Happy, happy birthday!

Matthew 19: 14
 " Jesus said, ' Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' "


We have 2 birthdays and an anniversary at our house this week. One of the birthdays is for my baby girl. Here is where my husband would say, " She's not a baby!".  Well, to me they will always be my "babies"(even the 25 yr old).  But, in this case I am talking about my youngest. She will be 3 this week and we celebrated this past Sunday.  Just as on Halloween, when she changed her mind a couple of times before we settled on Tigger (see-Costume dilemma), we did not have a Beauty and the Beast party (see-Princess). I had even invited Belle! Fortunately, I hadn't purchased anything or made any deposits yet. Belle understood, and hoped we could work something out next year (whew!).

We had a Dora birthday party this year. When you're 3, Dora is the "bomb"! So, after perusing Pinterest and customizing an invitation on Evite. Dora truly came to life. Here are a couple of pics from the party.

I found this coloring page on Pinterest.
I was able to add some personal language to the map on my PC.
We used "Map" to go through the activities.

I got my color scheme and this goody bag idea from this party on Pinterest as well.
Found on Pinterest- catchmyparty.com

I enlisted the help of my 14 yr old to draw faces on cheese sticks for some festive party fare.
Also found on Pinterest- catchmyparty.com

My friend, Erin, made this wonderful cake.  It was truly the piece de resistance!!

My children are truly my precious gift from God.  I love the wonder and innocence that they have when they are younger. It makes birthdays and holidays so much fun. Planning and giving them these special times brings me so much joy (and then they become creepy teenagers, yuck!). I pray today that we approach each day with a little bit of the hope and wonder and yes, even some of the innocence of our youth. Amen!

Have a great week!