Saturday was Little Bug’s Fancy Nancy Birthday Party!

Of all the birthday parties I’ve thrown for my girls, this one takes the cake! Everything was so adorable and all the little girls had so much fun together.

The party was at our house on the deck and the weather was absolutely beautiful this day. The deck proved to be a wonderful place to host a party!

The centerpieces were glass vases with boas, a string of pearls, flowers and a butterfly. They made for the perfect centerpieces for the table.

I spent no more than $3-4 on each part of the décor! This party was thrown on a budget and I went to Hobby Lobby with my crafty friend, Sarah, who helped me bring all the ideas I had found off Pinterest to life for a very reasonable price!

I had our homeschool table set up for the “babies”!

The place setting, complete with a fork with a jewel on it!

This table was set up for bracelet making and nail painting!

This table was for the punch and food.

Sarah found these on the clearance isle at Hobby Lobby for $0.67 each! I snatched them up and they made for the perfect accent to the party décor!

I put pink tulle around the deck banister and hung the “Happy Birthday, Little Bug” banner.

The girls enjoyed a Fancy Lunch! The night before Little Bug’s party, I hosted a Girls Night with friends from church at my house. Dave took charge of all the fancy food prep that night. He went to some of our friend’s house and made all the food for the party! I could not have pulled off Little Bug’s party without his help!

Butterfly sandwiches.

Cheese cubes. After the party, Little Bug said, “You know what my favorite thing of the party was?”. I said, “What?”. “The cheese!!!!!” {I let her cheat on her gluten/dairy free diet and she enjoyed that, apparently.}

Fruit Kabobs. Dave hot glued the flowers and hearts on the sticks. I love how he loves his little girls so much and doesn’t mind doing things like this for them. Dave was made to be a Daddy to little girls.

The Fancy Nancy Cupcakes with a cherry on top and purple pearls!

We started the party by making bead bracelets and painting fingernails! This picture is Sweet Pea’s adorable little purple nails.

Little Bug all fancied up for her party! Little Bug has been wanting a Snow White dress. Grandma went to five stores looking for one the day before the party but could not find one. She bought her two other dresses and ordered a Snow White dress for her! Little Bug chose this one to wear for her party. She has been wanting princess dresses for so long now and now she has some!

After getting fancy, the girls ate a Fancy Lunch and made their own parfaits!

Then it was time to open presents. Little Bug is looking at her Fancy Nancy Storybook which has six Fancy Nancy stories. I know what we will be reading this week!

I love seeing complete JOY on my daughters’ faces. That is what I saw on Little Bug’s face during her Fancy Nancy party. She was enjoying every minute with her little friends.

After presents, we sang happy birthday and had cupcakes.

I didn’t post a 4 year update on Little Bug here because of the changes to this blog, but I will say I am loving age four. Little Bug is still the strong-willed little girl she was at three, but I can see glimpses of the precious little grown up girl she is becoming. Over the past several months, Little Bug has become so loving saying, “Mommy, I love you from Texas to Heaven.” Our conversations have reached a new level. I’ve started allowing some extra time at bedtime to just lay in bed with her and talk. I love that time with my precious firstborn. Little Bug has also reached a new level of independence: dressing herself mostly, putting on her shoes, getting herself a drink, wiping her own booty {woo-hoo!}, washing herself at bathtime, and being a little more trustworthy to not get into things constantly.

Fourteen years and she will be 18. I look at these next 14 years of my life, and the four before them, as the most precious years of my life. The past 4 years have been the years where the foundation was laid so God can continue to build and grow this amazing child to be what He has designed her to be.

I am in no way the perfect mother and Little Bug is not perfect either – we’ve both made mistakes and have had to ask each other for forgiveness on multiple occasions – but I feel we are on the right path for establishing a mother-daughter relationship that will eventually bloom and blossom into a genuine friendship, like the relationship I now share with my own mother. I have Little Bug’s heart, today, as a 4 year old and I never want to lose that connection.

I am blessed to call Little Bug my daughter.

- Elaine