WordFUL (and PictureFUL) Wednesday: Happy Birthday (Belatedly)!

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Here is my 3rd born lovey! I missed blogging on or around her birthday because it was just so busy I couldn't think, let alone blog. We had a fabulous day!















The festivities began with an outdoor activity: Toilet Paper Fashion. Two lovely ladies were dressed in toilet paper by their team in competition to see who could make a more fashionably dressed model. It was a toss-up. They both looked mighty fine. One (on the left) was complete with a big lady chest and all! Quite creative and quite clear to me who was on her team. My #3 daughter and her very creative friend!









Then Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

All festivities were led by our two oldest daughters and our oldest daughter's friend.

This ended up being sort of a double birthday party since our #4 daughter didn't get to have a friends-only party for the last two years. Last year I had a baby the day before her birthday and this year since my niece got married the weekend of her birthday, we had a joint birthday cake with her baby sister and had family over. She has close cousin friends, so she wasn't lacking for friends at the party, but the Actual Birthday Girl thought she needed also to have a party complete with birthday games and all, so I let her invite a few of her friends as well. She mostly invited younger sisters of the original party attenders.











Here are most of the treat bags. Each of the party-goers decorated their own bags that then were filled with goodies from the pinata and prizes from games.











Here's the pinata! After looking at pinatas at Walmart for $17 to $20-something, I decided to make my own. We fit a lot more candy in it and it was just as tough to break, although I did try to make it a little easier to bust through! It was in the shape of a birthday gift, wrapped in wrapping paper and ribbon.










Instead of making a big cake, I oftentimes make cupcakes for the kids to decorate. Sometimes I make a main cake and make cupcakes on the side for decorating purposes. Because we ended up with extra guests (new neighbors that had just moved in and are the same ages of about 4 of our kids that were kind of hanging around outside watching the activity going on in our yard), I made all the cake batter into cupcakes. They were made at different rates and I was busy divvying up pinata candies, so I didn't get a picture of all the decorated cupcakes at once.


Then, our last activity before opening gifts was a yarn and stick creation that in Highlight's magazine was called, "God's Eye". ????...Didn't think it really resembled anyone's eye, but it was really pretty, in fall colored multi-colored yarn, and the girls had fun making them. This was the first time I had such of an activity-filled agenda but with this many kids I figured it was the only way to keep peace and some semblence of structure and maybe some assurance to not losing any kids to the neighbor's "woods" (a patch of really nice trees about 200 yards wide and maybe 10 yards deep).

The final verdict on the party by the Actual Birthday Girl: "It was my best birthday ever!" The final verdict of the September Birthday Girl: "It was great but last year was better!" Me, to self, and also to her by way of my lifted eyebrows and look of, "Hah?" Last year we had a cake in the hospital since I had just had the baby the day before. We were so lucky we caught my oldest sister before she came to the hospital and asked her if she would bring her oldest daughter to be our daughter's birthday guest. I was sure she felt a little short-changed since she didn't get the invite-as-many-friends-as-Mom-will-allow (which is usually not that many)-and-run-around-whooping-it-up-at-home type of party. Her answer to my perplexed look, "Last year I got a baby sister for a present!" So much for worrying that she was lacking for parties the last two years!

*We, by the way, have four birthdays within about 3 1/2 weeks from first birthday to last. Only one more party to go! Yippee!!! I'm decidedly not the biggest party fan but when all is said and done, it usually goes quite well. I'm not below bribing in forfeiture of a party for a little nicer, more yearned for gift that the birthday child otherwise wouldn't have had a hope of getting otherwise. So now I'm quite satisfied with myself that I actually squelched the urge to bribe away this season's parties. Next year I may have to with a new baby coming along!*