Our sweet oldest daughter turned six this week. Since I'm due with baby #3 in a few weeks, I've been going through baby clothes to wash, and I've found tiny little outfits she wore in her first few days and weeks. She's growing so fast, and it's such a joy to watch her. This past year, she has done so well in homeschooling using
Classical Conversations. She is learning to read, and she loves math, almost always asking to do it first on school days. She is very artistic, making cards and pictures for everyone she loves, and leaving a paper trail around the house with all her creations. There's so much to her sweet, loving, personality, and I hope to capture it in her birthday interview if I can get it done soon.
On the morning of her birthday, I was going to run out and get some last minute items for the party, so she came along and we had a little breakfast date at Chick-fil-A of course.
I let her order her favorite, a chicken biscuit with grape and strawberry jelly, and a lemonade to drink. She loved squeezing both types of jelly on each bite, insisting that they tasted best together!
As is our tradition, she decided on her party theme months ago. The verdict? A messy art party. We had been checking the weather and praying for no rain, since that would have taken the "messy" out of it if we had to stay inside. The weather ended up perfect, and it was a blast. Since I knew the splatter painting would be so messy, we had dinner and cupcakes first before heading outside for the grand finale.
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| 38 weeks - I feel so big! |
Lots of family and a few friends made our "bigger" house seem not so big! It was so much fun to have the space to host, and the party turned out great. In keeping with our creative theme, I purchased plain white iced cupcakes and gave the kids sprinkles and little candies to decorate their own cupcake creation. Now, I enjoy baking cupcakes and making party food in general, but this time it was all about simplicity considering my current very-pregnant status and the fact that everything takes a ridiculous amount of time to do. Thanks to Davey's help, the house got cleaned up and finished in time for the party. He did most of it!
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| My flash battery died right when they were decorating, so I didn't get any pictures before they devoured the cupcakes. |
Once everyone had eaten, I started prepping the painting activity with the help of the other moms. Smocks, shower caps, paint clothes...everyone was ready. We diluted acrylic paint to make it more splatterable (great word, huh?), put it in pie pans, and lined up the kids. With a few guidelines, they were ready to go.
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| Lailey and Eli starting easy |
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| Avery |
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| I knew it wouldn't take long for the craziness to begin! |
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| She was having the time of her life. |
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| Getting more brave |
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| Notice who is the cleanest? He did NOT want other people to paint him. Stinker. |
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| Eli, already with a messy face. |
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| My favorite shot |
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| Mia |
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| Piper |
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| Ella |
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| Avery |
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Zadee
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| Cousin Addy |
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| It was a blast! Notice Lailey lost her shower cap in the process. |
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| Davey kept his distance, hence the clean shirt. His time was coming though. |
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| Sweet friends |
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| Guess we'd find out later if acrylic paint comes out of hair. |
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| Another favorite! He was yelling "It tickles!!!" as his boots got sprayed off. |
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| I think they look lovely, don't you? |
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| As you can see, they enjoyed painting my belly too. Glad I bought a white shirt! |
I'm so glad my friend suggested we get a family picture, even though Maddox had already removed his wet paint shirt. I made sure to surprise attack Davey with a paint brush beforehand.
So, do I recommend a messy art party? Well, if you're up for the madness, then totally. Lailey absolutely loved it, and it suited her personality perfectly. Happy Birthday!!!
