Happy Birthday Twinkle

One of the best parts about having my mom here to help me transition from one-to-two-with-the-second-one-being-a-preemie is that she was here over her BIRTHDAY!! It was so fun to be able to celebrate her birthday in person.

We have a history of being together over our birthday's not because we plan it but because it just seems to work out that way for us time and time again. Which makes for some fun memories!

To celebrate "Twinkle", Parker Bear took her to his play group in the morning, and we celebrated with a good dinner and cake and ice cream and presents that evening!

First up… the cake! We made our favorite preservative-free "clean" chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!

Parker was ready to dig in!

We ate that with some good chocolate ice cream. Parker loved every spoonful!

And then we opened presents. Parker was a great help!

He even showed Twinkle how to wear her new beach hat:

It was a great day and so much fun celebrating the woman who has given selflessly of herself to help our family through this transition in our lives.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINKLE!

First Annual Holiday Party

Is it just me or does the holiday season get busier and busier every year? We love getting together with friends, but around the holidays seem to get so busy that we find it can be difficult to spread Christmas cheer to our nearest and dearest. This year we started what we hope will become an annual tradition in the Snowden household; we decided this year to host a Christmas Open House! It was wonderful to see all of our friends and catch up before the holidays got away from all of us!

Of course we dressed in our red and green and Parker was so handsome in his reindeer sweater!

We hosted the party on a December Sunday afternoon and it just so happened to be day of the first snow we got this winter! The snow was a great way to get everyone into the Christmas spirit! It was so pretty!

Our house on post on Fort Leavenworth:

The Holiday Party was a drop by from 1-3 and every single person on our guest list with the expection of one family was able to come! Having 40 people over, some with children, made for such a fun afternoon! We served only desserts along with punch, cider, wine, and beer. We also served Gluhwein (pronounced "glue-vine") a German wine served warm. Even though I could not indulge it was a big hit with our friends who had been stationed in Germany as well as those who had not!

Our menu for the occasion included: peanut butter kisses, chocolate-mint bark, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy "wreaths", cookie dough truffles, cake batter balls, oatmeal drop cookies, and peanut butter squares.

We also asked that each guest bring a gift to donate to Toys for Tots. We were excited to support a wonderful way of giving back and were overwhelmed by the generosity we witnessed!

Parker had a great time showing his little friends all the toys in his playroom.

And Honey and I had a great time catching up with some of our favorite people!

Afterwards, when our guests had gone home, Honey did this. Of course.

It was such a great time, we are already looking forward to it again next year!

A few weeks later we attended a Christmas with Honey's classmates from school at Fogo De Chao, one of our most favorite restaurants! Parker got to come along with us and was really happy that he brought a few tractors to keep him busy. 

After our bellies were full we walked around the Plaza to see all of the beautiful Christmas lights! 

Two fun holiday parties this year! We had so much fun celebrating the season with friends!

Trucks and Parties

They are big.

They move.

They are loud.

They carry heavy stuff.

And starting at a very young age, boys love them.

It's true - there is just something about a boy and a truck!

Even at just under 15 months, Parker has the *truck bug* that all males seem to aquire at some point in their lives.  He already loves his "jeep" and his "race car" which used to belong to his Daddy. And watching actual cars and trucks driving down the road? To a baby boy, that is simply amazing!

So you can imagine Parker Bear's excitement when we were invited to a "Construction Zone" themed birthday party for a friend's 2-year-old boy. 

First he got an up close look at the Birthday Zone sign thanks to Daddy's shoulders:

And he practiced his favorite new thing - waving - to all the guests:

Then he got his very own hard hat!

But he wasn't too sure about wearing that hat!

He took some time to check out the toys in the birthday boy's play area:

And then he found the Best. Toy. Ever. a cement truck!

When it was time to go, Parker waved bye-bye to everyone:

We had such a good time at this adorably themed party! A perfect Saturday afternoon with boys... and trucks! 

Mommy's Birthday

Another year older... another year wiser...? Eh, not too sure about the second part but I do know another year has gone by and I celebrated another birthday!

It's so hard to believe that two years ago I was celebrating as a newlywed by two months, then last year I was celebrating as a mommy of two and a half months, and now this year I am celebrating while in the midst of M O V I N G to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. 

Last Year

What in the world will next year bring?

Well this year after spending a week at an extended-stay-hotel-condo-place (talk about being ready to leave!!) we got the keys to our house on post at Ft. Leavenworth on my birthday!! 

While that is super-duper exciting it also meant that the day was spent signing the lease, arriving at our "new" house, getting Parker Bear squared away for his afternoon nap, unloading two packed SUV's, tending to Cash Dog who was so excited to be out of that hotel - weren't we ALL - figuring out what to do about dinner, inflating our air mattress, and setting up "camp" for the night. Yes, I am sure you are jealous of the glamorous life this Army Wife leads...

Fortuantely we decided to celebrate my birthday the previous night so that the focus would be on the birthday girl we wouldn't be to tired to miss out on any of the fun!

We went out for a sushi dinner - where I spilled the last of my red wine all over my dress,  a trick I learned from my mom - and ice cream, then headed back to hell the hotel to open cards and presents.

The hotel wasn't that bad. It was just that after 7 days in a smallish space we were Ready. To. Go. I am thankful that the hotel had a kitchen (no oven), ample storage room, a bedroom with a door so we could use the living room as a separate room, allowed dogs, and was in a great area with lots to do. However, 7 days is a long time to stay there. Even with all of that. 

But I digress, here is what we all looked like the night we celebrated my birthday!

Ready to go!

Face he makes when ice cream isn't coming fast enough:

Despite being on the road and "technically" homeless, my husband did all he could to make my birthday such a fun celebration with my favorite people!