Doug posted his shots of Ava’s fourth birthday party. There are more than a 100 fabulous images, including this one, for which Laura deserves credit. The rest, though…all Doug. Thanks very much!
24 Mar
Happy birthday, Ava!
Dear Ava,
I can’t believe it’s been four years already! Thanks for making them the most challenging, educational and enjoyable years of my life. I am so fortunate to have such a sweet, smart and funny daughter, and I can’t wait to see what you do next.
Love,
Mom
23 Mar
A very important date
We hosted 45 of our friends and family at our house for Ava’s fourth birthday party this weekend. We selected an Alice in Wonderland theme, which my friend Lori incorporated into the invitations we sent out several weeks ago.
Thanks to the help of many, many people (photographic evidence coming soon), we had a great time. Even Alice approved. Laura took this photo–and many others–that she’s posted over on the The House On Hudson. Doug will also have photos up on his site as well.
I’ll post more photos of the party preparation and the party itself in the coming days. Thanks, everyone!
20 Mar
Olivia’s trip to the dentist
Olivia had her first dental check-up this morning, and like her big sister, she was far more concerned with the requisite butterfly chair photo than the actual exam.
Still, despite having a good role model in the chair next to her, Olivia didn’t warm up to the whole situation very quickly.
The dentist examined her teeth while Olivia sat on my lap, but she decided she needed to check out the chair before we left.
I don’t know what she’s so upset about–her teeth look fine, and the dentist even said she could keep her pacifier until she’s two! Good news all around.
18 Mar
Party prep
We’re in the midst of preparations for Ava’s fourth birthday party. The kid has more friends than I do, plus our family will be in attendance–it’s going to be quite the bash.
She selected an Alice in Wonderland theme, so we’re in the process of devising games, decorations and treat bags with that in mind. We decided to focus on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, so we’re planning tiny little cucumber sandwiches, strawberries with lime curd and other tea time favorites for lunch.
I’m going to try a fondant cake for the first time–I expect this will be good blog fodder. I’m using the Mad Hatter design, which has three very uneven layers and looks like it just finished a rousing spin on a merry-go-round. The nice thing about fondant is you can make the cake a couple of days in advance and it keeps it very fresh. The only downside is that it tastes like a pencil eraser. Thankfully my mom is making an angel food cake, too.
Photos coming soon!
16 Mar
A retro Ava fix
My mom just sent this photo she took the day we moved into our house in Kansas. Ava was the same age then that Olivia is now. She’s holding her first doll, “Pink Baby,” a gift from her grandparents on what was a pretty big day for all of us.
I knew those pigtails looked familar!
15 Mar
Olivia Fix
When Olivia’s hungry, she just helps herself to something from the snack shelf. She makes my job so easy.
14 Mar
A slew of Seattle shots
I had the good fortunate of traveling to Seattle for a seminar Wednesday and Thursday. It was a short trip–my alarm went off at 2:45 am on Wednesday, and I was back home by midnight on Thursday. I connected through Denver, and the rest of the flight north provided this incredible view:
When I arrived in Seattle, it was a gloriously clear but cold day. Mt. Rainier was in full view. I had a couple of hours of free time, so I headed down to Pike Place Market.
The vendor displays were amazing–especially the fish shops. I brought home salmon, live oysters, prawns and a crab from Pike Place Fish–you can see the fishmonger packing my box below. We made an incredible shrimp and salmon dish with these ingredients last night.
My crab:
Other vendors offered fresh produce and flowers. I even found one vendor selling black truffles.
I found an “Ava” bracelet among this collection and brought it home for a very happy little girl.
Downtown Seattle was quite beautiful, and the local coffee, which kept me highly caffeinated the entire time, was worth the trip alone.
11 Mar
Birthday Cake(s)
Ava and I made Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for chocolate cupcakes on Sunday. I decided to forgo the peanut butter icing and instead made peanut butter buttercream, which may be the single greatest thing on this planet.
Smith Family Weblog 