Goodnight Moon, Good Morning Par-tay
15 Comments posted by Kristi on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 10:01 PM
Isabella's multi-day birthday celebration began on her actual birthday last Wednesday. Her grammy came in from Lake Placid, and we took her to a nearby town to stroll along the Erie Canal, check out her favorite ducks, and give her her very first taste of ice cream (or frozen custard, to be more specfic). Needless to say, it was a huge hit.
Her mouth opened so widely she could have swallowed my head. If only I could achieve the same result when attempting to shovel in vegetables.
On Friday, her Aunt Karrie blew into town. And with her came the sign she painted for Isabella's Goodnight Moon-themed birthday party. My grandfather, an amazing artist, used to paint signs for each of his 11 grandchildren's birthdays each year. Karrie decided to continue this tradition for Isabella, and this year created this sign for her. The picture below doesn't do her artwork justice. Isabella's auntie created a truly beautiful and whimsical gift for her. It was the hit of Isabella's party, and now I just have to figure out what to do with the seven-foot sign. Ideas, anyone?
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To compliment the Goodnight Moon theme and Karrie's sign, we turned my grandma's garage where Isabella's party was held into "the great green room" of Goodnight Moon. My mom created decorations based on the objects in the book. In addition to dozens of red balloons hanging on the walls there was a telephone, a picture of the cow jumping over the moon, three little bears sitting on chairs, two little kittens, a pair of mittens, and...you get the picture.
Her mouth opened so widely she could have swallowed my head. If only I could achieve the same result when attempting to shovel in vegetables.
On Friday, her Aunt Karrie blew into town. And with her came the sign she painted for Isabella's Goodnight Moon-themed birthday party. My grandfather, an amazing artist, used to paint signs for each of his 11 grandchildren's birthdays each year. Karrie decided to continue this tradition for Isabella, and this year created this sign for her. The picture below doesn't do her artwork justice. Isabella's auntie created a truly beautiful and whimsical gift for her. It was the hit of Isabella's party, and now I just have to figure out what to do with the seven-foot sign. Ideas, anyone?
To compliment the Goodnight Moon theme and Karrie's sign, we turned my grandma's garage where Isabella's party was held into "the great green room" of Goodnight Moon. My mom created decorations based on the objects in the book. In addition to dozens of red balloons hanging on the walls there was a telephone, a picture of the cow jumping over the moon, three little bears sitting on chairs, two little kittens, a pair of mittens, and...you get the picture.On Saturday, family and friends packed into my grandma's garage on a hot and steamy day to celebrate Isabella's first birthday.
The birthday girl had a ladybug smash cake that I baked...
and a Goodnight Moon cake for her guests that I did not.
and a Goodnight Moon cake for her guests that I did not. Her 35 party guests gathered around to sing her "Happy Birthday" not once, but twice. And as they did, my girl channeled her inner Paris-Hilton-just-sprung-from-the-pokey persona, as she handled the many camera flashes going off in her face like a pro, clapping her way through the birthday song.
And following an initial hesitation about what exactly she was supposed to do with this cake placed on her highchair tray, she dove in. Literally.
Presents followed cake. And Isabella was a very lucky little girl. She received so many toys that she got tired of opening them halfway through and I had to finish them on my own. I've stashed some in her closet to give her for Christmas. The builders are coming over tomorrow to build the addition onto our small house, which is now necessary to store her loot.
The big toy hit was this Radio Flyer push wagon. It was fun on Saturday...
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and it was even more fun the next day.
And from the car on the way home from her party on Saturday, we saw this. A full and complete rainbow.
My sister and mom left this afternoon, Isabella's birthday celebrations are over, and things are going back to normal. My one-year-old baby who is not so much a baby anymore had a wonderful birthday surrounded by so much love. Thank you all for your birthday wishes for her. She's a lucky little girl indeed.
Speaking of parties, Flybaby is turning one year old next week and his fab-n-fly mama is hosting a Growing and Giving contest. Head on over to Growing a Life to sign up to win some super-cute prizes.
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Happy Birthday, Sweet Isabella!!!
It's so great that your family was able to gather and celebrate Isabella's first birthday. And it was so well documented!
Happy birthday , it looks like a wonderful party. You sure have a artistic family - i love the cake and what a poster. I say keep it up at least for a while, to lovely to take down
Awesome! The decorations, cakes, & everything... y'all are talented!
sounds like one for the books for sure!
Will you plan my next party? That was special!
I think she REALLY liked her cake!!
Karrie had sent me a photo of the painting before she left but I had no idea how huge it was! Happy b-day, one-year-old kidlet!
Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all Kristi - and the decorations and theme - I hope I have that type of creativity hidden in me when the time comes. As for the Radio Flyer Walker Wagon - I got one for my nephew last Christmas and had it personalized (I blogged about it last Dec if you want to check it out) total hit and he still loves it!
What a gorgeous sign! I think it is really terrific that Karrie is carrying on the tradition with Isabella and very sentimental.
Love your Ladybug cake! Funy...everytime I see ladybugs now I think of you. Isabella looks like she loved the cake too!
Aww! Bella b-day #1 - went by so quickly. Now if I could just get all those kiddy toy jingles out of my head. Elmo in particular. :-)
OMG! I totally *love* the idea of a "Goodnight Moon" theme! How great! Her aunt's artwork is just BEAUTIFUL! And you did a fantastic job with her ladybug cake. I *love* the "Goodnight Moon" cake, too! Sounds like she was surrounded with *so* much love and good wishes on her birthday. Good idea, saving some of the gifts for Christmas. We might do that with Miss M. :) Happy first birthday again! :)
What a lucky, lucky girl!
:-)
I also think that she is as lucky to have such a wonderful family as you are to have her! I loved reading the post--and that cake of yours rocks! The signs...everything was terrific.
Happy Birthday Isabella!
What an amazing birthday! Truly, celebrities couldn't do better. I love the sign and the cake you made.
Good luck on the contest!
love the photos... looks like a fun party!!
What an awesome party. She is a lucky little girl!