Happy Birthday to Maia

We celebrated Maia's 3rd birthday in a grand way this weekend.

Things started on Saturday when we had a Morrison family gathering at the park down the street. Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Georgie came over, so did Cassie & Lexi and Aunt Rena. Maia was excited to get new princess tennis shoes (let's begin the tally of Disney Princess things she got, shall we?... this is 1), a princess nightgown (2), some princess pencils (3), some hair pretties, a princess wall adhesive with removable princess stick-ons -like Colorforms (4), makeup, and a play vanity. That was just the gifts for day one! We had a little mini princess birthday cupcake for her (not official Disney, just some made-up goofy thing that I threw together). The rest of us had pink cupcakes and pink ice cream cones.

The kids played at the park a while, then Grandpa took us all to McDonalds- where they changed the Happy Meal toys from those hideous burping Shrek dolls to nice quiet penguins. (Insert Mom happy dance here)

When we got home, we had a couple of hours to play, and Maia spent the entire time at her makeup mirror getting beautiful:

(Note the princess tennis shoes above)
Vaguely resembles war paint... if you were in a fairy princess glitter army.

Matt had to go to work at noon, so he missed out on McD's as well as worship team practice in the afternoon, however, his parents stuck around, did some shopping, then came and watched the kids at church while I rehearsed the band for Sunday. That was a BIG help, because lately Maia has discovered how much louder she can sing if she uses a microphone. So that's fun.

After practice, we wetn over to the fortress, and helped Mom & Jim with a work day. I re-laid a brick patio (leveled it out with gravel and sand, then put the unmortared bricks back down), Jim hung a storm door and changed out the front porch lights, and Mom painted trim. Like any project, they discovered that there's more to do than they originally thought, but the place is shaping up nicely. We got home at about 9:00, so I bathed both the kids quick and got them in bed before a busy Sunday morning.

Sunday (Maia's actual birthday), we got up early for church as usual, did 2 services, then loaded up all the band's gear and headed to Mitchell for "Rockin' on the Ridge" at Casey & Heidi's church. While we drove through a little storm system that included some hail on the way there, it was sunny, HOT and windy in Mitchell for our outdoor concert.

OK, when did I get to be such a whimp? I developed a migraine headache from the heat. This was a particularly vicious headache that hit me in about 3 waves and was unmoved by my attempts to medicate it with 4 Excedrin. I was a barrel of fun.

Our band did well, we were pleased with their performance, and glad that we brought some of our guys along to help out with the sound system set-up because Northridge's sound guy was at an absolute loss as to how to set up such an event. There were about 5 groups or solos that performed all together. Casey's group did a great job too, though I had to listen from inside with ice on my head because I couldn't stand the volume outdoors.

After the whole event was over and the stage was unloaded (about 8:00), we took a little time for cake and presents. Grandma Marilyn brought a princess birthday cake (5) with 4 princess dolls on top:

I cut and served the cake with a plastic spoon. The haul this time included: a dress-up crown with earrings and more makeup from Rylie (purchased by her mom & dad), tons of stuff for Maia's room from Grandma Marilyn including: a rotating carousel princess night light (6), a small princess pillow (7), a princess saucer chair (8), a reversible princess pillowcase with Belle on one side and Cinderella on the other (9), two princess curtains (10, 11), and a shelf with pastel knobs on it. Xander got Maia "Mary Poppins" which she calls "supercagifrasi...llkigveggiehalitosis" she loves that movie. We got it from the library last week and have a new favorite! After all that loot, Grandma Marilyn said, "Let's see if Grandma Marie can outdo that!" Which, of course, she did. (Grandma Marie has a special knack for always getting the right gift, which kind of irks Mom, but she's a good sport about it) Maia opened the last box to reveal a Cinderella dress (12) with glass slipper play shoes, a crown, wand, earrings and necklace and a Princess storybook with stickers (13). She had to don the costume right away for everyone, and though she was sweaty and grubby from the hot afternoon, she was transformed into our little princess. How sweet!

She didn't sleep all the way home, even though we didn't leave Mitchell until 8:30. She sang. She got to wear her costume home, and that's what princesses do- sing. Xander got immersed pretty deep in a chapter book that Mom gave him, so he read. I closed my eyes and tried to recover, and Matt drove. Whew! What a day!