An Elmo Birthday

Since, he has been a loyal friend these two years, we felt it appropriate to give Hallie an Elmo-themed birthday party. I was so pleased with the abundance of Elmo party goods at The Dollar Store! I am also over the moon with how her Elmo cupcakes turned out.

I have been searching online for several months, and I couldn't find any photos of Elmo cupcakes that looked very good. So, I created my own version. I love how they look. I did a buttermilk cherry chip cake with almond buttercream frosting. I piped on the frosting to look like fur, made white chocolate eyes with milk chocolate pupils, an orange starburst for a nose, and half an oreo cookie for the mouth. The result was an all-edible, fun, Elmo treat.

We tried to do Hallie's birthday in stages. Last week my parents flew out and celebrated with her. My camera was not working at the time so my Dad has all the photos on his camera. When we were still together, she blew out candles on a ding-dong (I like baking but not enough to make cupcakes twice in one week). My parents got her a Cinderella dress (which will be her Halloween costume this year), clothes, a puppy book, and a Sleeping Beauty purse and make-up set that Hallie is in love with.

On Saturday, we let Hallie open up new crayons and coloring books. That night we went for a bite to eat at Noodles and Company (where I unfortunately got a violent case of food poisoning I still haven't recovered from).

Then, last night I made an herb roast with carrots and onions, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. Grandma Judy and Uncle Mike joined us for the evening. Afterwards, we opened presents, talked to Grandpa Wynn on the internet camera phone, talked to Uncle Mark and cousin Amanda, and Great-Grandma and Grandpa Allen on the telephone, and had cupcakes. By the time Hallie went to bed she was on toy/sugar overload! She opened: a toy vacuum from Grandma, a toy piano (her two obsessions in life), a stuffed lion and an art set from Uncle Mike, a birthday card and money from Great-Grandma Skaggs, Disney princess blocks, Disney princess chalk, and some play food for her kitchen (the last three gifts I got at the dollar store along with her new crayons and Elmo coloring books).





What a birthday!