{before} the party

We kinda have a little thing going...

Every other year, we give the girls a real birthday party.  Like, for AG's 1st, 3rd, 5th birthdays we planned & partied and it was a whole big thing.  On the in between years, we just have cake, ice cream, and gifts low-key style at the house as a family.  So far, this little plan has worked well.  

This year, Ro's birthday really crept up on me.  I had done absolutely no planning as of last week.  At first, when I asked her what she wanted to do for her party, she said she wanted to play at the church and have a butterfly cake.  Butterfly cake? In January?  Play outside in the bitter cold?  Really?  I tried to talk her into other things, but she stuck to her little plan.  Because she's 3, I gently talked her into another theme:  Minnie Mouse--whom she adores!  I went ahead with the church playground idea in hopes that the weather would cooperate. (it did, btw.)

I've been calling this the "thrown together" Minnie Mouse party...

We got the cake from my favorite cake lady in Tyler.  She's reasonable (if given a price range) and she really outdoes herself.  The only specifications I gave her:  a Minnie Mouse cake, around 30 bucks or less, and feeds at least 20.  This is what she came up with and I think it is just  PERFECT!

Our good ole, trusty "Happy Birthday" sign I pull out each year.

The party favors I told you all about in this post.

  

printables I got from Pinterest

 

I made a small lunch for the kiddos 

If I had planned this party earlier, I would have had the cute minnie mouse cookie cutter I was searching for at last minute.  I found bookoos of them online!

 

All ready to PAR-TAY! coming up next...