Happy Birthday Riley!

For realsies this time. We had the pre-party a month ago when a lot of her friends were about to move out and she wanted them to be there. She asked why we were doing it again! And Joe asked why it wasn't his birthday. So many questions!

Well the first party was mostly boys. Balloon fighting, sword fighting, wrestling... So, balance in all things - this time we had a tea party!

 Because it's Riley, she, with the help of her guests, had to help decorate the cupcakes. She'd picked out the sprinkles and gummi bears and specified the cake and icing (chocolate. white.)  There were many little fingerprints in the frosting, but hey, they still tasted pretty good! We also did another craft from Riley's craft book: crown making! Its amazing how some brightly colored paper and sparkly stick-on stars can thrill people.

For lunch, at Riley's request, we had pig-in-a-blankets, strawberries and grapes, and pirates booty. I snuck in carrots but no one cared. Because no one ate them.

Baby snack cups make great plate elevators. It's the rubber on the bottom - grips the plate really well! The flowers were a gift from Dave. I told him the day before how Riley saw some at the grocery store and sighed and said, "I wish we had some of those," so he made a midnight run for fresh flowers for her. In case Riley ever wonders how much her Dad adores her! He also did a bang-up job decorating the living room the night before, but you'll have to take my word for it - I didn't get a picture! Riley was thrilled though.

I forgot we didn't have a tea kettle for this tea party, but the girls were fine with the miniature pitchers I set out - they still got to pour their own drinks. It's amazing what a little autonomy will do for a child - I refilled those pitchers over and over because they kept swilling so they could keep pouring. 

 Shockingly, they restrained themselves from cake till after lunch was finished and Riley blew out her candles. Everyone is so well behaved at tea parties! I told them we have to be refined and use very nice manners and that set off about five minutes of complimenting each other on a range of topics. Hair. Smell. Crown beauty...

Following lunch and cake we had hide and seek and Disney Twister:

Presents:

 And then we went out to the park to play in mud puddles and try out Riley's new water guns. All in all, I declare this party to be a success. The only thing is, I thought of about a dozen kids after that we should have invited, it being the last hurrah and all that, but I suppose we would have had to reserve a party room to do that. As it was, we were maneuvering around boxes and bubble wrap the whole time - the move is coming up hard and fast!

That evening we switched gears and had Dave's celebratory Father's Day dinner as he was going out of town for actual Father's Day. Sigh. I know! But job interviews must be had! Luckily, I sneaked a video of Riley's primary performance at church for him. Your kids singing in church is something of a life hi-light to me - cuteness at it's finest! So what the heck; here ya' go:

Riley's always loved the stage. Joe made it about half way and then turned around and sprinted back to sit in my lap. My cuddler!

Well, Riley, I hope you had a good day. I would never have thought that hosting a bunch of little kids for hours at a time would be fun, but I kind of had a blast! Seeing your child so excited and happy makes everything worth it. Plus little ones say the darndest things - they crack me up! Things like, "You can't fall in love with your cousin." "I just want the gummi bear song for my birs-daaay. (Joe)" "I'm four now and I need some privacy." You never know what they're going to say next! Riley is so smart and creative and surprises me every day with some new thing. Just a new story or song or observation. Or artwork. Behold our wall today:

I saw the marks, instantly tried to scrub them off with no luck, and growled, "Why is there marker on this wall." Enter Riley around the corner. "Oh I just thought that wall needed some blue roses."

Now why do I feel like the guilty one now??? Being a mom is weird sometimes. Suddenly I want to paper the walls with blue roses. I won't. I'll buy a magic eraser and get rid of the ones we have, but if we weren't renting and about to move out I'd totally keep them. Riley's imagination is just too charming!

 Ok, one last thing and then it's to bed. I was not a patient mommy tonight and I need some beauty rest! But here is Riley and Joe, in their new birthday superhero jammies, playing on their make-shift "slide." That's it - I'm getting rid of all our toys! Who needs em!

Good night!