A Very Special Birthday

Five years old!   This is a very special year in the life of a child.  It is the milestone year.  The year they go to school (yes, the REAL school with the yellow school bus), they delve into extracurricular activities that are more than introductions to sports, and they have memories.  REAL memories that they can recall even when they are old and gray (scary isn't it?).   They learn to tie shoes, ride bikes, and play video games.  This is the year when they turn into BIG KIDS!  I cannot believe this age is upon us already.  Time truly flies.  This year was a no-brain er in terms of party theme.  PRINCESSES.  We (by we I mean Sarah) has been planning this royal blast for over 6 months.  Her ideas were so big that I quickly decided not to even attempt to have this at our home.  Instead, I booked a room at our church.  Here are some photos of the big event.  Well actually, there are more than "some".  Thanks to my dad, I had so many photos of the event that it was simply hard to whittle them down. 

Believe it or not, Wal Mart did this cake. I found it online and fell in love with it. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I did not have to pay out the nose to get this made. Yay!

Sarah donned the dress that we have seen now for three months almost on a daily basis.  She was so excited to become the "queen of the ball".

The tables are spread with the food and drinks.

We brought a few toys from home to enhance the fun.  The castle was a must for this party.  The little ones especially had fun in it as you will see.

We are lucky to have kids tables set up year round in the fellowship hall at church.  All I had to do was set the table and we were ready to eat! 

I must say, this was a pretty chaotic and stressful week for us.  December was the snowiest and coldest in my memory.  We had to move the event back two days because of inclement weather.  It turned out great because even though we lost a few guests, we gained my parents, who were coming up for the weekend to have our early Christmas celebration and Chris's dad, who had to work the night shift during the week.  This allowed us to have one big family/friend party instead of two. 

The guests begin arriving.  Leah was especially happy to see her cousin, Alena.  I just love my niece.

Although it looks here like she was walking, Leah was actually crawling during this event.  She walked like a pro while pushing around chairs or anything that rolled.  All this would change during the next week...

Peek a boo!

This was her preferred mode of getting around.

Alena couldn't wait for Leah to get up on two feet.

Now that the little ones were occupied and looked after...

It was time to party!  Not one, not two, but three of Sarah's "boyfriends" came for the event.  I was interested to see how it played out with them all in one room, but it went just great.  She was very kind to all of her guests.  I was proud of her.  I was also proud of many of her male guests who dressed up even though the party sounded a bit "girly".  We had a couple of knights and Indiana Jones.  Yes!

We ate first so that the kids would have lots of energy to run around and hopefully, have a good time.

She is so proud of this party.  Much of it was planned by Sarah herself.  She loves a good party.

Leah is just content to play with balloons.  Balls and balloons are truly her favorite toys at the moment.

Our littlest cousin, Aubrey. She looks more like Ashley every day!

Then we split the crew up into boy and girl teams and had craft time.  The boys made shields and crowns and the girls decorated  castles and sand art tiaras. 

 

Here is Caden showing off the finished products for us. 

     Many of the girls dressed up.   Sarah had five of her best girlfriends in attendance. 

I am in love with this cute light up dress!  Macy looks adorable!

This is London, one of Sarah's little boyfriends.  He commonly talks to her about when they will be getting married.  So cute!

Look at how he looks at her.   I think he means business.   It cracks me up!  I was such a tomboy, few boys looked twice at me at this age.

OK, so I protested this game for months.  Pinatas are violent and expensive.  A lot can go wrong, kids can get hurt, etc.  When I found a crown on sale, Sarah begged and begged and I gave in.  I am so glad I did!  This was the highlight of the whole party.  The kids loved it.

Each got at least two turns before...

It hit the floor and absolute madness ensued!

Finally, it was time to open presents.  This was the only part that went a little long.  In hindsight, I wish I had kept our family presents home to open later, but most people stayed around for the cake.

Mamaw and her third grandchild.  Four grandkids...all girls.   What are the odds of that ?

Cake time!  Happy Birthday big girl!  What a fun birthday!  Although exhausting at this time of year, I am committed to making this special day full of good memories that stand on its own separate from Christmas each year.  I hope she loved it and looks back with fond memories.  Love you sis!