Turtle Party

Hard to believe my big girl is three! 

(And that I am so behind, nearly a month and a half, in posting about her birthday!) 

That little girl is about the most amazing little person I have ever known. 

And she is growing up into a beautiful young lady. 

She also happens to really love turtles. Which made for a very fun birthday party theme! Mama got to bring out her crafty/creative side. I made her turtle cakes. It was so fun! Though credit must be given to my wonderful husband, because without his help and problem solving abilities I wouldn't have pulled it off. 

I had an idea for the turtle cakes. Did a lot of research. Saw a lot of ugly cupcake "turtle cakes" that I didn't want to resort to. And a lot of over the top, professional style cakes that I don't yet poses the skills for. Decided to try my own way. Ran into a bump, literally. How would I make it rounded for the shell? Really didn't want to cut and carve and such. Hubby to the rescue! "You could use your Pyrex bowls. They are oven safe, aren't they?" Yes, yes they are! Had to guess on the baking times, don't recall what they were.

Round shells, a whole cupcake for heads, halved cupcakes for the legs. And a bit of the excess, that was removed to make the bottom flat, cut into a triangle for the tails. 

Coming to life...

Turtle cakes! So fun to make! And the birthday girl got to help, which made it all the more special. 

On to the important stuff: the party! 

We didn't lollygag much, straight to the cake! Yum!

Daddy bringing the cake. And my dear friend Denise, aka Super Mom, holding her baby and mine. :)

She made sure it was front and center for her.

She wanted the turtle head. Haha. And, in true toddler fashion, ate only the frosting.

Presents!

Always lots of helping hands when its present time. 

She was quickly crowned princess of the party. 

Audrey helping her figure out a new toy. Audrey is quite knowledgeable about princesses. Whereas there is rarely princess talk in our house. For this gift, it was good she had a subject matter expert available. :)

She was wonderfully spoiled. And loved all her gifts. 

She was especially excited about having her very own lip gloss. Which she, of course, later tried to eat.

Coloring and playtime

After gifts came coloring. She loves most anything artistic. And coloring is something everyone could enjoy.

The long curtains for our sliding glass door are always a favorite among littles!

Here are a few of the turtle coloring pages we printed out. We had many more, some more difficult and more lifelike for the bigger kids, but also a lot of fun simple ones like these. Turtles are just fun and cute! 

As a belated birthday present, she finally got her blanket... 

that I started working on before she was born! Ahem... I was busy...

She loves it! It was a long time coming, but so worth it. 

My sweet three year old! Such a smart, helpful, creative, loving, fun, sweet, incredibly responsible for her age, beautiful little lady. A great big sister to her little brothers. A much loved, and truly wonderful, daughter.

My Big Girl!