Saturday, September 7, 2013

Gabbi's fifth birthday party

Settle in girls, this is a LONG one!
My little Gabbi Girl turned five a couple of weeks ago.   August 26th to be exact.
She has known for a while that she wanted to have an art party.  Simple enough!  Let's get it done!
I knew from early on that this one would need to be a little different from all the other ones.  We have a "standing" list of invites that most of the people who have been reading this blog for any time could probably almost name, just from familliarity.
For instance, above, is the girls' cousin, Chloe.  And here, is Hazel.
And of course, these two rug rats, Ellie and Madi.
Other than that, I didn't know any of the little girls who were invited to our party this year.  And that was intentional.
I needed THIS little girl to make a few new friends!  Were I to invite our typical list, they would beebop along behind her older sister, the Pied Piper.
Here we have EllaGrace and AnnaBeth, both of whom are in Gabbi's kindergarten class.
Our main project for the day was Spin Art.  But because we can only have one person at a time use the machine, we  had some wooden projects to paint to keep everyone otherwise preoccupied.

They were NOSE down and totally into it!
This is it... the most awesome thing I have purchased in a long time!

We also had cupcake designing that we knew could helpt he girlies pass time while waiting for their turn at Spin Art.
I had cupcakes made, and put them in some art palettes as plates.  There were 8 or so different kinds of sprinkles for them to create their" food art" with!
I think they pretty much agreed that this was a good idea.


Let's check out the decorations.  I am already getting some really good use out of this chalkboard that Cindy gave me for my birthday.
I have been peeling old paint off of palettes after painting for a long time now.  I saved them (yes, I am a hoarder!), and decoupaged them onto a paper mache board to make this fun decoration/ piece of art for my G's party.  Pops cut all of these G's out of vinyl to customize her plates.
Ellie's Kindergarten teacher from last year, Mrs. Gaskin, made this cute cake with all of about three days' notice.
I added a few of Gabbi's masterpieces as wel.

And this is our final result... a little out of order, but let's just call it a "teaser"!

PRESENT TIME!!

It was so fun for me to see Gabbi come into her own with friends who she knew were there just for her!
I actually went to talk to Gabbi's kindergarten teacher the first week of school and asked her to give me some names of little girls who Gabbi seemed to play with on the play ground or who she thought Gabs might like to get to know better.
And since this party, she has already had one of these little girls hang out with us all day long (Staci graciously took Ellie with her immediately after the party so Gabbi could shine on!)
Gabs has also already been invited to another kid's birthday party (Ella Grace in the green outfit!)
Would you look at all those bows?!


It was a really good day.  I enjoyed meeting some of Gabbi Girl's new friends, as well as their mamas.
I let them give a few "silly shots" too, which always keeps their attention!

And finally, here are the final masterpieces!
I just absolutely love how each one was so very different!


This is Anna Beth, who ended up spending the whole day with Gabster.
The AFTERMATH!  Yes, I have to peel EVERY one of those colors out of those little holes.  But, it might make some fabulous art!!
This CRAZY girl was about to drop her FIFTH baby child!  But she still showed up to help me get ready for the party!  She is now in the party planning business... big time!  Check her out at partychicboutique.com
She was due on Labor Day.  But she was at my Mother/Daughter art night last night with both of her girls! She just keeps right on going!!  Amazes me really!  I'm pulling for her naming this baby girl, "Melanie".  She can call her Mo!
Gabbi hit the motherload.  Lots of artsy things for her.
I am so happy to see her developing her own little personality, find her own strengths and interests, and making her own friends.
As many of you have mentioned, Gabbi just exudes JOY!  She really does.  I am so grateful to her birthmom making the decision to a) give her life and b) let me be her mama!
We will make sure to celebrate her little life BIG TIME every year!  For as long as she'll let me!
I love watching her grow up.
She is a very special 5 year old!!

                                       
So, now I have a "5 year old and a 6 year old".  Hard to believe!

MO

11 comments:

breanna said...

Such a FUN party!!! I think this post could have done without SOOOOO many pictures of my huge tummy ;)

Unknown said...

What a cute party! Love the idea of the cupcake on the palette with sprinkles. Gabbi is adorable! Can't believe that you now have a five and six year old! Ah!

Kimmy said...

Awesome party idea, that was definitely right up her alley. It's a good thing that you have girls Mo. As they get older, they'll really enjoy looking back at all of the photo books and party pics that you had for them over the years, and appreciate them. Boys would be like, awe mom, don't show that! LOL!

Anonymous said...

I love that precious Gabbi is having fun with her littlw friends! I think kindergarten agrees with her!!

Amy K said...

It looks like great fun was had by all! I've said it before, but your parties rock, Mo!

Mama J said...

You are a special photo-toting Momma! After our move from AR the first of this year, I just unearthed our MANY boxes of photos. My family knows that if you see me, you see my camera. Has ALWAYS been that way. They did the usual complaining at the time, but NOW...they are older, we are older, and they realize what a treasure they are. Both of my children were gifted with their photos thru the years that I had. They are SO enjoying reliving their history thru those pics.

You will give your family endless joy with the history you are preserving for them. Gabbi had a wonderful party and you couldn't wipe the glee from her sweet face. Just precious!

Unknown said...

Go Gabbi! Rockin out with HER group! Good thinking to tap into her teacher's mind for some good fit girls to invite... and you are definitely a "cool mom"! Love that you foster your girl's interests and help them stretch themselves.

Sharidrew said...

Love the Birthday post!! I've said it before, I love your parties!! I also thought the same thing....LOOK AT THOSE BOWS! The size of those things on those poor little heads! Haha. They sure look adorable though. Thanks for sharing all of your fun. Your family is truly blessed.

Hugs from Missouri,
Shari

Sandy P said...

I have a crazy 6 year old and a sweet 3 year old girl. The little one (Ellie) is always just along for the ride. I so understand trying to have something just about Gabbi. She looks like she loved every minute of it.

Kaia said...

The cupcake in a palette idea is a great one!!

snekcip said...

Mo, Gabby looks SO HAPPY being w/her "own friends". Love that you had her "classmates" attend instead of the "usual crew". NOT THAT THEY AREN'T A FUN GROUP, but I so understand how you are letting Gabby feel comfortable in her "own skin". SWEET! SWEET! SWEET POST!! Gabby is just too precious!!