Cooking Party for Jack

I can't believe that my oldest son is 5 years old now. He is such a delight, joyful and sweet. He has always loved to help me in the kitchen and while it may not be so convenient, I usually find him a little job to do while I'm cooking. It was for that reason we had a cooking party for him. We kept the guest list small and had the party at my mom's restaurant. Each child got to make their own pizza! I laid out a few yummy ingredients for topping the pizzas and my mom made delicious dough. We rolled out a small round of dough and placed each one on parchment paper where we wrote each child's name. After the kids were done decorating their pizzas the whole thing, parchment paper and all, went into the big commercial ovens to bake. Having the party at a restaurant made the whole thing very easy!



We had lots of mommies to oversee the fun. My friends are great to fill in the gaps of what I may have forgotten; one friend brought out some bottles of hand sanitizer during the pizza making.



While the pizzas were baking, the kids made their own fruit kabobs. Be warned that you're dealing with sharp sticks here. Little brothers and sisters did not join in on this and we had lots of moms to help out!



After everyone finished, the kids decorated cupcakes. For favors, I made some really easy aprons which were worn during the festivities. I just bought a big bag of white hand towels from Sam's, folded over the corners on the top and seamed down to make a slot for a ribbon. The ribbon goes around the child's neck then ties behind their back. Super easy and cheap! A week before the party I asked the moms of the party guests for favorite recipes of their kids. My husband printed up little cookbooks for all the kids to take home. This was a big hit! I found lots of ideas here and here.
It was a good time! My big 5 year old enjoyed it and so did I!

The Birthday Gift and My Last Chance

Just wanted to share what my husband made me for my birthday. It's called a cold frame. You start your seeds in small containers and keep them in here while it's still cold outside.



It did it's job well. All the little plants look great and were planted in their permanent spot in the garden this weekend. Gardening has never been my domestic strong point, but I'm giving it another shot! I was a little surprised that he made this for me, knowing I have a reputation for stinking at gardening. He told me this weekend that if the garden didn't do well, that was it-this was our last chance. Shoot. The pressure's on. I'm not prepared for this to work this time. I haven't done enough research. I don't know which plants need full sun. But, if I see any critters out there eating the plants, I'm going to sit in a tree with a BB gun.