4.2.11--Sapphira's second birthday party!

We held Sapphira's second birthday party at our home on Saturday afternoon. Sapphira loves animals, so I had fun finding different (and cheap!) ways to incorporate them into her special day. At Target, they had the cutest Valentine's Day paper plates with monkeys and napkins with dogs and frogs on them and better yet, I was able to get everything I needed for $3 total because they went on sale after Valentine's Day was over (yay!). We had coloring pages with cats, and cupcakes and a "cherry tree" branch with bird silhouettes. It was fun to watch Sapphira discover the animals one by one and get so excited over each one!

Malachi really wanted to make "day-ca-rations" for Sapphira's party. I was so thankful Samuel and I stayed up until 2 am the night before getting things done because it gave me extra time to spend with Malachi helping him with his project. I pulled a whole bunch of stuff out of my kid's crafting drawer and gave him some glue and away he went. He had so much fun and was so proud of himself.

Coloring some kitty cats with her cousins.

Malachi gave Sapphira a MagnaDoodle. We received a small dollar store one for Christmas and it gets played with every day, and doesn't work well anymore. This is definitely a favorite and Sapphira would barely open any other presents once she opened this one!

Grandma and Papa gave her some new pots and pans.

GaGa and Boppa gave her two little doggies she has been admiring since before Christmas. They move their heads and wag their tails when you pet their backs...so exciting!

A book about the moon (another favorite thing!) from GaGa and Boppa.

Trying to get her to take the blanket off her kitchen. She got really shy since she realized everyone was looking at her!

Look at all the levers, knobs and doors!! I'm in Heaven!

Trying out some new recipes. We also gave her a small cabinet that Samuel painted to match the kitchen as her "fridge". I filled it with felt food...a girl has to have something to cook in her new kitchen! We moved it into her new room later that night and the kids play with it every day. I am constantly hearing the doors closing, pans clanging, and "yummmm's" coming from her room...so fun!

Birds! I borrowed a big piping tip from a friend who gave me some good advise. These are my best looking cupcakes yet! Thanks Tina, for your help! :)

Singing "Happy Birthday". She suddenly realized everyone was looking at and singing to only her and she buried her head in my shoulder. She refused to even lift her head up to attempt to blow out the candle. Sweet girl...not used to so much attention!

Cake table!

Hey...is that cake up there?? Can someone help me, please!?!

She got frosting on her hands...everything must stop until it's cleaned up!

Yum!

Goodness...she's got us wrapped around her little finger! :)

Showing Boppa how her MagnaDoodle works.

Cousins getting in some quick kitchen time before Sapphira notices they are playing with it! :)

She decided to share with her cousins...can't say the same for Bubba...she wasn't keen on sharing with him that afternoon. ;)

Discovered that banging pots together is very fun!

I just love this girl!

Playing ball with Bubba. GG and Grandpa GG (my grandparents...GG for Great Grandma and Great Grandpa), got her a big ball she's had her eye on ever since they made their spring time appearance in all the stores. This is another favorite that is played with multiple times each day!

I just love my kid's birthdays. I think I enjoy myself as much as my kids do and I love being able to plan a special day for them. Although our tiny house was very crowed with 20 people in it, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and each others company. All of the kids played together well. I think Sapphira really enjoyed having all of her favorite people all in the same place. I noticed her going around the room talking to each person a little bit and showing them something she was interested in. A wonderful day for a wonderful girl.

Happy birthday Sister! We can't believe it's already been two years since you joined our family...weren't you born last week?!? You are the sweetest girl I know and you are truly beautiful inside and out. I love hearing you sing "I love you!" to everyone who is in the car with you at the time and it melts my heart when you come running into my arms for a hug for no apparent reason. We just love you so much!