My... where has the time gone? Alia is becoming SO grown up! The things she remembers AMAZES me, and she is just the best little helper! She's an absolute delight to have in our family and I can't imagine our lives without her!
On Sunday we had an afternoon birthday party to celebrate Alia's life! All day Saturday and all morning Sunday, she was bouncing off the walls with excitement!! She remembered what birthday parties entailed from her "mini birthday party" we had when my parents were out. I would name some of the things that would be at the party (balloons, birthday banner, etc.) and she would make triple sure that I hadn't forgotten the birthday cake or candles or ice cream or... you name it!
The original plan was to have the party on the verandah... but typical to the prairies, it was SUPER unreal crazy windy! So, we moved the shindig into the garage after we got home from church. Thankfully Jon always keeps his space organized and tidy, and in less than 1/2 an hour, we were ready to roll!
The theme this year was "butterflies". Here's the invite!
We used Jon's work bench as a serving table, which worked wonderfully! The menu was simple this year and consisted of chips, cheese and crackers, and veggies!
Making the garage a little more festive
Our party favors this year were butterfly cookies. This was my first go around with royal icing... and I have to say, I LOVE IT! I only wished I would have had more time to go fancier instead of doing simple lines on the butterflies! Now I wanna make cookies for ANY occasion!!! "It's Wednesday... time for a cookie celebration!" :)
My homemade birthday banner
We decided to go with cupcakes vs. a birthday cake this year... and I'm pleased with how they turned out! Though I'll admit, I bought them! For the price of buying them it was hardly worth the money for ingredients and my time! I added the white chocolate "designs" on top!
Can ya tell that those are butterflies on top?! I guess I should have used a stencil because several people were stumped!!
More cupcakes...
Since it was too windy for the kids to play outside, I tried to think of some activities for them. I wanted to do "pin the spot on the butterfly" but just ran out of time! And I thought a pinata would be a little too dangerous at this age! So... coloring sheets it was!
Plus we drug in a few of Alia's outdoor toys to keep the kiddos occupied...
Our birthday girl!! Yes... she chose that hat, and she chose to wear it sideways!
Mingling with her some of her favorite people!
I had bottles of bubbles for the kids to play with, but Alia was the only one who got to enjoy them! By the time the other kids arrived, I completely forgot about them!
OH HOW I LOVE THIS GIRL!
Coloring with her best bud, Jesse! Thankfully he doesn't mind the extra help... notice her hand!
Our party guests...
Blowing out her birthday candles! She knew just what to do... and chose a bright yellow cupcake from her very first glimpse of them!
We asked people not to bring gifts... and for the most part that request was honored! (But I understand that loved ones should have the opportunity to spoil their dear... just a little bit!)
We wrapped up a few gifts for Alia but her main, big gift isn't out of the woodworking shop yet. Hopefully it will arrive soon!
Our littlest love with Gramma...
We tried getting all the kids together for a picture... but they had more fun things to do!
As did the guys!!! At one point almost every guy at the party was browsing through Jon's tool box... oh boys and their toys!
What a fun celebration we had! Alia is still talking about her party, so I think she enjoyed it as well!! At random moments she'll break out in an energetic randition of "Happy Birthday!!" So, we may be hearing her version of it until her next birthday... I can only hope so!
hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....
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