My Big Girl is 3!

Sunday was Elena's actual birthday. We had waffles for dinner (per her request) and enjoyed a nice evening at home with Granny, Granddad, and Aunt BB.
Because Monday was a holiday and that's when my parents were able to come, we had Elena's birthday party on MLK Day. She wanted to have a pajama party, so we invited all of her friends over for a light brunch in the morning.

We ate mini-muffins and orange juice:

Poor Shelley and Kristin had to eat on the kitchen floor.
I guess the front room got pretty crowded.

The kids all played for a while:

Elena and Reese in the foreground.

Ms Humphreys kept Kevin entertained during the party.

I read "The Napping House": Pin a star in the night sky:

Raegan's turn. I just held the blindfold on their faces.
It was easier than tying it.
It didn't stop a couple of them from peeking though. :)

Pinata time:

Dan was brave enough to hold on the end of a stick.
(We looked around for a star/moon pinata, but no luck.)
Some of the kids really got into it. I wish I had a video of Luke!

Elena blew out the candles:

I hope that she made a wish because I forgot to remind her!

Everyone ate the cupcakes:

This is one of only 2 pictures were I was able to get with multiple kids in the picture together.

Time to open presents:

The audience.

And play some more:

Laurel and Elena with her new easel and princess dress.

The party was a lot of fun. I never would have thought that we could host 20 kids at our house at once, but I think it was a success. I'm so grateful that people took the time out of their holiday to come and help us celebrate with Elena!

A couple of days after her birthday, Elena got something special in the mail from Barbie and Kevin (via woot.com). Isn't this little foam house awesome?
She'll be loving it for years. I used to pretend I had a clubhouse by putting a tablecloth over my parents' card table, and now my kids have a little house with a flower garden and a skylight! :) I set it up in about 20 minutes and it's supposed to be very easy to take down too. Although, she's enjoying it too much for me to find out yet. :)