Happy 5th Birthday, Emerson!!

Happy  5th Birthday 

to the sweetest girl in the whole wide world!!

We are in awe of how much you have grown these past five years and what a wonderful little lady you've become!!!

July 9, 2007

Emerson's First Year

Emerson's Second Year

Emerson's Third Year

Emerson's Fourth Year

Emerson's Fifth Year
 (a year in pictures) 

 

 Yearly Birthday Shots!!

(she's changed sooo much!!)

Pressing Rewind | Emerson's 3rd Birthday Party

I'm really playing catch-up here, hence the Pressing Rewind post (stolen from my friend, Kelly)....the funny thing is, I've had this post written for about 8 months, but it just needed some finishing touches!!  I finally got the time to add them in.

Yes, my friends, you read that right....THIRD Birthday!!  I'm trying to catch-up .  I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't post about Emerson's 4th Birthday until I finally blogged about her third birthday, I mean it's only been 24 months since the party!!  But now I have to post about both the third and fourth birthdays, before her fifth (which, coincidentally, is tomorrow).  So, I will get her third done before her birthday and the fourth will be done before her party on Saturday!!  So without further ado...Emerson's Third Birthday Party.

We celebrated at school on July 9th and I did manage to post about her actual birthday on the blog here. Of course I had another birthday shirt created by *Golden* and the kids munched on adorable ice cream cupcakes (to match the theme) created by Target.  Emerson was super excited, when she got home from school, to find her new swing set (too bad the video cut off in the middle).  I assure you, her reaction was priceless!!  Next up, the official party....

So, the next day, now, Two Julys ago, on July 10th (2010), we celebrated Emerson's 3rd Birthday with an Ice Cream Shoppe theme.  I had originally planned (yes, years in advance) to produce Emerson's Candy Shoppe.  But, after much internal deliberation, I decided two-and-three-year-olds with candy filled glass apothecary jars probably wasn't a smart idea.  So instead, we created Emerson's Ice Cream Shoppe, which was perfect for the HOT, July afternoon.

As always, I planned every detail and had so much fun doing so.  I love putting kid's parties together, and if I thought I could make any money doing it, I'd start my own business!!!  Emerson's Ice Cream Shoppe was a huge success.  The kids had a great time playing on Emerson's new swing set (a birthday present the day before from Daddy, Grammy, Papa, Mimi, Birdie and me).  Each child got a turn whacking at the ice cream pinata and eventually scurring on the ground for candy when Mr. Dale cracked it open.  And of course, everyone loved eating lots and lots of ice cream and cake!! All-in-all another great birthday party...

Check out the video below for all the birthday fun!!

The Invitation

(I bought the shell from a website and then designed the wording and layout)

Outdoor Decor

(Loved the ice cream cones I made to hang on the porch)

The Food

(BBQ Sandwiches, Chick-Fil-A nuggets, fruit, chips, and all the fixin's)

The Toppings

(all toppings fit for a great sundae, even the dipped cones that I had so much fun making)

The Cupcake Cones

(I loved these cupcake cones I made, but they all toppled onto the floor right before the guests arrived.  At least I got pictures, first!!)

The Cake

(I absolutely LOVED this cake...it was exactly what I wanted and so cute!!!)

The Favors

(Who doesn't need a drip stopper for all their ice cream cones and popsicles??)

The Printables

(Of course, TomKat Studio did a great job on matching printables to my invite)

Untitled from Brooke Dever on Vimeo.

Thank you to these great vendors:
Invitation Shell - Polka Dots and Pirates
Printing and Wording Design - ME!!!
Party Printables - The TomKat Studio
Birthday Cake and Favor Cookies - Abigail's Bake Shop (no longer in business)
Photography - JAM Photography
Favors - Amazon.com
Pinata - Birthday in a Box (.com)

Holiday Festivities | Christmas Eve

This past Christamas Eve, we spent the day preparing for Santa's arrival and spending time with the Dever side of the family.  We started the preparations for Santa's evening appearance by making cookies.  (Yes, they are store-bought, break-apart cookies....maybe next year we will actually make them.)  I left everything up to Emerson, while I tended to a few more things in the kitchen.

She's most-definitely stealing a chocolate chip here!!!

I love how Emerson put the cookies right next to each other.  

I, obviously, rearranged them after-the-fact.

We had Christmas music blaring, mulling spices simmering, and the tree was lit.  It was certainly a very seasonal and spirited morning.

Before heading to Grammy and Papa's house, Emerson took a few minutes to sprinkle the reindeer food, we had made a few days earlier, on our lawn.  We made sure she covered a lot of area, so each reindeer could get a nibble.

Have I told you all how much I love this little girl??  So, so sweet!!!

Auntie Di had a neat, new sticker book for Emerson to try out upon our arrival at Grammy and Papa's.  They took a few minutes to work on the book and I took the opportunity to get some pictures of Aunt Di and Emerson.

Sweet Gabby Girl made the trip from Wisconsin this year.  Gabby wasn't doing well and dealing with a lot of health issues.  Since Gabby was Corey's dog, he wanted to see her one more time, so Diane and Ed brought her down for the holidays.  Hogan and Gabby are about the same age and played together as puppies.  Gabby has since passed, so we are grateful we got to see her and spend some time with her during Christmas.  

Emerson and her many expressions opening her presents this year.  

I love the look on her face for this present, like "What am I supposed to do with this?"  

She is a girly, girl after all.....turns out, it was one of her favorite presents!!

This is even better, "Wonder if anyone will notice me throwing this away?"  I seriously had a laugh-out-loud moment when I was going through these pictures and found this.  I don't think she was intentionally trying to throw it away, but it was too funny not to add into the mix.  It really is one of her favorite presents and I see many backyard t-ball nights in our future!

Helping Daddy open his present...a new backpack blower for ALL the leaves we get in our backyard during the fall!!

We started a tradition about five years ago of doing a White Elephant food exchange between everyone. You know, everyone brings a gift (food item, $20 - $30) and then we draw numbers.  The first person gets the first pick of any gift.  Then the second person can pick that gift or a new gift to open....and so on, and so on.   It is always so much fun to see what the favored gifts are and how the couples work as teams to score the best gift for their house.

We had a great gift exchange and dinner at Grammy and Papa's house with everyone, including my parents.  After Grammy and Papa's, it was time to head home and hit the sack so Santa and the reindeer could find their way to our house.  After we knew our little one was fast asleep with Sugarplums dancing in her head, Danny and I got to work setting up our presents to Emerson and then it was up to Santa to bring the rest (wink, wink)!!

Mommy and Daddy's gifts to Emerson

Santa's gifts to Emerson