I'm four!

Leila turned four a week ago. Last night we were watching a cartoon, and it seemed a little scary. I asked if she was scared and she said, "It's not scary. I'm four." Well. Okay.

I can't log into blogger from my house right now. It's very annoying. I have a post of cute things from last week to load up, but haven't been able to.

So Leila's birthday party was on Saturday. We waited a week because of Easter and also, Grandma and Grandpa came last week and I wanted their help! As usual, I planned the party for the backyard- A mermaid and pirate treasure hunt! The beginning of the week was beautiful, but by Friday the weather had turned nasty, with tornado sirens and hail. Saturday wasn't rainy, but it was cold! Luckily I had planned several games and just had to re- site them into the house. I quickly drew a goldfish bowl for a game of stick the goldfish in the bowl, and got out beach towels for a floor picnic. Nobody had called to RSVP that they weren't coming, so I expected anywhere from 3-15 children. I think about 13 or 14 were there at one time. Some of them were much older and didn't come for the whole thing.
We started out decorating loot bags with stickers and crayons. When everyone was there (or most everyone) we went outside on our treasure hunt. I copied ideas from the Cinderella at several of the kids' parties, and led the kids on an imaginary journey through the back yard- we jumped with dolphins, climbed mountains, (the mini slide- not me!) swam through seaweed (crepe paper), slid down the big slide, and paddled a boat through sleeping sharks. One girl told me they woke up! We circled the tree and arrived at the island. Then we had to find the treasure. We looked and looked, and finally found it under the deck. I had put in lots of toys- cars, pencils, lollipops, lipgloss, and junk jewelry. The kids each got 3 things, and others were passed out later. Then we went back inside, tromping mud all through the house. Poor H ended up wiping up the floor. (He had mopped the day before, and my Dad ended up remopping Saturday night.) The kids colored treasure maps, had their faces painted, and went "fishing" down the hall in the study. Tio Scott, complete with pirate bandanna, helped on one side of the curtain, and on the other, Gpa clipped Ikea fish and tugged on the line. Mostly I roped grownups into helping! The stick the fish in the bowl game wasn't too successfull with the 4-year-olds. Leila cried when she totally missed. Then I spread the towels on the floor and the kids ate sandwhiches. The cake I just bought from Tom Thumb- they're great, as I discovered when we used one for photo shoot.