Babyhead's 2nd Birthday

Babyhead's second birthday was at the beach.  PJ and Uncle Merritt were our special guests, which was the best birthday present.  We had a tiny birthday celebration, with a pink rice krispy treat in lieu of cake.

Sweet Bud's 5th Birthday Ponyo Party

Over the holidays, when we visited PJ, we rented a minivan.  The thing was magical.  The kids watched the movies Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro in the van about a hundred times.  Sweet Bud loves Ponyo so much that he asked for a Ponyo birthday party.  Next thing you know, twenty little boys were lounging in the living room, staring at Ponyo on the big screen and eating lots and lots of popcorn.

I loved two things most about the party: the cake, a custom design by the Chestnut Bakery; and the goodie bags.  The bags were filled with a Ponyo movie poster and several items that made an appearance in the film: ramen noodles, chopsticks (cute ones with a cute little chopstick helper guy), seaweed snacks, and some other goodies from Japantown (Ponyo is a Japanese anime film).

Buzzy's 2nd Birthday Thomas Party

Buzzy was very into "choo-choos" around this time, so I went with the Thomas the Tank Engine theme.  Susiecakes made a custom designed cake for me (waaaaaayyy too large, in retrospect, but good for a pigout), and we had a Thomas pinata.  This was not so much of a real party, as a gathering of the neighborhood kids in our house and yard.  After the cake, we timed them running races in the front yard.  The birthday boy insisted on wearing his shark jammies for the party (okay, all day), and I relented.

Babyhead's 6th Birthday...and The Pigout

Babyhead's 6th birthday was one of the simplest, but happiest ones yet.  All she wanted was to have a sleepover with her best friend, Page.  A fabulous discovery that I made while throwing together a small pre-sleepover celebration was the Swedish Princess Cake from Schubert's Bakery.  This thing, a white cake filled with raspberry and custard filling and covered in marzipan, is amazing and Babyhead has declared that she wants this cake for every birthday from here on out.  The next day she and I had a "birthday cake pigout" on the dining room table.  You don't need to know the details regarding how much cake was consumed between the two of us, but that pigout will live in our memories forever and was the start of a new tradition in our house.

Sweet Bud's 4th Birthday Angry Birds Star Wars Party

Sweet Bud had two big loves when he was four: Angry Birds and Star Wars.  His mind almost exploded when he learned of Angry Birds Star Wars, and a party theme was born.  [The funny thing about this theme is, one time Babyhead was invited to an Angry Bird-themed party for a classmate, and I remember being horrified that the boy's parents would allow him to have a party theme based on a video game.  Well, fast forward a year or two until I had my own four year old boy, and I had to eat humble pie.  I had no idea little boys were SO. INTO. VIDEO. GAMES.]

This party was not too difficult to plan - there are plenty of Star Wars and Angry Birds party supplies out there, and even a few "combo" items.  I even managed to find a pastry genius on Etsy who made the fabulous Angry Birds Star Wars cake toppers.  By this time, Sweet Bud had learned to love Sweet Things' chocolate cake (it only took three years of exposure therapy), and I made some "Angry Birds Nest" cupcakes as well.  The birthday boy wore a custom Angry Birds tee.

Babyhead's 5th Birthday Flower Party

Babyhead's 5th birthday party was shared with her adorable and sweet friend, Isabelle.  The girls decided on a flower theme, and we held the party at Jamaroo, a cute playspace in lower Pacific Heights.  We hung huge tissue flowers from the ceiling, had a "flower girl" face painter/balloon maker, and a Jamaroo teacher led a music and movement class with a flower garden theme.  I made the cupcakes (from a box mix, much to my chagrin), used petal baking cups, and topped them with blossom girls from Sachiko.  The birthday girls wore matching custom felt crowns.

Babyhead's 4th Birthday Mermaid Party

Babyhead's 4th birthday was all about mermaids and crafting.  The girls collected seashells in take-home treasure jars, and they also decorated cardstock aquariums using glitter glue, stickers, and jewels.  The color scheme was aqua and pink, and the Babyhead wore - what else? - a coordinating mermaid smocked dress.  I made the cupcakes and cake from scratch and they were topped with mermaid toppers from the supertalented Sachiko at MimiCafeUnion on Etsy.  Each girl got to take home a handmade mermaid tail.  I think the Babyhead had fun, if this picture with her BFF is any indication!