Party: Audrey's and Kate's Second Birthday Party

For some reason we couldn't get all the families together on the same day this year to celebrate Audrey's and Kate's birthday. So I ended up doing two parties! A little much for mommy, so I think we'll stick with just one per birthday going forward, but it was fun.

First we celebrated with my sister's and my families. Lots of fun cousins around to play.

My sister had a great idea to fill a room in her home with purple balloons and let the birthday girls play. What could be more fun for a pair of three year olds?

The plan was for the birthday girls to wear matching outfits including the pink sweaters I made them (first one for Audrey and then a matching one for Kate last Christmas). It half worked! ;-) Which was just fine.

Christine made a beautiful cake with purple fondant dots to match the balloons and red velvet inside. Audrey loves red velvet! I wish I had snapped a good picture.

A few days later, party #2, with my husband's family.

Audrey wore a really darling party dress someone gave her when she was born. Because I am a bit crazy I decided I needed to crochet a little sweater for her to wear over it, but she didn't really wear it. One of the last minute projects this year that convinced me the two-party thing was too much!

I made a ruffle cake--lemon cake with almond frosting (love almond frosting!)--inspired by an issue of Martha Stewart Baby. I love the ruffles all down the sides of the cake. It called for Swiss Meringue Buttercream icing, which never works for me (per last year's cake for instance) so I used a friend's recipe for an almond buttercream. It was so fun to do and I think it looks so pretty! This is a six-inch diameter, three-layer cake, so perfect proportions for a little girl. I love the frosting color too...

Again, a bit nutty, but I made this other little outfit for Audrey too, undecided about what exactly she should wear and when, because this beautiful party dress wasn't very practical for partying! So she changed into her birthday kimono to open presents.