A Fire Truck Party!

I'm so excited to share Nathan's Fire Truck Birthday Party with you!

As you read in this post, I am terrible at taking photos: something that needs to change if I want to continue this blog.  My goal is to take better photos in 2011.  Thankfully, I have a sister who is also a photographer who has agreed to help! All of the photography tutorials I have read say the same thing: DO NOT use a flash! That sounds alright in theory...now I just have to figure out how to effectively brighten up my pictures. I tried my best to capture the details of the party to the best of my (limited) ability. :)

THE INVITATION: I bought the graphic from JW Illustrations and designed the cute invitation on my Mac.  And then it sat on my computer, and I never printed it and sent it out.  I just called my family and told them when to show up.  Oh, well.

THE GOODIE BAGS:  Red paper bags with a fire engine sticker book from Amazon, a fireman's badge, and a fire truck tattoo.  They were a hit, except with my 5-year-old nephew Joey, who told me, "I don't like any of that stuff."  Duly noted, little buddy.

THE SPREAD:  These dishes were by far some of the easiest, most delicious party fare I have ever made.  We had cinnamon chips and fruit salsa, barbecued pulled-chicken sandwiches (done in the crock pot), ham and cheese sliders, and jalepeno dip.  All of them were definite crowd-pleasers, but the jalepeno dip received the most rave reviews.  The cinnamon chips, fruit salsa, and jalepeno dip recipes are all from Our Best Bites, and the Ham and Cheese Sliders are from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

THE DESSERTS:  I tried to stick with the "fire" theme here.  My mom made the delicious "2" cookies. Her cookie recipe is amazing...maybe one day she'll let me share it here. :)

THE CAKE:
I saw this cake on The Tomkat Studio blog, and knew that I wanted to have one just like it!  I contacted my talented friend Beth, and she replicated it for me.  Perfect, and delicious!

See these tiny little red dots?  They're Red-Hots.  Yum!

THE BIRTHDAY BOY:

 I love this (slightly creepy) image...that's my blurry sister Sarah rushing in to tickle Nathan. :)

THE AFTERMATH:

I can't even blame any of the guests for the doll's new hairdo.  That was totally the birthday boy's doing.

Happy Birthday, again, to my sweet boy!