Nora is FIVE

Can't believe it, my little Miss Nora is now five years old!  Remembering back to her 'birth' day is always so special and I love to tell the girls the story, and then always looking back on on each year that we've celebrated, it's just such a wonderful feeling seeing how much she's grown and all these things she's learning

We almost didn't have her birthday party when she woke up with a fever on Friday morning.  It was difficult deciding whether or not she'd be okay enough for her party on the Saturday (she insisted she'd be fine), but without putting other kids at risk of getting sick and to give Nora an extra full day of rest, we decided to reschedule the party to Sunday.  THANKFULLY almost everyone was still able to make it, including the magician (plus she liked the idea that her party was on her actual birthday, so that all good!).

On Sunday, Nora was just SO excited to be five!  Her PJ's she'd been wearing since Christmas have been "5T" size (and always a bit too big for her).  But when she woke up on Sunday, first thing she said when she came over, "Mom, now I fit my PJ's!" :)

Just over 42", she can't wait for Playland when she can go on the bigger rides!

Leading up to the party,  I just loved planning every bit of it... pinterest and etsy are my friends :).  We decided on a Fairies (mainly Tinkerbell and her friends) theme so I adjusted it to a bit of a Spring theme.  Made up some fun flower pom poms that were so colourful, I loved how they lit up our living room.  Then I bought the artwork off Etsy for the birthday banner and cupcake toppers (this was way less stressful than me trying to do up the artwork myself).  For the favours, Nora and I had a fun time re-potting flowers, painting the pots with chalkboard paint and then adding each person's name to it.

We had the family come over for lunch first and then the friends joined us later in the afternoon for some cake and some magic!  I had met the magician (Peter Rooke) before at Nora's preschool Christmas Party so I had seen him perform before... and he did not let us down... he was awesome!  The biggest and my most favourite part was having all our friends be there to watch all our kids expressions and reactions to his magic and goofiness / humour... priceless.  The kids just loved it!

Nora & Nina posing with "Pizza the Magician"

Originally, we were going to have a family dinner for Nora, so for that event, Nora and I had made our own ice cream cake!  But since we ended up having the family for lunch, we decided to serve it up with everything else.  It was fun making the cake without having to make the actual ice cream.  You buy your favourite ice cream, soften each layer enough to spread in a springfoam pan (on top of an oreo cookie crumb base) and freeze between layers... voila, delicious!

And that's the end to a really wonderful weekend of celebrating Nora's fifth birthday!  It was so much fun also hosting a bit of a bigger crowd in our new home, people didn't have to be on top of one another and it was extra awesome that it was a beautiful sunny SPRING day!  But the best... just truly watching Nora enjoy her birthday with her friends and family.

We love you Nora, thanks for having a birthday! :)