Celebrating 2 years!

Wow. 2 years. I feel like I'm in uncharted territory. I could imagine every age until now, and the rest is just unfathomable. One day she'll be able to walk downstairs unaided, she'll learn to brush her own teeth, she'll go to school, and, oh my, I'm not ready to go beyond that yet. I know I'm getting ahead of myself. The last two years didn't fly by as everyone said it would. In fact, it's seems like a small amount of time for all that we've crammed into it.

We invited a few Trinity families from our neighborhood with kiddos close to Eden's age over for cupcakes and crafts on Sunday afternoon. Eden has been interested in Bambi and Princesses lately- no trouble guessing which we are encouraging.

Dessert was applesauce spiced cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting topped with woodland creatures and trees.

 Thanks Aunt Jillian for my Christmas present last year! The cute cupcake toppers are still coming in handy.

We had apple cider in mason jars (leftover from canning applesauce, which was in fact used in the cupcakes), giving me the perfect excuse to use the cute paper straws that are popping up all over etsy.

Oh, and Eden LOVES fire...

 

and cupcakes. Good combination for a happy birthday girl. Thanks Grandma for the cute dress! It was perfect for the day's festivities.

For the craft we had the kids "make" dioramas. We glued a background and some moss into brown boxes, collected some acorns, leaves, and sticks, and bought a few small plastic animals.

Thomas deserves all the credit for finding the cutest shrubbery our neighborhood has to offer.

 

I was a little worried about the project. SURE I'm all but certified in K-12 art eduction, but definitely not in toddler art education. I was hoping sticks would be as much fun as they sounded and I was right :).

There was lots of playing. 6 kids is probably the max our house can handle at a time, and I'm proud to say they all played well and there were fewer tears than I can count on one hand. A big attraction was Eden's tree tent.
 

 To thank her guests we had make your own trail mix.

 

We even remembered to have the last guest snap a picture on their way out the door :). Eden's Bambi doll is definitely her favorite present. 

Sharing new toys proves to be one of the hardest tasks a toddler has so we opted to save her last present after the party had ended, and no, it was NOT Thomas' idea. I'm sure I'll eat my words, but 2 year old "boy" toys are more fun than 2 year old "girl" toys.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and presents!! We pass along all your hugs and sweet words and it's obvious Eden feels very loved.  Now I have to go clean out the basement to make room for all these toys!