Sicily La Sweet's Lalaloopsy Party!

My girl loves Lalaloopsy!  Her bedroom has been taken over by these quirky little dolls and their fun pets and accessories.  Ok, if I'm honest, our entire house if overflowing with Lalaloopsy love.  So the theme for this year's birthday party has been decided since the day after last year's birthday party.  (Merida still has a strong presence around here, too, in case you were wondering.  My girl is loyal to her collections!)

Lalaloopsy may be the easiest party to decorate for.  Lalaloopsy is built around sewing and repurposing.  So that's how I decorated.  I gathered thread and yarn and old flower pots and bowls.  And, of course, I brought in all of the birthday girl's Lalaloopsy collection to finish it all off.

For treats I played with the names of some of the Lalaloopsy friends.  We had Mango's Tiki Punch, Dot's Garden of Stars, Bubble Smack n Pop's gumballs, a Lala-Oopsy mini fairy cake, Crumb Sugar Cookie's button cookies, Lalaloopsy yarn, and Cloud E Sky's ferris wheel in the clouds cake.  

As guests arrived they were welcomed with coloring sheets and treat bag decorating.  Everyone was asked to guess how many buttons were in Harmony B. Sharp's jar of buttons.  And, of course, the doll house provided entertainment for all ages.  

Since Lalaloopsies are "sewn" together, I knew I wanted to make a sewing craft.  We made Crumb Sugar Cookie's pet mouse.  To prep the craft I cut out the shapes and added eyes ahead of time.  Since we had a wide range of ages, I also punched holes along the felt to make it easy for our younger guests to follow along.  The finished mice were so cute and everyone had so much fun making them!  

Every year my kids get their own personal birthday cake before we share a bigger cake with everyone else.  It's a treat they look forward to and guard from their siblings for the rest of their birthday week!  Sicily's personal cake was topped with two new Lala-Oopsy mini fairies.  She also got a few new Lalaloopsy friends as gifts.  (We're going to have to build them their own room soon!)  

At the end of the party we gathered on the couch with popcorn and pretzels to watch "Lala-Oopsy: A Sew Magical Tale".  It was the perfect way to end a great party.  The birthday girl had "sew" much fun!  And really does anything else matter.  I love this girl and her lalaloopsy loving spirit.  Happy Birthday Sicily La Sweet!

Merry Christmas!

The magic of Christmas has fallen upon us again.  The stockings were hung and the children were nestled.  And deep in the night the greatest gifts were left for us to discover.  Gifts that can only reside in our hearts and our memories. 

Christmas morning arrived to bright-eyed smiles and the warmth of family gathered.  There were surprises and exclamations.  There was thanks given and joy felt.

The presents have now been unwrapped.  The toys played with.  Hugs have been given.  Good food has been enjoyed.  Games played and a movie, or two, watched. The day has been lovely.

Christmas is about family.  Christmas is about giving.  But most of all Christmas is about Love.  This evening, as we cuddle up together to enjoy the last bit of Christmas magic in this day, we will remember that love has come.  Our hearts are full.  And that is the greatest gift of all.

Christmas Time is Here

Christmas time is here

Happiness and cheer

Fun for all that children call

Their favorite time of year 

Snowflakes in the air

Carols everywhere

Olden times and ancient rhymes

Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air

Beauty everywhere

Yuletide by the fireside

And joyful memories there

Christmas time is here

We'll be drawing near

Oh, that we could always see

Such spirit though the year

Oh, that we could always see

Such spirit through the year...*

* A Charlie Brown Christmas

Spa Party

Analiese turns ten this year! Ten is cause for serious celebration.  So we invited all of her best friends over for a party fit for growing young ladies.  And by all of her friends, I mean there were fifteen girls in my house for a spa slumber party!  We started the evening getting our hair braided.  Next came manicures and pedicures.  I found cute hedgehog nail brushes and bright neon colors.  These were a hit!  Then we laid down with peaceful music for facials. Which they thought was gross.  So that part of the evening only lasted five minutes before they were all in the bathroom washing a half applied oatmeal facial off of their faces as quickly as possible.   Gross facials lead to giggly girls with lots of energy.  So they invaded the backyard for a while.  They may be girly but that didn't stop them from climbing trees, playing soccer, and digging in the mud.  As the sun started to set we came in and got cleaned up for dinner.  Over the course of the night they ate five large pizzas, eight bags of popcorn, a family size bag of twizzlers, thirty cupcakes, and a full cookie jar of cookies!  It was kind of awesome to watch the food disappear into these tiny girls.  While eating they made friendship bracelets, watched Princess  Diaries 1 & 2, and danced off all of the calories playing Just Dance.  By 3am, I was convinced that the party was a success.  The next morning a line of sleepy, bracelet clad girls with tangled braids swarmed the table for fruit and cereal before making their way to the living room for some more dancing.

Ten is a big deal.  I'm glad that my girl had a big birthday to celebrate that.  She is a beautiful girl with beautiful friends.  I hope they all remain the confident, kind, fun girls that I watched dancing around my living room for the rest of their lives.