Jenin's Favorite Things Birthday Party

Ready for a long post? I feel you deserve one for me being absent so long. Enjoy.

Ever since Maysoon's first birthday party back in April, Jenin has been asking me nearly everyday if it's her birthday.  Trying to explain seven months to a child that thinks everything happened "yesterday" was kind of difficult.  I had originally planned on having a party for her when she turned 5, but there was no way of convincing her to wait another year.  I don't plan on having another party for her next year so I wanted this one to be special for her so that she would remember it as if it had happened "yesterday".

She had picked out her dress herself months in advance. Hot pink, of course.  After quickly putting together the head band she quickly announced that she wanted to wear it for her birthday.

J's favorite things that we worked into the party: Pink, Yellow, Princess Belle, "Kolka" dots (polka dots), rainbows, flowers, hearts, and the number "4".

Aren't these beautiful? Sweet Costco had them packaged up in Jenin's colors just for me.  

Jenin worked with me to plan out the menu.  I had been wanting to make sliders for the longest time and figured her party would be a perfect opportunity.  Luckily she didn't veto the idea.  Penne is her favorite pasta shape so I picked up mini penne to use for the pasta salad.  The pasta salad was loaded with her favorite things too: black olives, cherry tomatoes, "Belle" peppers, and pickles among other things. She spotted corn on the cob a while back in a magazine and specifically requested it for her birthday.  Doesn't hurt that it added some of her favorite color to the table. I threw in some 7 layer dip for the adults because it's just too tasty and easy not to include.

Jenin decided on entertainment:  Face painting (thank you Nada and Nuha!), tile drawing, dancing, and cookie decorating.

 Rainbow polka dots? Thank you Target. 

Time for dessert!

I didn't want to overwhelm myself, but also didn't want to deprive her of any of her favorites.  I originally wasn't going to make cupcakes because the kids usually just lick the frosting and dump the cake, but I threw them in last minute. I mean seriously, a party with no cake for the guests?  Although I'm not a fan of Disney Princess paraphernalia, I understand that girls this age are into it and luckily Jenin will eventually grow out of it.  So for now I decided to indulge her love of her favorite princess with a Belle cake.  She adored it, of course.  Now I certainly couldn't have met Bakerella and not made cake pops, that would have just been foolish.  So I went through the extra effort and made the cupcake cake pops for J. She totally loved them which made it totally worth it that I was up til 2 am making them.  Also part of the lineup, M&Ms cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels (Jenin loves chocolate), and heart shaped rainbow rice crispy treats.  I think  my favorite were the rainbow fruit kabobs with the marshmallow "clouds". 

 So pretty.

 Yum on a stick.

Red, orange, yellow, green , purple, blue, cloud.

Enamoured by her cake.

The girls went home with their decorated tiles and cookies as well as some of Jenin's favorite things. A pencil, some body glitter, a headband (Jenin is hardly ever without one), and a blinged out ring.  I picked up the polka dot bags at a children's consignment shop while dropping off some of the girls' clothes.

That night as I was putting Jenin to sleep, she asked me to lay down next to her so that she could tell me about her party. I lay there by my little girl that was once just a tiny baby in my arms as she replayed the day's details to me.  She spoke of the fun she had with her closest friends as I just stared and stared at her.  Four years had gone by so quickly and I was worried that the next 14 would go by even quicker.  I was glad to have given her a special party that I knew she would remember and cherish always.  It's been over two weeks since her party and she still tells me at random times how much she enjoyed it. 

There may or may not still be some decorations up. 

Linking to:  Made by You, Get Your Craft On, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Much Ado,  Somewhat Simple,  Sew Chic and Unique, Tatertots & Jello, Sew Chatty.