Tuesday, January 29, 2013

All Girls Momma...Again!

 
 Princess Treya turns 4!

Through eyes glued shut from cold season goop, our birthday girl struggled to see the house that had undergone a royal transformation in the night. Peering down over the second floor railing into our family room, she spied the Ross castle with turrets, flag and flowers forever in bloom, and in pj's, with her head still perched on my shoulder said, “Cool!”

For the weeks preceding the party, Treya had been reciting the guest list trying to remember all of her little princess friends who were coming. It was so cute to watch her count each child on her fingers, so tense and serious about just who would be arriving. True to form, she reminded me “...all girls momma, no boys” just as her sister did 2 short years ago. She even told Aunt Joan, that Uncle Bill was not allowed because HE was a boy too.


Dressed in princess finery, Treya managed to sit still long enough for me to complete her first up-do. A huge bun of curls, held in place with lots of pins and about 6 pounds of hairspray, was encircled with a crown right on top of her head. She beamed. 


One by one the guests, each wearing gowns full of sparkles, glitter and poofs, arrived and were escorted into the craft area for wand making and princess coloring. Once they were all warmed up we began our party, learning the attributes required to be a real princess.

 

First they showed “friendship” by holding hands for a large group picture. This feat earned each girl a gold foil wrapped coin to put into their monogrammed wristlet bag. Next they showed “bravery” by tossing apples into the hands of a hungry dragon who sat a few feet away, earning another gold coin to add to their bags. “Grace” was demonstrated as the nine little princesses flitted about, dancing to princess music with scarves, who were incredibly light on their feet, earning their third coin. I even got the mother’s involved in this one. There were no wall flowers allowed at this party!

 

 


Next, the girls learned “Hope” as each blindfolded princess taped a paper set of sticky lips on our frog, in the hopes that one lucky princess would turn him into a prince, but there was no such luck. So collectively we closed our eyes and waved the wands we had made and said, “Bibbity boppity boo!” Low and behold, when we opened our eyes the frog had vanished and in his place sat royalty. Our Prince daddy sat on the throne, which brought gasps and giggles from our surprised guests. He passed out the next coin.



Prince daddy read Princess Bess Gets Dressed to our guests while lunch was prepared. The girls used “Manners” and discussed those special words we use at the table while dining on castle shaped PB&Js, magic wand fruit kabobs, Ritzy crackers, veggies and dip and Treya’s favorite....chicken nuggets. This attribute earned them their last coin to add to their bags. 







With a me-me-mes, all voices were warmed up as we sang a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday to Treya, who in her excitement covered her open mouth of surprise with both hands. We first saw this trait of Trey’s a few days after meeting her in India. Knocking down towers of stacking blocks brought on this reaction, which were the first real smiles we ever witnessed from her. Knowing exactly what to do this year, it took her three great breaths to blow out all four candles on the cupcakes that surrounded the purple princess doll cake. It was beautiful, just like Treya herself,but unfortunately the front had been sampled by the dog before the party began. Luckily, it only took a spatula and few extra sprinkles and some curly ribbon to make the repair. The dog was banished to the dungeon!

While gifts were opened, all of Treya’s friends played in the table top castle with the puppets. Somehow our whole play kitchen full of gadgetry managed to end up in there as well. Treya would open a gift and then go find which child to thank, by sticking her big hair head into the windows of the castle. It was so cute. As the party ended, each girl showed me their wrist bag of coins, proving they had completed all the princess tasks, which earned them a happily ever after bag of goodies to take home with them.

The party was the icing on the cake of a nearly full week of celebration. Treya’s birthday actually fell on Monday the 21st. By coincidence, Treya’s VIP week at preschool fell on the same week as her birthday, so she got to bring treats to school and a poster of pictures that told all about her. She also got to do show and tell every day of the week bringing in something special to show to the class, every single day. And as always, Uncle Tim (a family friend) brought his annual bouquet of flowers! She got the royal treatment all week long!




Typically we let the girls choose the restaurant for their birthday dinner, which really is about which restaurant sings to you and has the best dessert, but this year we chose the RAM for Treya. Two weeks prior to the big day, I had received a phone call that her name had been chosen as the winner of a summer drawing she had entered. Pat, Devi and I were the only ones in the know when we took our seats right in the middle of the restaurant so everyone could see us. Near the end of our meal, the manager came asking for Treya. Treya played right into the woman’s plan holding up four fingers and announcing it was her birthday. Donna said, “Treya, I think I have something that belongs to you.” A few moments later, out she came stopping in front of our table. Treya looked completely baffled, so I leaned over to her and said, “I think this is for you. It is all yours!” There in front of her, practically glowing, was a brand new pink princess bike, with heart shaped pedals and balloons tied to the handle bars. Treya’s eyes got as big as saucers, she gasped and completely lost all breath. She leaped up and hugged the manager around the legs and then climbed aboard her new bike. Then she jumped off and went and hugged the woman’s legs again. It took her awhile to realize that this bike was all hers, as she kept thinking it was for her and Devi to share.  It was priceless.




So with new bike in the garage, a pile of presents still to be discovered, and a kitchen table castle still filling my family room, our Treya has successfully had her second birthday party and has turned 4. We love you princess Treya! Happy Birthday!!

4 comments:

Miche said...

OH my goodness, what a great birthday idea! I LOVE how Pat became the Prince-those photos are awesome :)

Candice said...

Looks like Treya's party was fantastic! I'm sure she will remember it forever! I also love the "values" that the girls learned during the party! Great idea!

Candice

Peter and Nancy said...

What a magical birthday! I love the prince who appeared -- very clever! And including some meaningful princess attributes is a much better twist on the usual princess parties . . . love it! Happy birthday, Treya!
Nancy

Karen said...

Wonderful! Wonderful!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREYA... I'll bet she remembers this one for a long time.

PS, the creative Queen who fixed the damaged cake deserves a crown herself!

:) Karen