Happy Five Birthday Sophia!

Lipgloss, tiaras, princesses, jewelry, shoes, and sparkle....all things of which she can't get enough. Who would have guessed Miss Pinkalicious herself would have chosen a "Bob the Builder" theme for her FIVE (as she calls it) Birthday? Well, when she presented the idea to me back in January....I tried....BELIEVE ME... I tried to sway her a different direction....how about a princess party or a strawberry shortcake party, I suggested. But her mind was made up....she would hear of nothing else. We watched the same episodes of Bob the Builder more times than I can count....we played Bob the builder with tool belts and hats. We colored Bob the Builder. We went to see Bob the Builder Live....and for a time period, Sophia would answer only to the name "Wendy," (Bob's female work partner). I realized there would be no changing her mind....so I set out on the hunt for a Bob the Builder cake pan and party supplies. Wouldn't you know that my daughter picks a theme where the party supplies are no longer easily accessible. I went to every Party City Supply store, baking store, Michael's, etc looking for Bob the Builder. "Sorry, we used to carry those things, but don't anymore"....was the only response I got. So...online shopping it was. I finally found a used cake pan on Ebay a few weeks before the party, and the construction hats arrived at our door 2 days before her party. But, other than that and a few plates and cups....the rest of the decorations had to be handmade. Thank goodness I started early. But wouldn't you know...a few weeks before the party... Sophia started making requests for a Strawberry Shortcake party. Oh well...maybe next year! :)
Anyway... here are some pics of the invitations and decorations (we had to substitute Wendy for Bob of course!)











And I can't leave out that Brett was responsible for a MAJOR portion of the decorations this year. He had made Sophia her own cardboard house to play in a few years back, and so when I suggested we have a house painting contest, he assumed building another one would be no problem at all...UNTIL.... I decided one house would not be enough...we needed FOUR. Oh my....thanks for spending all those nights in the basement constructing those houses, Brett. They, of course, looked professional! We had hoped to have our painting outside....but of course....the weather doesn't always cooperate in April. So at the last minute, we converted the garage to a job site. When the guests arrived, they each put on their own tool belt and hard hat...got into teams and got started on their job. Each team had 20 minutes to decorate their house (following certain requirements, of course). Houses were judged on creative design as well. I must say... I was impressed with everyone's artistic skill!! Sophia chose her Thea's team as the winner! Good job Team Kokoruda!



I took a few minutes away from painting our house to get some pictures of all the other teams hard at work!






The Kokoruda Team finished house:



Smith Team's finished house:



Team RMS....sorry I didn't get a pic of the garage around back....pretty creative



And finally....Team Wendy....wouldn't you know it would be pink??



Sophia was so excited to open her presents and thrilled when she came inside to find a new dollhouse waiting for her. She was so excited about each and every gift: her scooter, roller skates, play doh ice cream factory, picnic basket, cinderella barbie, strawberry shortcake doll, share care bear, and her beautiful clothes ( I wish I were her size!!!!) What a lucky little girl.... so many people adore her!!! I love how she wanted to have the person giving her the present sitting right next to her as she opened it. So sweet!






Painting houses and opening presents made us all a bit hungry for cake, lemon bars, and cookies. Joseph didn't make it to cake time (but he enjoyed his piece a day later!) Of course I had to insert one more contest in here....in order to score a piece of cake... all the guests had to "guestimate" how many sweet tart legos were in the birthday paint can.....and the winner... was THAD! He guessed 287 and there were 283!




Well, I guess the cake gave Sophia enough energy to try out her new wheels (both her scooter and her roller skates)! Papa is right....mama is very worried that we might be spending time at the ER this summer after all of this new equipment! So far, though, no major injuries...just a few bruises. This girl has no fear! She is one tough cookie!!! Omi and Auntie E were brave enough to take her for her first test ride....watch out for your toes!!!






Poor little Joseph was exhausted from his high fever...but couldn't pass up the opportunity to push his favorite mower! Adding bubbles to it made it even more fun....until he couldn't get them to come out anymore...uh-oh!



Whew! What a day! It was so much fun to see how excited Sophia was about her big party. She ran out the front door to greet all of her guests and help them find their work apron and hard hat. And to think we almost moved it to another day b/c Joseph was sick. Thank goodness we didn't...her little heart would have been broken. I loved watching her say good night to her new Cinderella already tucked into her new dollhouse.



When I put her to bed, she was upset b/c we couldn't find her favorite blanket....so I went downstairs to at least find a "temporary" one, and when I brought it up to her less than 10 minutes later, this is how I found her....zonked out with her new Strawberry Shortcake. (Apparently she didn't need her blanket after all).



So... it has taken me a few days to post these pictures....and although we had her party on Saturday....Sophia really doesn't turn 5 until tomorrow morning! I STILL can't believe my baby is going to be 5. It is unreal to me that we have a 5 year old!!!! Today she asked me to read the book " I Love You Forever," one of my favorites. I feel just like the mother in that story who tells her son every night when he is asleep... "I love you forever... I like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." The story reveals from a mother's point of view how it feels to watch your baby grow up...from rocking her to sleep at night as a baby, to watching her make tremendous messes as a toddler, and finally watching her become a parent herself. I definitely can relate to the mother in the story who describes her house as feeling like a zoo sometimes. Sophia keeps me on my toes...she always has. She is sooo smart, headstrong and sometimes so stubborn that I feel like pulling my hair out. But she loves with a big heart, she knows what she wants, she forgives, and she fears little (except Grizzle and the Purple Pie Man :)) She is everything I want to be, and I will surely love her forever. Happy 5 Birthday, Sophia!
Love you!