Tessie Turns 4

Is it just me, or has this been a long year?  In any event, Tess has been waiting to turn 4 for a long time now!

We started things off with a birthday celebration at Nana and Papa's house.  Tess and Nana conspired against me by putting 4 candles on the cake.  I told Tess I had a really great idea to put only 3 candles on this year and then she wouldn't grow up and get any bigger.  Then every year we could use just 3 candles and she would stay my little girl.  Needless to say, Tess wasn't happy with this idea, but she got tired of arguing with me about it.  She would say, "You'll just see when I get my birthday cake," as if some cosmic forces of right and wrong in the universe would somehow balance things out and put 4 candles on her cake.  And they did.

She made fast work of the cake because she was so excited about presents!  She got such wonderful gifts!  Way fun dress up stuff and Polly pockets from Nana and Papa; a bathtub "waterpark" set from Dipsy & Papa; an interactive chipmunk toy that she named "Pet"; and a Baby Alive doll that she's only been wanting for 6 months now.

Birthday party #2 came a couple days later: a rainbow-themed party with her 3 bestest friends, Danielle James, Cade Austin and Lindsay Watson.  

I "rainbowed" the house up and scattered chocolate "gold" coins on the walk and lawn.  It was fun to watch the surprised kids spot the coins when they came to the front door!

We asked the guests to wear "colorful" clothes.  Lindsay wore a colorful striped sweater, Danielle wore rainbow ribbons in her hair, and Cade basically wore every color in his closet he could find.  I think we was wearing 3 shirts.  His mom said he took "colorful" to mean that he was supposed to wear the most unmatching outfit possible, and that at one point he was wearing a bandana on his head.

I was surprised how much they enjoyed making (and eating) rainbow fruit pops.  And adding marshmallows at the end for "clouds."  I love how silly these kids get when they're together.  They really enjoy each other.

After rainbow pops, it was time to hunt for "gold" at the end of the rainbow.  And one hunt wasn't enough!  After the kids collected all the coins, a "rainbow elf" stole all their gold when they weren't paying attention and scattered the coins all over the lawn again.  At first they all blamed Drew for taking the coins until they saw the lawn and they couldn't believe their eyes!  Danielle spent the rest of the party checking to make sure her coins were still in her bag.

We also did a simple rainbow craft, because kids love glue.  Apparently, Lindsay had never heard of a "pom-pom" and she thought that was the funniest word she'd ever heard.  Lindsay has a totally infectious laugh, so the kids kept making her laugh by saying "pom-pom" over and over again.  (FYI--it was during the craft that the sneaky rainbow elf struck!)

Finally time for cake!  The kids had big eyes when they saw all the candy and marshmallows.  Tess watched closely to make sure I didn't use the #3 candle from last year. I know in a few years, I will think I'm silly for thinking she looks so grown up.  But she looks so grown up.  (Even though I made her sit in Drew's high chair!)

I let them each pick a different color for their milk.  

And it turns out that cake and Skittles are a pretty tasty combination!

I love these little faces.  

They really are the cutest, sweetest friends ever!  They were so genuinely happy  for Tess and so excited to give her their presents.

I loved the adorable cards the kids had worked on for Tess.  She had the biggest smiles when she opened each one.

They finished off with some fun playtime.  It amazes me how well they play together.  They initiated this Candyland game all on their own--how nice of them to keep with the rainbow theme.  :)

So it's official--Tess is 4!  

My only consolation is that I've discovered that 4-year olds give really good hugs!