It's Party Time!

This weekend, we had a first at the Critchfields: Kailee had a birthday party!! I don't know who was more excited, Kailee or Shannon. Shannon has been wanting to throw her a party for a year now, and as you'll see, she had a ball doing it. Shannon loves taking care of the girls and helping them enjoy life. This night was one of much enjoyment, giggles, laughs, and all things princess.

Shan decked out her pre-school room and the kitchen into a Pink Princess Palace. A good friend of hers let her borrow all of her princess decor! Kailee invited Jaclynn, Lily, Kinsey, and her sister Allie to the party, all who dressed up as royal fairies and princesses. If you look closely you can see Cinderelly and Snow White. The girls absolutely loved the decor and they loved being treated like royalty.

While the girls waited for me to get home with pizza, they got to decorate their own castles with lots of pretty stickers. When I finally arrived home, all of the girls rushed from castle decorating to me, screaming, "It's Kailee's Birthday!" Kailee was the loudest with, "It's my party, Daddy! But I'm not three until Tuesday night." I'm glad she cleared that up for me, I was confused :)

Dinner time! My greeting from the girls lasted about 3 seconds until they saw that I had the pizza! They beat me to the table and all sat down to fill their little tummies. The master mind of the evening took a quick moment to pose with the girls. Shannon is really in her element with these young kiddos. At pre-school, church, and at home with our girls, she is happiest when she is serving them, and she does such a great job at it--and looks so cute doing it!

Play time was the name of the game after dinner. The party noise makers were a hit and there's nothing like a game of Ring-Around-the-Rosies to help the pizza digest. Allie loved hanging out with the big girls. She did her best to be a part of everything.

The highlight of the night was when the doorbell rang and a special guest arrived....Princess Belle! Shannon's friend had this dress that we borrowed and Belle came and sang and danced with the Princess Fairies, Snow White, and Cinderelly. The little ones loved it, but no one loved it as much as Shannon. My favorite part of the night was when I came downstairs from putting Allie to bed and Belle was holding and caressing each of the girls' heads and cheeks, while singing Disney songs to them. It was exactly as if Snow White was singing to the little birdies or Cinderella was singing to her little mice friends. Everyone got a kick out of Shannon's commitment to the role that she assumed for the night.

Princess Belle also danced with the girls to a Disney mix that we have. Everyone could have done this for hours. As you can see, Belle was not camera shy. She even dashed into pictures that were not aimed at her. LOL!

To wrap-up the evening, the royal household sat down at the table for birthday cake and ice-cream. Kailee tried and tried to blow out her candle and finally succeeded with a little help from Mommy. Look at the excitement on her face as she braces for a sugar rush. I think she has her Daddy's sweet tooth.

At the end of the night, each of the Princesses (including Belle, of course!), were ornamented with sparkling crowns and goody bags as they each departed for their homes. Everyone had a such great time. Shannon really did a great job at making Kailee's first birthday party a memorable one.

The next day Allie and Kailee were playing her toys that her friends gave her. Out of the blue she got up and went over to Shannon and said, "Mommy, thank you for my fun birthday party!" It was neat to see Kailee feel real gratitude for Shannon's hard work. We're lucky to have such good girls, but they are luckier to have such a great Mom!