Happy Birthday, Cowboy!

Yesterday, my amazing wonderful baby boy turned six.  And while I'm a little sad that, at six, he's really not such a baby anymore, he continues to amaze me every day.  One thing that continues to amaze me year after year is his ability to make a decision, plan it out, and stick with it - which is not something most small children are known for.  But this kid, three years running, has decided during summer what he will be for Halloween, and his Halloween costume leads into that year's birthday party theme.  So last October he dressed up as a cowboy (which he actually decided on 11/1 of the year before), and yesterday we had us a grand ol' cowboy party.

Every cowboy party, of course, needs hats - enough for children and adults alike:

And every party must have snacky food, which is generally the same every year ...

... except this year, you might notice, I've added what has become a Pinterest party staple (the lack of green M&Ms might be due to the fact that green didn't seem to be a very cowboy-ish color.  Then again, it might be due to the fact that I used all the greens when I made these for St. Patrick's Day):

There was a cow-print cake as well - from Publix, of course, because as I'm sure I've mentioned, it's the only kind of cake I like.  Our favorite Publix baker didn't (in my humble opinion) quite live up to the expectations I had of her, considering some of the seriously kick-ass cakes she's made for us in the past, but it was tasty and pretty cute considering that she made it from a crappy cell phone photo taken of an even-more-crappy napkin scribble and texted to my mom.  And for once (thank goodness) ALL of the cake was eaten on the day of the party - which means it's not presently sitting there staring at me, begging to be eaten.

The best part, though, was the candy table.  Each kid got to eat as much as they could sneak past their parents (one oh-so-sweet toddler was repeatedly caught eating the Sixlets like cereal), and I made sure they took as much candy home as they wanted.  Or more.

I had tons of fun playing Martha with the name tags and candy cards as well as the birthday boy's banner (which, to his delight, will probably hang in our kitchen for weeks):

It's almost impossible to get the coloring right with my yellowish lights in my yellow kitchen!

We grown-ups drank a fridge full of beer (thank goodness our fridge was fixed on Monday), and I made sure everybody's children got at least their fair share of sugar (a year's worth per kid, probably), and the weather couldn't have been more perfect if we'd ordered it up for my boy's special day.  And y'all, there were slap bracelets.  Awesome day, wonderful people, and a rad party that I hope my kid remembers at least until the next one.

Happy birthday, cowboy.

St. Patrick's Day Treats

Every year, my parents throw a St. Patrick's Day party.  In days long since past, I would most certainly have turned up my nose at hanging out with my parents on what is mostly a drinking holiday, but I'm old now, with neither a life nor any remaining alcohol tolerance.  So to my parents' house we went.  In trying to be helpful (because one wants to help one's parents as much as possible when one is essentially jobless and needs to stay in the good graces of people with money who also happen to be one's landlords) I volunteered to make the desserts.  Mind you, I'm no baker; I can follow a recipe well enough, but I don't really know what I'm doing.  It all seemed easy enough on Pinterest, though, so I figured I'd give it all a shot.

One of the few things that turned out in real life just like on Pinterest.  Definitely making these again!

Cookies.  I didn't really love these; I'm still searching for a favorite sugar cookie recipe. 

I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes (or cake, for that matter, unless it comes from Publix) but they're easy and cute and I'm told most people love them, so I made two kinds: Bakerella's Green Velvet, because literally every single post I saw recommended that recipe, and some Coke Cupcakes, because I had a box cake mix that was perhaps 2 or 3 years old (no telling why I bought it in the first place).  Coke Cupcakes are just a box cake mix plus 12 oz. of whatever kind of Coca-Cola you prefer (I used Sprite to match the color of the cake).  Not half bad.  

Sprite Cupcakes (I guess I didn't get a photo of the finished version)

Seriously Green Velvet (+ beer, a baking necessity)

Master Photographer, I am not ... but the crappy decorating job is visible enough.