i really do love birthday parties. i love the planning and the preparing (really, i do!); I love the celebrating & being with friends. it was made exponentially more fun this year because Addie was so excited about it! we tossed around the idea of a baking party last year, but i was still sick and pregnant; and there was no energy there. when i asked addie about it again this year, she immediately said no! so i asked her to hear me out...and by the time i was done explaining what we could do, she was hooked...and excited! 
and so we used fun colors and made a few visits to joann's with our coupons for every.single.thing.needed!
there were chef hats and the girls made cupcake flowers to add to them.
everyone got an apron with their name on it and a little added cuteness (that i had a lot of help from my mom creating!)
after we made chef hat flowers and took a picture (how cute are they?!?)
the girls were split into two groups. one group put together a cookie recipe in a jar from here.
i'd measured everything out into cups (so the recipe would actually work when they made it at home)!
so they dumped and squished and may or may not have tasted a little brown sugar!
there were chef hats and the girls made cupcake flowers to add to them.
everyone got an apron with their name on it and a little added cuteness (that i had a lot of help from my mom creating!)
after we made chef hat flowers and took a picture (how cute are they?!?) the girls were split into two groups. one group put together a cookie recipe in a jar from here.
i'd measured everything out into cups (so the recipe would actually work when they made it at home)!
so they dumped and squished and may or may not have tasted a little brown sugar!
while the first group was making cookies in a jar, the other group went to the kitchen and kneaded their pizza dough and added ingredients to make their very own pizza! while the pizza's were finishing up, we played an undocumented taste
testing game that involved things like flour and pickle relish and red
peppers and parsley (and some hilariously funny faces!)!
after pizzas were cooked and consumed, we had birthday cake!
addie's never been a big fan of having happy birthday sung to her, and that hasn't changed!
but she still sat up and blew her candles out ;)
and then it was time to decorate their own cakes!
they realized it was a little more challenging than expected to ice an entire cake. those sides are tricky!
but once the outside icing was on, they took turns with colors and icing tips
and decorated some beautiful cakes!
full of color and sprinkles!
after every cake was decorated, the girls ended up in our girl's room all on the top bunk! (and after i grabbed a picture, i made sure everyone got safely down!) 
but what i loved most about this party was what each little girl so carefully brought for the Friendship Mission Women's Shelter. Totaling...18 sticks of deoderant. 5 (big!) bottles of lotion, 7 (big!) bottles of shampoo, and 15 (huge!) bottles of body wash. 17 toothbrushes and 32 tubes of toothpaste in addition to floss and mouthwash. Brushes and combs. Fingernail polish and manicure sets. Qtips and socks. 6 huge packages of napkins, 14 rolls of paper towels, and 270 paper plates! Addie went through each bag & looked at each item. Our prayer is that they will bless these women & children.
i cannot believe this little girl is six already. i have no idea where the time has gone. i keep thinking i'm soaking up the minutes and hours and days...and they keep passing faster and faster. 
I did a little flipagr@m video of Addie over the years. She first asked me why I had all of those pictures. The memories. Such sweet memories. And later that night on her birthday day as we talked on her bed, she told me it almost made her cry...tears of happiness.
i cannot believe this little girl is six already. i have no idea where the time has gone. i keep thinking i'm soaking up the minutes and hours and days...and they keep passing faster and faster. I did a little flipagr@m video of Addie over the years. She first asked me why I had all of those pictures. The memories. Such sweet memories. And later that night on her birthday day as we talked on her bed, she told me it almost made her cry...tears of happiness.
We're so thankful for this big little person. Her love of others. Encouragement. Excitement. Loyalty. Passion (oh the passion!). Kindness. Precious child of God. Happy 6th Birthday Addieboo!
