Ever since Hannah was born, we have been combining the girls’ birthday parties. They are only 2 years and 2 weeks apart – exactly two weeks on Leap Year years. I am so thankful that they don’t care that they have to share a party so we will continue that until I hear some complaints! For now, they get special attention on their actual birthdays and then they have a combined party some time in the middle of the two dates.
We celebrated the girls on Saturday with a Hearts and Art Party… yes, I was able to get MOST of the decorations, crafts, and candy at discounted prices from after Valentines Day, and this momma is NOT ashamed of that. (Are Valentines M&Ms bad once Valentines Day is over? I would rather spend $1.00 a bag than the $2.99 or more that they are normally.) The girls were excited for lots of girly crafts and fun with friends.
Here are the two birthday princesses before the guests arrived…
As the guests arrived, the girls greeted them and then they all played in the toy room for a little while until I invited them upstairs for the first craft. It was an easy one. I had painted wooden frames and the girls could decorate them with markers and heart stickers!
Our Hannah Grace’s friend, Johanna (age 4)
Hannah’s Friend Cadence (age 3)
Grace’s friends Amelia and Abigail (twins age 5)
After this craft, the girls played some more. They especially loved playing Ducks – they were using the balloons that we had as eggs and had blankets on the floor as their nests. They were all quacking and laying eggs all morning… what a crazy bunch! They enjoyed each other very much, and there weren’t too many arguments…. which is rare for that many girls being together!
We had one more craft…. we made heart wreaths. It was a little too difficult for the little girls, but the older ones got it with help from the moms. The moms enjoyed this one more than the girls, but that was ok with me. The moms now have an idea to work on in their own time.
Cadence and Bethany (she is due next week with their second child, Clayton)
Sabrina with MiMi and Abigail Sandy and Johanna
Around 11:30 I pulled out the food for lunch…just something simple, the traditional Lightner birthday party staples: Italian meatballs in the crockpot (which could be made into meatball subs with rolls that we had or eaten plain), Karen Illian punch, veggies with dip, crackers and cheese, and fruit (grapes this time). All the kids ate really well, especially when we mentioned that there was cake and ice cream for kids who ate well!
I loved the balloons hanging over the table. I saw this idea on Pinterest and it really came out cute. Danny just hung them from the ceiling with string in various lengths…. so cute and SIMPLE!
I am always nervous about the birthday cake because I am NOT a master at it… but it came out cute. I just try to KEEP IT SIMPLE!! I made my own buttercream frosting this time and it was super yummy!
We put 5 candles into the cake first and sang to Grace….
Then we put three candle in and sang to Hannah! She just LOVED the cake, the singing, the candles, the attention. She was BEAMING as the cake was carried to her… JUST PRECIOUS!! She even blew out the candles in ONE BLOW!!
She is STILL glowing!!
We cut the cake and our girls passed it out to their friends… we even gave scoops of vanilla ice cream if they wanted.
FRIENDS:
Me and My Birthday Girls!
By the way, Josiah was GREAT during the party. He had fun playing with the balloons and the baby Alex (6 months old and brother of Mimi and Abigail) and was very entertained by all of the girls. He especially liked lunch and the cake!
No more birthday parties for a little while...which is good because we are tired! We will celebrate Hannah as a family on Thursday and have all of the food that she has requested. Once again we can’t believe that our girls are 5 and 3…. wow! Time has flown. The guests enjoyed the baby pictures we had up of the girls, and I enjoyed telling stories of them when they were babies and recounting the events of their deliveries and characteristics as babies! Oh what fun!
Happy birthday, girls! We love you 100 barrels!
