Little Coyote turns 4!

Well, our little coyote is less little. She's now officially a big girl of 4, and we did lots of things to celebrate. Her birthday was Wednesday, so we made cupcakes to take to school (well, it's really more of a mom's-day-out thing in the summer). Strawberry, with chocolate frosting and lots of pink, red and white sprinkles.

That evening we met some friends at the Kiddie Park. LOVE the Kiddie Park. Lots of fun rides, just for the little kids, and they're 25 to 50 cents each. Plus, they have the best cotton candy; a big bag for only a dollar. They have other wonderful treats, of course. Ice cream, popcorn, snowcones. But we usually just stick to the rides and the cotton candy. It's a sad rite of passage here, the day a kid is too big for the rides at Kiddie Park. One of our friends' boys was sadly turned away from one of the rides because he was too tall.

The official "Disney Princess" birthday party was Saturday, and we had it at the Gymnastics Center. Not at our house... smart move! We had 11 kids, plus the birthday girl (dang, that's a lot of kids!), and they had a blast running around the obstacle course, jumping into the foam block pit, and playing parachute games. Lots of parents chose to stay and hang out, which was great. Kelsey, the Official Gymnastics Girl In Charge, was fantastic at keeping the kids busy and having fun. Yay, Kelsey! We had pizza, cake and ice-cream, lots of fun, then a Princess Piñata at the end, because M just LOVES piñatas. We did the "pull the strings" kind, not the "hit it with a stick" kind. It's really just about the candy raining down on them, like sugar from heaven, I think.

M did a great job thanking all the kids for coming to her party and handed out party-favor bags (a.k.a. "thanks for leaving" bags!). We opted to not open presents there, since it's way more fun for the kids to be playing. We opened them at home, and she got some really fun stuff. Her first Barbie is the Ariel doll. She loves it. She is definitely ready for Barbie!!

I admit, I suffered an undue amount stress in planning this party, and I've already told M that this one was special because it was her first real party, and that the others will be much smaller. I'm not so much a planner, and I obsessively worried over little details and ridiculous "what if" scenerios. But the husband was an awesome planning partner, and I was relieved that several parents jumped in and assisted wherever they saw an opportunity. I couldn't have done it alone, that's for sure! Jo was awesome, especially at assuring me that all was going well, and making sure I had thought of everything. Her husband dubbed himself "security officer" to ensure no kids got out the door without a parent. Jason opted to come along and helped set up and take down and helped wrangle kids, while his wife was officiating at a wedding. I'm pretty sure the Harris Duo helped with the clean-up while I was thanking guests and seeing them out the door.

So, that's done. Successfully, even. Yay! Next drama... moving. Thankfully, not until after a much needed vacation, coming up in less than two weeks. We are SO looking forward to seeing family and enjoying some cooler weather. Woo-hoo!

Chalk Art

I love watching M be creative. Her drawings have really been getting fun lately, and I especially enjoyed this chalk drawing she did of a girl in a rainbow skirt, with her cat on a leash. Yes, it's a cat. I asked. Note the high-heeled shoes. She's been asking for "shoes with heels" lately. Probably because all the Disney Princesses have shoes with heels. Certainly she doesn't see her mom wearing them very often! Running shoes are more my style. Or flip-flops.

We've been going through an interesting phase where M will ask me to draw things for her because she can't draw them "perfect". I distinctly remember having similar conversations with my mom when I was little. So we're working on "there's no such thing as perfect", and "you get better with practice", and we've started looking for examples of things she wants to draw, so she can see how to do it. It seems to be helping, and she's getting frustrated less. And her work is quite outstanding, of course!

You Know Everything

So we're hanging out the other day, and M and her Dad are kind-of watching sports on the tube, and the following conversation takes place:

Dad: "Madison, what are they playing?"
M: "Tennis... no, baseball."
Dad: "They're actually playing softball"
...long pause...
M: "You know everything."

What are the chances we'll ever hear that from her again?

She's always saying the funniest things. We were all enjoying some Frozen Dots at Sunfest Friday evening. She ordered rainbow flavored, and thought they were fabulous, until she tasted my strawberry dots. Then she declared that hers were too "colory" and asked to trade. When she'd had enough altogether, she said she was done because they were too "freezy". I love her reasoning!