Egg Birthday

My now 4 year old loves to hang out in the kitchen.  Inevitably, if there are eggs in view, he will pick one up, stare at it and daydream of throwing it at something.  He usually asks 'Mom, can I break this?  Can I throw this at something?'  I take a deep breath and gently take the egg out of his hands before he decides to answer his own question.

In response to his longing for egging someone/thing, we threw him an Egg Birthday Party. It involved breaking/smashing over 100 eggs.  We had a firing squad line-up of a select few egg producers.  An owl, a chick, a rooster (ok, this one just hatched from an egg), a penguin, and a hen.  There was also an alligator, but apparently that one needed saving for his bedroom decor.

We also had cascarones (confetti eggs).  The child guests were floored and delighted over the activities.

The buffet table included marshmallow eggs, chocolate eggs, deviled eggs, malted eggs and egg shaped sugar cookies. The cake donned a ninja, because that has everything to do with eggs, right?
We ended the party with a parrot pinata!

Happy Birthday to my E-walker!

Rubber Ducky Party - Leo turns Three

My 'baby' turned three last weekend.  He is OBSESSED with duckies.  So much so that I last summer I drove 12 hours across two states to take him to  the Duck Races in Idaho Falls.  I knew he would love it. 

 

So when it came to choosing a theme for his birthday party, the choice was obvious. 


Sorry about the less than stellar pictures.  It was a very late in the afternoon before everything came together.  

A few weeks ago Leo had picked out that ceramic Ducky at Goodwill for his prize.  He was so excited he insisted on carrying it out of the store.  I was sure he was going to drop it and break it.  He was very careful with his special big ducky, though.  I put it up high in the kitchen and everyday he asked me to get it down so he could pat it and give it a kiss.  What a sweet, silly, boy.

The smaller duckies are ball themed, which is another favorite of Leo's.  He could not have happier.  The duckies hanging from the light fixture are bubbles.  They came from the dollar store and made great take home gifts for his cousins.  (We just had famiy over.)  The paper goods came from Target.

 

I love that three year old's are so easy to please.  This is all I did for decorations.  He loved that there were balloons hanging in the door. 

The craziest thing I did was make a pinata for him.  I wouldn't recommend it.  It is well worth the $25 a store bought one costs, but the boys saw Curious George make a pinata and asked is we could make one.  It did turn out cute.  I'll share pictures of the process in a few days.

I was going to make a flat cake in the shape of a ducky, but a few days before his birthday I was in a nursery picking up some seeds and saw this darling ducky watering can.  It was only $6.  I knew Leo would love it and  it would make the cake amazing without much work.

I made a chocolate cake and frosted it in swirls with peanut butter-cream frosting.   I also tried out marshmallow fondant for the first time and used it to add "bubbles"  to the water.  I love how easy it was to make and to work with.  It actually tastes good too.  I used this recipe except I left out the corn syrup and added vegetable glycerine instead.  From what I've heard that glycerine makes all the difference.

The kids always love cupcakes, so I also make a batch of vanilla cupcakes.  

It was a simple and fun celebration.  Leo was delighted.  I can't believe it has been three years since we brought him home.  He is such a sweet and crazy little boy.