Maddie's 10th and Grant's 2nd Birthday Party


We were excited to be done with harvest and able to celebrate Maddie's tenth and Grant's second birthday on July sixth (Maddie's actual birthday!)

I say this every year, but I can't believe how quickly time has flown and how much these two have grown!  With Maddie hitting double digits, I am starting to realize anew how important it is to enjoy every moment.


Maddie is into horses, so I wanted to make her a horse-themed cake.  I really like cupcakes because they are easy to serve.  For instructions on how to make this cake, see this post.


Grant loves Elmo (or "Mo-Mo," as he calls him), and I knew if would be easy to make Elmo cupcakes.  I simply used black decorator gel to make the mouths, then piped red stars on with a #16 Wilton tip to make the fur.  The nose is an orange pretzel M & M, and the eyes are candy eyes bought at Walmart .

One note:  I made these ahead of time and froze them.  When they thawed, the black on the eyes bled a little bit.  I used some black decorator gel over the top to cover up the blurred edges.  In the future I would add the eyes later to prevent this problem.


Anna helped Grant blow out his candle.


It took a little bit for Grant to get the hang of opening presents, but his cousin Abby was ready and willing to help!  We gave him his quilt, which I had finally finished the binding on (post to come later hopefully!).  He also received a large Tonka dump truck, wooden alphabet blocks, a Duplo lego zoo set, PJ's, and a wooden stacking puzzle.  He also received some birthday money which we will soon put to good use--I am wanting to put together some bins for him to use to stay occupied during school time!


Maddie received a Samurai sword, art supplies, a play horse stable set, the Jungle Book movie, and birthday money as well!  (She wants to use the money to buy a Samurai sword for Evan because she thinks he would like one, too!)


I couldn't get Grant to look up because he was too busy playing with his new favorite toy--a combine with Donald Duck to drive it!  Happy birthday, my dear boy!  You bring such light and life into this world.  I love your smile and the way you grab my hand to lead me outside when you want to go play.  I am excited to see you grow and change over the next year.   I love you so much!

Love,  Mom


Look at that smile!  Maddie, your heart for God and for others makes me so proud to be your Mom.  I enjoy seeing you work on projects and looking for ways to serve others.  You have a gift for seeing what others need or would like.  You are so generous and kind.  I look forward to seeing what this next year will bring for you.  I love you dearly!  Happy Birthday!

Love,  Mom

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