Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Princess Isabel Is Four!

As you may have gathered from previous blog posts, Isabel is very enthralled with being a princess. She has only seen two Disney princess movies (Cinderella and Snow White) so far, but she knows all the other princesses' names and wants to be a princess herself.  So, it was inevitable that when asked what sort of birthday party she wanted to have, she answered emphatically, "A Princess Party!"  Of course, we indulged her wish.  After all, wanting to find Forever Love someday and being kind to others in the process is not all that bad! :-)  Of course, we also want her to understand, in time, that she is a child of the One True King and, therefore, already a princess.

Since many of Isabel's friends from church are boys, we decided to make it a princesses AND knights party.  After a couple of weeks of planning, we were ready for the "royal occasion" and for the guests to arrive to celebrate our favorite princess with us.  Below are a few photos of the grand event.

Every princess and knight needs some accessories, so I made cardboard swords for the boys and bought tiaras for the girls.

Then, I made shields for the boys to color and...

...wands for the girls to decorate with ribbon

Somehow the cake always becomes one of the trickiest and most time-consuming parts of the birthday parties we host!  It took me several hours to make/decorate Isabel's castle cake even though I bought a kit that was supposed to make the process easier.

The royal dining room

The goody-bags

Our favorite princess

Lukas felt he needed his own knight costume to play the part of "Princess Protector", so he spent some of his saved allowance/Christmas money to buy himself a knight outfit complete with shield and sword.

We designed and assembled a cardboard castle for the party guests to decorate and draw on from some of our old moving boxes.

Olli did the main construction (which was VERY solid, by the way!), I cut out the turrets, made a peephole by the door and drew the bricks around the entrance and Lukas made a sign on the side of the castle that reads "Princess Isabel's Castle. Built in 2014"

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to use it with a slight alteration to make the typical saying applicable to knights too:  "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. Who's the Fairest/Bravest of them All?"

Isabel's room was turned into a "Princess Playroom" complete with her Princess Lego Sets, Princess Bear Collection, and Doll House with Princess Dolls.

What Princess Party would be complete without plenty of food including fruit kabobs made into the shape of princess wands and knight swords and Jello-Jigglers in the shapes of hearts and stars?!

Some of the knights and princesses in the kingdom

We had several people make their own knight costumes to go with the theme--very creative!

And, of course, if Lukas had a piñata at his pirate party, Isabel deserved one at hers!  However, this one was a little less "barbaric", keeping with the civilized princess theme, since it was a pull-string piñata rather than one you whack with a stick (also much more appropriate for an indoor party) :-)

Isabel's 4th Birthday

Today was Isabel's 4th birthday and, as per what is becoming our family tradition, we began the birthday celebration at the breakfast table with Isabel's "life candles" lit and her opening of a couple of presents from family members near and far. 

Here are a few photos of our sweet, friendly and enthusiastic four year old opening gifts on her birthday!

Lukas was very supportive of his sister on her birthday.  Here he is reading her birthday card from Yiayia and Grandpa out loud to her.

On his own initiative, Lukas made a birthday card for Isabel.  Translation: "I love you and can't wait to see your big smile.  You are a princess. Love, Lukas"  The picture is of a castle being guarded by two knights.

She got a Snow White Cottage and Bunny/Forest Lego Set from Yiayia and Grandpa.  She followed the photo on the box to assemble the cottage and forest scene in her room right away.

Tante Steffi and Onkel Jochen gave her a Playmobil "Ponyhof" (pony riding school). After a little help from Papa to get it assembled, she and her brother have already spent a lot of time playing with it.

After school, Isabel got to finish opening her presents.  Here she is celebrating the sparkly red shoes that Thea Lesley and Uncle Derrick gave her.  She also got a "Snow White Tutu" (as she calls it) and a red shirt to got along with the shoes.  Shortly after opening the outfit, she insisted on "trying it on" and below is a photo of her modeling the new ensemble.

Our miniature "Snow White Ballerina"

Isabel loves gymnastics and so she was super excited to receive a couple of leotards, with matching shorts and a Connie DVD from Oma and Opa.

Isabel also decided to model one of her new gymnastic leotards.

We gave her a new bike, helmet and bike accessories--notice the color motif?! :-)

For her birthday dinner, Isabel requested macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.  Here she is gleefully eating her special meal!

Christmas in Colorado

We were in Colorado visiting my parents and sister's family over Christmas and New Year's.  We had about 3 hours of delay on each side of the trip due to snowy weather across the country, but it was well-worth the hassle so that we could be with family!

What a fun time we had together.  In addition to opening gifts together Christmas morning, some highlights for the kids included a trip to the Firefighter Museum in downtown Denver, a tour of the football stadium at Mile High, an open gym at Liam's gymnastics studio and an afternoon at Dave and Buster's (an arcade).

The adults enjoyed lots of opportunities for good conversations, dinners/lunches out, a girl's day and a guy's evening as well as a low-key New Year's Eve celebration.  A special high point for Olli was helping Derrick to make a homemade batch of Hefeweizen. I especially liked participating in the tradition of baking, cutting and eating Vasilopita (Greek New Year's bread) as I got the penny this year!

Three out of four cousins: Lukas, Isabel and Liam

Lukas read the Christmas Story from the family Bible on Christmas morning.  We were all impressed by his reading skills!

Isabel wearing the much-hoped-for Snow White Dress

Lukas with a couple of his gifts from Yiayia and Grandpa

The cousins watched several episodes of Sid the Science Kid together

Lukas reading a board book to Mia

Isabel behind the wheel of an old-fashioned fire truck at the Firefighter's Museum

Lukas the firefighter!

The four cousins on their way to a fire emergency

Lukas and Liam in front of the stadium at Mile High

Lukas imagining what it would be like to be a football player

Viewing the stadium from the media box

My boys

Lukas zip-lining into a foam pit

What a leap!

Isabel skipping down the long trampoline

"Look! I have a stamp on my foot!"

Everyone gathered around to cut the Vasilopita and see who will get a "good luck coin" for the New Year

Grandpa gave Isabel her first "real" tiara and inspired her to be like a princess toward others (i.e. kind and generous)

Grandpa and Lukas scared by a leaping mountain lion at their "boys day out" at a Bass Pro Shop

Lukas and Olli at the Bass Pro Shop

We also managed to fit in a couple of visits with Olli's host family, the Ahlgrims, including his host brother's family who were visiting from North Carolina.  We had dinner with them a couple of times and even went caroling--an activity that no longer seems to be culturally current.

Caroling with the Ahlgrims

Lauren with Olli's youngest host sister, Kristin, and her 11 month-old son, Ethan

Fast Friends: Emily (Olli's host brother's daughter) and Isabel

Olli, his host brother (Joel) and Joel's nephew, Andrew and niece, Alicia

Olli's host sister, Jennifer and Ethan

Alan and Linda Ahlgrim (Olli's host parents)

Andrew, Lukas, Emily and Isabel

Lauren reading a factual story about the first Christmas to Andrew (Olli's host brother's son) and Lukas