Jackie Girl: 4th Birthday!

She's finally 4! And she's got the 'tude to match. Ha ha. For example, the day before her birthday she told me she wanted to bake her own birthday cake. I said but that's a mom job, to bake a cake for their baby's birthday. And she told me, it's not all about you mom. Hmmmm. So she did help me with part of the cake baking - the mixing of ingredients. She lost interest quickly.

This year I was having trouble figuring out when to throw Jackie a birthday party for her and her friends because the whole weekend before her birthday was occupied with Nutcracker performances. Plus, she has old friends, new school friends, neighborhood friends.... how to narrow down the invite list so that 30 kids aren't running wild in my house? So I suggested to Jackie that we take her to Disneyland instead of throwing her a party and she jumped right on that. It has been a while since we've gone to D-land and she had been asking to go again.

Of course, I still ended up throwing a party because the family still wants to get together and because 4 year olds still want to eat cake and open presents, and because I do still like planning and throwing parties. And it turned out to be easier to limit the friend invite list once I focused on her "birthday buddies" Asher and Emilia and her newest friend born in the same week, Lily. The kids had a great time just running around the yard and house and generally playing. And I didn't plan a single activity or game or craft for them. Instead I threw all my energy into cooking and baking and cleaning and decorating. And of course, taking a few pictures too.

First, Asher arrives with a very special gift that he is super excited to give to Jackie.

Jackie: ooh a net. Asher: it's for the fish

Asher: see, you put the rocks in the bottom

Jackie: when do you put the fish in?

Ta Dah, meet Tancy (rhymes with fancy)

Four 4-year-olds and a 2-year-old eating dinner. You should plug your ears because the noise they were making is still traveling around the globe.

Cake Time! I have to admit, baking this cake tortured me. Jackie requested a raspberry cake so I read some recipes online. I think the actual cake turned out the way it was supposed to.... but it was very dense. And then the frosting. Let's just say that the very delicious tasting homemade cream cheese frosting, with a hint of lemon and stained pink with raspberry puree, I made is not what is on this cake. Nope, this cake is featuring frosting out of a can. Sigh. Oh well. I don't even know why I do this to myself. Oh, and those pretty little pearl shaped sprinkles..... you know how you do things for your kids because it will make them happy even though you know it's a bad idea? Well, hard little round sprinkles are not so pleasant when trying to eat smooth frosting and cake. Oh well! Jackie loved it and I reached my one cake a year quota. Where's my bonus check?

Jackie's been saying for months that she wants a desk for her birthday. And a while back while shopping at a swap meet with my mom, we found this little desk/vanity. My mom bought it, planning to paint it pink and decorate it for her. And since it's a full height desk, she needed a tall desk chair. Zebra print seems like a good alternative when pink is hard to find! Jackie loves it - of course. I don't really know why Jackie thought a 4 year old needs a desk, but she plays at it and pretends to do her homework. And she flips open the top and pretends it's a hair salon or a nail salon. Such a girlie girl.