a tea party birthday.

my sweet girl had been dreaming of her birthday party since january.  we had a countdown and everything.

bella has absolutely loved her first year of school, especially her "girlfriends" as she affectionately calls them.  it's the cutest thing ever.  she has such sweet friends, so we came up with the idea of having them over for a little tea party to celebrate her turning five.

this was right up my alley.

i kind of love doing birthday parties for my girls.  my house is pretty much decorated, so parties allow me to indulge my creative side, and still get to decorate and make things.  i really have fun.  i know, i'm a total nerd.

i even sketched out the decorations, yall.

told you.  i'm kind of ridiculous.  i just really do love parties.  especially deliciously girly ones with tulle and mismatched china and tissue poms and vintage hankies.  it's a good thing i had girls.

i had visions of having this party outside on our lawn, under a canopy of trees.  i was going to hang teacups from tree branches with twine and have the girls race with sugar cubes on spoons.  it was all so cute in my head.

and then the morning dawned, cold and so so windy.  and, there went my plans.  even my sketch.  oh, well.

we moved the party inside and i tried to remember that everyone being comfortable, having fun and not being blown away by the cold wind was more important than those silly visions in my head.  even the hanging teacups in the trees.  and it was such a special day.

here are some details:

table

- a white lace tablecloth borrowed from a friend

- mismatched teacups, some from my collection, and some also borrowed from a friend

- aqua mason jars filled with pink roses and apple blossom branches i cut from a tree that morning

- these paper plates i bought on amazon; they look like china except i didn't have to wash them!

- cupcakes in these sweet little baking tea cups, also bought on amazon
- tulle (dollar store) and fabric strips (joanns) tied on the chairs
- jadite cake stand (cracker barrel gift shop!)
- tissue poms i made and hung with twine

food

- pink and yellow layered cake with buttercream frosting

- petit fours

- cucumber & cream cheese tea sandwiches

- croissants with butter and jam

- cherry & cream cheese tea sandwiches

- pink raspberry lemonade "tea"

the table

chair decorations

lace & tulle

teacups, "china" plates and cupcakes

teacup cakes!

  

party favors!

a friend gave me these sweet little stainless tea kettles!

we filled them with flower seed packets, bubbles and princess rings

one for each girl, plus a vintage hanky for tea

food table

the food!

petit fours

tea sandwiches

tissue poms + lace

goodies!

petit fours filled with jam

cake + roses + apple blossoms + billy buttons

leftovers = cake for breakfast

sweet school friends

opening presents

bella & makayla

bella, makayla & janelle

lauren

happy girl!

pink "tea"

this one had so much fun being a "big girl"

a table full of sweetness!

lauren

daddy even surprised all of us and dressed up like a butler!  here he is serving emmy and kaylin tea...what a guy!

i stocked up on necklaces, tiaras, wings and other princess accessories from the dollar tree, and they had a blast playing dress up... so adorable!

little princesses

we had such a great time with bella, her friends and their moms!  while our girls played, we all got to spend time with each other which was an added bonus!  i've prayed for a while for bella's school experience; for her friends, her classmates, and all of their families.  i'm still such good friends with several girls i went to high school with, so i pray that same blessing for my daughters.  i am so grateful for the kids in her class, for these girls and for the moms and dads we have met as well.   it was a special day with special friends!

so glad to celebrate my girl.  emmy is already requesting a tea party when she turns five, so this might be our little fifth birthday tradition.  i am treasuring these days of dressup and silliness, endless strands of necklaces and rings on every finger, girlishness and giggling and their sweet innocence.  here's to many more tea parties, friendship, drinking out of china teacups and layered cake :)

thankful for five blessed years with this girl in our lives.

the girl that made me a mama.

the girl that made me a mama just turned five.

five.

and she reminds me of it every second of every day.  "mama, i've five years old now, i'm not a baby anymore!" is heard in our house often these days.  it's going to be a year of kindergarten and dance lessons, friend birthday parties and first soccer games... and days away at school, and not at home with mama and little sis.

excuse me while i go cry my eyes out.

i know--deep down in my heart and soul i know--that there are so many wonderful days ahead.  precious seasons to live and memories to make.  but i also know that my heart has felt a little bit broken these last few weeks.  that crazy haired, squinty eyed, tiny little bundle i brought home from the hospital  is growing up right before my eyes.  and there's nothing i can do about it but try my best to savor the moments with her that i am blessed with.

bella grace, you are what i've always dreamed of when we found out we were having a little girl.  you are wild and free: never stop moving, climbing or conquering new things.  you love everything lip gloss and princess, and you light up inside when we tell you how beautiful you are.  your heart is so tender, and your young faith is so precious... you love jesus, his word, and old hymns.  you are sensitive and kind, and i love watching you around other kids... you're always smiling and waving and calling them by name.  i love how you love.

you have grown so much over this last year.  your friends have become so very important to you, and you talk about them all the time.  your "girlfriends", as you call them.  i love seeing that; friendship is such a treasured gift.  you and emmy (while you fight) have become so close as she's getting older and you enjoy the same things.  you love it when she is by your side.  you have also really enjoyed (and craved) alone time with daddy and me.  we have tried to take you out on dates, or let you stay up later with us, so that you get that time with us that you have begun to want so badly.  it's so sweet.  you have become more independent, you LOVE school, and i've gotten to hear about you from your teachers which has made my heart swell with pride.  i may have shed a tear or two at our first parent teacher conference.  you've blossomed this past year and i just love watching who you are becoming.

you've also been excited about your birthday for months.  since january, i think.  so to celebrate you, we had a few special gatherings and traditions...

cupcakes & ice cream with our family.  it was also a beautiful day outside so you and your cousins got to play and run and swing on your playset.  you had a blast.  you love your cousins and our family so very much!

you got to pick your favorite meals on your actual birthday.  you chose cinnamon rolls (with a candle--you had to have a candle) for breakfast, and eggs, sausage and biscuits for supper (you were on a breakfast-food roll that day, apparently!).  it was a rainy day so we had a tea party with mama's real china and made tea party hats out of paper plates and ribbons.  i savored every last bit of your birthday while you were at home, with me.  it was a really, really special day just you, me and ems until daddy got home from work.  we let you stay up later and you and daddy made a tent in the living room out of quilts.  i made indoor smores and we watched a show you had picked out and ate our smores together in the fort.  you loved every second of it!

you wanted "frozen" cupcakes for your class at school, so you brought in bright blue cupcakes that you helped me make, with white frosting ontop.  you were SO excited to celebrate with your school friends.

then, finally, we had a sweet little tea party here at our house with all of your girlfriends from school.  you absolutely love your friends and you had been looking forward to the tea party for months.  we had such a fun time...and it was deliciously girly, which was right up your alley (i'll post more on that party later!)

five.  i still can't believe it.  i am so thankful that you are my girl.  god has blessed us immeasurably with the gift of you.  i hope you always know how special you are, and just how much you are loved.  you have been memorizing the 23rd psalm in your class at school.  my heart just melts when i hear your tiny little voice saying all of those words.  the name of this blog, where i am attempting to record and savor every tiny bit of you and your sister and our family, came from that passage.  "my cup runneth over" has been such a theme of my days, following jesus and clinging to his hope and his plan for me over all these years.  life hasn't always been easy, but being your daddy's wife and you and emmy's mama has been one of my life's greatest joys.  i hope you know how much i am blessed to be your mom.  you have captured my heart, and i can't wait to see what the lord has in store for you, my sweet girl.

my cup runneth over.

happy birthday.  i love you to the moon and back (and back, and back!)
mama