a shakin' good time

yesterday afternoon we had a fabulous little party for macy.

it was literally the first day we could wear short sleeves in months. the weather was beyond perfect and the party was so much fun. as the invitation says, the theme was "shake things up" with macy. so, fitting in with the "shake" theme, the kids made their own shakers, played hula-hoop games, and had a dance party with their newly-made shakers. and then the best part of all, we served strawberry milkshakes. yum!

as i've said before, so many of our friends live in our same apartment complex, so simply stating "outside" on the invitations was enough information.

i had a lot of fun doing this party, even though i get nervous for things like this. why? i have no idea. i know that the average age of my guests was five, but still . . .

my friend melanie said it best when she said, "birthday parties are like the final exam of motherhood".

i stayed up way too late making that banner. but that's okay. it was all worth it. it was worth that and more to celebrate the life of macy. she is such a sweet girl and i love that she is in my life. i love her adorable smile and her beautiful eyes. i love how shy she is. i love how she says the words that she says.

i love everything about my darling girl.

today on her actual birthday, the "birthday fairy" brought more presents and she blew out the candles on her cupcake and then proceeded to very slowly lick the frosting off.

it was an awesome birthday weekend.

(i had the great idea of "hiring" a photographer to capture it all because i knew i would be too busy to do it myself. my friend brooke and her husband brady did all the great photography. thanks you two. i know i already said this, but the check's in the mail.)