Anna Claire's birthday party was on Saturday, but her actual birthday was today. She absolutely loved her party, but I wanted to do what I could to make today special too.
So I put the ball in her court. When asked the night before, she said, "I have no idea, Mommy. No idea."
When I went in to wake her up this morning, she said, "I thought about what I want to do. I have ideas, Mommy!"
I asked her what they were, and she said, "I want to do art and play with all my Play-doh." Done deal. We would certainly do those things.
She walked into the family room through rainbow streamers I had taped above the door. She loved the streamers so much. She kept saying, "Wow! How'd you get those up there, Mommy?" I also blew up a few balloons and had them floating around on the floor when she walked in, and hung up the birthday banner that we've used every year since she was one. I love how simple things can bring so much joy.
Two large gift bags full of presents went unnoticed by her. I think because our whole house has been cluttered with gift bags since her party on Saturday, she's become de-sensitized to seeing them! I would point the two bags out to her later.
We had breakfast. Anna Claire planned out her birthday menu the day before:
Breakfast requests: Lucky Charms with milk, but I want a glass of milk too. And Goldfish (rainbow ones). And blueberries.
Lunch: I want to have nap and lunch and then cupcakes with my friends at The Red Barn. We can get the little cupcakes at Walmart. Maggie CAN have those. (She has a little friend with a peanut allergy in her class and she is right, mini-cupcakes at Walmart are nut-free! I love how she thought of her friend instead of herself when picking out cupcakes! Precious!)
Dinner: I want to go to Cheddars for my birthday. I really want to go to Cheddars...I've always wanted to got there.
After breakfast, she was ready to play with her ice cream Play-Doh set and brand new Play-Doh that she received as a gift at her party. We played with it for the longest. It really is a neat set with some fun toys and tools.
Art time! She loves her "rainbow" tri-colored markers from Grandma. They are really cool. She figured out pretty quickly that she can use them as stampers, or turn them at different angles for different effects.
Presents from Mommy and Daddy. I looked at the time and realized it was getting late and she still hadn't opened her gifts from us. We kept it simple since Grandma had already spoiled her rotten, and her birthday party was her BIG gift from us, but they were things we knew would be winners: three summer dresses (she LOVES sundresses), a rainbow leotard she'd been wanting, two of the little Disney princess dolls she didn't yet have, an eye shadow palette like Mommy's, sparkle shoes, and my favorite of her gifts, this rainbow machine. I adore it and so does she!
Time to go to Wal-mart to pick out cupcakes. She picked the packs of minis that had some with blue and some pink frosting. "That way the boys and girls can have the colors they like." She also managed to squeeze a chocolate frosted doughnut out of me. ;)
I dropped her off at the Red Barn along with the cupcakes, then returned after their naptime with rainbow jello I had made using these directions, but I made them sans alcohol, of course. The kids loved them - they were surprised, Anna Claire included.
I stole her away after Jell-o and cupcake fun. She really wanted to go home and explained she didn't take a nap at school. She said, "I want to go be lazy, Mommy."
So, we watched TV and snuggled for awhile, then I tried to engage her in some fun (it was her birthday after all). We played with some of her birthday gifts, which she really enjoyed - mainly art though! She was true to what she said when she hopped out of bed. That's REALLY what she wanted to do.
Not long after, it was time for an early bath so we could have dinner with Pop and Daddy at Cheddars at 5:00. She loved, loved, loved Cheddars. We all did! She ordered the hot dogs, but of course, she preferred what we ordered. She loved my pasta and Pop's fried chicken. We also ordered her a Monster Cookie since it was her special day. I have to say, those are THE BOMB.
Then small group for church. We always take Anna Claire with us, but being her birthday, I wondered if she would mind going. Had she not wanted to, we would have just missed it. But she really did want to go! She loves playing with her Red Barn buddy, Lucas, whose parents lead our group. They did have a ball, and it was actually a fun way to end her birthday.
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We enjoyed a super fun birthday celebration with Grandma and Freddie on Sunday.
They truly spoiled her rotten and her reactions were priceless: she got her bicycle, a REAL guitar, knee and elbow pads, tri-colored markers and a real sketchbook, soccer balls and cones, swim shoes and diving rings, Molly from Bubble Guppies, 3 books, princess panties, pink clip-on hair extentions (fun!), and more!
We loved dinner out with Grandma and Freddie. They took us to Torino's in Springfield. Anna Claire loved it. She ordered grilled cheese, but also loved sampling our food. She was so surprised by the waiters clapping and singing "Happy Birthday" to her, that I think it scared her. It was much like the Charlie's Steak House experience for Larry and me - her complimentary birthday cake had strawberries and whipped cream but had a candle instead of Charlie's trademark sparklers.
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