Elise's Unicorn 4th Birthday Party

I was surprised and excited when I asked Elise what kind of birthday party she wanted to have and she said, "Unicorn!" Unicorns are huge right now and I knew we'd be able to find a lot of cool stuff, plus they're really cute. She's just recently gotten really into unicorns and I think it's because we got her a unicorn mug last year for her birthday and she loves it. She's been using it for hot chocolate all winter long and started playing unicorns and pretending different things are unicorn horns. I saw lots of unicorn stuff at Target for Valentine's Day so after Valentine's Day we went to check out the clearance stuff. We got a bunch of stuff for crazy cheap. I'm talking stuff for goody bags at 30 cents per 4 pieces, it was awesome! We didn't pay more than a dollar for any of the unicorn stuff we got at Target. We ordered a cake from Sam's and cookies from Celebration's by Lori, in my hometown, which mom and dad brought with them. Elise picked out popcorn and fruit snacks for the snacks and we just did juice and water for drinks. Elise decided she wanted a piñata and mom found one while out shopping so she bought it and even filled it with candy for us! Ty took Elise shopping and let her pick out plates and napkins for her party. They also found a special unicorn candle for her cake. I reserved the party place at the church where I teach and Elise goes to school way back at the end of December and the kids had an absolute blast! It was one of my favorite birthday parties we've thrown for sure. Elise was so excited about her party she was laying in bed Thursday night yelling at us that there were only 2 days until her party. Then she did the same thing Friday night yelling about how the next day was her party. She was so excited she couldn't sleep and was still awake at 10:00 as we were getting ready for bed!

There was a really awesome face painter in the kids area after the Tulsa Run. Mom loved her and wanted to reserve her for Elise's birthday party. She said if we booked her, she'd pay for her. I thought it might be too much to have all the toys to play on and a face painter, but it was awesome! The kids loved their face paint. Elise was especially adorable. After she got her face painted she stood staring at herself in a mirror for a long time. Then she crawled around pretending to be a cat and Carter got irritated that she would only meow at him and wouldn't talk! The kids took turns getting their faces painted and played on the slides. They also loved the game mat with the games projected onto the floor. Elise was adorable playing the piano when it was on. A friend's husband offered to hold the piñata for us. He went up to the 2nd level and held the piñata down on a string. He did a great job and cracked me up by jerking the piñata up when his daughter went to hit it. He also wiggled the string once it cracked open to help spill the candy. The kids had a blast with the piñata. We did cake toward the end and Elise was adorable bouncing up and down as Ty brought it over. The kids played a little bit more and then it was time to wrap it up.

The kids were having so much fun playing at the party, I didn't want to take time away from playing to open presents. Instead we opened presents at home and that was so much better than trying to open presents with all the kids around. Elise sat on her Gma's lap and really enjoyed looking at all her presents. She got some awesome crafty stuff which she ended up doing on Monday morning. We had a fun crafting morning on Monday which was nice because it was the first day of spring break. In the future, I'd like to do her party the weekend before spring break again. It was awesome having a bunch of new stuff and toys to play with and actually being home to enjoy them! After opening presents and some play time it was off to dinner with Gma and Gpa. The kids were really excited for a special sleep over with Gma and Gpa at their hotel. I wasn't sure how Elise would do since she was so tired. She'd gone to sleep after 10:00pm, woken up at 7:00am, and been too excited about her party to take a nap. Then she ran a mile fun run and had a birthday party. It was a busy day! But she did great and had such a blast with her Gma and Gpa! The next morning they went to IHOP for breakfast and Elise ordered mac and cheese. She is so hilarious! We all love our little Leesey girl so much!

Elise is 4: What She Says

Elise has been so excited about her birthday this year. This has been the first year she's really understood the excitement that surrounds birthdays and she has been excited for her big day! It was so much fun to do her birthday interview with her this year. I was a little surprised by how many of the answers were the same this year as they were last year. Read what she said about herself at 3 years old last year here.

What are your nicknames?
Elise Kay Cox! I then explained what a nickname is better and she said Leesey.

How old are you?
4

What is your favorite color?
Blue and you have blue on right now! You have it on your socks.

What is your favorite animal?
Otter and a shark

What is your favorite book?
What Do They Do With All That Poo?

What is your favorite TV show?
Paw Patrol

What is your favorite movie?
Madagascar

What is your favorite song?
God loves you and he loves me. I love you and he loves me. The banner over us is love.

What is your favorite food?
Mac and cheese

What is your favorite drink?
Flavored water and pink milk.

What is your favorite breakfast food?
Pancakes

What is your favorite snack?
Grapes

What is your favorite game?
PBS Kids

What is your favorite thing to play?
Mommy wants huggies, swinging

What is your favorite toy?
Otty

Who is your best friend?
Niki and Charlee and Kyra and Beckett and Wyatt

What is your favorite thing to do?
Read books

What is your favorite thing to do outside?
Swing

What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas and Easter

What do you like to take to bed with you at night?
Otty

Where is your favorite place to go?
Oma and Opa's, Gma and Gpa's, the hotel

What is your favorite restaurant?
McAlister's

Where do you want to go on vacation?
To a hotel.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mommy

Anything else you want to tell me about yourself?
I am a girl and I asked for a toothbrush for my birthday. I'm good at the bar and jumping and straight legs and straddle jump in gymnastics.

Wordless Wednesday

The kids went outside to play while I unpacked lunches, washed the containers and repacked lunches for the next day. I regretted that when I looked out and saw how dirty they were!

Carter loves this book he got for free from the library!

Carter made me a mask at school and wanted a picture of me wearing it.

Elise making her birthday shirt.

Tesla's first pup cup of frozen custard.

Elise playing with her new backpack from Uncie Taco.

Ready for a sleepover with Gma and Gpa.

Pinata at her birthday party.

All of Elise's friends from her party.

St. Patrick's day trail run on the muddy, messy Snake Trail!

Thomas made black and tans for St. Patrick's Day.

Elise loves her new art box!

Elise had a blast with craft kits she got for her birthday.

The kit had 4 butterfly magnets so Elise said, "2 for Carter and 2 for me!"

She also shared her suncatchers.

Fun at the park over spring break!

Elise also shared her Legos, letting Carter help her build!

Playing with new Kinetic Sand toys.

This is what I love about running in the early morning.

Doughnut trip with friends over spring break.

Went to the park and this hill was the best part!

Carter being a sled for the girls.

Colorful Kinetic Sand from Uncle Paul and Aunt Amanda!

Adorable new jammies from Gma and Gpa!

Elise wanted to pretend to be a dog for a picture in her dog jammies.

Storytime at the zoo, so glad Carter got to go too since it was spring break!

Super excited to see the animal ambassador we would get to meet.

Up close with a spectacled owl.

They got to feel an owl wing.

The kids thought it was hilarious the elephant was rubbing her booty on the window.

Hugging the meerkat statue.