selabration #5

this year, we are having our-family-only birthday parties. which is a brand-new party philosophy for us rhodes. each kiddo will get to help plan their special day, and i hope each one chooses something unique for our first year here in boston. sela’s original request – the american girl store. we didn’t have this store in utah, so i truly dodged it with my older girls. i never even let them know it existed. however, they were fans of build-a-bear which is somewhat of a trade. but, our last child – sel-bels – she is a doll lover. so, it’s totally appropriate we cave for her. ::smiles:: and, our new local mall, which i swear is the best mall on the planet, it really has EVERYTHING, an american girl store included, approximately eight minutes from our home.

with that said, sela~bella’s requests:

family brunch
barbie cake
purple & mustard decorations
a visit to the all-american girl store
a special dinner.

her wishes all came true!

i have a fetish for paper chains, and i’m trying to re-invent them whenever possible.
however, i do tend to forget how time consuming it is to create such a simple craft.
hours were invested for these little links of love, but it was totally worth it because i loved the finished look
—a little perk that our dining room is already purple!

for brunch, we had:
crepes
palis verdis eggs
fruit
bacon
juice
barbie cake
and ice cream!

when the taylor’s were visiting & we stopped by our incredible mall, shannon pulled me in to “lush,” i had never heard of this shop/brand before, but shannon had shopped at lush in hawaii… the taylor’s bought me my first bath-bomb, and i was instantly hooked! have you been? have you tried? the shop is awesome!

…it’s handmade cosmetics, but their main item is bath bombs that come in a variety of shapes/colors/scents – you put one in your bath with you & they foam, bubble, color the water, smell delicious! it’s divine if you are a bath-er like me! so, for sela’s little brunch, we chose a variety of bath bombs for everyone to enjoy as party favors. you can see kj’s in the photo on the right, sela chose a robot & blue/green ball bombs for him- i also love that there are boy/girl choices, because sometimes when planning party favors it’s difficult to find something for everyone. {this is a GREAT gift idea, if you are starting your holiday shopping!}

{notice the joggers going by outside – ha!}

hoodsie ice cream!
giving the sox some love during our brunch, their season ended way too early…

everyone likes to help the baby of the family. sela had three assistants/siblings to help her decide what american girl to choose, what clothes/accessories to pick out for her…

then they helped her instantly put her new doll together during dinner!

sela is a very good momma to her “dolly tess”,
nicknamed: bootylicious, because she doesn’t seem to keep her pants up very well –
we see a lot of her booty!

it’s all i can do to refrain from kissing those perfect little round cheeks, constantly.
does she not have the most adorable expressions? ohhh, this girlie has my heart.

the entire day, i kept snuggling up with husband and thinking,
“i’m so happy to be here. life is so good.”

where has five years gone? a big chunk of those years i felt like i’d have a toddler, forever.
and now… now, this little one will be in kindergarten next year, and before i know it,
all four of my munchkins will be in school all day. it’s such a sad thought, welcomed with a love of where we are.

with those thoughts in mind, we used every opportunity on sunday to celebrate this little one.

she has always been my perfect little sidekick, such a little lady.

sela & her tess’s matching pj’s were the perfect ending to a perfect fifth birthday.

cheers to five years, baby girl.
xoxo.