister and I love when she naturally encourages and cheers Maya on. This photo was one of those moments...pure, unprompted, spontaneous love. Elliana, that is you! 

We took a brief nap (well, the birthday girl rocked out a great nap,  while Maya kept the rest of us awake) and then continued on with another birthday tradition. Shopping at Toys R Us with her birthday coupon. Making a selection took a bit longer than we had thought, and the more I think of it, I'm rather grateful that Elliana took so long to make a selection. She showed discipline, thoughtfulness and responsibility by comparing costs, evaluating options, etc. I'm pretty sure most new six-year olds don't think through such things. :)

 Happy Birthday sweet girl! Today and many more to come!! I am honored and blessed to be your momma!

Maya is Two Years Old!!

Last photo as a 1-Year Old! :( 

Oh Maya!! You are so awesome. In the weeks leading up to your birthday we kept preparing you for your new age. You would walk around saying, "Maya Berndsen 1!" However when you woke up on your birthday we asked you how old you were and you proudly and giggly answered "Maya Berndsen, 6!"

Maya with her donuts in the shape of a "2"

I worked long and hard to surprise you with this homemade Frozen skirt for your birthday. Upon opening the box, you immediately tore off your pajamas and put on your new clothes. You twirled and spun, and repeated, "Maya pretty dress, Mommy made it" which was a wonderful birthday gift to me! 

Maya's Birthday Outfit

Couldn't stop smiling and modeling!

We were blessed with a beautiful sunny 60 degree day, a rarity this Spring. So, we ventured to the park with your new scooter and then to the playground. What fun it was to feel the warmth of the sun and play outdoors as a family. 

Daddy helping with the scooter

Maya and Elliana 

Riding in style to lunch

We ventured to Mt. Lookout for a family favorite restaurant, Zip's Cafe where we indulged in burgers, fries and lots of smiles.

The Birthday Girls at Zips Cafe! 

We rounded out the day with a homemade cake and birthday wishes. 

Making a wish...

In the weeks since your birthday, you seem to have grown so much. You talk and communicate so well, have very strong opinions and appreciate a thorough explanation as to why you can't get your way when told no. 

Your smile and go with the flow attitude is contagious and makes me want to be a better person. I love that you have a sense of humor that matches my own, and a sensitive and caring spirit unlike any toddler I've known. Maya, you are full of compassion and kindness and I pray that remains a part of you forever more! 

Happy Birthday sweet girl. You will always be my baby!

Elliana 5 Years!!

I am a bit delayed in posting Elliana's birthday blog, as our house was recently ravaged by illness, pnuemonia and an abundance of snow days, keeping us more than a little busy and away from the computer. 

Elliana's last photo as a 4-year old!!!

It was a wintery wonderland on Elliana's birthday. The beautiful, crisp white snow that we don't get very often (well, usually, this winter is a bit unusual).

It was too cold to play with temperatures in the sub zeros, but we ventured out to the toy store, lunch, bowling and finished the day with dress up and playing!

Cuties dressed up at Rapunzel and Mother Gothel - favorite part of my day! 

We rounded out the birthday weekend with a friend party at Jump Zone, an indoor inflatable playground. Eliana never stopped smiling and LOVED hanging with her friends as they bounced around all day. 

group shot of the friends!