Sierra's 5th Birthday

Sierra had a wonderful 5th birthday. Every day she brings joy into our lives with her nurturing, humor, grace, drama, and mischief. She and a boy from her preschool class were both born May 19th, so the class had two celebrations with the treats they had brought. In the afternoon, she invited five friends to our house for a party. It was by far the simplest party I have ever hosted, and I think it may have been the best. The girls went upstairs and played on their own, and then we had three games--Fairy Godmother style Duck, Duck, Goose with a wand and the words Bibbidi Bobbidee, Bibbidi Bobbidee, Boo!; pass the poisoned apple (think Hot Potato); and a princess themed treasure hunt. When the girls ate the poisoned apple, they decided they wanted to go to sleep on the floor. "Prince Caleb" said he'd wake them up, but I had to intervene when he bent over one of Sierra's friends ready to give her a romantic kiss. We served chicken nuggets and had a chocolate fountain with cake and ice cream afterwards.

The behind-the-scenes story was a little intense. Since I'd flown into town very late the night before, I hadn't had time to prepare for her party as I'd planned. I got home from work with just over two hours before the guests arrived. It's my style to be slow and meticulous, but I had no choice other than to fly into action. I fed the girls a snack, put Madeline down for a nap (which she miraculously took), filled a huge laundry basket with all the papers and toys that had accumulated over the weekend, wiped down the kitchen counters and floor, assembled the chocolate fountain and prepared the accompanying food platter, decorated the dining table and serving area, wrote and hid the treasure hunt clues, made a party music playlist, dressed everyone in their best, and even had time to curl my hair. If only I had that kind of get-up-and-go every day!

Yes, those exclamations in the background that you hear are "Eat more chicken" and "Chop, chop, chop." It's something that seems to have become quite popular for kids to sing this rendition!