Avery's Rainbow Party

So of course with all the other big milestones happening lately came a round of birthdays at the Burch household. Avery turned five this year! What?!? What a beautiful, smart, fun, happy girl she is. She decided that she wanted to have a "rainbow party" which I was really excited for 1) because it is bright and fun just like she is and 2) super easy to decorate and tons of fun things to do with rainbows. I found this AWESOME cake idea online that was actually super easy and looked so neat. Deke and I stayed up together the night before baking the cakes and dyeing the layers. I was a little worried that the colors wouldn't turn out as bright as the cakes looked online but they did!! We put it in the fridge and wouldn't let Avery see it until we frosted it so that she would be surprised when she cut into it. Here it is before it was frosted: We also constructed this fun tissue paper rainbow to hang over the table. Sitting on the living room floor at eleven o'clock at night fluffing tissue paper, eating snacks and watching Law & Order together. I love Deke, he is seriously such an amazing husband. Sounds silly I guess but I find it incredibly attractive when we are working together on projects for the kids or having family time and he is playing with the kids. Looking over at him helping me make this party fun and special for Avery I couldn't stop getting the warm fuzzies and wanting to smother him with kisses. Anyways :) :)Avery invited her cousin Brecken and two of her favorite girlfriends, Claire and Sophia. We decided that the girls would do a couple of rainbow crafts, first they would decorate flip flops with rainbow colored ribbons, then make rainbow beaded bracelets. I found some really cute colored beads at Hobby Lobby. Hunter made a rainbow out of Emma's duplos to add to the decor. Snuck in a couple of shots with Ave and her family. Mom and Avery :)

The three amigos....

Then we frosted the cake, decorated it and brought it out for Avery to see. The rainbow Twizzler's we found at Safeway worked perfect to decorate the top. The best part was that she didn't realize what was going to be inside....When the girls got here we started off with making flip flops. They each got a pair of pink flip flops and a big bowl of the ribbons and they started tying away. Since all of them are still workinhg on learning to tie their shoes this craft took a little longer than I thought but it was actually good practice for them and they really had fun with it. They turned out really cute, plus it wouldn't be a birthday for Avery without some sort of shoe involvement : ):)Then it was time to make their bracelets. Again really fun for them and simple. Deke and I had to divide up the beads because everyone wanted of course a majority of pink beads. It is so funny to watch little girls. They sat and just worked on their crafts and talked quietly about "girl stuff." Deke couldn't believe how mellow they all were. Just like little mini women getting together for a craft night, working on a project and socializing. It was fun to listen to their discussions as we helped them string their beads. Then they did a little modeling for us to show off their new accessories... We headed inside for presents. Everything Avery got was princess related in one way or another and she was thrilled. Princess water hop scotch, princess dominoes, etc. etc. She of course loved them all. Then she opened Sophia's gift. Sophia's mom had made her her very own Rapunzel hair! "Mom, Rapunzel hair a brown hair one!!!" she excitedly told us. Sure enough Sophia's mom had made her hair match very close to Ave's actual hair color. Avery quickly reminded everyone that Rapunzels hair turns brown at the end of the movie just like hers. Sophia and Claire excitedly told her that they also had Rapunzel hair except theirs are blonde. So now all three of them have Rapunzel braids. Can't wait to get that picture :) Here she is wearing her braid....Here it is from the back. I think it is so cute that Sophia's mom put little flowers throughout the braid like in the movie. The hair falls to the middle of her calf, she loves to twirl it and put it over her shoulder and when she wears it Emma does follow her around and try to pull on it. Surprise surprise. About half way through the party Emma woke up and Madi made her a bracelet of her very own which she wears often and loves since she can put it on and take it off herself. Then it was time for the cake. I love these pictures of her blowing out her candles... Her face when Deke cut the cake open was priceless. "There is a rainbow inside!!!" the girls were squealing. It was perfect. She was so surprised and so excited and Deke and I couldn't have been happier. It was so much fun. She loved it. I love getting to plan and throw the kids birthday parties. Trying to make it special and fun for them. Avery is such an amazing little girl and such a wonderful daughter. We feel so blessed to have her as part of our family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVE!!!! love your family :) :) :)