Easter 2011

It was fun but a bit of an overkill on presents/sweets having Easter so close to Owen's birthday. Here is my kitchen/dining room shelves that I decorated for Easter. So much fun! I look forward to making some vinyl decorated blocks for summer, 4th of July, and fall.

Here is Owen in his Easter suit. I lucked out and found it 50% off at Sears.com months ago! In his Easter basket, Owen got bubbles, candy, a "Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!" book, a Curious George book, and a Backyardigans easy reader book.

After church we had dinner and an egg hunt at Grandpa & Grandma Luthy's home (Barry's grandparents). This year Owen really understood what to do during an egg hunt and the whole time he kept saying, "Come on Mommy we need to find more eggs." Too bad the dog got to some of the easy eggs before the kids.

Curious George Cupcake Picks

This year I tried something new and made my own cupcake picks. I found a Curious George coloring page on the Internet. In Photoshop Elements, I used the paint-bucket tool to fill the outlined areas with color, shrunk it, and placed it on a simple circle design as you can see below. I did the same process using a banana clip art image. I printed them on regular copy paper and then used a 2" circle punch to cut them out. I also punched out a back for each one from a matching solid card-stock (yellow for George and green for the bananas). I used Scotch tape to attach the toothpick to the backs and then two glue dots to attach the back to each circle.

Download

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Happy Birthday Dear Owen!

Owen turned four Wednesday and we've been celebrating since last Saturday. LOL. Saturday was his birthday party. He wanted a Curious George party and once again I had lots of fun decorating.

Here are the cupcakes and picks I made. If you are interested in how I made the picks I'll post a PDF for you to download and print as well as the instructions later.

Here is our dining area decorated in all things George!

Once again I made Owen his own little cake. Last year I had help (thanks again Melanie B. for teaching me) but this year I was able to do it ALL BY MYSELF! I was so excited with the results. I got the decorating bags, tips, and angled spatula from Walmart. I used yellow frosting for the border with red sprinkles and a Curious George figure on top. The figure came as part of a birthday candle set I bought online. As you can see I think it turned out to be really cute!

Owen had lots of fun with his cousins. It turned out to be a beautiful day! The kids loved playing outside which made the cleanup afterward so easy. Owen got pretty spoiled again with lots of toys and clothes. He got really excited when he opened a t-shirt with Star Wars' R2D2 and C-3PO on it from Grandpa Olsen. He pumped his arm and said "Yes!"

On his actual birthday, we opened presents from Mommy and Daddy and from the Dipos (Barry's sister) when Daddy got home. We gave him a Fisher-Price Imaginext Space Shuttle and a Leap Frog Fridge Word Builder. Owen was so excited about the space shuttle that he said it was the best present he had ever got. LOL. We splurged and got cupcakes from the Cocoa Bean in Rexburg. They were very good but a tad bit too rich for my liking.

Saturday Barry's parents stopped by and gave Owen a Little Tikes Water Play Table. He immediately wanted to take it outside and fill it up. Owen loves playing in the water. I have to fight just to keep him from taking a bath more than once a day and from making a mess by playing in the sink. Multiple baths wouldn't be too big of a deal if the water didn't dry out his skin so much, causing his eczema flare ups, and if he would be more agreeable when it was time to get out.

Owen's birthday is always a bittersweet time for me. I think of the pain his sweet birthmother went through for months on end after she placed him in my arms. With our failed adoptions and many unfruitful contacts, I think I know a little more about her pain and how big of a miracle Heavenly Father performed to bring him into our family. We waited for so long and as much as it's been exciting and fun to watch Owen mature and progress, at times I feel a pang of sadness knowing these four years have gone by so quickly. Even more of a reason I have to remember to cherish every moment even when he's driving me crazy. LOL.