The Tinkerbell Party

Avery had a fun, little Tinkerbell party for her friends. She originally said she wanted a green cake, but to my knowledge a green cake mix doesn't exist, not to mention I wasn't sure I wanted to eat a green cake. But she quickly picked out a 'polka-dot' cake (funfetti) for her second choice. And then she got this really big Tinkerbell candle to go on top

For the games we played pin the wings on Tinkerbell. The kids really seemed to enjoy this. I bought the poster for super-cheap at Wal-mart and then cut the wings out of some sparkly scrapbooking paper. After a couple of rounds of that game we moved on to making the ladybugs. In the Tinkerbell movie they have to get the ladybugs ready for spring by putting the spots on them, so I made little ladybugs out of construction paper and then went through all of my kid-crafty stuff to get things to decorate with. We set up Avery's little table and the kids did a great job of getting their ladybugs decked out.

Then came time for cake and ice cream. All the kids were pretty excited for the cake. After cake we did presents. Avery was thrilled when she got some more Littlest Petshops from her friends. And Diana made the cutest set of scrubs for Avery! They are being hemmed up right now, but I will take a picture when we get them back. She also got some My Little Ponies and a set of Tinkerbell sheets for her bed.

The kids were all really cute and well-behaved and it was fun to have their parents (our friends) over too. Avery gave all the kids big hugs before they left and we passed out their Tinkerbell goody bags. This made the kids really excited too. Noah held his for a couple of seconds with a grin on his face and then exclaimed, "And there's even stuff in here too!" I guess just getting a Tinkerbell bag was exciting enough :)

Turning 3

Avery had a great 3rd birthday! Thank you to everybody for the phone calls and the presents. I think Avery was a little overwhelmed with the excitement and wasn't too interested in talking on the phone (not that she loves it on any other day), unfortunately, but we really appreciated the calls.

All day we kept saying to Avery that she was '3' and such a big girl and she would reply that she was almost 3. We would say, no, you are 3! Today is the day! And she would still say, 'almost.' We found out that she wasn't 3 until after her birthday party. Then she would say she was 3.

Avery got so many fun presents. Granny sent her some birthday money and Avery had great fun going shopping and picking out some Littlest Petshop animals. And grandma Louona and grandpa Tanner sent her a beautiful new bedding set with the cutest flowers to hang on the wall. I am so excited about this gift and so is Avery. She had told me a few times now that she can't wait for her room to be pretty. She loves the flowers most of all. I think it's the glitter :) I already have a few ideas for things that I am going to make to accessorize her 'new' room.

Grandma Nette and Grandpa Dave sent her the American Girl Bitty Baby starter set. The baby is darling, but the starter set is on backorder for a couple more weeks, so we will have to wait to open that. But Avery has enjoyed holding and playing with her new baby. We looked at the starter set on-line and I showed her pictures of all of the things that are coming. She seemed really excited to get some clothes and a backpack for the baby. She was interested to see what was underneath the baby's jammies and so we undid the velcro. Underneath is a little cloth diaper. Avery thought that was pretty funny.

Al and I gave Avery a princess bike with the matching helmet and knee pads. Avery was just so excited! She opened the helmet first (we had the bike hiding in the garage) and she couldn't wait to put it on. When it was all secure she said that she needed a bike. Then Al went to the garage and brought it in. Her little face lit up and she smiled so big. She is still working on the peddling and steering, but she loves being up on the bike and riding around. We have been blessed with some warmer weather finally and so it was the perfect weekend to get a bike. Yesterday we took Avery to the park to ride on the trails.

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Avery!!! Avery has been so excited to turn 3 years old and be a 'big girl.' She has been talking about it for weeks and tells anybody that she runs into, including strangers, when her birthday is and how old she'll be.

We love you very much Avery! You have changed so much over the last 3 years. We hope you have a great day and a fantastic 3rd year!!