Wild One Birthday Cake

We are celebrating our little one's first birthday today! I only have a few minutes before our guests begin to arrive, but I wanted to share her birthday cake real quick. It turned out so cute!

Here's what I used:

• Trader Joe's Party Cake (I also picked up a Strawberry Cheesecake and baked GF cupcakes.) 
• Ostheimer's Baby Forest Animals (So many options! I used the Roe Fawn Head High, Fox Small Sitting, Rabbit Small Classic, Bear Small Sitting, Wolf Small Playing, Hedgehog Small. You can find a set of most of them over at Nova Natural or individually at The Wooden Wagon. Watch for coupon codes and sales.)
• Scrapbook Paper, Scissors, Glue Stick (to make tiny little party hats for the baby animals) 
• Pearl Beads and Tiny Pompoms (I used a dab of hot glue to add these to a few of the hats.) 
• Wild One Cupcake Topper

Crafting tiny little party hats for all the forest babies...

I ended up making a little crown for the baby bear. 

It’s been a long time since I’ve used my Cricut but I pulled it out to make a highchair banner and food labels. I'm sure I'll be back with the rest of the pictures soon. First birthdays are so much fun! 

Escape the Dragon's Lair :: 16th Birthday

Yesterday we spent the day celebrating Ranger's 16th birthday! Other than booking an Escape Room for the birthday boy and some of his friends/family, I hadn't done much to prepare before hand, but it all came together and he had such a fun day. 

After breakfast, and while the cake was cooling, he and I headed to town. Our first stop was the DMV! Even though he hadn't started studying for the test we decided to give it a shot. The long wait was worth it (he studied the manual while waiting) and we left with his Learner's Permit. He's excited to finally start driving! After that we got him his birthday Freeze from Dutch Bros, picked up take-and-bake pizzas, and stopped at the store for party supplies and cake decorations. 

Next on the schedule was the Escape Room with his older brother, dad, two uncles and four friends! 

What are Escape Rooms? They are like real-life video games or mysteries where you and a group of friends are put inside a room with 1 hour to figure out how to get out by finding clues and solving puzzles. Requiring team work, cooperation, and intelligence, Escape Rooms are a challenging and exciting game unlike anything else you have ever played.

Last year they completed the DaVinci's Secret: Search for the Holy Grail for one of their friend's birthdays so we picked Escape the Dragon's Lair!

Can you survive and escape from one of the most fearsome creatures in existence?
For centuries there have been stories of dragons. All over the world, nearly every culture has myths and legends about these huge creatures.

While traveling you and a group of friends heard about another legend: The King’s Gold. The legend said that the gold could be found in the lair of a dragon. Reading through the legends, you are certain you have figured out where the gold is hidden. Is it really guarded by a dragon? If so, what chance do you have of ever getting the gold…or even escaping with your life?
Why just play a game when you can live it!

After making the rounds to pick up friends and drop them off at the Escape Room, I headed back home to quickly finish the cake and start cooking the pizzas.

The birthday boy requested a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake and I decided to turn it into a "Piñata Cake" filling it with his favorite candy, following the "Escape" theme!  The cake itself was just three 9" gluten-free chocolate layers filled with Reece's Pieces. I used the Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze recipes from Smitten Kitchen and then decorated it with Reece's Pieces, Reece's Minis, and Reece's Miniatures.

The girls and I also made a Veggie Dragon... 

... a pile of gold (Nacho Cheese Popcorn)...

... and a couple Salted Caramel candy Keys. 

The little kids all had fun getting dressed up while they waited for all the boys (and Ranger's godparents) to show up for the rest of the party! 

The birthday boy's main gift was some money to put towards golf clubs for this upcoming season, but we did put together this little tower of treats for him too! He also received some gift cards from his friends, Sushi Go! - The Pick and Pass Card Game from his older brother (the teens had a blast playing it until after 11pm last night), and the LEGO Architecture Arc De Triomphe. 

Happy 16th Birthday! 

{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: forty

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}

It’s not easy to make a beautiful cake without any grains, gluten, dairy, nuts, seeds, eggs, or sugar (basically just using vegetables and/or fruit with some honey or maple syrup) but this is the third year in a row that our girls have made one for my birthday! This year they decided on a Raspberry-Coconut “Cheesecake”. I’m still enjoying the leftovers! 🎂😍

I was also blessed with beautiful roses from my husband, white daisies mixed with pink flowers from my dearest friends and her family, and on Saturday my sister showed up with even more flowers!

{happy}

Coconut Chai Tea 

One of the things I've been missing the most, since I went back to 100% AIP on the 1st, is my Coconut Milk Chai Tea each day. It had been my favorite cheat since the baby was born. I would make it with Coconut Milk and the Slightly Sweet Oregon Chai Tea. My girls ran across a recipe in one of my Autoimmune Protocol cookbooks and made it for me!

Heavenly! 

OSF Tickets to Sense and Sensibility!!!

I'm a hard one to surprise with anything, but my husband had all sorts of surprises for my birthday this year including beautiful roses, an appointment scheduled at a day spa for a facial on (last) Saturday afternoon, and three tickets for me and the older girls to go see Sense and Sensibility opening night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival!

{funny}

I joked that I wanted to go sledding so the kids could take a picture of me coming down the hill while they hold a sign that says "over the hill and picking up speed!" ;) It's been a very mild winter here though and we hadn't had any snow within driving distance. The ski resort hasn't even been able to open yet due to lack of snow... (We actually woke up to a light layer of snow this morning! It was slushy and has already melted but the kids were so excited.) Instead we ended up taking the kids miniature golfing and had the whole golf course to ourselves!

After golfing we ended up going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I didn't think it was funny when our waiter made me sit up on a saddle and then announced to the whole restaurant "This is Jessica. She is celebrating her 40th birthday today!"  On our way home we told the story to the young barista at the coffee drive through. He responded, "No way! You don't look that old!"  Ummm, thanks?

Someone got a hole in one. Hint: It wasn't the boys! 

{real}

  

I haven't had a chance to get my hair cut since last March and it had gotten really long and dry/scraggly. My mom and dad surprised me with an appointment to get it cut and highlighted on Saturday with a new hairdresser. She even curled it for me! Even after getting over six inches cut off it's still long but feels so much healthier.

{A Few More Birthday Pictures}