Budasaurus is 2!

It's been a minute but HELLO AGAIN! While I've still been creating all kinds of random things since my last post (almost a year ago oops), I don't exactly have the time to blog about it like I used to. My SWEETEST creations need me more than my blog. We're about 10 weeks away from meeting number 3 and I am TIRED! But that didn't stop me from celebrating my favorite little boy BIG. 

Our little Leo is so much fun. He is literally the craziest, most energetic person I've ever met. Other people who know him would say the same. He is so full of personality and makes me laugh like no one else. Every once in a while he'll stop being outrageous for just a second to come give me a hug. I don't take any of those moments for granted. He is the most precious boy and I don't know what we'd do without him. Nothing prepared me for this man (especially his very calm, organized, book-reading, cuddly big sister) but I know God is using him as a tool to sculpt me into the person He wants me to be. As a mother, wife, friend, etc. I can already tell that I've become more patient (LOL). I know God is going to use his passionate soul to do something wonderful and I can't WAIT to see what it is. I'm so honored that I'm the one who gets to call him my son and watch him grow. I love you so much, Budasaurus. Your dad and I will always be your biggest fans.

I went through a lot of party themes in my head and finally landed on a car theme. As I started planning it fell as flat as a flat tire. I found cute ideas online but it just wasn't right. (I obviously take these parties way more seriously than I should). He likes cars but I needed something more personal. I wanted something to RAWR about! DINOSAURS! Leo loves dinos. Every time he sees one he gets excited and growls. How appropriate for our little 'saurus. 

I got to work (cough 6 months ago cough) and got so sucked in. The first thing I always do when starting to plan a party is Pinterest + sketch + chill. Forget Netflix! I draw out everything and make a list of what I need. After I write it all down I make a note on my phone of everything I need to buy. That way I always have it with me! If I'm at Hobby Lobby (let's be real...when am I not at Hobby Lobby?) I'll get one or a few things and eventually I'm ready to go! I buy almost everything on sale. Either with a coupon (Joann and Michaels are also great places to check out and they have excellent coupons) or I just keep an eye on the weekly ads. If I need something super random I check Ebay and Amazon. I've also found that Facebook resale is a great tool! I scored a huge, Bud-sized dinosaur stuffed animal for $3! So this whole party cost me about $200-250 including food. Not too bad!

So without further ado, here is Budasaurus is 2!

I save money (and it's just so convenient) to do the invite via Facebook! It can still be cute and decorated! Plus everyone can RSVP there! I just created an event and let FB do all the work. I can communicate with everyone there and it even sends reminders! 

Lets go way back in time. Our Budasaurus is TWO!

So RAWR and stomp on over. He wants to see you.

We'll have lots of fun. It'll be DINO-mite!

Herbivores and carnivores, bring your appetite!

Date: 2 November 2019 AD

Time: 1530 hours

Location: Meet us at the time machine to catch a ride to the Jurassic Period

I've said this before but I like for my parties to be an immersive experience. Starting with the front yard. Duh. I need a time machine. After all, it is a dino party. And like, it has to be realistic, right? What's more realistic than a time machine!?

My dad actually built this many years ago for my school's prom. It has proven itself to be very handy since then. I actually used it for a winder wonderland dance I planned at my church a few years ago. For that I painted it silver (it was originally gold). It was PERFECT! My dad dropped it off and I assembled it. Not to brag but I'm excellent with power tools. I added a few touches (including a time clock I made out of a plastic plate I found in my kitchen). The "time machine" letters came from Michael's and the silver fringe backdrop came from Ebay.

The signs after that were meant to indicate which year you were passing through as you traveled back in time. First was 2017 (the year of Leo's birth), etc. I bought this paper at Hobby Lobby (HL), cut them to printer paper size, and sent them through my printer. I taped a piece of cardboard to the back so they wouldn't flop and taped them to big wooden skewers (party aisle at HL- in the luau section).

Once you got to the door you made it! The Jurassic Period! I borrowed (ahem stole) these plants from my mom's porch because I wanted there to be a lot of foliage. I got the fake fern wreath from Joann. Not for sale: The v excited big sis (although I found her cute "Party-saurus" shirt at Kohls (carters brand) for $8).

So you walk in and there were vines hanging from the ceiling (from Ebay) and the Jurassic park theme song was playing. Granted when everyone's arriving and talking it's not super noticeable but it still made me happy. I'm sorry for mentioning it because you're probably singing it in your head now and, speaking from experience, it probably isn't going away any time soon. Worth it. 

However, the dining room was my FAVORITE room! I bought this balloon arch kit on Amazon for Bud's Flood last year. Spoiler alert: You're going to be seeing a lot of it from here on out. IT'S SO VERSATILE! Best $15 ever. I got the balloons at Hobby Lobby. They have such a large selection at about $1.50 a bag (10-20 balloons a package depending on the design). I bought a package of "tropical leaves" on Amazon and used almost all of them all over the place! I really liked how they looked in the balloon arch. I also bought a dino sounds file on Itunes for 99 cents and had it playing in the background.

I got the "RAWR" paper mache letters at Hobby Lobby and spray painted and decorated them. The spots I painted on with plain acrylic paint (but you'll thank yourself for saving time spray painting the backgrounds- I had this spray paint already on hand). I had all of the serving dishes. I got the plastic table cloths at Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby (these are only 99 cents at HL). I got the light green one at Dollar Tree, dark green at HL. All I did was layer them and use scissors to cut spikes at the bottom. So easy AND I got to wad it up and just throw it away at the end! I already had the burlap runner (Fun fact: You can also buy these at HL in the party decor section- super cheap and even cheaper with a coupon! I have like 3). I also got the 2 paper mache dinos at HL, spray painted them gold and made them little party hats out of cute scrapbook paper (also HL). As you'll see later, I made a LOT of tiny party hats for this event. 

I was so excited about my themed food this time. But I was ESPECIALLY excited about my nacho volcano! It looks impressive but was so easy. I found the idea online and it wasn't hard at all to recreate. All you need is half of a poster board, aluminum foil, tape, and a little dish (I used a small tupperware bowl). Here are some pics of the process:

I used a round object (I used a bowl) to trace a circle on the poster board. Cut it out then cut a gap up to the center. Roll it into a cone and measure out how big the opening needs to be for your dish. Cut the top of the cone. Tape it. Then cover it in foil. After you've made your volcano form, put your dish in from the bottom. I taped it into place. It wasn't deep enough to touch the bottom and I was worried it'd come out once it was full of cheese dip. So I turned a ramekin upside down and but it under it and it was the perfect height. I covered the foil in refried beans with a spatula then added a few black beans for texture. I covered the base in shredded lettuce to hide the ugly bottom. I filled the dish with Panchos cheese dip (you can get a big thing at Costco for $6-7) and just dripped it off the side! Surround with chips and voila!! 

Here's my other food! Not near as exciting but still super cute.

"Dino Bones" are yogurt pretzels from Walmart (I always do Walmart pickup for my party food- It's FREE plus everything is so cheap!) 

I also always make a special trip to Costco for things like vegi trays. This one came with dip and was only $10! This was for "Herbivores Only."

My mom made these cute "Raptor Eye" deviled eggs! She just dyed the filling green and added an olive.

I found these cute mini "Dino Egg Rolls" at Costco too! A box of 50 was only $10 and they were really good. I originally wanted chicken dino nuggets to go here but Costco was out and I didn't want to make a special trip to Kroger. These were just as good IMO.

I spent so much time trying to come up with a design for this cake. I finally landed on this. I wasn't super happy with it (couldn't tell you why- but I never really like cakes I create so it's to be expected). One thing I did differently this time was add crushed oreo to the buttercream on the top tier. And I don't use chocolate ganache that often but it is yummy. I made the leaves and eggs out of fondant. The "2" is a candle from Target that I cut teeth marks into. I got the dino at Dollar Tree and spray painted it gold. I cut Leo's name out of paper and made the tiny hat out of paper and tiny pom poms. I dyed the inside tie dye with the party colors.

The other little table in the dining room had plates, napkins, forks, a little smash cake no one ate (RIP) and a book to sign! I set one of these out at every party for everyone to sign. It's like a guest book! I put them in my kid's keepsake boxes so one day they'll have all of these books full of notes from their fav people over the years. The wooden and little orange dinos were from HL, plates and forks from Target, and napkins from HL. I already had the plant.

Funny story (at least I think it is). So I went to Good WIll looking for dinosaurs. Specifically a flying one. LOL I knew that was a long shot. WHAT DO YOU KNOW I FOUND A FLYING STUFFED DINOSAUR! It was 2 whole dollars and matched my color theme perfectly. I used a needle and thick thread to sew through the fabric so I could hang it from the ceiling with a Command hook. It photobombed us in this pic!

The kitchen was cute but simple. No one spends much time here but I still wanted to decorate. I found this awesome pinata at HL for $13! Of course I used my 40% off coup and it was like $7. I filled it with Halloween candy and left it on my kitchen table until it was time to hit it. I got the cute plastic table cloth at Target.

I wanted to do a little something in the bathroom as well.

We have a bar in the living room where I like to serve drinks. 

I made the "Watering Hole" sign out of cardboard. The blue fringe backdrop (supposed to resemble a waterfall) came from Amazon. Cups and cute paper straws were from Dollar Tree. The dino was part of Leo's b-day gift from Home Goods (super random). The hanging palm tree came from the party aisle at HL as well in the luau section. This was recycled from PrELSA is 4!

The "Pterodactyl Punch" was just a mixture of green Hawaiian punch, Sprite and a package of frozen pineapple juice. I thought it was so tasty and fruity! I added some limes to the water to make it interesting.

For the mantle I got some huge paper mache letters at Joann and spray painted/decorated them. I taped more leaves to the fireplace to fill in space. I got the Happy Birthday banner on Amazon!

It was such a beautiful, sunny day so I wanted the kids to be able to run free outside! The only thing I really did out here was hang a banner and add a table cloth to the table. I carved a dinosaur in my Halloween pumpkin so I could recycle it for the party. Later into the party we hung the pinata out here as well. 

BUT MY FAVORITE PART (and I think the kid's as well) was our special visitor! I asked my dad a few months ago if he'd be cool with wearing a dino suit to the party. He was excited! I found this one on sale on Amazon for just $31. I snatched it up. It was GIGANTIC! He was awesome and chased the kids around the yard for like an hour. They had so much fun.

Although the real dino had to bust the pinata, the kids had fun taking a whack at it as well.

Here's a pic of my beautiful P.

We had so much fun celebrating our Budasaurus and can't wait to do it again next year. We sent our friends off with their very own dinos (Dollar Tree + handmade party hats). 

We love you so much, Bud Bud!!

On an unrelated note, Halloween is only 2 days before Bud's birthday! This year's costume was ALL Presley's idea. She's been fired up about it for months. Since only a little bit was DIY (mainly Leo's and a few pieces of Presley's) I'm not going to make an extra blog post like I normally do. So I'll just leave a pic here for you to enjoy. We hope you had a happy Halloween! We are so excited about the HOLIDAYS! Then Presley's birthday (duh already been planning for months) then BABY TIME! I can't wait to share the next thing with you! 

PrELSA is 4!

“Pres, what movie should we watch? Frozen might be fun!”

I turned it on and that was that. It had only just begun.

Elsa’s icy powers captivated her right there.

Then “Elsa’s hair” and a sparkly dress were all that she would wear.

We know you like warm hugs like us so come join us in Arrendelle.

See Olaf, Sven and Anna, too! We promise it will be swell.

So let it go! Let it go! Don’t hold it back anymore!

Shout it from North Mountain’s top, “OUR PRESLEY GIRL IS 4!”

If you know my daughter personally or have any association with my social media accounts you know for a fact that she is Elsa. As the above poem states, it just took one Frozen-viewing and she was completely hooked. True story. She wore her wig every day for at least a year (although now she thinks "it's a little itchy" IDK). She taught herself to put her own clothes on at a very early age because I couldn't get to her room fast enough every morning to put her Elsa dress on RIGHT when she woke up. And I will never forget giving my sincerest thanks to the Academy and makers of Frozen in my many dramatic, tear-filled speeches when I was pretending to give myself an award after each small victory while potty training this child. I am being completely serious when I say that without Elsa-related bribes, me passionately belting 'Let It Go' every time I put her on the potty to poop, plus a lot of prayers and grace from the good Lord she would probably still be in diapers. Bet you didn't know that Elsa had more than ice powers, eh? More like ice POOwers! And at one point when we were trying to get Baby Brother to say "mama" and "daddy" Pres chimed in and in all seriousness looked him in the face and said "EL-SA!" Have I convinced you yet? Back in 2013 when childless Matt and Katie decided on a whim go see Frozen in theaters they NEVER could've imagined how much of a role this movie would play in their lives one day.

So needless to say, it didn't take much time for me to decide on her 4th birthday party theme. She actually fell in love with Elsa well over a year ago but I had already planned her a Pooh party (one of the downfalls of planning your kids' birthday parties 6 months in advance...their seemingly passionate interests may take a DRASTIC turn over the course of a very short period of time). So that's why she was dressed as Elsa when we were trying to celebrate POOHresley is 3. But hey! Our time had finally come! And Elsa is still VERY relevant in our lives.

I was SO EXCITED to start planning this party. Considering I've seen Frozen now appx 3920 times, I had a lot of inspiration whirling around in my head. Just picture Elsa while she was creating her ice castle while casually transforming into a blue-sequined goddess with EXCELLENT hair. That's EXACTLY what I felt/looked like. Or maybe I'm getting confused with what I think was happening vs my actual reality. It's possible I was sporting my 4-day old mom bun, no make-up, and let's be real...I probably wasn't wearing pants. But, being the queen of my own castle, I threw my gloves to the wind and really went for it because THE COLD NEVER BOTHERED ME ANYWAY!

Like I've mentioned in every birthday party post I've ever made, all of the planning and hand-made details were carefully thought out and executed over 6+ months and I KNOW you think I'm crazy. I'd love to tell you I threw it all together gracefully during the course of singing one song, like some other people I'm familiar with. But as much as I like to compare myself to her, I'm just not Elsa. I mean, pastey white skin..CHECK. But that's about it. But here's why I start planning so early. So I love to throw themed parties. It brings me immense joy. But I ALSO love to be ballin on a budget. While I don't know how this translates into Arrendelle dollars, I only spend around 200 American dollars total on this whole party, including food and everything (however not including Elsa but she was a gift to Pres from my mom so that doesn't count...will discuss more later). Hobby Lobby is 2 blocks from my house (always count your blessings) so I go there ALOT! So what I do is I have a date with Pinterest and a notepad one night and I start researching and brainstorming what I want to do. Then I make a list of everything I need! Every time I go to HL (believe me...it's a lot) I grab one thing on my list with my 40% off coupon. Even if it's a $2 item. Or if it's an item that goes on sale I ONLY buy it then. So it may seem like insignificant savings at the time but it really adds up. Trust me. Food came from Kroger, Trader Joes, and Costco. I always plan my parties from 3:30-6 because it's right after naptime and convenient for our kids' schedule and it also takes the pressure off of having to provide a full meal. I like for my food to be themed as well and that's harder to do when you have to come up with more substantial food choices for 30+ people. So a few yummy snacks/treats, some kind of fruit or vegetable tray, maybe a more hearty/meaty item and cake works for me! So by the time the party rolls around I have all of my supplies at 40% off and I'm ready to get to work! And I know exactly what food to buy and where to find each component the cheapest. And I totally understand that if these kind of parties don't spark joy for you (been watching too much Marie Kondo on Netflix send help I've completely destroyed and reorganized my bedroom and my husband can't find any of this clothes and I'm going on day 5 of pretending like I don't know where my pants are anymore) then I know this all probably seems cray cray. I totally understand. I also accept the fact that I am a little bit cray cray and that is FINE! So yeah I go to Hobby Lobby like every day and I don't like to wear pants. So what? Moving on.

Okay. So lets get to the good stuff. I love for my parties to be an immersive experience that starts right when you get there. Unfortunately it was raining and washed away my chalk, but I managed to get a good pic the day before! I wanted the walkway to look like the icy fjord that Elsa freezes when she's escaping from Arrendelle because SHE WAS SO EMBARRASSED BECAUSE SHE JUST FROZE LIKE THE WHOLE COUNTRY IMAGINE WHAT THAT WOULD FEEL LIKE?! Ugh. Poor Elsa. I actually downloaded the Frozen font online (couldn't tell you where because I don't remember) to make this sign. Dedication.

So I got to decorate my church's Father/Daughter Dance a few years ago and I made it winter wonderland themed with elements of Frozen throughout. I had way too much fun. A lot of my decorations were leftover from that. Instead of getting rid of them I saved them because I knew that ONE day my daughter was inevitably going to ask for a Frozen party and I WAS GOING TO BE READY FOR IT! Nailed it.

So a few years ago I found an axe and went and chopped down some branches in my parents' forest-y backyard like a dang lumberjack. It is harder than it looks, okay!! I forgot my flannel and beard but I DID succeed. My dad helped me mix/pour concrete in a terracotta pot, we stuck the branches in and let them set. Then I spray painted the whole thing silver. So I used these at the dance years ago but asked my dad to keep them in his basement for this v important imaginary party I was going to have one day. And blessings upon us because he still had them! Their structure was questionable because bugs but they did the job. I hung snowflakes from the branches (thank you, Hobby Lobby 90% off after-Christmas sale) and put fake snow in the bottom. I actually got the snowy wreath at Wal-Mart a week ago that was part of their after-Christmas sale. It was $4!!!! I got the wooden snowflake in the middle at Dollar Tree (also a great place for decorations/inspiration when you're ballin on a budget). I just painted it white and wrote on it with Sharpie. Then I sprinkled a few half-eaten carrots around because duh Sven had been there.

So right inside wasn't that exciting but I had the song 'Vulie' from the Frozen soundtrack playing. You'd know if it you heard it. It's on the opening credits before you see the ice people. It was kinda like the opening credits of the party. I had some snowflakes hanging from the ceiling as well and this STUPID "4" balloon that would not stay inflated! This was my second one in 2 days that kept dying for no reason. Picked this up like 4 hours before the party...one day I'll figure that mystery out.

So you turn to the left and that's where all of the good stuff is. I made the icicles out of white paper. To make one I think I cut a deformed triangle, rolled it up and hot glued it shut (these were also leftover from the F/D dance years ago so I'm a little rusty on how exactly I made them). I got the snowflake hanging curtain from Amazon (also from years ago but you can still probably find them there..or at least something similar).

In the dining room I had snowflakes (HL Christmas decor) hanging from the ceiling and icicles hanging from the chandelier. The china cabinet decor came from the after Christmas sale and was basically free. I traced some letters onto blue and silver glitter paper for her name. Ice castle was from Santa so we can thank his elves for that. I also had a rotating playlist in here playing Let it Go, Do You Want to Build a Snowman, Love is an Open Door, and Perfect Day (from Frozen Fever).

For the main table I bought a big piece of blue, textured fabric from Joann and put it over a white table cloth. I decorated with snowballs (HL Christmas) and snowflakes (also HL Christmas...it bode well for me that Christmas happened right before this).

For the food I had:

Anna and Han's Sandwiches (rolls, ham, cheese, mayo. tomato)

Snow Balls (powdered donut holes from a local bakery I maybe ate appx 12 of it's fine)

Warm Hugs (Hershey's hugs)

Sven's Snacks (vegi platter with ranch)

Han's Frozen Hearts (white choc ganache-dipped strawberries with sugar crystal sprinkles and edible glitter. Also added some DIY edible glass. I used the same ganache as was on the cake but it didn't set well so I recommend just melting chocolate and dipping them in..don't add the cream for these. Although I can't believe I'm saying that because CREAM IS SO GOOD. I'll talk about the glass and ganache below)

I actually own a cake business from my house but stopped baking around when Leo was born because it became too much for me to handle. BUT I still love to bake for my babies! I researched for forever to find inspiration from elements of different Frozen cakes to see what I wanted to incorporate into my cake. After much deliberation I finally came up with this. I did 2 things adventurous (for me at least) on this cake. One was the white choc ganache drip (super easy and yummy). In a saucepan on low I melted 1.5 cups of Ghiradelli white choc chips with .5 cup of heavy whipping cream. Be sure to add a few tbsp of titanium dioxide to it when it's melted to make it go from yellowy to pure white! Magic! I let it cool for a sec then poured it on and got it to go where I wanted it to go. And I also made edible glass out of sugar! I did this once years ago for a Breaking Bad party for Matt but it had been a minute. It was super easy but looked more impressive than it was. Here's the recipe. Just be careful when adding coloring. I barely added any blue gel and it got really dark and was on the verge of turning green. Thankfully it ended up a pretty color and a nice contrast with all of the lighter elements.

For the other little table in here I put paper plates/forks/napkins (Elsa-themed little plates came from Dollar Tree!), homemade hot chocolate party favors, and a guest book for everyone to sign. I do this with all of my kid's parties with a themed book. I keep them in their keepsake box so one day they'll have all of these sweet books with notes from their favorite people from their birthdays past. I got the snowflake table runner at HL after Christmas and the silver glitter frame in the Target dollar spot! Pres and I made the stunning silver glitter tree as a craft one day.

For the party favors I got treat bags (party aisle at HL) and added diy hot cocoa mix and a few marshmallows. Then I twisted and zip-tied them shut good, added sparkly tulle ribbon and a little note that says "You're worth melting for." The back has the instructions to mix it with 3 cups of very hot water. They turned out cute!

Moving on to the kitchen. I had a simple centerpiece with $5 flowers from Trader Joe's. I got the snowflake fabric at Michaels.com (yes you can order fabric on Michaels.com. Who knew, right?). The night before the party I was inspired to make the rock trolls. I went to HL (duh) and bought a bag of rocks and a piece of paper (for the ears). When I buy super random things at stores like to make jokes when I get to the register but usually no one cares what I'm buying or why and I end up just making things super awkward, something I'm super good at. This time I was like "Well I got a bag of rocks and a piece of paper" and she was like "Okay" and then I tried to explain that it was v important that I make some rock trolls ASAP and I could tell she was like "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS INSANE WOMAN ROCK TROLLS??" So then I left and replayed the incident back in my head 200 times and came to the conclusion that it probably would've been best to just not say anything about the contents of my basket. It is what it is. Then I picked some leaves outside to for the hair and turned them into trolls and they were one of my favorite parts. I made a "game" out of my ORIGINAL little Fixer Uppers and gave a treat bag to whoever could find one. I had 4. I think my brother took home 2 or 3 treat bags. I mean they weren't very hidden but I thought it was cute. The prize was 2 pieces of chocolate (to stuff in your face) and some white choc pretzels (snowflakes).

Also in the kitchen was another last-minute idea and that was my sauna. I found this pic of Oaken on google and just added a white vignette filter and any other softening filter I could find on Picasa to make him look steamy and printed it at home. Then I made a frame out of paper. I wanted it to look like we were looking at him in the sauna. OKAY I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! Also, I thought the sign I put in the bathroom was funny after all of our potty-training shenanigans. But it's possible I'm the only one who thought that was funny as well..

Back to the entry way, To the right is our office and I decided to make that Olaf's summer room. I got the hanging palm tree and Aloha banner on the party aisle at HL and just blew up some pool floats we already had + dressed up our Olaf in a hat, lei and sunglasses. I had summery music playing in here softly. Like The Beach Boys, Here Comes the Sun and, of course, In Summer by Olaf.

So last but not least was the living room! This is also where all of the drinks are. Wandering Oaken's Beverage Post..And Sauna. I made the ribbon banner myself and recycled the backdrop from Bud's Flood in November (from HL). I had Hot Grog (hot chocolate) with misc toppings like peppermint sticks and marshmallows and I TOTALLY FORGOT to put out the whipped cream. The water was "Melted Snowman" and was just a pitcher of water with a carrot in it. Heh. Then we had YooHoo Big Summer Blowout! Cokes. And Kristoff's Ice. I put a few chomped carrots in front of Sven for obvious reasons and also included my original fondant Elsa that I think I spent 6 hours on that turned out to look like a middle-aged, busty woman. I have a lot of jokes I could add here but I'll refrain. After Pres told me "She looks like that beautiful princess in Shrek who turns into a yogurt (ogre) at night" I knew I had to LET HER GO. But I couldn't throw her away so I put her here. New Elsa was a much better fit on the cake. The snowflake cups, again, came from Michaels.com!

And here's a random little table in this room.

And very last was my main centerpiece. I already had the frame and fabric backdrop. I just made some tissue balls and added some snowflakes (big ones from Dollar Tree) plus a glittery "Let it Go" sign I made. I hung Christmas lights behind it which made it extra magical. But I think what really did it was the life-size Elsa in the corner (Kohl.com OR Amazon). That is until...

OMG ELSA ACTUALLY SHOWED UP AT MY HOUSE AND IT WAS MAGIC!! As Presley's birthday gift from her my mom hired THE Elsa to come to the party. Idk about Pres but I was completely star struck. I knew she was coming (Pres didn't) and I was still speechless, sweating and a bit teary. I had nothing to do with this. It was all my mom. She mentioned hiring her a few weeks before and I think it sealed the deal. Best day ever? For me at least. When I tucked Pres into bed that night and asked her what her favorite part of her party was she said "It was magic when Elsa came to my house." Ugh, gurl I know. She gave lots of warm hugs, took pictures, sang some songs and just hung out with and talked to Pres for a while. THEN she helped us sing Happy Birthday and I think Presley said it best. It was just magic!

Also, we dressed Leo up as Olaf and I will never regret that decision as long as I live. Or this PICK.

As always, thanks for sticking with me and reading until the end! I hope you enjoyed your virtual trip through Arrendelle and feel inspired to create, go watch Frozen again and/or maybe not wear pants. You do you. And a very special happy birthday to my sweet, magical girl. Pres, you inspire me every day with your quirky, fun sense of humor and your passionate love for everyone around you. God has TRULY blessed us with the most beautiful ice queen ever. We love you, Sweet P!