A Tinkerbell Party!

The Tinkerbell cake...took me almost 5 hours to make it yesterday!

The birthday girl with her cake

Sisters pose before the party


Blowing out the candles....it took several puffs!


Opening presents for a mesmerized audience


Wow....the pinata lets loose!

Today we celebrated Megan's fourth birthday with a Tinkerbell themed party for her playgroup friends (sniff, sniff...let the waterworks begin, Mommy! My baby is nearly FOUR!). Megan is really into Tinkerbell right now and has seen the movie many times. She had a hard time deciding between a princess party and a Tinkerbell party, but Tink won out (I wonder who is filling her head with all these Disney influences? Hmm...can you say Daddy?)

With the playgroup kids and the two kids of my good friend Katie, we had 13 children here! (Nine "big kids" and four babies, ranging in age from 10 months all the way up to six years old!) It was crazy, chaotic...and lots of fun. Megan was so excited for her guests to arrive. She wanted to be the one to answer the door and let them in. As the party went on, she kept asking me what would be next, and what would be next after that, and after that....she kept me on track and she wanted to make sure no detail (like cake, or present opening) would be forgotten. The girl has a future as an event planner, I tell you!

My friend Dee brought her daughter's dress up trunk full of fairy garb, and so each of the girls at the party got to become a fairy. The poor boys at this party....there were five of them, and they were such good sports about all the girly fairy stuff! (They did get some Cars stickers to take home in their goody bags, instead of the Tinkerbell ones the girls got, so I hope that made up for it a little.) Party guests each got to decorate a star with glitter, gems, and stickers (these were supposed to be used for a "Pin the Star on the Magic Wand" game, but because I hadn't really thought through the fact that glitter glue, especially when globbed onto said stars by eager four year olds, would take FOREVER to dry, we ended up not playing this game. I did not want my wall decorated with sparkly globs of purple, green, and red glitter. The kids still got to take their stars home to make into fairy wands later.) The kids also got to dig for treasures (rings and gold coins) in a tub of "sand" (cornmeal). They also had fun pulling open a ladybug pinata, and diving for the candy. (Although the pinata was a little impatient to spill its contents, and opened up almost before the kids tugged on the ribbons! We were reusing it from another friend's birthday party, so Bill had tried to rig the door shut again with tape.)

And of course, what would a birthday party be without cake? You can see the picture of the cake above. I got it into my head that THIS was going to be the year that I made Megan a special cake. Several years back, I started making funny cakes for Bill for his birthday, and I was harboring some sense of guilt that my daughters' cakes thus far have always come from the loving hands of the folks at Meijer or Forest Hills Foods. So I went to this AWESOME cake supply store/bakery called Cakes Plus (highly recommended!), and the nice woman there pumped up my confidence and talked me into doing this Tinkerbell cake. I have never before attempted one of these shaped pan cakes covered with a bajillion frosting stars, so it was a little daunting. And it DID take me forever....I worked on it for nearly 5 hours yesterday (and that does NOT include the time it took to mix and bake the cake). I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Bill was quite impressed (I'm not sure if I should be insulted by his sheer shock at how "awesome" it was, in his words...he obviously did not think I had it in me!). Megan seemed excited about it, too, and even if the love and effort put into it is lost on her right now, I know that someday she'll see the pictures and she'll get it. I figure I have to do a similarly fabulous cake for Rachel's next birthday, but after that, I'm not so sure. It was a LOT of work, and not so easy!

Megan got some great presents from her friends....including lots of Tinkerbell themed items. She was a very gracious hostess, and with some gentle prompting, kindly thanked all of them for their gifts. (Phew!)

Rachel really loved being in the midst of all the kids, too. I have to tell some cute Rachel stories from today too. This morning, when I got Rachel up, I asked her, "Who's having a birthday party today?" And her response was, I kid you not, "Tate" (which is her word for "cake"). Obviously the girl knows birthdays! When she was sitting in her highchair, waiting as we passed out the cake to the kids, she got a little impatient for her own piece, and "Tate! Tate!" could be heard above the din. Then when she had finished the tiny piece I had given her, she said, "Mow! Mow!" (more). It's funny to remember that at her own first birthday party, back in July, she only wanted to play with her cake, and wanted nothing to do with eating it!

The other really great story from today is the gift Rachel gave Megan. She loves her big sister so much, but up until now, she hasn't really said anything recognizable that resembles "Megan." When she was younger, she used to call Megan "Ba Ba", but that ended awhile ago. When you ask her "Where's Megan?" or "Who's your sistey?" she will point, but she never really tries to say her name. Today, for the first time, Rachel very clearly called Megan, "Bedun". It is kind of funny, because Rachel can make the "m" sound (she says "Mama" about a million times a day, usually when I'm making dinner). But for whatever reason, she produces the "b" sound when saying Megan's name. We got her to do it repeatedly, so we know it was no accident. It was so cute...she was so proud of herself that she finally has a name for her beloved sister! Of course, the significance of this magical moment is completely lost on Megan. Her response? "Why can't she say 'Megan' like 'Megan'?" Oh well....Bill and I think it's awesome.

Happy fairy party, Big Girl. Now it's time for Mama to get some packing done for our trip! (haven't even started yet...oh boy....)