Princess Birthday Party Continued...

 This is a rather large picture post from Daisy's princess party.  I figured I'd knock it out all at once as I have quite a few other things that I need to start blogging about:).  As I mentioned in the last post I kept this party simple in comparison to the past two years but, it kept the kiddos just as busy and entertained.  I really do love when activities are self-sustaining and don't require a lot of adult assistance.  It's nice when the adults get to chat and enjoy themselves a little bit too.  Though I will say that it was a SUPER full house and quite noisy.  Daisy had a blast and I had a blast watching her enjoy her 3rd birthday party.  She wasn't happy about wearing her princess dress the day of her party go figure but, when I told her that her buddies were coming over in their dresses she obliged.  Saved! haha  

Thank you to everyone that joined us to celebrate Daisy's birthday this year.  It was such a treat to have so many family and friends with us.  I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful group of people in my life.  

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Daisy loved the jewels that I got for the crowns and shields. I think she used up 90% of them on her own...love that her hair is finally long enough to pull back into one ponytail...mostly.  Love my little princess.

and yes, I seized this occasion as an opportunity to get in a picture with everyone that I could since that so rarely happens. These gals are the four pack mommas that you all are probably familiar with by now if you've followed the blog for a little while. It was such a treat to have all four of our kids and families together at one time. Jenn (far left) had her baby boy a few days ago and he is so cute. So happy for them and can't wait to meet baby Knox! Lindsay recently had twin girls and they are just precious! The Lindsey next to me has two boys and her youngest is over a year old now. I've loved watching our kids grow up together! Thanks hubby for capturing us:)

and below the four pack buddies from left to right: Daisy (who was not in the mood to pose for a single pic...too much sugar is my guess, Lila, Sam and Raelyn. They are all 3 now and I have had a BLAST watching these kiddos learn to walk, talk, climb, hug, kiss, get potty trained, become older siblings etc.  They are such wonderful blessings from the Lord.  

and of course...the only picture that Daisy is actually into it...I cut a kid off....SIGH....:) lol Tis life.

2 Year Cowgirl Birthday Party - Decorations

Ordinarily I would have taken many more detail shots and birthday party action shots but, this year I chose to relinquish my control entirely.   I will admit that it isn't easy to leave the camera sitting on the counter for an entire special event but, on the other hand the rewards of being fully present for my child's birthday far outweighed the sadness I might have felt about not taking my own pictures. Not to mention I had a fabulous event photographer for the day! Ashley Sisk from Ramblings and Photos offered to take pictures for Daisy's party and I was so thankful to have her talent with us. She takes such beautiful, detailed pictures and I knew I could rest at ease with her shooting away. I think she will be doing a blog post with a lot of the pictures she took during the party sometime this week or next so stay tuned for that!  I'm excited to see them too:).  

Here are a few of the decoration pictures that I snapped really quickly about an hour before the party.  The party was at 4PM on the 31st of March which is her actually birthday.  I missed a lot of the little details in my hurried state but, I figure this is enough to give you a feel for the party.  The theme was  cowgirl/western (obviously:).

I got the badges, wanted picture frames, crayons and mustaches from oriental trading company.  I got the red checked table cloths, the cow print balloons and burlap runners from Amazon.  I got the wooden rocking horse off Craigslist (it's pretty beat up but, it worked perfectly).  I got the red bandannas and the cowgirl hats from a local party store.  The mini hay stacks are from Michael's Crafts and the giant hay stacks from Lowe's Home Improvement Store.  The banner fabric was from Joann's Fabrics.  Now I have a ton of leftover cowgirl party stuff and I am trying to decide what to do with it.  I just might save it in case we ever have another western theme party.  lol  

*u will notice that I forgot to add an S to my chalkboard Thank 4 comin' sign...sigh.  I didn't even notice the error until just now when I was loading these pictures. Hilarious. 

The giant hay stacks were set up to be a photo station and most of the kids had their individual picture taken on the hay.  We are going to e-mail their picture to the parents so that they can print them.  Then they can add them to their wanted picture frame if they want to.  

Stay tuned for more of the action party pictures and more pictures of Daisy on the hay stacks:)