An art birthday

Yes, it is true, Katherine has celebrated her 2nd birthday. It is hard for mommy to believe. This year we decided to again have two parties, one for friends and one for family. I am so glad we did because they were both pretty crazy and it would have been downright chaotic if everyone was there at the same time. I did stress quite a bit about the friend party. Between Katherine's friends and my friends who have kids her age there could potentially have been 30 toddlers at our house for a party. So, I had to really limit it which killed me and I actually had a nightmare about it. So, we had a more manageable crowd of 9 toddlers and 3 siblings under age 1. It was still pretty crazy.

The theme was "painting". The invitation read, "Let your inner Picasso or Monet come out as we celebrate Katherine's 2nd birthday". I bought canvases and set them out on a tarp with paint and brushes. The kids had a great time. The weather was perfect for an outdoor painting activity.

Katherine actually used the brushes and all four colors.

A "bird's eye" view of Katherine creating her masterpiece

Katherine surveys her work and gives a nod of approval.

I tried to get her to show it off but she never would hold the painting and look at the camera.

JG is an artist at work.

Bree was concentrating on making very straight lines.

Evie put her hand prints and footprints on her canvas.

Ben and his mommy study his creation.
Hannah and her mommy work on their art.

Evie is very proud of her painting.
Ellie and Jacob work very well together as siblings.

We let the kids burn off some energy in the backyard. The natives were restless and inside there were quite a few issues with sharing toys, especially by the birthday girl. It was not my proudest moment as a mom but she was a little overwhelmed with that many kids playing with her toys.

Katherine with her 2 best friends - Ben and Robert

Next it was time for cake. Katherine is now well practiced in Birthday parties and knows exactly what is up with the cake. She was so excited! If you can't tell, her cake is an artists palate, created by mom.
The first time I lit the candles, she blew them out before we could start singing "Happy Birthday" or before mommy could get the camera ready. So, we had to do it again with someone else lighting the candles and me standing ready.

It is amazing the difference between the cake eating of a 2 year old at their birthday compared to a 1 year old at their birthday. Katherine was quite the lady with only a little icing ending up n her face and non on her shirt.

Robert though had quite a icing moustache after devouring the top of his cupcake.

Holden enjoyed his snack.

At last it was time for presents. Again, Katherine is now well practiced and was so excited. Her phrase for the day was "oh boy". She received many wonderful gifts including several that continued the art theme - markers, chalk, aquadoodle, play-doh. She is enjoying them all.

After bed she saw the remains of the cake and decided that licking the icing off the cutter (not sharp) was a good idea. Funny how kids don't have to be taught such things.

The party was a blast. We could not have had better weather and the kids had a ball. She and I were both exhausted and took naps. Thanks for a great day.