Amelia's Salon & Day Spa

Amelia wanted to have a make-up party so I took that idea and ran.  I wanted this to be a very fun & special party because to me 5 seems like it deserves a big deal.  So, as you may remember from my post about the invitations, I turned my living room into Amelia's Salon & Day Spa.  When you entered the house, there was a big sign identifying the spa.  Then there was a waiting room complete with Highlights magazines for the girls to wait for their appointments.  They never actually sat down in the waiting room as they were all very excited upon arrival.  Amelia had been asking every three minutes, when were her friends coming? By the time 10 am arrived, hyper didn't quite capture her state.  There were 5 guest plus Amelia.  My awesome friends and mom helped man the stations which included: pedicure, manicure, facial, hair, and craft table.  At the craft table, the girls made their bag to put all of their goodies in.  They each got to take home, a pair of flip flops from the pedicure station, a fingernail polish from the manicure station, a lip gloss from the make up station, and a mini hair crown from the hair station.  When the girls arrived, I took Before pictures and when the treatments were complete, they all took After photos.  It all went really smoothly, I thought.  We had one casualty of a finger burn from a little girl who reached up and touched the curling iron.  But other than that, the girls got a big kick out of getting pampered.  After the spa experience, they all changed into a fancy dress, picked out some play jewelry and headed to the tea party.  The menu there included: chocolate dipped strawberries, watermelon cut into hearts, brownies, marshmallow and chocolate sandwiches also cut into hearts, pink punch, and of course cake.  They all had a big time and were well marked with chocolate by the time the party was over.  I had a total blast planning the party and it seemed the girls had an equally fun time together as well.  Maybe we'll have a low key party from now until age 10 and then throw a big bash again.  

The tag on the bags they made read, " It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful.  No, your beauty should come from within you....This beauty will never disappear, and it is worth very much to God." 1 Peter 3: 3-4

  

One of the highlights for the girls was actually an afterthought-a chocolate mud mask at the make-over station.  There were a lot of giggles as they looked in the mirror at themselves.

Sometimes You Flop

 

O.K so this is what the cake was supposed to look like.  Looks easy enough,  doesn't it? In no way was attempting this cake suggesting that there is anything in me that is Martha-esque.  But there were step by step directions.  How hard could it be?

Let me just state that I have successfully made some pretty cute cakes in the past.  If you will recall, my son's birthday cake decorated to look like a lion, just a month ago, was above average for one who has never had any instruction on decorating cakes.  

Well, not so much on this attempt.  My mom and I laughed so hard at this pitiful attempt.  Here's a good laugh for you.

Let's hear your interpretation.  My mom thought it looked like a school bus.  I thought it looked like a rock on one side and the Leaning Tower of Pisa from the other.  It wasn't even worth trying to get the malted milk balls to make the handle of the purse.  There was no way this thing was being served as is.  I just cut it in slices and served it.  

That night Jason was trying to encourage me by saying, "It's fine, honey, it's just a five year old birthday party".  Amelia tactfully waited until they retreated to the bedroom to ask Jason, "Why did you say it was fine, dad.  That cake is not fine."  I couldn't agree with her more!

Middle One's Birthday Number Three

I absolutely love throwing birthday parties for my kids.  Sometimes I go a little over the top all the time knowing it is more because I enjoy it than because it is necessary.  I love making the invitations, picking the theme, making the cake-the whole nine yards. This year, when it came time to think about Lane's birthday (in January, you know because you need three months to plan a 3 year old's party {sarcasm}) I just decided we would go super low key this year.  I couldn't even think of who I would invite because most of the people we play with are either Amelia's friends who happen to have younger siblings, or family friends.    He doesn't really have a friend that he would really pick on his own.  So we decided we would just have some family friends over for some pizza, ice cream and cake.  Throw some presents in there and to a 3 year old that is perfectly acceptable for a party.  And get this, I actually stuck to it.  In no way, shape, or form did I make this simple thing over the top like I usually do.  It just so happened that my sister was in town for my nieces volleyball tournament so we got to add Gina and Elli to the gathering.  It was so nice and relaxing.  Lane actually picked the theme, Alex the Lion, because he is obsessed with this stuffed lion my mom bought him at the zoo a couple of weeks ago.  All that really inspired was the cake.  The kids just played with the toys that Lane opened, mostly the train set that I inherited from someone for free and wrapped it up in a box like it was brand new.  Love that.  Then they made ice cream sundaes and ate cake.  That was it.  Party over.  We all had a great time celebrating our sweet boy.