Inspired By Birthdays

Lamar, Ava, and Mia all have birthdays coming up in May. In fact, Ava and Mia are a day apart and Lamar (who is two years older than the girls) has a birthday just 10 days later. The kids talk almost daily about what kind of cake they want. There are visions of an elaborate Spider-man cake, Dora cake, and a cake with a mermaid on it. The practical mom in me says pick one day to celebrate all the birthdays and have a neutral cake. The unpractical part of me says start learning how to decorate these dream cakes! I am sure we will find a way to make each birthday a special celebration while not getting too carried away! It has been fun seeing them excited about their birthdays. Turning 3 and 5 is a big deal!

All the talk of birthdays has inspired me! I usually like to have some sort of dramatic play area set up in the house. Most recently it has been the dress up clothes and kitchen set. The kitchen set was starting to blend into the wall (in other words, no one was playing with it much anymore). I decided it was time to put it away for a while, but didn't know what to replace it with. The girls inspired me one morning when they were pretending to go to a birthday party. We set up a birthday party in the play area complete with decorations, cake, and gift bags for wrapping presents. I included balloons to toss around and blank birthday cards and envelops as well. Many birthday parities have happened in this area since it was set up. It is a good thing all the cake that has been served has just been pretend! We will keep going to birthday parties until a new interest comes a long!

The party table.. The cakes are large yogurt containers that are covered with brown paper. The "frosting" is felt. The "candles"  are straws. 

In party outfit #1 she is ready with gift in hand. 

In this picture Ava was reading a birthday card. She said it was from her Mimi. According to her it says, "Dear Ava, Happy Birthday! Thank you for a beautiful day. Love, Mimi." This was party outfit #2. The girls said they needed hats to go to the party. I wish I could post pictures of Mia because her party hat was a hat that looks like a panda bear. Very stylish.