Kalynn's 4th Birthday

Well, aside from the minor concussion my child received falling backward off of a picnic table, smacking her head on the table behind it before smacking it again on the tile from which it bounced off, she had a pretty good birthday. 

For the last 6 months, I had been planning out Kalynn's perfect ballerina party in detail. Ballet has become a special part of her weekly routine, so when I originally asked her what she wanted for this year's party, it was tutus and toe shoes all the way. 

When she switched it up on me last month and let me know that she was now a rock star (duh), I had some fast plans to secure. 

Ok, so rock star party. Ok. I can totally do this with 3 weeks notice.

My mom always reminds me that you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. So with this in mind, my first bite needed to be the invitations.

I had done some looking around on the internet but I didn't see any invites worth ordering so I opted to just make my own from scratch on Photoshop. I went with the ticket stub idea and used a picture I had taken of her goofing around a few weekends prior. They turned out super cute:

"Kalynn Fuller's Fab 4 World Tour"

I made some tie dye cupcakes with little guitar toppers which also doubled as party favor necklaces. 

Speaking of, instead of party favor bags, each of the kids had "swag bags" filled with rock star essentials: Sun glasses, Pop Rocks, temporary tattoos, glitter bangle bracelets, gloves with musical notes on them, and working spring operated microphones. Blue for the two boys, pink and purple for the 5 girls. 

I covered the "Pop" part of all the Pop Rocks with each kid's name. As much as I tried to give myself an A for Effort, I suck at drawing bubble letters. 

I printed up some "rock star refuel" labels for the water bottles. 

And what is a rock star party without an Artist Of The Year award for the rock star of honor?

(Super easy to make with an ancient Luscious Jackson CD, some construction paper, some Photoshop magic and an old frame)

Tons of sugar, tons of children, tons of fun. 

She came away with some great loot!

We rented out the party room at a bounce house called Jumpin' in Loveland and the place really impressed me. They were clean, they were organized, they were on top of everything and the place didn't smell like pee which is always a plus when you're dealing with toddler friendly entertainment spots. 

6 total bouncing stations including oversized slides and inflated obstacle courses. 

I cried when I put her to bed for the final time the night before as her tiny 3-year-old self, and I cried when I put her to bed just now with the excitement for our 4th year together. 

Every year she grows more into this amazing little person that I fall head over heals for. The words that come from her mouth make me laugh, make me think, make me appreciate things in a way that I've never known and I don't know where I would be in life without her. 

She is and always will be my sunshine.

Happy Birthday to my 4 year old baby girl and thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

For those who weren't able to make it to round one, not to fret! The after party in California will be just around the corner so get ready!

I hope everyone had a great and safe new year! Welcome to 2014!