Saturday 31 March 2012

Party Time, Any Time!

Today we celebrated the 4th Birthday of our dear little friend Finn! His amazing Mum, Amber, put on a a delightful Construction themed party. She made it so special not only for her darling boy, but also his little friends who attended and even their parents and siblings - a wonderful day for all involved. So many thoughtful touches, amazing decorations, delicious food - yep, I was in awe!


Lily and Finn take the craft verrrry seriously!

Amber made these simple yet awesome treats - marshmallows stuck on sticks, dipped in chocolate and crushed Violet Crumble. The kids went mad for them.

Cheers to Marshmallow Lollipops! Harper, Eli, Lily


Seriously. Butter would not melt in their mouths!!

The kids stood against this wall for a photo... then for the rest of the day, Eli went and stood against this wall every time he had a Marshmallow Lollipop (eg: twice), and every time he wanted one (eg: about a dozen times). He would just stand there and bleat 'yolliiiipop' as if this magical place was where one stood to get the goods. Sorry, buddy boy!




He spent much of the party walking around like this!


Then it was that time which is pretty much compulsary at every Aussie child's party - Pass the Parcel. The kiddies gathered, a quiver of excitement in the air (or confusion, in Eli's case)....

Lily was front and centre and giddy with glee for the party game...




Eli gets a turn w Daddy's help


Then my darling girl spent much of the game with this expression on her face (well, after the first couple of rounds). The parcel was passed round and round and round and the layers of paper (and enfolded treats) unravelled, yet it had not stopped with her...




Her little eyes watched that parcel like.a.hawk, I tell you. I could see the turmoil and conflict in her eyes. Oh, how she wanted to unwrap that magical parcel. Oh, how she wanted to weep, protest or even snatch it from another child's hands. Oh, how her hands lingered when the parcel came past yet again. Oh, how very hard she was trying to wait patiently, consider others, follow the game rules. Pretty sure our little conversation in the car (This is Finn's special day, we let Finn go first, we help him have a happy day) was running around her tortured little mind. Ever so conflicted...

Yet she held out. The self-control was marvellous to behold (teetering on a knife-edge as it was). But it was tough, tough I tell you!!! Every other kid getting a pressie, except you? That is considered TORTURE in Three-Year-Old-World!! Mark and I exchanged sympathetic glances as we watched over our little lady. I encouraged her once - 'Lily, you are waiting so patiently, darling,' but mostly held silent as I knew this was her battle to take on alone. And then the moment came...




In fact, it was the very last layer (thanks Amber, so kind of you!), with the ultimate prize - an awesome pack of magnetic letters!! Yeah, there is probably some kind of life lesson there... (please reflect amongst yourselves....)


Amazing construction cake by Amber!


So sweet and beloved Finn is Four, he had a wonderful day and we all got to celebrate! Kid's birthday parties are the bomb, especially when the parents also get to all hang out and par-tay too. Good times, yummy food, lovely memories, and a few life-lessons to boot!









4 comments:

  1. That looks like such an awesome party. Love the cake. Great story to record of Lily and the pass the parcel, it is so hard to watch our little people work out all these complicated social rules that life throws at them. It sounds like she did well though! Cute set of photos!

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  2. Her serious face in that first photo is priceless, I love it :)

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  3. Thnak you Kate for documenting what was a special day for Lily & Eli, but also for my little guy Finn. I LOVE all the moments you captured, some of them being quite different from the photos I got. The photos of Eli & Harper are such a crack up. They really were quite taken by those marshmallow sticks!

    Your little recount of Lily's inner battle during pass the parcel was perfect. She really did hold it all together & you must have been so proud of her. I love that you & Mark recognised this and were cheering her on. Just beautiful.

    Thank you for coming and for capturing everything you did. We are so lucky to have your family in our lives :) xxx

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  4. I love the story you write about your little girl's patience. You have obviously taught her well... pass the parcel is a hard game for little ones sometimes!

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