isla's ballerina birthday party

for isla's fourth birthday party she requested that daddy make her a "barre" all around the living room and turn it into a dance studio.  of course, aaron is never one to say no to a reasonable request from his little girl.  so we moved all the living room furniture into our room for the day and he installed a barre along the far wall.  we left one couch for resting on, and the rest of the room was bare for dancing.  the little girls loved it!

i made ribbon wands for the girls, using fishing swivels to make them really swivelly.  there was lots of disengaging people's ribbons from one another, but i think they all had fun twirling and swirling.  and aaron made the amazing ballerina cake.  i broke down and bought a barbie-type princess doll, around which he built a gigantic skirt.  isla wanted it to be pink, but the food coloring options were pretty lame and the stripes ended up kind of seventies-looking.  oh well.  it was carrot cake, yet again, with cream cheese frosting, so who cares what color it was?

i can't believe this sweet and feisty little girl has been here four years.  she's so smart!  she's so funny!  she's a really good dancer!  she says the craziest things!  she smothers ezra with kisses and plays legos with noah.  she says yes every time aaron asks if she wants to do something with him, no matter what it is.  she loves mail even more than her mama.  she goes to school now, and loves it!  she wants to grow her hair down to her feet, and only wear pink.  she uses my old typewriter all the time.  she loves to cook and sew and paint.

isla lou, we are so blessed to have you!