Her Birthday Not-A-Party Party

Okay.  So this is our year off from parties and everyone is clear and good on that.  We invited suggestions and ideas of what they wanted to do instead and came up with something special for each one to celebrate their birthdays.

Except.

Except for this one whose only request was to do something with her two bff's from school.  And because she love, love, LOVED her dollhouse tea party last year, she asked if we could go there again.  Again?!  So I racked my brain and offered alternative ideas and suggestions which she agreed to, but I could see the spark just wasn't there for her in any of them.  And because I was tired and because I wasn't about to throw a birthday-not-a-party-but-really-a-party playdate at our house, I agreed.

Enter the mini tea party.

Which I was quick to point out to her was not really a real party since she'd only have three guests (one being her sister, at her request) (and we probably would've made it be her request if she didn't request it on her own) (ahem) and it was still more of a playdate rather than a party.  She nodded in full, gleeful agreement.

Glad we got that all ironed out.  BECAUSE THIS IS NOT OUR PARTY YEAR, PEOPLE!!  My sanity depends on this.

So we found ourselves here once again.

And it was just as sweet and pink and girly as I remembered it.

And they jumped right into the business at hand.

She chose pink eye shadow this time.

And got to have her nails painted in two alternating shades of pink.  I think I'm starting to understand why she loves this place so much.  ;)

Her little girlfriends hadn't been here before, so it was really fun to see them enjoy the whole experience too.

Fully embracing the concept of accessorizing.

My little pipsqueak is pretty certain she wants her not-a-party party here too.  So we might just be back in a few months!

Checking her finished self out.  Complete with hands on hips.

My brand new 7-year-old in little girl heaven.  I can feel her dress-up days are numbered now and this blog post made me very, very glad we let her do this again.

Sweet little girls all ready for their tea party.

Not to forget this little one, too!  The sight of her made me gasp a little.  Who'da thunk that this is her color?

Practicing blowing princess kisses.

Tea party time!

This makes me happy.

Also, this.  Please observe her proper tea drinking pinky.  Even though it was really pink lemonade.

The days.  They be slipping away much too fast.

Seriously, seven?!

My cup runneth over.

Yup.  I am very glad we did this again.

Happy, happy birthday to my sweet Allie girl.  You are so dear to my heart and I love you more than words can say.  It has been my joy and delight to be your "mama" as you still like to call me and one day I will be able to thank God in person for entrusting you to our family.  He has done a very wonderful work in creating you and I love watching you grow little by little into the woman He made you to be.  But, please just don't grow so fast!  This mama's heart can't take it!

Love you, girl.

Star of the Week

So Allie's birthday festivities started off with her turn to be Star of the Week in her class.

Can she really be 7 already?

The Star gets to bring in a favorite book to read to the class as well as a special toy.  She chose her pink seal that her big brother bought for her with his own money the last time we went to the aquarium while she was in school.  He felt bad that she was sad about missing out and so wanted to get her something to cheer her up.  I think it worked.

The Star also gets to make (with help) her very own poster to hang on the special bulletin board.  But I'm pretty sure the hanging up part was done all by herself.

And on Wednesday, the Star gets to be Chef for the day and demonstrates how to make a favorite recipe in front of the class.  Allie chose "Flower Cups" (aka "Dirt Cups" but she didn't want to call it that).  A step-by-step recipe complete with picture had to be turned in for this project.

Her whole entourage (minus Daddy) was there for moral support.

She got up there in spite of being a little nervous about it and presented her recipe.

No matter that she didn't look up until the very end.

Love this girl.

Any questions?

Then she dashed off to pass out the treats to everyone in class.

Happily, her Flower Cups were a hit!

Even down to the fake flowers.  She was pretty insistent that we find enough blue flowers for the boys because she sure wasn't going to stick them with a pink flower.  She does have brothers after all.  Plus she is extra sensitive to these kinds of things.

With her wonderful teacher.

I think it's safe to say she had an awesome time being Star of the Week and I'm so happy we had a week to focus on just her.  With three other siblings, those times are a bit hard to come by.  But for some reason, I was exhausted by the end of it!

St. Patty's Day

If you didn't know before, I'll just tell you now.  We're not Irish.  Shocker, I know.  But we have celebrated St. Patrick's Day in small ways every year pretty much only because green is Phil's favorite color and because he enjoys a good corned beef and cabbage stew.  Also because of the kids' unwillingness to be pinched for not wearing green that day.

What can I say except that we are a family steeped in rich cultural heritage and meaningful traditions.

: /

So with that, I bid you a happy [albeit belated] St. Patty's Day!

From our family to yours in every conceivable shade of green known to man.  (We are nothing if not thorough.)

Since St. Patrick's day fell on a Sunday this year, this is how we were dressed for church.

My March babies.  And because I really, really did not want either one born on the actual day when many celebrate with green beer, I planned it so one would be born the day before and the other one the day after.  Okay, not really, but yeah it's still sorta true.

Turns out daddy's not the only one who enjoys a good corned beef and cabbage stew as it got four new fans at dinner that night.

Now He's Two

Hey!

They say it's my birthday.  So my big bro made a lion out of legos for me.  I loved it.

But I didn't get no party.  That's okay though.  This strawberry lemonade is like a party in a cup.

Plus I got to rock out to the happy birthday song.

Twice.

Then they let me near open flame.  Two open flames.

And I blew out my own candles this year, thank you very much.  Daddy was the human fire extinguisher at the ready juuuust in case.

Then I got to eat cake, too!

Did you try my cake?  It's uh-maaaazing!

Cake this good requires some extra rocking out.

A day that starts with strawberry lemonade and ends with ice cream cake = a pretty awesome day in my book.

This birthday business is kinda cool if you ask me.

That is, until the next day when mommy rediscovered the 2 shirt she bought for me a while back and thought she'd like a nice birthday boy picture of me in it.

Because apparently she's already forgotten that I'm two now.

And that changes everything.

Because who wants to stand around doin' nothin' when there's a tree swing to try out?

And a handy dandy daddy to make sure I don't fall off?

See, daddies get it.

While mommies need a bit of help remembering what brand new two-year-old boys are like.

***

Happy birthday to my baby!  Now you're two.  You have high highs and low lows and sure like to keep us on our toes.  But through it all, know that I am so happy to be your mommy and that you are a very necessary member of this family.  God sure gave us a wonderful blessing when He gave us you!  Happy two!