Dear Daughters: Hallie's Lemonade Stand Party

So I went overboard again this year. What's new?!

But hear me out here.

I have a problem.

An addiction to party planning.

Once I start I just can't stop.

I'd been putting off planning her party for quite some time until I realized that I was running out of time to pick out and order her invites in time to send them out. So I scoured the web for hours and hours one day until finally I laid eyes on these invites....

In love.

From the moment I bought the invites I went straight to collecting party supplies online. Etsy to the rescue. Lists were made, packages were arriving daily and I was getting excited for the big day to arrive. What I wasn't excited about was the fact that my baby was turning two already. Hand me a tissue please....tear, tear. But I didn't have much time to cry. Instead I focused on a different kind of tissue. Tissue paper balls? Check. Flowers? Check. Giant balloons and milk bottles? Check.

Lemonade stand? Hmmm. That's where I called in for back up. Riley was more than willing to make my vision come to life. The three of us took a trip to the farm in search of some old barn wood. We found just what we were looking for and took a load of wood back home. Riley and Papa Bill got to work on Wednesday last week and I happened to snap a shot of a very thrilled dad sweating his tail off in the heat...

They worked fast and were both excited to show off their finished product. It was nearly identical to the picture I had in my head of what I wanted it to look like. The hanging sign was a finishing touch that Riley put on the stand. Ask me how thrilled I was about this!!!!!!!!

The next night I spent decorating for a good solid three hours so that I could get a jump on it. By the end of the night I was getting even more giddy for Saturday....

Friday was spent showering Hallie girl with lots of birthday love and hosting a birthday cookout. Gman spent the night on Friday and didn't even stir when the birthday girl was up bright and early ruling the house. I faced the counter full of groceries staring at me while Hallie rediscovered her playhouse on the patio.

She was a bit ~~disappointed~~ devastated when she found the limp balloons just lying on the floor. That was until she realized that she could drag them around all over the floor. That changed everything. ;)

"'c'mere boon"

Nanny had given her a Mickey Mouse laptop the day before so Hallie did a quick check of Facebook to respond to all of her "happy birthday" wishes....

Baby techno

I was pacing the floor trying to prioritize what needed to be done first while Hallie watched a good chunk of the Lion King. Once Gman rolled out of bed the two of them did some playing outside before it got too hot. And by "too hot" I mean 100 degrees. They toughed it out in 90-some degrees that morning.

Dad and I both had some things to pick up at Walmart so we braved the store together with Miss Diva in tow....

Starting new fashion trends everyday

My darling birthday diva dominated the shopping trip and walked the whole store beside me. I had a huge "awwwww" moment watching Hallie spot Gman at the end of an aisle as she ran to him and grabbed onto his leg and squealed as if to say " Hey! There you are!!" The downside of having a walking child through the store is the checkout line. Holy moly! Too many snacks! The toot came away with a box of Goldfish to snack on....

From shopping trips to snuggling on the couch, these two had a great morning together....

Gman put Hallie down for her nap by reading a couple books to her and talking to her quietly beside her crib. He stayed in there for a good ten minutes and I actually went looking outside for him and searched throughout the house because I had no idea where he'd gone. Bonding time ended and the work began. I put Gman to work. Or more like he volunteered and I happily accepted. He went to work mopping the floors and I must say he did a mighty fine job. You give the man a job and he's gonna do it not once....but TWICE. After our twice-mopped floor was shining like the sun he got to work blowing up the balloons using the huge helium tank he'd picked up in Enid for me since I couldn't find one in town. Good thing he knew how to use it because I sure didn't have a clue. About the time he began balloon duty, Uncle S and Aunt B showed up. Dad and Spencer shared the task and before we knew it there was a ceiling full of balloons. Dad came up with a retrieval method that was both creative and very unconventional......

Once they'd "caught" them all and tied the strings on we decided that they all actually looked pretty awesome up on the ceiling. So that's exactly where we left them!!!

I had a counter full of food and ingredients that needed to somehow mix themselves together....or else I needed to grow two extra arms.....

Oh wait, no need to grow arms! Aunt B to the rescue!!!!

My trusty assistant

We had a food factory in full swing and were whipping things out faster than Rachel Ray....

We had a lovely chorus of popping, overinflated balloons thanks to the guys working beside us. I have no idea how Hal stayed asleep for her nap what with all the loud bangs going off every other minute! It wasn't long until my other helpers had arrived. Hallie was awake by that time and was more than willing to take her gifts off their hands.....

"Don't worry Lis, I've got this"

Talk about waiting til the last minute to get myself and birthday girl ready. It was 3:15 which gave us 45 minutes to shower, makeup and dress. We moved at lightening speed while Lisa, Dara and Bailey did the mounds of dishes piled in the sink, mixed up the lemonade and set out the rest of the food. I am certain that things would not have been ready at 4:00 without my girls helping. We had just enough time to pose for a family picture before guests arrived. I figured in all the craziness we probably wouldn't be able to wrangle up Riley to smile for the camera. Ok, I have a confession. I am obsessed with these giant balloons.....

There! I said it! Obessed!

I ordered her layered dress from Nordstroms and it ended up looking even better in person than it did online. I was wanting an adult-sized duplicate of it to twirl around in with her. She was quite a big fan of her bow I ordered fromm Etsy. There must've been something special about this head piece folks because she kept it on for quite a long time. If I'm being completely honest, the bow was a big party of my inspiration for the party. I may be biased but I think these two beside me are pretty adorable....

Hal was very helpful as guests began arriving. She would take gift bags and boxes from them and place them in the present pile. I'm sure the bad girl inside her was wishing she could tear into them as the good girl in her laid them down gently....

"Who said you can't open presents before cake??"

"You wouldn't mind if I opened this now, would you?"

Before the house was filled to the brim I made my rounds with the camera snapping away at the decorations and food. Side note: praise the Lord for my sis-in-law letting me borrow her camera that morning since mine was spazzing out and NOT TAKING PICTURES!!! Agh! You can imagine my mental state about that situation. Ha! Backup camera got plenty of action that afternoon and I was very thankful to be able to use it. Not to mention, it's way more awesome than my camera!

Here's a visual tour of the lemonade party.....

I was astounded with how perfect the lemonade stand turned out....

The whole setup gave me excited butterflies in my stomach.....

A lemonade party isn't complete without lemon slice candies.....

I painted the little signs on the front of the stand and was surprised at how much fun it was to paint lemons....

These sweet little flowers were perfect for the antique-ish milk bottles that I set all around the house....

The sign was a sinch to paint and Hallie supervised to make sure that I spelled her name right ;)......

The mason jars from our Halloween party last year came in handy again (just as I'd imagined they would)....

These stripey straws from Sweet Lulu's matched the party colors perfectly....

The balloons. Need I say more??.....

I think I have a slight crush on these sherbet-colored puff balls.....

These silk flowers were a spot-on match with the puff balls and looked pretty spiffy next to the sweetest little picture of my girl....

I had a blast making her "month-to-month" banner that hung on the fireplace....

The table centerpieces were large mason jars filled with lemons and I used sheets of burlap for tablecloths....

I ordered this adorable sign from Etsy and had the perfect frame for it....

Lemons, lemons everywhere!!!!

The pink tulips were a must. Simple and sweet with some burlap strips in the bottom of the vase....

FOOD!!!! We served some mini chicken salad and turkey sandwiches. I ordered the chicken salad from Cafe Eden and may or may not have enjoyed the leftovers for the next three days. ;) The rest of the food was simple simple and easy.....

Graham cracker sandwich idea I got from a friend

I ordered little cards that read "Hallie's 2nd Birthday" and placed them in little glass containers with burlap.....

Tour complete! Now it's time to party!!!! Hallie could be heard several times throughout the day shouting her new phrase:

"Woohoo party!!!"

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen my little bug have as much fun as she did on Saturday.....

Here's just a bit of what was going on around the house and on the patio during the party.....

Don't look too excited daddio!

Grubbin'

Meme, Lana and Grandma Ida chattin' in up

Hannah, Hallie and Carmen playing house

Fillin' the babe's bellies

Birthday girl loved her some lemonade!

Boyfriend and girlfriend acting shy

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...."

"Happy birthday dear Hallie, happy birthday to you!"

Our sweet girl blew the candles out with a little help

The cake. Let's talk about that. We shall start with how enormous it was. After much searching and debating I finally arrived at a decision on cake design. Here is what I printed off for the Cake Lady to mirror....

I'd say she did a pretty FANTASTIC job, dontcha think!?!?!? I ordered it to serve 40 people and it ended up being just enough for the crowd with a couple pieces leftover for yours truly. ;) Cutting the cake felt like performing surgery since we had to cut it in two sections. I had plenty of help from Lisa who just about broke her arm off scooping the rock hard ice cream that I had forgotten to set out earlier in the day. Oops!

I had so much anticipation built up and was thrilled to cut into the monster and see the colorful layers. Beverly had told me how gorgeous it was going to look and I was blown away by the bright pink bottom layer. Eye-popping pink!!

Each guest received a manly-sized slice of deliciousness along with a scoop of ice cream....

Lil Red shared a piece of her cake with Nanny. I'm sure she was relieved once we finally cut into the tasty treat because she'd been running by the table and shouting "cake momma!!!" several times.....

Her little friends Hannah and Sam munched on their cake at the little table together....

Once the cake was devoured it was time for opening presents. This is when I was caught totally off guard. My girl didn't need my help. No, no. She knew exactly what she was doing. Her first gift was placed in front of her and she went to town ripping the paper off of it. Dara was my photographer and captured every face, every reaction and every silly moment as she opened her gifts.....

The girl loaded up on Minnie gear

The huge Dora gift bags were well received by her too!

I was overjoyed watching her little friends and cousins gather round to "help" her with fun task. It was hilarious at one point when Hallie opened a package that contained Bandaids. Of course she was chomping at the bit to put some on her body and so were the other kiddos.

She's got the dumping thing figured out here

Each time she opened up an item of clothing she wanted to try it on....

"Isn't it pretty, momma?"

"Off momma! OFF!"

We managed to keep her party dress on and distracted her with opening more bags....

Lovin' her bath "bubbos"

"Ope! Ope! Ope!"

Sweet Kyler was a big helper

"Move it along momma!"

Here's a question: Who loved Hal's new shoes more? Me, Kyler or Hallie????

She just had to put them on and take a stroll around the living room. They got a thumbs up for fit and comfort it seems! Her next gift just happened to be another sweet pair of kicks that she was dying to try on....

Shoes weren't the only thing she was testing out. Hats were also handy for trying on while she continued to open presents....

Most likely wanting to try on more clothes

She did pretty good saying "thank you" to each guest

Digging in!

Carmen wanted in on the action too!

By the time gifts were opened and the floor was covered in paper, sacks and two-year-old loot it was already near 6:00 so most of her guests trickled out. Although I had little time to chat with everyone it was nice to give hugs and hi's to our family and friends. As the kids left they gathered up Ring Pops, lemon slices and Starbursts in their candy sacks.....

Uncle Luke sneaking some as he walked by

Here are plenty more pictures from the rest of the afternoon. Hallie was on a sugar high and running around like a mad woman. It was obvious that she was not in the mood to stop and SIT.....

"I've got toys to play with and very little time!"

Contrary to what I expected, Hallie was more than willing to let her balloons fly up, up, up in the air. She gave them a sweet "bye bye boon" and waved as they floated up into the sky. Riley and Hallie did some balloons retrieval once she ran out of balloons down low.....

"A little higher..."

"PERFECT!"

In the middle of her balloon-freeing spree she had to say goodbye to Kyler....

Pouty girl

Sad to say goodbye or just plain grumpy??

He didn't get kisses from Hallie but settled for one from Nanny ;)

Bowen and Hallie played like crazy out in the heat until we had to bring her in to cool off.....

Hugs goodbye for Aunt Ky

Opening her easel with Alta and Heather

Relaxing with the pups

Toting her art stool around the house

Beautiful girlies...even the one in the middle who looks skeptical

Thank God for stickers!!!!

Oh, and BANDAIDS!!!

"I'm the king of the world!!"

Red-headed gals

Mentally preparing for his impending balloon photo shoot with Hallie

PICTURE TIME! I desperately wanted some fun shots of Hal with her big balloons.....

I think she may have been intimidated by them or maybe I was afraid that she might float away with them....

Waving "bye bye"

"Ok, we'll try this again"

Another one gone

Watching them float away with Gman

"There's more, right?"

Precious little girl

She sent some small ones up to Grammy Karen.....

We came back inside to cool off after the remainder of the balloons were set free. She grabbed a crayon and went to work on yet another masterpiece at her easel. I could see Riley cringing at the thought of her being let loose with a crayon.....

"You'll be humming a different tune when I'm a famous artist."

"I need a pink one Aunt B!"

A few balloons had partied a little too hard and had wrapped themselves around the fan. Gman was bound and determined to unwind them and pull them down. We all sat around and ~~watched~~ yelled at him as he precariously balanced on the edge of a chair.....

Riley pulled the ladder out after we nixed dad's balancing act....

The grandkids had a good time chatting it up with grandma....

Words can't describe how special this woman is to us

Hugs for Meme

My heart skips a beat when I look at this picture....this is awful sweet ;)

These girls were my saviors and cleaned the kitchen before I could even step foot in there. It was as if no party was had, not a speck of food left on the counter. I love these ladies!!!!

Hallie had an amazing turnout and it was absolutely overwhelming to have everyone under one roof together for the afternoon. I just love our family and friends! Of course it wouldn't be a successful evening without nabbing group pictures of Hallie's guests. Since she won't be able to remember this I thought it was important to keep a photo record of our beautiful friends and family. I didn't catch every group before they left but here is a good majority of your birthday fan club baby girl:

Great Aunt Alta, cousin Kara, Great Uncle David

Friends Matt and Heather

Tom, Hannah, Collin, Sam and Cari Earley

Friends Rylan, Rachelle and Kyler

Great Aunt Deedee and Great Uncle Lonnie

Aunt Katie and Cousin Carmen

Cousins Eve and Jude

Cousins Justin, Jasper, Jude, TeNeil and Eve

Cousins Sarah and Bowen

Great Uncle David, cousin Garrett, Meme and Great Aunt Lana

Auntie Heather

S & B

Papa, Nanny and Aunt Kylie

Great Aunt Lisa, cousins Garrett and Dara, Great Uncle David

Outtake #1

Outtake #2

There's nothing like the love of a family

One more party in the books, one happy mommy and daughter!

The piece of cake waiting on the counter for me was possibly the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. Or it could've been that I hadn't stopped long enough to eat all day!