Dorothy's Birthday

Dorothy's birthday celebration extravaganza has stretched out over several weeks, but I think we are finally done (other than writing all our thank-you cards).  Since her birthday is Dec. 24th, she took in the "birthday box" at school a couple of days before they let out for winter break.  We celebrated again on her actual birthday, and finally had her "friends" party today.  Phew!  It was fun, but I'm glad it is finally all done.

 The day of her birthday, she opened presents in the morning so that they could be played with right away.

 She got a "Dorothy" doll from Kevin and I.  It's a Madame Alexander doll that I dressed in a different dress and shoes to make it look a bit like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.  Have you ever tried to put a child's toy back into the original packaging?  It was much more difficult than I thought it would be, but I managed to get her back into the box to make it look like this is how she came originally.

Dorothy loves her doll, but I did not plan on her (obviously) naming the doll "Dorothy" too.  It has been a little confusing at times, but I think it is working to call the doll "Dorothy Gale."  No, we did not name Dorothy after the movie or the book.  We happened to have read the book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," earlier this year and the kids wanted to also see the movie.  She enjoyed the book and has been asking to see the movie again ever since then.

 After lunch, we had the Concrete Oreo cake from Culver's.  It was very good and Dorothy says she wants to have this same cake every year for her birthday.  Fine by me.

It is delicious!



For her party with her friends, we had a painting party at the local park district.  I wasn't sure how it would work out, but it was fantastic.  The park district had two staff members for the first hour of the party to direct the painting activities, and they supplied everything, including some shirts to cover the kids' clothing (though I'm afraid some long sleeves did not remain paint-free).

 First up was balloon painting.  They dipped their balloon in some white paint and made snowmen pictures.  Some were very detailed and elaborate, while others were more abstract.

 They put the details on their snowmen with Q-tips.

 Not sisters, but they sure look like it here.

 Next up was marble painting.  The kids had lots of fun with this one, especially once the glitter was added.  I never allow glitter at home, so this was a huge treat for Dorothy.

 Look at how hard everyone is concentrating.  A painting party for this many 3-6 year olds could have been disastrous, but they were all really good.

 Last, they got a few squirts of yellow, blue, and white, and could just free form paint whatever they liked.  This activity was very popular and some of the children made several pictures.

Some kids were very minimalist, while others covered the entire page.

 After the painting was done, we cleaned up and feasted on cream cheese sandwiches (with or without jelly), colored Goldfish crackers, fruit, yogurt tubes, and raspberry sherbet punch.  We also had hats because the only things she asked for for her party was hats and balloons.  With such simple requests, the least I could do was have hats and balloons.

 It took a little while to get everyone served, but I think they all got at least a couple of things they liked to eat.

 Dorothy said she wanted "fancy cupcakes with bright colors" for her party, so I made these.  The flowers are mini-marshmallows, cut in half on a diagonal, then shaken in a baggie of colored sugar.  I wasn't sure how easy they would be, but other than taking some time, they weren't too bad to make.  My frosting did start to dry out a bit before I was done, so a few petals tried to fall off.

These were a big hit with the kids, who were very excited to discover that the tops were marshmallows.  I learned that marshmallows are a delicious cupcake topping and the sugar was just a bit crunchy, which was a nice touch.  They were sort of like tiny Peeps.  There are two cupcakes left, and Kevin I plan to devour them once the kids are in bed.

 I managed to squeeze four candles onto her cupcake.  I was sure she would choose a pink cupcake since she has been on a pink kick lately, but she asked for yellow.

 Not the greatest picture, but too funny not to share.  This little boy carefully picked off every marshmallow from his cupcake and dropped it into his cup of punch.  It didn't look like it would be very good, but he drank/ate it all.  Once that was gone, then he ate the cupcake.

 Finally, it was time to open presents!

 The circle of children kept moving closer and closer to her as she opened gifts.

It was hard for her to balance on her chair, so we moved her to the floor.  She got lots and lots of art supplies, which I think we will break out tomorrow while the kids are home since school will be closed.


In between her actual birthday and her painting party, we had some birthday portraits taken. 

 I took four balloons to add a little color and to try to get some cute shots of her playing with them.  I'm so glad I did.  Other people who were at the studio were asking if I had brought them and commented that they really liked how they looked for the pictures.

 These were probably the most natural smiles she did during her session.

 I love how she is looking at them here.

These three pictures look cute lined up; you can see the action.


We went with two extremes for her pictures.  Fancy dress with fancy hair, and overalls with pigtails.  Both are very, very "her."

 She had a very hard time trying to balance like the photographer asked her to.

 I love seeing the full body shot with the little feet peeking out at the bottom.

Not posed, but a much more natural smile than she was giving when she was trying so hard.

I think Dorothy has had a great forth birthday and is probably already planning her fifth.