Leigh's Birthday Party

Leigh has been able to say duck since she was 8 months old. So naturally, that is what kind of party she had. I have been asked by several to write out the details of the party. I will try to write out what I did.

Here is the duck cake that I made. I got the 3d duck pan from Hobby Lobby. It took 1 1/2 pound cake mixes to make it. I used a #32 star tip to ice the cake. I put it in a blue tin also from Hobby Lobby. I cut up a blue plastic table cloth to make it look like it was in water and then used clear "marbles" from the flower section. I used big flat ones and little round ones to look like bubbles. I was planning on using something else that H.L. was out of, but I ended up liking the marbles more--found them just walking around looking for something that might work. We did not eat this cake--it's actually still sitting on my counter!

The smash cake was very easy. I took a duck cookie cutter and lightly pressed down on my cake. Then frosted it yellow and blue. Very easy!

Baby Leigh loved her presents!

Big sister (dressed in a get-up) helping to blow out the candle!
Not so much into the cake!

Honey made the dress for Leigh!

My favorite view!

These were the party favors. I gathered all the duck/water songs I could find and made a cd with them (actually Sara did because I couldn't figure out how to on our computer). Then from Dollar Tree I got duck bubbles. I tied one on there per kid in the family.

Dinner: We had about 25 people there (we have large families) so dinner had to be easy. I did Mexican Pile-up. I got the recipe from Dale Sorgenfrei--anyway very easy to prepare and good for the kids because they can pick out what they will eat. I trippled the recipe and didn't have many leftovers.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (or turkey)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can paste

1 can kidney beans drained

garlic salt to taste

chili powder to taste

brown meat and drain fat. add the other ingredients, stir and simmer (i put them in a crockpot)

layer regular fritos, rice, meat, then pile on: grated cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, salsa, chopped pecans, chopped black olives, and coconut (just try it)

I gathered all the duck items from around our house to use as the center piece of the kids tables which doubled as toys for them to play with.