The Tinkerbell Birthday Party

Sophia is 5 years old.  Amazing how time flies . . . 

Every year, since she was 3, we’ve had 2 parties - one is a dinner with her family, and the other, a themed party for friends.  

            

            3 year old party  - Princess theme, with a cardboard castle and Princess skirts.

            4 year old party -  Dora the Explorer, Treasure Hunt.

This year  - Tinkerbell Fairy Party

We spent the last week getting ready.

Sophi and I made lots of paper flowers from napkins - and toadstools from the cardboard part of a toilet paper roll!  

Anton stayed up late the night before making a special fairy tree and the Valley of the Fairies sign.

We got up early and spent at least a couple of hours decorating the cafe area at our church.

When the children began to arrive, they ran right past all our decorations  . . . 

 . . . to the big room, where they ran and danced with great JOY!   We laughed and Anton asked, “Did they even SEE the decorations?!”

After everyone arrived, we had them all come back in the cafe and Anton helped them “get into” the fairy world.  He told a wonderful story about how God gave us imagination - we can dream big dreams - even dream up whole worlds . . . and creatures . . . and languages . . . 

Then, he got them to talk a little about the world of fairies.  What did they look like?  Where did they live?  How did they get around? . . . 

Of course, all the children knew that fairies have wings!  So, if they were going to play in the fairy world at this party, they would need wings, too!

The girls got busy decorating their wings.  

I had cut them out from one piece of poster board, folded.  I superglued two pieces of elastic to the back so they could slip their arms through.  They worked great!  Sophi’s was the only one that came apart and I taped it back with no more problems.

The boys had a choice they could make wings or pirate eye-patches.  It was unanimous!

May I introduce those pesky pirates of fairy land:  

            Andrey, Roma, Yanik . . . 

                                                      . . . and Losha!

Our beautiful fairies:

                     Angelika, Polina, Masha, and Dasha!

After craft time, it was time to PLAY!

We had several games:  

     MAGIC WAND - played like hot potato - music played and when the music stopped,

                              the one left holding the wand was “out.”

     TINKERBELL BINGO - I made the cards on Picnik.

     LILY PAD RACE - there were 2 teams, each team got two lily pads (I made them from 

                                 green poster board) - one by one, each team member had to 

                                 cross the “pond” walking on only the 2 lily pads.  

                                 The boys’ team one this one all 3 times!  

      TINKERBELL MOVIE QUIZ - Anton had prepared questions and he just got the kids 

                                  to sit together in a group and for each correct answer, the kids 

                                  got a sticker.  They LOVED this game!

STICKERS - for winning, for participation, for just being . . . the children got lots of stickers they put on their wings or eye-patches. 

After working up a hunger playing, it was time for snacks!

I had so much fun putting together the food!

We had sandwiches cut out with acorn and apple shaped cookie-cutters and filled with kalbasa and cheese or tuna salad.

The mushrooms were made with stuffed hard-boiled eggs covered with tomatoes and dotted with mayo.

Snails were made from tortilla roll ups - the heads were grapes and the antennae, carrot sticks.

But, the very best snacks were the cup-cakes . . . 

There were rabbits and hedgehogs, mushrooms . . . 

There were ladybugs and butterflies!

All these magical little cakes were made by our dear friend and baker extraordinaire, Anya!  

Thank you, Anya!

It was all so good!

Thank you to all our friends for celebrating with us!

                            

Our own little “Tinkerbell” sure had fun!

The First Four

Sophia turned four this past week.  Our little girl is a “preschooler” now.

I remember  . . . 

 Her “Birth Day.”  

She slept, ate, slept some more, ate some more.. .

Outside the sun was shining, bright against the snow. . . the beginning of Spring!

Her 1st Birthday

We were still living in our one room apt in Moscow - but we had 6 for dinner!

Sophi danced on her new table, got her first flowers from her cousin Senya . . . 

And, made her famous “piggy” face!

Her 2nd Birthday

We had moved to Smolensk.  She had her own room now!

She wasn’t too sure what a birthday was . . . and didn’t quite know what to do with all the presents . . . 

We had cupcakes with candles and she wore her “birthday bib!”

Her 3rd Birthday

She helped to make her own cake - it was a castle, for a princess!

Her papa made a castle and all her royal friends dressed in their finest!

Her 4th Birthday

She wore her Princess dress all day . . .

and played with her new doll house . . .

She was a rabbit for a while and hopped and hopped . . . 

She went on a “Dora the Explorer” treasure hunt with her friends, and pinned a tail on a donkey . . . 

She knew the warmth of young love with a friend.

Our little girl is fun, smart, full of interest and LIFE  . . . 

and we can’t wait to watch how God grows her over the next year . . . 

Great Idea For A Kid’s Birthday Party

My friend, Anya, just threw a party for her son, Roma’s, 5th birthday.  The theme she chose was so cute!

Birthday Train

The kids road a “train” through Roma’s life.  Each year was a “stop” and at each “stop” the children had to guess what Roma learned to do that year - and then they did an activity that had to do with what he had learned.

For example, 

Year one . . . 

   Roma learned to walk.  

   The kids had to do a little relay where they carried water by the spoonful from a little bucket to another.

They loved this !

Next stop, year two!  

   Roma learned to feed himself . . . 

   so the kids had to learn to eat jello with a popsicle stick.

And on to year 3 - I don’t remember what was this year. . . 

Year four 

   Roma learned to read . . . 

   and each of the children had to find some little gifts hidden in the room and read the name on each (if they couldn’t read, then they were to bring the gift to Roma to read!) There was a gift filled with candy for each child!

Anya made a train cake - really cute and delicious!

Such a simple and fun theme!  It could be used for any age. really - just choose the years you wanted to highlight and come up with cute activities for each.

Here’s hoping all your birthday parties are happy ones!

Roma had a great time trying to blow out the one trick candle on the cake!

A 3rd Birthday

Sophia and friends at her Mom's Day Out birthday party.

When the nurse first brought Sophia to me, I was just coming out of a deep sleep.  I focused hard on what the nurse was saying as she handed me the tightly wrapped bundle.  I asked, “Is everything ok?”  I remember saying, “She is beautiful.”  I wanted to hold her and keep her, but my arms weren’t responding to my thoughts and the nurse whisked Sophi away before my mouth could say the words.  

I was totally out of it - but that blurry memory is so clear, deeply embedded.  

There are many more memories after that one: 

The first night we brought her home,

 sleepless nights, 

doctor’s visits . . .  

lots of “firsts” - eating, laughing, speaking, walking, playing, friends.  

All are starting to fade and I keep thinking that I need to

 write more down, 

take more pictures, 

shoot more video . . . 

She’s 3 - our little Princess, only 3 years old.  So, why do I feel as if a whole lifetime has gone by and I missed 90%?  I was there, but not enough registered, and I missed it.  

Can we dare to imagine that God, The Great Parent, doesn’t miss one second.  He holds it all  - every moment of Sophia, of me, of you. . .  and takes Joy in Knowing!