It has been a busy few days in our house. Gracie turned one and I was on my own for the celebration which ended up being two parties… one for just me and her brothers and one with my extended family. This meant me and the hubby tried to get the house clean and the groceries acquired before he left town. I’m not sure, but I think it helps. If anything, it helps me feel better to start with a clean house even if I have to clean it seven more times until the party.

I wanted to have a pot luck supper and invite my family over because we always have great food when that happens and it means I don’t have to cook a huge meal for 25 people ha ha!

I made a fake lasagna (it’s like lasagna but with spiral pasta), garlic bread, chocolate cake and punch. I wish I had taken a picture of all the beautiful food people brought, but I completely forgot. I did get a picture of the cake. I also made her a crown out of fabric scraps and took a ton of cute pictures.

As I was getting ready for the party I decided I needed to recover my spare dining chairs. So I loaded all the kids in the van and we went to the fabric store to get fabric for that project and a table cloth for the kids table and another table cloth for my dining room. The only reason this was financially possible was the 50% off sale at the nice fabric store nearby. So all that cost less than the day before when I went I to the party store to buy balloons and ended up spending $50. on “1st Birthday” party supplies. I finally realize why the baby of the family gets spoiled… being the last kid, I think, we just want to treasure all the last milestones. This was the last time I was going to have a one year old. I made all their birthdays as wonderful as possible but now I am sort of celebrating my own milestone and trying to hold on to my own memories. This was a great first birthday.

chairs before/after

nap time