Party Of Five

Ella is five.  FIVE!  FIVE!  I can not believe this girl is five already.  We were planning on doing a family party for her.  When I told her she said, "Yes!  I can invite my friend's families?!"  I thought that would be ok, until I realized that all her friend's and their families would have been 47 kids!  Later, I asked Ella what she wanted for her birthday and she said all she wanted was a piñata. Cameron went to the store to pick up a piñata and choose a My Little Pony one.  What's a piñata without friends to help crack it open?  So we threw together a cute My Little Pony birthday party with Ella's five closest friends.

We started the day with cookie-decorating - and EATING

I baked this cake the morning of her party.... this was the SECOND cake I baked that morning.  Along with the piñata, I had asked Cameron to buy a cake mix.  Normally he buys exactly what I ask him to, never extra.  This time, though, he came home with two cake mixes.  I was so happy that he did!  I didn't use eggs, due to Austin's allergies, and that leaves these cakes pretty fragile.  The first cake I made completely fell apart when I tried to put it on the cake stand; and I mean completely!  There was no salvaging it!  Lucky for me, I had two cake mixes.  I was also baking these cookies at the same time so I was a little tense! 

After cookie decorating the kids went downstairs for a Wii dance party.  They danced to Frozen songs.  Not all the kids were into dancing, so Austin set up some stations an led the non-dancers through some games, including Duck Duck Goose, Air Hockey, and Block-building.  

Present time!  This girl is so lucky to have such a great friends.  There is a large number of kids her age in our neighborhood and she knows them well from church.  I am grateful, every day, that she has the opportunity to learn how to develop friendships with a good amount of kids.  She wouldn't have had close friends in other places we've lived.  

Dad did a good job choosing the piñata, ehe?  He also made it seem extra fun.  Of course Ella pulled the string that opened it on the first try.  Rather than let that ruin the fun Cameron came up with a way to keep the candy in and make sure every kid got a chance to try and open it.  He's kind of awesome like that: always finding fun.

Cookies, Dancing, Piñata, Wishes, Cake, & Presents: Easiest Party I've ever put together!

At Five Ella:

wants to go everywhere I go; she hangs out with me a lot, and I LOVE it

loves to watch Disney Jr and Sprouts TV

is learning how to read

loves drawing, writing, and coloring

loves to play with small toys: Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pockets, and La La Loopsie

is so helpful with her little brother - she brings him a toy any time he even wipers

doesn't like to clean her room

is really good at doing 'Saturday Chores' as long as she doesn't have to do it alone

loves to ride her bike and talks about how 'Grandpa Smedley' taught her how

really likes when I do her hair, especially when we try new braids

wishes she could be a mermaid when she grows up

has a catch phrase "do I have to eat a healthy thing so I can have a treat?" (she asks this many times a day)

loves to take baths

likes to jump on our trampoline with 'the boys'

loves to have friends over and go to their houses

Favorite foods: 'pagehetti and meatballs'; sweet peppers - red, yellow, and orange, but not green; broccoli dipped in apple cider vinegar; tacos; and of course, candy, cookies.....pretty much any treat

Scenes From Her Family Party: