The Tangled Birthday Party

The theme for this year's birthday party was "Tangled"...

Kayli and I had lots of fun making the special cakes. Kayli loved the part where we got to use food coloring to magically transform the frosting into the colors we wanted...

Our friends Paula, Nickolaus, Kaitlynn, and David sent Kayli a birthday package that contained this plush chameleon named Pascal, who is Rapunzel's best friend while she grows up in the tower...

I let Kayli pick out some things to buy at the Disney store as her birthday presents from me. One item she said she "just couldn't live without" was this long blonde Rapunzel braid that we had to use multiple hair claws to keep anchored on her head!

we also found this fun "birthday skirt" at C*laires, for Kayli to wear...

we had a fun jewelry craft out on the table, for the girls to complete as they arrived...

they had great fun choosing the letters for the words they wanted to spell out on their bracelets, like "fun"  "wow" "cool" or some other hilarious "made up word!"

we played "pin/tape the bow on Rapunzel"...

that was a hit!

there were lots of great presents to open...

One of the birthday bags even had an old nacho cheese dorito in the bottom that Kayli "teased" everyone by pretending to eat it, just to get a laugh from the crowd! Oh, my little comedian...makes me think about your Aunt Suzanne swallowing a live goldfish on a dare! I think she did get a free t-shirt out of the whole thing, right Suzanne?
So, back to the party, we moved on to the birthday song and blowing out the candles...

more silliness and lots of yum, yum, yumming, while everyone ate the strawberry cake with vanilla frosting, and a scoop of rainbow sherbert on the side...

finally it was time for everyone to head into the theatre, er, I mean living room, for a grand showing of the movie Tangled, while enjoying freshly popped kettle corn!
You might notice Kayli doing her impression of Rapunzel getting ready to "bean" Flynn Rider over the head with a frying pan...

there was one tiny little boy at the party today, just kickin' back, and taking in all the commotion, and generally being a really good sport! He even got to snuggle with the birthday girl, and that birthday girl was in pure heaven with that sweet baby in her lap!

when the last little girl had been handed her goodie bag and was heading out the door with her parent, suddenly Kayli's shy little 3 year old friend, Lily, just sprang to life! She had been quite shy with all the party girls, but now she and Kayli were running around the house wearing fairy wings and playing up a storm! Neither of the girls wanted this day to end!
Thank-you to Lily's mom, Linsey, for helping me pull off yet another successful wild and crazy birthday party!

WOW! What A Concert!

Kayli and I had a total BLAST at the Fresh Beats Concert tonight! The guy band members, Twist and Shout were their usual funny selves and had Kayli howling with laughter. The group performed all our favorite songs and had Kayli dancing and singing her heart out. At one point, Kayli was up on her chair, dancing and singing, when Kiki (one of the lead girls in the band) reached down and shook Kayli's hand! Ohhh, the look on Kayli's face...priceless! At another point, Twist looked down in the middle of a song and made the "Gasp/WOW" face while pointing at Kayli, who was doing the dance moves like only Kayli does! Kayli was so proud! Our front row seats were sooo worth it!
*I was a little worried about being so close to that speaker, and thinking like a speech pathologist, I immediately tracked down some ear plugs for both of us! Turned out that we really didn't need them as they had the sound under control and it was not blasting out of that speaker like I envisioned...whew!

Before the show started, there was a little boy, maybe about 3 yrs old, near our seat, that kept pointing at Kayli and shouting to his mom "There's Kiki, mom!" The more the mom tried to tell him that she wasn't Kiki, the more he insisted that she was! After all, she WAS dressed like a miniature version of Kiki. Cracked me up!

Let the show begin...now, here comes the real Kiki, and Twist...

Directly following this fabulous performance, we were escorted to the VIP party with the cast members, where we had special snacks and drinks waiting for us, musical instruments for the kids to play with, and a Rock Star make-it-take-it table.

The cast members gathered the kids and taught them some dance moves while everyone was waiting for the Fresh Beat Band to arrive...

then, the moment had arrived, the grand finale...the meeting of the Fresh Beats in person! They were so very nice and Kayli was in seventh heaven!

Yep, I'd say Kayli's 1st concert has left a lasting impression for sure!

The Countdown Begins...

Oh yeah...we have begun the countdown to...firstly, the loooooong awaited Fresh Beat Band Concert, Friday night, oh man, are we excited!!! Secondly, coincidentally, Kayli's birthday just happens to be on Monday, so this weekend we have plans to celebrate with family, then plans to host a "school friends" birthday party (theme this year: Tangled), then, of course, plans to wear a special birthday outfit to school on Monday and bring treats for everyone, Whew! My head is spinning with all the fun!

I have to say that I am so pleased with my creative thriftiness when it comes to preparing for Kayli's first concert. Why? You ask. Well, as I launched into this whole Fresh Beats endeavor, I was "over-the-top" excited at having been in the right place at the right time to purchase the VIP package tickets as "Grandpa's Christmas Gift" to Kayli, Woohoo!

Then, I got connected (somehow by heavenly guidance) to a blogger that was talking about the fact that we'd all be "paying through the nose" at the concert when our kids wanted to have a special "Rock Star Jacket" like the band members wear in their concert commercials! Not only that, but the commercials show them plucking a kid out of the audience and outfitting him with his very own "rock star jacket" on the spot! So, of course, all our kids think that is going to happen to them! This blogger did some checking and found this very jacket at *K*M*art online and posted the link! Oh my Gosh, I couldn't type in the website fast enough! It came...it fit...it increased the level of adrenaline in our house...

Ok, so naturally I had to make this little jacket look just like the Fresh Beats' official Rock Star Jackets...and in doing so, I can save myself $100.00! Yes, you heard it right...there is a company selling these little jackets, with the glitter star on the front pocket and back, for something like $79.99 plus $10.00 shipping, but if you want the XS size, like I have, you have to throw in another $10.00! (What? For a SMALLER size?) Hmmm, that person is going to make a lot of money on a lot of people that have that kind of money, but not me, I have ingenuity! Compare for yourself...
                                                           The $100.00 jacket...

My Homemade $20.00 jacket...

We've got our glow sticks, and we are READY to  Rock ON!!!

Acting is Exhausting!

So, we have a new movie at our house (Treasure Buddies) and therefore, we have new props, costumes, and lines...the usual immersion! The setting...ancient Egypt, the characters...golden retriever puppies, the costumes...how coincidental that we just happen to have a "Cleopatra headband" from Halloween. Kayli is playing the role of "B Dog," who leads the pups on a treacherous journey to retrieve the lost collar of Cleocatra! Kayli has even created a necklace for herself by taking one of her small wooden letters, the bright yellow "B," and stringing it on a chain... what a fashionista!

After the millionth viewing of this fabulous new tale, it was Saturday night, and Kayli was begging me to stay up later. Not that she had any particular plan, just that it's exciting to "stay up late!" So, naturally I said "sure" and, well, you guessed it...

 Yep, even Egyptian Princesses need their sleep!

A Snapshot of This Mild Winter

We've had such an amazingly mild winter this year! We have spent a lot of time outside, just trying to soak up the unseasonable 50s, 60s, and believe it or not, low 70s, in January and February!  One of those days brought us to a nearby forest preserve, where Kayli and I hiked along the trail with our wagon, stopping to notice all kinds of exciting signs of nature. I was trying to get some pictures that were needed for my photography class, using the different settings on my camera. This day gave me a chance to see the beauty in the quiet winter woods without the bitter cold and snow!

Just look at that BLUE sky!

Time to head home...