Katie's 6th Birthday Party

The title of this post, "Katie's 6th Birthday Party", is a little misleading.  It's not Katie's 6th birthday party; it's the birthday party she had as she turns six.  It's only her second birthday party and the second time her birth has been celebrated.  Last year we had a little party at Chris' parents house.  We weren't sure how she'd like a party, lots of people, noise, etc.  This year, we had a party at Gigi and Grampy's house and invited our friends, because we know now that Katie is the life of the party, not scared of a party!

The morning of the party, after I checked the mail, Katie's "big" birthday gift hadn't arrived yet.  I was really unhappy.  There was, I later found out, a mixup with the shipping box the sender used and it was returned to her.  I spent about an hour with this view the morning of the party as I quickly worked something up for her.

I used this invitation from Yankee Baby Designs on Etsy.  She was super easy to work with and the invitations were perfect.  

We had our easel by the end of the driveway.  It was a good thing, as the people across the street had about 50 people over that day, at the same time, so certainly there could have been some confusion about which house to go to for Katie's party.

I made yellow cupcakes and filled some with homemade strawberry jam.  They were all frosted in a delicious milk chocolate buttercream icing that David proclaimed the best icing in the world.  

I downloaded all of the cupcake picks from babalisme.  She's got lots of really cute matryoshka party downloads that are free.  Chris was really excited to help me cut them all out and tape them to toothpicks the night before the party.  

The children spent the majority of the party swimming, chasing the chickens, blowing bubbles, or playing on the swingset.  

I made this outfit for Katie to wear to her party, and I love it!

She was very excited for her cupcakes and to blow out the candles.

She was so patient and waited until everyone was done singing.

Several big blows later, wishes were made and the candles were blown out.  

She was a little unsure about the gifts at first.  She liked them, but she had no clue that she could open them and that there would be fun things inside.

She caught on quick.

Vanessa gave her perhaps her favorite item ever. . . A Disney princess microphone.

She looooooves it.

She performed for her people and got lots of applause, which she ate up.

She turned into a bit of a crazy Russian rapper, which was very amusing.  She sang her little heart out (and has continued to do so since we brought it home).

She also got her first bike!  She was a little uncertain about it, but climbed right up.  Teaching her how to ride should be interesting!

Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated Katie's birthday with us!  I cannot believe my big girl turns six tomorrow!