Ceili Rain celebrated #9 with a cookie cake and our normal busy-ness. We are so blessed that God gave us CeiRai for our family. We also celebrated a week before by going to see The Greatest Showman at the theater.
On a sick day, we watched a baking competition that featured cookie cakes. So, we decided that would be a fun challenge for me. It turned out great.
Ceili Rain’s Gift List:
Want: Skeleton lab kit
Need: Outfit
Do: Nerf Gun
Read: A Wrinkle in Time Quintet
Seven years of our CeiRai! She definitely marches to her own beat and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
She asked for a chocolate chocolate chocolate cake. I made it trim healthy by using a recipe in the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook. Then, last minute came a request for chocolate chips and marshmallows. She was a happy girl.
Ceili Rain requested a crochet set. I couldn’t find one for 7 year olds that had just what she needed. So, I made her one. Including a bag to hold it all in. She was thrilled.
Ge and Granddaddy made her day with a knitting loom.
She asked for a girls’ day. We spent the afternoon at a ceramics painting place and then watched Cinderella. Mark set up a laptop with another move for the boys who just couldn’t handle Cinderella but most everyone eventually made it in to the living room to watch.
Well before Christmas, I started a hunt for an entertainment center to convert in to a play kitchen for Ceili Rain. Yes, it was Pinterest inspired. There were several designs but this one and this one were my main inspiration.
I landed this television stand at a Online Yard Sale for $25.
Everyone pitched in…
…and this was the finished project.
One happy birthday girl.
We used paint that we had on hand. Including chalkboard paint. We put a hook on one side for the apron and an old frame I painted on the other with chalkboard paint there. Mark split the solid door and put a stable shelf in. He moved the hinges to the bottom to make an oven. The other door, Mark busted out the glass and put a solid piece of wood in. He also added another shelf to that drawer for the fridge. I used leftover fabric for the curtain and just put in a gathering stitch and used my hand dandy stable gun to adhere the curtain.
Mark used the old door pull holders for the stove knobs. He cut out a ‘J’ for the faucet. I found a bowl at a thrift store for 25 cents.
Total we probably spent about $35 on it. That look on her face is priceless!
Three days after Malachi’s birthday, we celebrated our second princess turning four! Her birthday fell in the middle of the week but her best friend’s birthday was the following Saturday so we decided to do a joint party for the girls!
So, here are the celebrations!
Ceili Rain opened some family gifts on the day of her birthday.
And she had ice cream. See. I told her we would wait and do the cake for her party, but that we would have an ice cream bar on the day of her birthday. She was good with that.
Granddaddy and Ge came up in the middle of the week with her presents (and Malachi’s).
American Girl dolls are always a hit in our home. This is a good time to mention that when Ceili Rain is extremely excited she gets really quiet. I was a bit worried about her not liking the gift but she did the same thing with another gift!
Party day dawned! She asked for a giraffe cake. Thanks Pinterest. So, here it is in process…
And here it is complete. That’s Megan’s cake on the side. She asked for a hippo. During the party we realized we should have had a Safari party with all these animals.
This was from March and April when we received a visit from Kristina and family.
Every once in a while. Not often, but every once in while, Josiah gets a wild hair and wants to “fix” Ceili Rain’s hair. Since she enjoys being a pampered princess, Ceili Rain willingly allows him to!
This is a tongue out kind of concentration.
The Diva’s new do!
Alright, I’ve got a son who needs a marriage contract. Guaranteed to be able to fix his daughter’s hair! I’ll teach him to braid too!
Spring rain brings fun in the puddles. We didn’t quite make it out side when it was raining but once I pointed out the puddles and mud, they were set!
They enjoyed slinging mud at each other. Until Ace came out and they decided to attack the castle with mud bombs. Needless to say, the castle lost in the siege!
when mom has a baby!
We ventured out a week before Ceili Rain’s birthday to start off her celebrations. Mark felt we needed to do it then rather than trying to get out on the day of her birthday. Good thoughts considering Malachi and I came home from the hospital on her birthday. And, she’s three, and doesn’t really care when or where we celebrate. The longer the celebrations the better!
They proved to be longer too. She received gifts from Ge & Granddaddy while we were in the hospital and was able to celebrate with Papa and Grandmere on her actual birthday. As far as the cake…which we were informed was very important when singing “Happy Birthday!” Well, that came the day after her birthday. Mom just wasn’t up to snuff to decorate on the day of. She didn’t seem to mind having to wait one more day for her cake though!
So, for her birthday, we took her to Build-a-Bear. We thought, at three, she would surely enjoy making her own decision and decorating a bear to go with it! She did. She was in total heaven!
Second non-epidural birth, fifth induction. Exciting stuff I tell ya.
Enjoy Ceili Rain’s birth story!