This is Tori. My girly #3. She is awesome. She has turned 5 years old. How I love her. I mean, look at her, how could you not love her?
I am a sucker mom and end up doing parties for the girls' birthdays every year. But it's so fun. They get so excited, and having their friends over for some b-day fun is a treat that only comes once every 12 months. Oh, and I do try to keep them simple and fairly inexpensive, I am after all a non-planner, so everything for me must workout with little effort and a lot of the reusable party items I have been saving through time.
This is the calm before the storm. Tori chose a jungle theme and Damon hung crepe paper "vines" the night before. They were everywhere. We had the party at noon and hubs couldn't be with us very long so the older sisters and I manned all positions. First, Jo enjoyed her lunch in peace and then was graceful enough to take a nap during the party. Tender mercies...For any special occasion I usually focus mainly on the table setting. This one is very plain but I like to use contrasting colors. The plastic table cover is a dollar, the cups, plates and napkins range from 1 to 2.50. Since the number of guests is usually small I always have left overs I save for future celebrations. I love it when I can just open my "party" box and whip up something special in minutes. It makes me feel rather awesome.
This is the paper lanterns' 3rd appearance. Settings for the older girls are a bit more elaborate (just a bit) since I figure they will actually look at it.
Pictures like this make it all worth it.
Sara and Sofia did the face painting. Tori went for the cheetah look. The other girls did a variety of just about everything they could think of. Boys opted for rainbows though (?). Sofia said she thought "gee, what's next, a unicorn?" haha.Sara and Sofia also crafted the parts necessary for a game of "put the hat on the safari guy" out of craft paper (59 cents a yard). It was awesome and I wish I had taken a picture of it. For kids this age I find that games are best when they are something they already know. Besides, they are just giddy to be at a party, so entertainment can be simple. We also played "animal charades" and "guess which animal".
In the end, our Tori is a year older (party or no party), had an afternoon filled with joy, and I am pooped but happy.
