two for tea party!

For Lucy's birthday this year we had decided early on not to have a party, since we planned to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge as their big birthday gift and wanted to spend more money on the trip.  Carter was content because he had his movie day.  But, then I felt bad for Lucy since her 1st birthday party went down the drain when she got sick.  And, because she will totally remember everything about turning two (ha!) I convinced Matt to let me throw her a super simple, very cheap, not-a-big-deal tea party.  :)  And, somehow he said yes.  

I ordered some fun invitations off Etsy (love Etsy!) and decided some cucumber tea sandwiches, PB&J triangle sandwiches, fruit and mini-cupcakes would be the perfect tea party food.

 Dress up clothes were a must (and of course went pretty much untouched).  And of course, tea party crowns and tea cups had to be there too!

I had to have Matt get the kids out of the house early in the morning so I could decorate. Lucy loves to have tea parties all the time so she was pretty excited when she saw the decor once she got back home. 

 My best friend from college came with her sweet daughter, Ava.  She really did have a lot of fun, even without a smile!

 Katy and I lived together for 4 years in college.  I am so happy to be living closer to her now so we can get together more often.  Plus, our girls are only 7 weeks apart!  Love you Katy!

 The most serious tea party ever.  :)

 Our favorite neighbors came too but the boys spent most of the time in the playroom with Carter having a battle to fight off bad guys.  Once they saw the cupcakes they ventured upstairs again though.

 Lucy loved dressing up!

 
 It was such a fun party and I was so glad family and friends were able to celebrate with us!

On her actual birthday Matt took the day off to spend with the kids and we had a surprise snow day!  We are always talking about how we can continue to make Lucy's birthday special every year since it's only 5 days before Christmas.  This year we didn't have to worry.  A snow day on your birthday is the best gift ever!
As soon as it was light enough to go outside the kids raced downstairs with their snow pants on and rushed outside. Our poor neighbors were probably awoken to the sounds of giggling children making snow angels in the backyard.

 She got to wear Carter's hand-me-down snow pants.  Glad we could squeeze one more year out of them!

 To say Carter loved his first snowball fight would be an understatement.  I've never seen so much joy on a child's face.  Priceless.

 She was determined to cut the grass that day.  It didn't work out so well, sorry Lucy.

 To be sure every.single.neighbor knew we were enjoying the snow we took a walk through the neighborhood.

 Later that night we went out for pizza to celebrate her birthday.  The kids loved playing with the dough balls while we waited for our food.

 And finally back home we celebrated with a sprinkle cake…the birthday girls special request.

 It was the most perfect day celebrating our special girl. Happy 2nd birthday Lucy!