Finley turns 4...can't believe it!!

Yes...I have not posted all summer. It's been one of those busy, but not enough for a good excuse not to blog kind of summers...so I won't even bother. But here is a small glimpse into Finley's 4th birthday...we got a flip camera and I am still not very good at it so you will have to excuse the shortage of photos...I'm learning:)

Months ago Finley informed me she wanted an Easter egg hunt for her birthday. Well I went with that and did an Easter theme. When the kids arrived they got their faces painted like a bunny by Grandma A (who did a stellar job by the way), then they went out on the deck to dye eggs...this turned out to be not as bad as I thought it might be, but kind of short lived. I had anticipated quite the mess and so I decided to blow out the eggs instead of doing raw or hard boiled. This was good, cause many ended up on the ground and barely cracked. But I had only blown out enough eggs for each kid to have two (blowing out raw eggs I discovered is a lot harder and more time consuming than I had anticipated) and that doesn't last very long:) After the eggs we split the kids up and some did "put the egg in the bunny's basket"(a version of pin the tail on the donkey), and some kids went outside to try to push eggs with their noses on the grass. They were entertained for a bit, but that was short lived too. I realized then that 16 kids is about 6 to many and next time we are limiting it to 10! I was actually thrilled that not all who were invited could come:) We then had cake and ice cream and opened presents. Then we headed down to the park and they hunted for Easter eggs and played. It was hectic, but fun. Finley soaked up all the attention and loved it all! That is the most important part!

I got very few pictures, but here are some of the decorations and the cake of course. I have to admit before I got the cake all put together I was not very happy with it...but as I put the finishing touches on it, I actually ended up being quite fond of it. It was a very happy cake...just like our bubbly little 4 year old!

Finley is the firecracker of our family. She is one extreme or the other and we love her all the more for it:) She is such a happy little girl almost all of the time. She loves to play and kids flock to her. They love her spunk and spirit! She knows Harry Potter inside and out...most movies for that matter (that she has seen). She has an amazing memory and loves school but mostly for the social aspect. She is also our little fashionista...she loves to get herself dressed and is usually pretty good at coordinating outfits. She will even put together outfits the night before that she wants to wear. She loves all things beautiful, sparkly, and shiny. She loves babies and kids younger than her...I believe that is because she thinks she can direct their every move:) She is determined, generous, energetic, funny, cuddly, sweet, nurturing, and so endearing. I truly can't believe she is 4. I so love this little kid. She lights up our world!!