Cheap is chic...or at least just darn cute!

Okay y'all, the party is over. I am still working on my first jug o'coffee, so bear with me. My normal witty banter isn't all that witty this morning.

Here are a few pics of the cupcakes from my 2 littlest chirren's birthday party.

Are these the cutest things ever? I got the monkeys in a coin-operated machine at the Dollar Tree, put them on a bed of grass icing and added some banana candies. Simple can be cute!

Here is the entire family.

I have more pictures of the cakes that I did for each little munchkin, but I can't get their names cropped off (have to be careful...lots of crazies surfing the net!). I will continue to work on it, but until then, use your imagination.

All in all, the key to a successful birthday party is sugar and balloons. Lots and lots of balloons. Balloons are cheap and kids are obsessed with them.

T. went to pick them up and said that he could just read the faces of all the kids and parents on the way out of the store. I kindly asked for the, oh, 3 dozen balloons to be bagged so they wouldn't get tangled, and they unkindly "forgot", so imagine my poor hubs walking out with 3ish dozen balloons flailing wildly in the wind. The kids were googly-eyed wondering how he wasn't floating away like the guy in "UP", and the parents were mentally cursing him because he had set a ridiculously high bar for balloon purchases in the future. Sorry folks!

Needless to say, after my sweet Memom untangled the entire mess (she has the patience of Job mind you), we had balloons in every nook and cranny of our kitchen and porch.

Looking back at each of my kids, I remember their birth, each birthday, small little victories like potty training (2 down, 1 to go), giving up their thumb-sucking or pacifier, and speaking their first words. I can't believe that my "baby" is almost 2. With each day, I realize more and more how true the saying, "It goes by fast" really is. Soak up those babies! Take in every moment and don't worry about the fact that your kitchen floor is sticky, or your dishes are piled up, or there is laundry waiting to be folded. They can all wait. Just go sit on the floor and wrestle with your kids, or color, or just tell them how much you love then. Everything else can simply....wait.

Before you know it, your kids will be 1...

Then 2...

Then 3...

One day I will even miss this little face...