The girl's 5!!

So if you have a girl (or boy for that matter) that is between the ages of 3 and oh, I dunno, 10 you've heard of Frozen. If you're anything like me, you've seen the movie enough times to consider cutting your eyes out with a rusty butter knife. Dramatic, you say? Not if you live in my house, I assure you. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved the movie...probably one of my favorites but kids have a way of  making you abhor something you once enjoyed with their incessant rehashing of said thing be it a song, movie, game, phrase....they're just nuts. 

I thought, nay, hoped after about 6 months, the chaos would die down but alas, here I sit with a bajillion photos of Elsa and her party of Princesses surrounded by a faux winter wonderland (in July no less). Maybe after she and Bella force me to make them Elsa and Anna costumes for Halloween they'll be over it. One can only hope.

Let me just pat myself on the back for a hot second. Maddie wanted an Elsa costume and I was not about to spend 60 bucks for a cheapy one that fell apart after a couple months so...I thought, sure I'll just make one. Buy some cheap fabric, customize it a bit....sounds great, right? No. She must have caught me when I was halfway through a bottle of wine. It was a horrible, awful, terrible idea. Why? A: I don't sew and my sewing machine that I never use, broke just before I began the blessed project. B: I don't know how to follow a pattern (I'll just "wing it", I say...). So, stupid masochistic fool that I am, proceeded to not only make it once but then, for this party, revamp it...again.

But, it did turn out purdy darn cute. I found great fabric for about $20 and came across some old Christmas window cling-snowflake thing that I used for the cape (score!) and viola. She was thrilled. I did nix sleeves cause, well, I don't sew and let's not get cray. Plus, it's Florida and 465 degrees on her birthday so, are sleeves really necessary??

We did all themed, wintery food...I let Maddie pick what she wanted to do. Well, I did it all, obvi while she sorta bossed me around. So, like every day.

I had these cute food labels but forgot them the day of the party. Whatevs. It was chaos so choose my battles, right??

Marshmallow popcorn balls...."Snowballs"

PB&J..."Anna and Hans' Sandwiches"

"Anna's Frozen Hearts", "Olaf's Noses" and "Kristoff's Ice"...

Oh, the cake. I love it. I think it's so cute...and it will have to do. Let's just say, it was the THIRD cake I made and I finished it at 1am. I was suuuuper excited to try this Pinterest one I saw:

I made rock candy and the back is a chocolatey mountain...it was gonna be epic. It was....Epic FAIL that is. As soon as I stuck the rock candy in, it started to wilt....I wish I had a pic of it. Pa-thetic!, And, being a glutton for punishment, I tried, and failed again. So I whipped up the one above and threw some figurines Mo had on top (thank the sweet baby Jesus) and it was fine. Cute even. Shoulda just started with that one. Lesson learned. Cake making and sewing...not my bag.

Ahhhhh, decorating...now that I can do without tears....usually.

The girls decorated tiaras and made little marshmallow snowmen...

We pinned the carrot on Olaf....

Then they went in the pool....just what Maddie wanted! A "princess pool party"...

She also wanted to do water balloons and we filled a few with shaving cream (snow!). They were a huge hit! 

And...presents. Man, did she ever score! Let's just say she has more cash than I do currently.

Our family has always released balloons to Heaven for Caleb...kind of our way of including him in the party. 

Oh, and her other requests? Skyzone and ice cream. She's pretty low maintenence...well, when it comes to birthday wishes anyway. She took a nap in between cause well, it was her party and she cried (and snarked and fussed) if she wanted to. Not sure what happened but she was foul for the first part of the day. In true "ice queen" fashion she was in time out three times at her own party. Hey, we told her the party would be cancelled if she misbehaved leading up to it. Guess she figured, party's here, what are gonna send everyone home? Well played kiddo. She has however, been an angel as I type this two days later. I secretly hoped she'd just wake up at 5 and boom! be all sweet and docile. Yeah, not so much. 

It was Gavin's first time jumping and some friends met us there...so fun!

The last two pics sort of imply their insanity....the wide-eyes and goofy grins....it was a big day. Bella slept over and they got to bed at, oh, 11-ish. Let's just say Mamma was in bed before they were.

This child makes me so mental but man, did God bless me with her for a reason. She is my child. She's high-strung, sassy, strong-willed, independent...all the things her mother before her can be described as only lacking a few years of maturity and fore-thought. I understand her but still learn everyday to practice patience and tolerance. She was given to me and I to her. She is my amazing and beautiful child and nuts as she makes me, I wouldn't change a thing about her.