Rainbow Party

Last Thursday Anastasia, my firstborn, turned FIVE. There is hardly any of that 6 1/2 pound baby left in this little girl. She still has the strong will she entered the world with, the beautiful head of dark, brown curls, and the same pout she gave us the moment she was born. Other than that, it is hard to believe she is the same little person. She has grown into a very imaginitive, very passionate young lady. She keeps everyone in line, and holds us to our word. She dances with grace that she absolutely did not get from her mother. She dreams about princesses and castles, asks about her prince, and wished to become a fairy someday while blowing out her candles. She is beautiful in every way possible. And I can't believe she is 5.

To celebrate her 5th year, she wanted to have a rainbow party. I am not sure if it was her idea entirely, or if she knocked it off of one of her friends, but either way I was thrilled not to be planning a princess party! And rainbows are so colorful and fun!

Not only did we have one rainbow party, but my mom also hosted a family party for Anastasia last weekend. So she let the girls decorate the cake with M&Ms in the shape of a rainbow! It turned out so pretty! (Much better than mine!)

Kieran's favorite part was blowing up balloons, and I had to take this picture of him looking like a little baby hunk. Can you believe his curls? It is a good thing he is so cute, because he is 100% trouble.

Anastasia helped glue cotton balls onto this free printable rainbow quote as part of the decorations. I would like to actually frame it and put it somewhere on her wall near her bed. Especially because she LOVES the Judy Garland version of the song. I also made an entire playlist of rainbows and color songs on Spotify. I was so busy at the party to even put it somewhere central to play, but I enjoyed listening to it all week.I think I had the most fun making rainbow decorations for this party! I made a little bunting out of scrapbook paper (that was on sale at Michael's for 5 for $1!!!) and I made a little "cloud" garland out of cotton balls strung on some embroidery floss. It was super easy, and cute. I also made a rainbow out of streamers that spread across the table. And my dad gave Anastasia a rainbow bouquet which added perfectly to the party!

For food we had pizza, salad, bread, popcorn with M&Ms (one of my favorite combos!), rainbow goldfish and a raibow fruit tray:

The fruit tray idea came from here and was probably the most popular food served. I think I ate the popcorn mostly on my own with a bottle of Sierra Nevada after the party. Yikes.

Because our house is tiny, and seating is limited the kids had a picnic on the twister mat in Anastasia's bedroom. I saw this idea somewhere, but I can't remember where. I am just happy not to have pizza sauce on my couch. At least not more than my kids left on there last week. We actually tried to play twister, but most of the kids didn't quite get it. They all fell down on purpose so they wouldn't have to play anymore. But the treasure hunt was (as always) a hit:

I had the kids follow the rainbow by finding color clues... a red ornament, yellow book, orange bathmat, etc... to reach the pot of gold.

For a craft I set out rainbow beads, scissors and string. I don't know that anyone made anything while they were here, but we have found beads all over the floor, and since the party many necklaces and bracelets have been made.

I think this is one of my favorite shots from the party, of Anastasia and one of her best friends, Zita. Notice the cake in the pyrex. It was a disaster. It was so bad, it deserves a post of its own. It has a happy ending, but I am about to swear off cake decorating forever.

We sent everyone home with a rainbow goodie bag that the girls helped fill and Anastasia gave everyone a piece of original art work. I made the little notebooks from scrap book paper and printer paper. I found the crayons at the Dollar Store for 4 for $1, and they had rainbows on them! I intended to make glitter rainbow playdough for everyone, but Anastasia's grandparents sent her 40 small packs of playdough for her birthday which saved me a little time, energy and money. I am sure I will make rainbow playdough another day!

The kids had such a nice time, and even though our house is tiny, we fit everyone in, had plenty to eat, and enough rounds of tickle monster to last a lifetime. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, colorful little 5-year old in my life for yet another year. :)