Lexie's 4th Birthday Soiree

Today we celebrated Lexie's 4th birthday.  (Though, the actual big day isn't unitl half way through December.)  Lexie has been loving the Fancy Nancy books.  The other day she walked into our living room all dressed up and asked Tanner if he thought she looked "POSH". (That's a fancy word for "fancy". As Fancy Nancy would say!)  We did her party up fancy and had a blast doing so. 

Here's the invite I created: (the outside)

(the inside)

I had just finished getting Lexie and I all fancied up, and everything was in place to start the party when Colin came up to me crying.  He's been having a tough time lately (not sleeping, runny nose, etc.), so I knelt down to give him a hug.  He just stayed there for the longest time.  It broke my heart because I knew Derek and I would not be able to give him much attention for the next couple of hours, but he was a trooper and made it through.

Here we are, all fancied up!  Lexie and I made these boa scarfs for each of our party guests.  We wore them around our necks and gave one to each girl as they arrived for the party.  They were fun to make together and fun to give away!

Here is sweet Emma.  Her mom took Tanner for the duration of the party home to play with Emma's older brother Noah (who is also in Tanner's kindergarten class).  Emma was very shy and had a tough time finding her smile, but she eventually did and we were so glad that she came!

Here are all the fancies! Truly the cutest bunch of girls ever!

This is Jenna.  Her eyes just sparkled with her blue Cinderella dress on!

We had two darling Emmas at Lexie's Soiree!  This one jumped right in and joined Dapper Dad for a dance!

Ruthie twirling in the living room.

Becca booping to the music.

Dapper Dad really got into his part!

Next we painted nails.  Purple sparkle nail polish of course!  I kept thinking I was crazy to do this with 7 little girls, but honestly I was quite impressed with how still they stayed until each nail was dry.  They knew exactly how to spread their fingers out on the napkin and were quite patient with me while I painted.  I had to laugh, this is not a posed picture, Ruthie just did this and I happen to have the camera out!

Derek helped a lot by distracting them with a few good Fancy Nancy books! (Thank goodness for daddies and the library!)

Our next activity was "tape-the-accessories-on-Fancy-Nancy".  Derek gets all the credit for the drawing.  I think she turned out awesome!

First we did it blind folded, then we went back and put everything in the right spot.  We had sun glasses, and earing, neclace, crown, shoes, dress and ring.

The cake was one of the fanciest parts of the whole party!  A gal from Church made if for Lexie and she did an AMAZING job!  (Thank you Kelie!) Here are a few pics just for drooling...

These two were one of the main reasons why I did a party this year for Lexie.  This summer Ruthie will be moving so I wanted to capture the fun while she is still here.  I've already decided no more parties for the next couple of years. As fun as they are, I don't think kids need a "friend party" every year and it will be nice to have a break! (That does not exempt me from throwing a little family party of course! The birth and life of a child is such a wonderful celebration!)

For the first time in my marriage, I bought a loaf of white bread!  Yeah, it felt wierd!  But it was perfect for making these cute heart shaped sandwiches.

The table got some fancy accessories too!

Jell-o jigglers were part of the menu.

I did thow in some apples to give at least one healthy part of the whole meal.

Becca reminds me so much of Fancy Nancy's little sister.

Evelynn decied we all needed a story while we were waiting for lunch to be served.  She had quite the audience of little girls all captivated by her make believe story! 

Lexie has some very generous friends who all brought her fancy things in packages to open!  The girls giggled and squealed, then whispered to each other throughout the party because they were so anxious for Lexie to open her gifts. I noticed how grown up they were to make sure and not tell Lexie what was in the packages.  It was so fun watching them!

I was also impressed that several of the girls' older siblings drew cards for Lexie wishing her a happy birthday!

Tonight we sat down to write on our leaves what we are thankful for and what we gave today.  Tanner said, "I know what you are going to put on your 'giving leaf' mom." 
Me: "What?"
Tanner"A birthday party!"
He was right!

Lexie wrote on her "thanks leaf" that she was thankful for birthday parties and on her "giving leaf" she said she gave hugs to all her friends today.