it was a blue fox birthday

Fern turned three nearly a month ago and I am just now posting detail pictures of her party! sorry about that. We had a woodland animal themed party. Fern's party requests were nothing more than a big blue cake and blue.

She's holding the baby I made in her matching woodland animal dress:

all of the masks that I made for the kids. I had made Fern the bluebird mask, but Fern couldn't decide whether or not she wanted to be a bluebird. She kept telling me, "Mama, I don't want to fly!" In the end she decided that she wanted to be a blue fox, so I had to whip one up really quick. My personal favorites were the owls and the deer. {remember that you can click on the pictures to see them larger :)}

I made chocolate owl lollipops and then mostly forgot to pass them out! So, we ate our fair share of chocolate during the next few weeks, and I shared with co-workers. It was fun to make these little guys. I'll definitely do it again sometime.

I also made toadstool appetizers with hardboiled eggs, roma tomatoes, and feta cheese! Basil and lettuce grass/moss was sprinkled around the toadstools. Jolene helped me with these...thanks Jolene! They were actually all eaten too, which surprised me.

I made chocolate avocado and vanilla cupcakes, sweetened with agave (I'm a huge fan of agave) and topped with tofu frosting. I also threw together the cupcake stand. I was dreaming of vintage vases and plates, but all we have in Guam is dollar stores and Ross. (I will really appreciate garage sales once again when we return to the mainland!):

Fern's cupcake had turquoise frosting, her favorite color, and chocolate letters- she's a big fan of chocolate too:

I tossed together an arrangement of ferns at the terrarium making station:

I had all of the materials together with a sign of instructions on a table outside. I got this idea from crafty crow and it was brilliant. Moms could help their kiddo's make a terrarium and I didn't have to walk everyone through it!

I had this idea in my head of her party in a dark, majestic forest. with animal masks hanging from tall trees. My house hardly has a yard, yet alone a forest. So I had to make due and hang the masks from three big bushes around my house. As kids came, they could choose a mask for themselves. I made masks in 2 sizes: one for little kids and a bigger size for the bigger kids. Here's Fern sitting under one of the bushes before her party.

Fern had actually snuck upstairs and found her cake before the party and had a tiny taste despite my efforts to hide it from her. She also managed to open some presents when I wasn't around during the party. She's a tad bit impulsive, this one. She was very excited for the birthday song and the blowing out of candles. It's funny though....she says she a big fan of cupcakes, but she's really not. She always leave half of them. This time, she wanted to eat the icing off of every cupcake, but could care less about the cake itself.

I had a photobooth made from a frame I had lying around. We hung it from a very tall tree on the other side of the fence. Sadly it rained so much during her party that it didn't get much use. Here are Phaedra and Ariadne, sporting their masks. They were the first to arrive, so I was able to get pictures of them.

a fierce fox and badger (and it happens to be the only picture I took inside once everyone got there...a bit mad at myself about that):

Fern's terrarium. She wanted to put WAY more of each layer than you're supposed to, leaving very little room for planting. I bought some blue rocks especially for her. The toadstool cupcake toppers doubled as terrarium decorations.

View from above. All the kids planted a pilea microphylla (common name: artillery fern). These plants make perfect terrarium plants, and they happen to grow like weeds around here. I've always liked this little succulent, and then I thought, "Well no wonder...it's a fern!" But it's actually not related to the fern family at all. Her little plant is still alive - just a bit unbalanced as it is reaching for the light.

happy, happy birthday Fern!

Dear Fern,

Wow, I can't believe you're three now...such a big, big girl.

Here are some things I don't want to forget about you at three:

1. You love your dink more than anything in the world.

2. You love playing with babies, real ones and babydolls.

3. You're extremely feisty and extraordinary, so much that you even shock your teachers at times.

4. You like to tote around a million things with you when we go places.

5. You love to pick pacific cherries every day and swing.

6. You're gaining confidence in the water...you like to go under and pick up things off the ground that sink to the bottom.

7. You eat my cultured vegetables in small amounts! (you love everything pickled, including okra)

8. BUT, you still have a sweet tooth despite my efforts to avoid it.

9. I can tell you are going to be a good climber...you have it in your blood ;)

10. You call yellow "lellow"

11. You are not intimidated by anyone or anything, and that kinda scares me.

12. You sneak into the freezer several times every day to get blueberries.

13. You're pretty mean to our cat, Horace. You think it's funny to chase him. He WILL scratch you one day.

14. You love exploring critters...toads, skinks, geckos, slugs, and snails.

15. You always end up dirty, and often naked.

16. We lay with you in your room at night until you go to sleep.

17. You can't be still.

18. You love to dance and sing and read stories.

19. You love to paint, but you are done with your masterpieces in about 2 minutes.

20. Dad has gotten you hooked on chewing gum. You want it as a reward for using the potty when you are clearly beyond that!!!

21. You just started a Montessori school, and Auntie Mary looks very tired when we pick you up.

22. You know how to express yourself well.

23. You're very clever.

24. You talk about the big bad, bad wolf too much. He's always lurking around the corner, or cutting the grass.

25. You just flew your first kite all by yourself!

26. You have already had lice two times. and so have I.

27. You are loved.

Love, Mama and Dad

Fern wanted a baby sister for her birthday as well as a 'blue' birthday. No sister was in the plan, but I tried to incorporate blue in her birthday party day. Here is a tiny video of her on her actual birthday when she woke up in the morning and found her surprise. She also had a little party at her school to celebrate her birthday and her last day of school. We had a bigger birthday party the day after, but those pictures will come later. I thought the family would enjoy this one. It starts with her at 2. She has grown so much as you will see.

Untitled from Ginger Haddock on Vimeo.