To the aprons we had the kids stamp/paint their names on (they were not bad quality for what I paid). got them at Oriental Trading... they were small, but decent and the kids LOVED them. 
Every time Kaya saw me about to take a picture of her, she was PROUD to shoot up her four little fingers... it was just so cute. She is SO EXCITED to be four!
This is a shot of some of the 84 cupcakes and 48 cookies I made last night (from box mixes, NOT from scratch)
I am SO HAPPY I picked up this little tower thing at JoAnns with a 40% off coupon. I was really on a tight budget for this party... but this was a very good decision and my friends promised to borrow it from me because I would NEVER pay $13 for something I was only going to use once!
The decorating in the bags with the tips was a HUGE hit. I mean, they LOVED it!
We found out that my neice, EJ has a hidden talent for Cake Decorating that did NOT come from my sister!!
Kaya was gracious and kind and loved every present... even every piece of clothing. She held every single thing up for me to take a picture. It was just sweet. I could not have planned it more perfectly. She was great and shared everything right away with her sister and friends... I wish she could always be so appreciative.
The cake (purchased by my Mom's best friend Mrs. J because I was not going to have a cake since we had all the cupcakes and she said we needed to have a cake to blow out the candles on. So, she brought a stunning cake in Kaya's rainbow theme.
And, without knowing, Mrs. J's daughter, our good friend Mari, had her husband pick up the candles and he got trick candles (yeah, for a four year old - I am SURE he did not get them on purpose) so she blew her little heart out trying to get them to stay out and the room filled with smoke from them. She was so cool about it and she just kept making these faces and blowing. Her dad starting helping her and it was just really funny. Neil took out some of the candles when they seemed to be out, and they started again IN HIS HAND and someone noticed... they almost caught a balloon on fire. Mari was so mad that her husband got those, but MAN, it made us all laugh and Kaya was the best sport about it.
Here is Kaya loving Mrs. J. This lady makes my world a much better place. I wonder if my Mom knew what an amazing gift she was giving me by picking Mrs. J as her best friend.
And it ended with an awesome Karaoke event to HSM2 in the basement on my dad's big screen TV with two of Neil's mikes set up so they could sing together... they were jumping around and just really really enjoying it all. I loved it. I was so proud and peaceful even amongst the chaos that goes with having 16 kids painting and decorating cupcakes and getting out and spreading out every toy you have in your home! It felt fantastic and I felt like this was something they would never forget. I never had kid parties when I was little. My best friend threw me a surprise party with friends for my Golden Birthday (turning 14 on the 14th) and I thought it was amazing. Even on a tight budget this year, it turned out better than I could have dreamed. I am SO LUCKY to have good friends who take great care of me (by cleaning up the ENTIRE mess from the cupcake decorating while we did presents) and brought amazing things to help me (food, cakes, etc). My sister provided so much stuff..... it looked so nice and stayed in budget and best of all, was what one kid called, "the best party ever." Cannot ask for more than that. I feel very tired and very very very blessed beyond measure. 
3 comments:
Wish I could have been there!
What a GREAT party idea! I love the cupcake decorating - and it looks like the kids did too! I'll have to remember that one for next year since I didn't know what to do for my little guy's this year.
I think you have the most awesome parties!!! You are such a fun mom!!!
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