GG and PawPaw were in town for the weekend so we decided to host a little housewarming/Birthday party on Saturday afternoon, fortunately it didn’t snow too much and nobody had trouble with the drive, although that didn’t keep some from stressing about the weather. Chef Jeff made a wonderful spread of smoked turkey, port and sausage, baked beans, potato salad, veggies with dip and of course Birthday cake. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves; most of the food was eaten and there was laughter in the air. I think Clare had the most fun, she was a bit shy at first but warmed up quickly and had fun playing with Glen and eating cake and opening presents.
I made a first time parent mistake, I showed Clare her cake before the party, of course she wanted to play with the princesses and have a piece right then. I hated telling her no, but explained that we needed to wait for everyone to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her before she could eat some, as I’m sure you can guess that didn’t work too well, thank goodness for new princess dolls for a little distraction. When it did come time to sing and blow out the candles Clare did great, she needed no help blowing out the candles, I wonder what she wished for. Of course the princesses were the best part of the cake, thank you to Leslie for whisking them away quickly for a quick rinse so they could be played with.
Despite our telling people they didn’t need to bring anything Clare still received gifts; she was spoiled! When she first saw the gifts she asked to open then, I explained that we would open her presents after cake, surprisingly she didn’t get upset and patiently waited. She loved opening the packages, she only needed a little help and thankfully Glen was happy to step in and lend a hand. She loved opening each present and playing with it, she absolutely loved her baby that says ‘mama’ and cries, she kept hugging it and saying ‘baby crying’. The part about the opening presents that I liked best was that she said thank you, unsolicited, after each one, talk about a proud mama moment!
Thank you for the Princess books Chellie and John!!
Glen set an excellent example and was a great help to Clare, he was happy to help her with the ribbons and even rode around on her bike picking up the trash.
Leslie and Shannon gave Clare a baby that cries and says 'mama!'
Jeff pointed out that there are a lot of stripes in this picture :)
GG and PawPaw gave Clare a train set, thank goodness PawPaw is a certified Brakeman for the Frisco/BN Railroad and had no trouble putting it together.
Ohhhh, magnetic dolls with clothes!
After the gifts were opened and the paper was cleaned up it was time for her guests to start heading down the hill. It started snowing again and most people were anxious to get back to paved roads before dark. We very much appreciated everyone making the trek up the hill to visit us and see the house; we hope the view was worth it even if it did snow a bit. Clare had a wonderful party and crashed shortly after everyone left. Hosting is always a lot of work but it was totally worth it to watch Clare having so much fun.
Having a party at home was perfect for us, we aren’t the wild and crazy type, it was nice to relax and enjoy the company of our family and friends, thank you to everyone that came, you helped make her Birthday extra special.
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