Deliciousness: Eat, drink, and be mommy!

My husband is a chef. I, on the other hand, have very few skills in the kitchen. When Jude is working and I need to feed myself and Ruby, I struggle to find things that don't come in boxes that are healthful and fun for us to eat...Then, along came The Petit Appetit. Amazingly simple and joyful foods and meals in here that even I can make for Ruby! GREAT resource for domestically-disabled mommyfolk like me.

Here is a post (with recipes!) I wrote about this book over a year ago on an old blog I quit writing.

The second book is about party foods for entertaining kids, but I have found it useful for everyday food as well.

Party Inspiration: Backyard barbecue cartoon screening!

What a fantastic idea to keep the little ones entertained while the adults catch up! Here is Ruby at our family friends' summer celebration. Peggy hung up a tablecloth for a screen and projected cartoons in the backyard. So fun!

Party Inspiration: Stella's Dora party = tutu cute!

Ruby is lucky enough to have a cousin exactly her same age (I went into labor with Ruby the day Stella was born. Granted, I didn't give birth until two days later, but that's another story)! We went to Wisconsin to be there for Stella's big day. She had a Dora-themed party that was so much fun!

Sweet sweet Stella was a doll in her fluffy Dora outfit.

Party Inspiration: Ruby's Teddy Bear Picnic

We already had Ruby's second birthday party last weekend. The "Teddy Bear Picnic" song has special meaning in our families for a number of reasons and it quickly became one of Ruby's favorite songs this year. She knows all the words (with a couple of adorable mistakes, like "You  better go not alone" and "See them catch their underwears") and asks for it constantly, so I decided it would be a perfect theme for her party!
A "picnic" theme is easy because you can do picnic foods and there's ton of stuff out there in red gingham checks. And what toddler can resist the addition of tons of teddies? I sent out the invitations for our little cub's party with a BYO for teddy bears and asked people to RSVP to Mama Bear or Papa Bear. We ended up having about 35 guests and had a GREAT time. When Ruby woke up the next morning, the first thing she said was: "Can we have a picnic?!"

In any case, here are some of the my favorite things from the party:

I made a banner of teddy bears by cutting out the teddy bear from a Teddy Grahams box, putting a little flag in his paw, and then photocopying him a bunch of times.

Mama Bear, Baby Bear, and Papa Bear. A family friend made a slew of these bear ears (cut out from furry fabric and hot-glued to cheap headbands) for people to wear at the party! Kids got to take them home and I tucked away a couple of pairs for Ruby's ever-evolving dress-up box, too!

 Ruby and her posse! I tied checked bows around the necks of all of the bears that belong to our family.

 Setting the scene...

 Ruby in her special outfit, waiting for guests to arrive.

 Simple decor.

 Gift bags and a teddy bear picnic-themed paper doll stage.

 The goodies inside the goodie bags.

 I made little sets of homemade recycled crayons for each kid in the shape of teddy bears.

 "Beary" lemonade with muddled raspberries, strawberries, Thai basil, and lemon basil. All of the ice was pink lemonade frozen in ice cube trays so that it wouldn't get watered down as ice melted.

"At six o'clock their mommies and daddies will take them home to bed, because they're tired little teddie bears..."

 Flat marshmallows for a bed and a piece of fruit roll-up for a blanket. Cozy little napping teddy grahams.

 Mason jars (these are our everyday drinking glasses) tied with ribbon for utensils.

One activity that I set out for kids was sticker art. I made photocopies of a simple drawing of a picnic scene and left out lots of sticks. Here is the aftermath.

 Ruby's adorable friend Leo came prepared with teddy bears spilling out of his backpack. Here he's giving Ruby a good-bye smooch.