Emmy's 3rd Birthday Party {The Details}

This party was a labor of love.  When I decided to have a swim party for Emmy this year, I asked her if she wanted a Minnie Mouse party or a Little Mermaid party.  I gave her a choice because she is a little difficult, but I fully expected her to choose a Minnie Mouse party.  We had just gone to Disney World when I started planning, so Mickey and Minnie were on her brain.  I was surprised but a little delighted when she chose The Little Mermaid.  I have tried to throw her big parties the past few years, and I thought that I would try to scale back some this year.

"We'll just get pizza and Capri Suns," I said.

"We won't do all the craziness this year," I said.

"We don't have to invite everyone every year," I said.

I lied.

Once I got on Pinterest and started looking at all of the ideas for Little Mermaid parties, there were so many cute ideas from so many parties, that I knew I would have to do more than just pizza and juice.  To my credit though, there were a thousand more things that I wanted to do decoration wise, but I knew and accepted that it just wasn't possible to do all of that when you are having a party at a public pool.   The following are some of the details and food from the party.  I think this just might be my favorite so far.  Maybe next year we'll scale it down...








This is supposed to be reminsicient of a scene from the movie.  Ariel puts silverware in a candleabra because she doesn't know what it is for.  Scuttle tells her that forks are "Dinglehoppers," and you brush your hair with them.



Although the card that I made says goldfish, I actually bought the brand that had Shamu on the front.  It had whales, turtles,a nd other sea creatures instead of only goldfish.



My mom made the PB & Jellyfish sandwhiches.  She even went the extra mile and cut them out with a fish cookie cutter.  She's the best.









I think this was a favorite among our guests.  I had three vases of "seaweed" out and people munched on them more than the platter of fruit.  They were a little hesitant at first though because they thought the purple grapes were olives.  GROSS.







The cupcakes.  Oh the cupcakes.  I refuse to put a picture of all of the cupcakes on this post because they were so very sad.  I made them and iced them, and before we left my house they were already melted and dripping down the sides.  I almost started to cry.  So instead of the actual truth, you are going to see two of the cupcakes that were in the best condition, so when I read this post later I can lie to myself and say everything went perfectly.  Since no one is graduating next year from our family, Rae will for sure be making the cake again.  I'm going to put my order in tomorrow. ;)





My sister LOVES Swedish Fish, so I added a bowl of them to the table just for her.



For party favors, I raided the dollar bin at Target and bought all of the little girls sunglasses and beach hats.  I also ordered a mega pack of Ariel favors from Party City when I bought the plates and napkins.  I just put them in a bowl and handed them out as people were leaving.  There were only a couple of pairs of sunglasses that looked like boys could wear them, so those went fast.





We were surprised with cookies from Rae when she got to the party.  This was the sweetest gesture because she has made the cake for every event we have ever had for Emmy (baby shower, dedication, birthdays..).  I liked that there was still something of hers for our guests.  Aren't these cookies the cutest?





I'll post pictures of the actual party next, but I wanted all of the details to be on their own!

Happy 3rd Birthday Emmarie

Happy Birthday Emmy! 

Today you are three years old.  You are growing up into such an incredible little girl.  You astound Daddy and I daily with how smart and quick you are. There are so many things that you say and do that we are caught off guard by.  The other day I told you that someone was your aunt, and without thinking you corrected me and said that she was your "Great Aunt."  And you were right. 

Thank you for being exactly what Daddy and I needed--a perfect princess.  You have made our lives so much happier these past three years than we ever thought was possible.  May you continue to grow and love Jesus the way you do now.  Church is one of your favorite places, and I love that.

At the end of the day just remember that we love you "more than most."

Love,
Mommy


Here is our obligatory chair photo.



You aren't exactly a rule follower.



Your smile makes me glow.



"Is Emmy asleep?"  "NOPE."



You look so innocent here.







You love to show your pretty dresses.



I wanted to get photos of all of the funny faces that you make.  You were hilarious while we did these, and I'm so glad that I thought about doing this.








Here is an Emmy Update:

She likes: Going swimming (she thinks of the Aquatic Center exclusively as her birthday party place), reading books, laughing and playing, her playhouse, jumping on the trampoline, doing rolls, watching movies on the TV in her room (It's a super classy TV/VCR combo that she watches VHS movies on...LOL), singing EVERY song from Frozen as loudly and frequently as possible, playing with her best friends, her dolls, her Minnie Mouse kitchen, anything Ariel/The Little Mermaid, anything Minnie or Mickey Mouse, anything Frozen (movie not drinks), pretty much anything Disney in general, taking photos with her camera, pink and purple, riding her pink scooter, sitting on her Minnie Mouse couch, the bean bag, sleeping on her new big bed, coloring, painting, doing crafts, Tangled, and playing with other kids.

She dislikes: Being told no, waking up in the morning before she wants to, any cart at the store that isn't one of the huge kid tank ones, sharing the TV, apologies are still tough for her, having to help clean up/put away toys (she thinks Mommy should do the honors), anyone messing with her stuff, Ursula (from Little Mermaid), being told what to do, not getting to choose her own shoes/clothes/bows, and any reprimands of any kind.

She eats: Mini corn dogs (like for every meal if I let her), mustard and ketchup are her dipping sauces of choice, fish fillets, french fries, carrots, zucchini, pineapple, apples, grapes, watermelon, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, rolls, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, chicken nuggets, and Capri Suns are her favorites.

She says: She can (and will) hold an extended conversation.  Her language skills are one of her strongest skills, and she says words sometimes that completely astound me.  It's like she just knows stuff sometimes and we don't know where she gets these things.  She can sing her ABCs perfectly.  She can identify all of the letters by sight, but there are a couple (J, M, & N) that she misses sometimes.  She can count to 20 without any problem, but we haven't really pushed her beyond that yet. She knows every word to "Let it Go" and "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"  She will start singing them randomly, and DO NOT try in join in.  She is a solo artist.  She can also delight crowds with the theme songs for every Disney Junior show and most of the commercials.  Maybe she needs a job as one of their spokesmen.

Little Mermaid Photoshoot

When we figured out that we were having a Little Mermaid birthday party, I knew that I wanted to take mermaid inspired photos for the invitations.  When we headed to the Austin area for the weekend, I knew Krause Springs would be the perfect place for this photo shoot.  It has a plethora of natural beauty, and the waterfall there is breath-taking.  I mean it's no Niagara Falls, but it is gorgeous nonetheless.  Here are some of the shots from that shoot.

I bought the purple bathing suit at Target, and I made the green tutu in the car on the way to Krause Springs.  Nothing like a little last minute ingenuity to get your creative juices flowing. 

Enjoy the photos of our Little Mermaid.

Mother's Day 2014

We started off our Mother's Day with a trip to Sunday morning services at our church.  I am so thankful that I have such an amazing church to take Emmy to where she can learn about Jesus.  There she sees strong women that are both amazing mothers and educated ladies.  She sees many examples of what loving families look like.  It was the perfect place to spend our Mother's Day.

True to form, we took a few photos before service.









It was my Sunday to teach the youth class, so after our lesson, I had all of the kids write something about their mom on the chalkboard.  I of course couldn't resist writing my mom a message too.  Pinterest Win!



Since it was Cameron's first Mother's Day, I thought it was only right that he should get to take a photo too.



Of course we also needed a photo with the woman responsible for creating this little gaggle of girls.  My mom is such a great example of how a mother should behave.  She sacrificed a lot of her time and goals for us growing up, and I hope that every day, my sisters and I show her that her sacrifices were worth the effort.



In addition to a few presents, my sisters and I created some new and improved (or not) versions of a couple of my mom's photos of us as kids.  We decided that this should be a summer project where we redo bunches of our childhood photos.  For now, we started with the following two.






Happy Mother's Day!

NOW GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND GO KISS YOUR MAMMA!  :)