Celebrating SIX | Mila's Rainbow Art Party

It was pretty easy to pick a theme for Mila's 6th birthday party this year.  Our girl loves to draw, color, and create, and it's hard to keep our second desk drawer stocked with white paper these days.  Whether it's making a card or a picture for her teacher, principal, or guidance counselor at school, creating the latest "boxy", aka, home for one of her stuffies using whatever Amazon box arrived that particular day, or taping creations to her door (right now it's four animal faces that are just too cute to remove), it seems Mila's always got something creative up her sleeve.  Add that to the fact that January is just gray and dull and cold and I had the perfect excuse to add a whole lot of color to our neutral backdrop last weekend.  And oh did we have fun!

One of my favorite parts this year was the fact that Mila was such a sweet little helper.  Her party was last Sunday and we happened to get a snow day the Friday before.  We spent the day getting all our details in order - making sure we had a matching cup for every place setting, counting out all the right colors of balloons, and sorting paint colors.  Then Saturday, Mila and I worked together on her cake and rice krispie paint brushes.  I'd melt the candy melts and Mila would dip each one all by herself.  She was so proud of her work and made sure to show every guest what she did.  Just when I tell myself I'm done with these theme parties, I smile because they're just getting old enough to truly get into it all.  But I swore to Beau this would be the last time I asked him to help me move that hutch. ;)  

We had such a great party on Sunday!  We celebrated with cousins and a six layer homemade rainbow birthday cake, creative juice, and a ceramic painting station for littles and bigs.  Mila enjoyed spending the afternoon with her cousins, she received the most thoughtful and surprising gifts, and by the end of the night, I crashed on the couch satisfied and relieved to have made it through another holiday season.  We're in party and hosting mode from Cruz's birthday in mid-October all the way to Mila's in mid-January.  But MLK day, I'm always ready for a long detox and a longer bubble bath!

Pictures from our day and many details to follow... 

Mila's 6th Birthday

Mila's 6th birthday happened to fall on a Monday and the first official day of the semester for me.  And because Mondays make for a busy night anyways with piano and dance, we decided to carve out the Saturday before to celebrate our girl well.  And in Mila's book, it wouldn't be a celebration without a room full of balloons to wake up to.  

Who knew a few helium balloons on the ceiling would invite quite the birthday dance party to start our sweet girl's day.  The week after we brought her home from the hospital, a polar vortex hit for two weeks after and we spent a lot of time hunkered at home in our little bedroom in our house on Fleur.  I'd turn on a lamp and a little space heater and climb into bed with Cruz and Mila and let the afternoon go by.  So I guess it was only fitting that six years later, we started our cold January day making requests to Alexa and dancing our hearts out in bed together.  And this girl knows how to move... :)

Mila requested birthday pancakes for breakfast and even helped make them herself.  She usually likes donuts for her birthday, but lately seems like she likes pancakes about as much as her brother.  

Mila begged all day to open up her gifts and was thrilled with her new things.  While January birthdays can be somewhat hard just two weeks after all things Christmas, I usually have a few surprises up my sleeve.  This year included a big art kit, the cutest Calico Critter general store, a Barbie and horse that she fell hard for at Barnes and Noble one afternoon, and her absolute favorite, a Hatchimal baby!  Her reaction (below) was pretty rewarding! 

The rest of our day was both fun and unphoto'ed!  Mila requested dinner at Texas Roadhouse (she wanted to try out that saddle thing) and a family date to Chuck E. Cheese!  It was a special day celebrating our special girl and we were just getting started.  Six here we come!