a tea party with some special friends...

to celebrate olivia's 7th birthday.  her party in a few pictures...

the invitation

the location- sweet firefly sweet shop

the birthday girl was ready and so excited!

the tables were set with glitter, flowers, a craft, feather boas, and o's great-grandmothers REAL teacups.

the food table with lots of sweet treats- chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate pretzel rods, petifours,  fruit,  and the finest country time "pink" tea. 

any party olivia plans must include a craft.  so first up, making jewelry boxes.  we painted and bedazzled them!

then we sang happy birthday and ate ice cream and the other sweet treats.

and finally some sweet friends to make the whole celebration extra special.  

seven years old...

it can't be possible that my first born girl is SEVEN!!  i am amazed daily at the life that God created when He made her.  olivia is kind, so smart, sensitive, determined, faithful, curious, artistic, the best big sister, considerate, loving, diligent, a great friend, thoughtful, talented, a super student, a rule follower, a precious granddaughter, fun, and loves Jesus.  it is such a joy to be her mommy and watch her grow into a lovely little girl who i know God has big plans for.  my prayer for her continues to be that she would seek Him first in all that she does and that she would know that He will be EVERYTHING she ever needs.

a birthday breakfast with decorations, donuts, and our little family

a birthday outfit from moonbeam!  a few birthday gifts from b and pop.

birthday dinner at benihana with gramps, nana, and the fam

a rockin' birthday gift- her very own iTouch from nana and gramps.

thank you God for olivia!  i am beyond blessed by her life, her example, and her love.

olivia,  your daddy and i are so very proud of the young lady that you are growing into.  may all your days as a seven year old be filled with love of family and friends, seeking Christ, lots of prayer, and even some new lessons learned to make you the best eight year old ever.  we love so very much!! 

the rainbow art party...

i promise the birthday posts are about to end, but you can't turn 6 without at birthday party!!!

olivia started asking last year for an art party.  she LOVES art!!  last year i talked her out of having the party at our house and doing the american girl store with the women in our family.  that was a blast, but o has not forgotten that she wanted to have an art party at our house.  i decided that since she had been asking for over a year that this was the year for the rainbow art party.  it was so much fun to plan because olivia was very involved.  she helped decide on the projects we would do, the food we would serve, and she even created the game we played all by herself.

we prepared everything for the party...

the invitation

the food table

the party favor bags & game notebooks

the welcome sign to direct our guests to the party

rainbow cake in mason jars

5 minutes before party time our first guests arrive...

abby, the birthday girl, and kk

as we waited for all the guests to arrive the girls were busy coloring, drawing, and making jewelry...

next it was time for the main event, let the owl painting begin...

 then it was game time and a group picture in the backyard...

 and finally... happy birthday, cake, and ice cream!!

love this smile while everyone was singing to her!

making her wish...

olivia's REAL birthday day...

started with a birthday breakfast.

eggs (her favorite) and cinnamon biscuits, and a candle of course.

i am in disbelief that she is SIX!!!

then daddy, rara, and b brought her chick-fil-a for lunch at school (i had to work) AND she bought her whole class an ice cream treat to celebrate her special day.  oh, and her principal wished her a happy birthday on the announcements in the morning and gave her a birthday pencil.  (that was a BIG deal to her.)

after school, chrissie picked her up.  they walked back home and were able to spend some time together and chrissie gave her the BEST birthday card, a beautiful purple princess crown and wand, plus a really neat princess puzzle.  i think the best part for o was getting chrissie all to herself for about an hour.  :)

o and chrissie-- they love each other so much!

once i got home, we headed to mcdonald's where pop, rara, abby, kk, and jack were waiting to celebrate o some more.  we walked in and they started singing "happy birthday!" and we all ate some ice cream together.  then the kids played for a little while before it was off to the next event.

"happy birthday to you!!!"

we came back home to find uncle sean and nana at our house.  uncle sean was working on the chair to go with the desk that nana and gramps gave o.  he also brought a barbie birthday gift for o.  she loves anything barbie!!

b stopped by and brought part 2 of olivia's birthday gift from she and pop and to wish her a very happy birthday.  in addition to the awesome american girl bed, pop and b gave olivia some money to go shopping and buy some new clothes for school.  the money was not in a card, but b hid it in a "quilt making kit" so o had to dig through all the pieces and find it.  it was so cute and o is excited to make the quilt too!!

to end the night, we continued our tradition of going to benihana with nana and gramps.  this year uncle sean was able to go with us too!!  dinner was yummy (as usual) and olivia had her third serving of ice cream for the day. :) (only on your birthday is that close to being acceptable.)

 as olivia climbed into bed that night, i wished her a happy birthday one more time, and she responded, "mommy, i think this is the best birthday i've had yet!!" i think i might have to agree.  :)


our sweet olivia!  we can't believe that you are six years old today.  you have so many people in your life that love, support, and celebrate you, but no one loves you more than your daddy and i.  our hearts grew bigger six years old when we saw you for the first time and they have not stopped going since that moment.  you teach us about compassion and how to love others by your example.  you challenge us in the questions you ask and your perspective on life.  you are truly a gift from God.  we are so lucky that He chose us to be your mommy and daddy.  we love you so much!!  can't wait to see what you will accomplish this year.  happy birthday!! 

let the birthday celebration for 6 year old olivia begin...

because birthdays are a BIG deal around here there will be multiple posts to capture how we celebrated our olivia this year.  she is loved by many and spoiled by all of them, especially on her special day.

two days before her real birthday, olivia got a big package in the mail.  it was from her b and pop and her first exciting birthday gift.  it was something she has been asking for a long time.  she was THRILLED when she opened the box and saw the red american girl box.  inside the box was this...

a bed for her AG doll, emily!!  every night since opening this gift o gets emily dressed in her pajamas and tucks her into her bed right before she hops in hers.  so cute!!

then, the next day (one day before the real birthday) nana came over with olivia's gift from gramps and nana.  this one required some assembly, so nana and i worked all afternoon so olivia would be surprised when she came home from school.  we didn't meet our deadline, but olivia was very patient and waited for about 30 minutes after coming home and then she walked in her room to find this...

a desk in her room!!!  complete with tons of new markers, colored pencils, crayons, and a cool magnetic board to display her work.  she LOVED it and she and nana immediately started creating a piece of art.

see what i mean!  it is not even her birthday yet, and already she has everything she could ask for and feels so special.  up next, birthday DAY!!!

mickey mouse birthday bash...

was this past saturday to celebrate jack's 3rd birthday with friends and family. like last year, we had our birthday bash with one of his besties, mckenzie. it was a great day at the spraypark and there where lots of friends to play and celebrate with. jack had a blast and hope everyone who was able to come had fun too!! here is the birthday party in pictures...

the birthday girl and boy!

our little family!

cupcakes! (there was other food too, but these are the most important!!)

mickey buckets for everyone to play with in the water.

the birthday boy having so much fun running through the water.

a little bit of chaos!

friends big and small!! :)

birthday wishes!

some super cute towels to dry off! thanks moonbeam for the shirts and towels. :)

party favors! (choice of: mickey beach balls, sunglasses, or bubbles)

and then it was back to b and pop's house to open gifts with just the family. my favorite wrapping job was done by olivia...

she worked so hard decorating this bag with jack doing all of his favorite things- playing sports and driving a car. so cute and thoughtful!