October 30

My poor blog has been neglected for the past few days. I'm going to try to get back on track.

Audrey's third birthday party was yesterday! I am the first to admit that I go way overboard on birthday parties. I am also quick to admit that I do it purely for selfish reasons. Yes, I want Audrey to have a fun and memorable party. But I know she could have a fun and memorable party without the theme and decorations and stuff! I just love party planning. If ever I could get a job as an event planner, I would LOVE it!

I do try to pick a theme that I know fits with what Audrey (and soon Isla) would like. Except for the first birthday party, which doesn't matter at all as the kids don't know what is going on. For Audrey's first birthday, we had a Little Miss Birthday themed party. For her second birthday, we had a goldfish themed party. At the time, she loved goldfish (both the real fish and the crackers), so it was a fitting theme for her.

This year, I picked a "Paint the colors of the rainbow" party. Audrey loves to paint and color and draw. So I knew a paint party would be a hit with her. And I have found so many cute rainbow ideas lately, that I thought it would be fun to incorporate them in some way as well. The result--my favorite birthday party so far!

These streamers (directions found here) were my favorite decoration. I wish I would have had time to make more because they were so cute and fun.
We had lots of rainbow colored food...

We had some paint activities for the kids. Face painting was a big hit with all of them, especially Audrey. She had a cupcake on one cheek, a balloon on the other cheek, a spider on one hand, and a rainbow on the other hand.

Paint with water. I don't know if the kids thought this was that much fun, but I liked it because it was not too messy!
And they also got to paint a pumpkin.
A rainbow cake would have been the obvious choice for a cake at this party. But I have not had the best experiences making cakes for Audrey's parties in the past, so this year I decided to stay away from cake. I was going to make rainbow cupcakes, but then I found boxes of Funfetti cake mix on sale at the grocery store and decided to take the easy way out this time!

Each kid did get their own paint pallette with a cupcake, and they could "paint" their cupcake with sprinkles. This idea (found here) was the basis for the whole party!
Audrey had been talking about blowing out her three birthday candles for months. This was a big deal for her...even though she couldn't blow them out!
In the past, opening presents with Audrey hasn't been the most pleasant experience. But this year, she did great. She was super excited about everything she opened (both toys AND clothes), and she thanked everyone who brought her a present.
While saying thanks to Mimi, she ran to give her a hug too!
Overall, I think Audrey and all her friends had fun at the party. Audrey was super excited and happy the whole time...until the party was winding down and we started cutting off the sweets. Then she completely melted down and lost it. I suppose that is to be expected after a busy day with not much napping and lots of sugar!

Isla's one year birthday party theme is already decided...only 7 months until the next party!