An Owl Party!

February 27, 2014 by Aliesha

Did you know I have a facebook page for Feathers in Our Nest? If you “like” the page, you’ll know about new posts as soon as they are posted!

Cordelia had such a fun time anticipating her owl birthday party the last few weeks! She talked about it every day.

Me: CC, what kind of party are you going to have?
Cordelia: I havin’ a owl partay! A owl partay!
Vera: Owls are my favorite too!

We had the party on Saturday evening, and we were so glad that both sets of grandparents, two uncles, one aunt, and one cousin all came to help us celebrate!

I hardly took any pictures during the party (too busy playing hostess and nursing Jude!), but here are some I managed to get before things got too crazy (aka when the kids were all napping)!

Everyone got to put on owl temporary tattoos (in the milk glass bowl, above).

The kids had a special table with owl plates.

Art by Katie Daisy; chipboard owls from Michael’s

Mmmm… chocolate cake!

Napkins and plates from Five Below

My mom made these cute owl bags

And also these bags, filled with caramel popcorn

I had a lot of fun making an owl piñata! It was almost too cute to beat with a stick.

Pictures from CC’s second year

Owl banner with the same owls I used on the invitations (cut out by my mom with her Silhouette)

Festive chalkboard art

Another banner, and some of the pictures I took of Cordelia

Vera was quite excited about the party too!

My grandmother gave them these cute owl shirts and my mom made ruffled pants to match. Adorable!

They really do love each other.

Daddy’s girls, for sure!

Jude had an owl shirt too!

Me and my big girl

The party menu: feta dip, pita chips, spinach artichoke dip, crackers, veggies, Caesar salad, rolls, cornbread, white chicken chili, minestrone soup, and chocolate cake!

Angela’s amazing feta dip

Spinach artichoke dip

Veggies

Mom C.’s amazing Caesar salad

My mom’s amazing buttery rolls and my whole grain cornbread

Of course the birthday girl loved her chocolate cake! I’ve made this cake/frosting recipe twice now and I think it’s a family favorite. I’ll have to blog the recipe sometime!

We are so thankful for all of the family members who came to help us celebrate our sweet CC’s second birthday party! It was such a fun party!

A Birthday and a Long-Lost Uncle

January 21, 2014 by Aliesha

Sunday we traveled to Richmond for a birthday party for Tad’s mom (who has recently started blogging again)! Uncle Nate, Tad’s brother who lives in China, was visiting as well, and we were so glad we got to see him! He was last here three years ago, so he hadn’t met Cordelia or Jude.

The party was at Angela and Jed’s home, and everything was perfectly lovely!

Angela was a wonderful hostess. (I want to steal that apron!)

The food was amazing!

You’ve got to try this gumbo-laya recipe!

The kids’ table was all set up with crayons and a paper tablecloth.

Per usual, Cordelia loved eating everything.

We had yummy cupcakes and raspberry sorbet for dessert.

Jude was a happy boy all day!

Jed recently got a mandolin, so he “serenaded” us all day.

Tad enjoyed catching up with Nate.

There were lots of comments about how Jude has more hair than Uncle Nate!

Vera and Cordelia were delighted by their fun uncle who tried to tickle them!

We are always so blessed when we get a chance to spend time with our dear extended family! We took a group photo, but it was with Dad C.’s camera, so I’ll have to post it when he emails it to me. *ahem*

Edited to add: Here it is!!