Pressing Rewind: Emerson's 4th Birthday!!!

Emerson's 4th Birthday!!!

July 9, 2011

Yes, I'm two birthdays behind on the blog, so this will be a quick and dirty recap (read: lots of pictures, very little writing) of Emerson's fourth birthday party.  Emerson's birthday actually fell on a Saturday in 2011, so we were able to have her party on her actual birthday.  Emerson really wanted to do a movie party, and it was the perfect option for a birthday party.  The kids were at an age that an hour and half movie would keep their attention.  We had popcorn, pizza, cake, cupcakes and drinks.  It was cool indoors for the hot July weather and there wasn't much set-up or clean-up....my kind of party!!!

The Old Varsity Theater on Franklin Street

Luckily one of Emerson's favorite movies, Rio, was playing for the week of her birthday.  And, check out her name on the marquee!!

The cake table was decked out with the invite, cupcakes (for the kids) and an adorable cake (for the adults) made by a family friend.  What a great job she did with both the cake and cupcakes.  I loved the popcorn detail!!

The concession stand was open with lots of goodies and a very cute attendant!!

Emerson, her friends, and even the grandparents had a great time watching the movie and eating popcorn!! Who doesn't love a good movie and popcorn!?!?

After the movie, we rounded up the kids for a group shot before pizza and cake.

Love this little girl!!!

PIZZA, nothing better!!!

CAKE TIME!!!

Loved all the fun friends and family that came to the party!  They all walked away with delicious white chocolate popcorn in these adorable containers!!

Emerson decided she wanted to do something nice for others.  So for her party, she asked everyone to bring an unwrapped present that we would later take to the N.C. Children's Hospital.  We were so proud that she wanted to give back on her birthday.  Check out all these great toys for the children at the hospital!

Of course we had an impromptu photo shoot after the party!!!  And everyone got in on the action, including the boys!!!

The Varsity was a great place for a party and I love that it is part of Chapel Hill history!!!  

Once home, we had a mini-present opening session for Emerson with some of the presents from the grandparents and us.  We couldn't let her birthday go by without ANY presents.  

In August we took the toys to the NC Children's Promise office so they could deliver them to the children in the hospital.  Very proud moment for this Mommy and Daddy and a great learning experience for Emerson!!

Birthday Resources: 

Venue: The Varsity Theatre

Printables: Anders Ruff

Cake and Cupcakes: personal family friend

Cupcake wrappers: Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves

Wordless Wednesday: EAT. SLEEP. BREATHE....

....UNC Lineberger Beach Ball 2012.  

This year's theme is Fire and Ice and we are T-minus 72 hours and counting from the event.  

Holiday Festivities | Leading up to Christmas (Part four)

Wow, so sorry I am still writing about Christmas.  Luckily, I only have a few more posts (including this one) to write.  I always get on a roll, and then life happens and I stop blogging.  So, here is my attempt to get caught up....Luckily, January was a slow month, so I won't have much catching up to do there!!!

Tuesday, December 20

Gingerbread House Decorating

Danny was out-of-town the week before Christmas, and Emerson didn't have her normal dance class on Tuesday, so we decided to decorate a Gingerbread House.  It started out as a great idea, but, as you will see, Emerson faded fast.  Turns out she woke up with a fever the next morning, so that explains her lack of excitement.  Needless-to-say, I ended up decorating most of the house myself.  Maybe we will try again next year!!  

Picking out which gingerbread house she wants to try and make.  

We let the icing set-up while Emerson took her bath, and then decorated!

She's Done!!  She didn't want to have anything else to do with the house.  

First attempt wasn't horrible, bring on next year's house....I'm ready!!!

Thursday, December 22

Visiting Santa

Danny was back Thursday afternoon so we picked Emerson up early from school and headed to the mall.  We waited until the last possible minute to visit Santa this year.  Unfortunately there was a bit of a line, but it is always worth it to see the smile on Emerson's face.  We love the Santa at our mall, he is so patient with all the kids and pulls off the perfect Santa.  Emerson loves sitting on the wall, watching all the other kids sit on his lap.  It's a great way to kill time in a very long line!!  Emerson was very excited to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas but was concerned he might not have time to make everything.  We quickly reminded her, "Remember, Daddy texted him, so he's known for awhile what you wanted!!!"

And the official Santa photo....so glad I take my camera along for some real pictures!!!

Friday, December 23rd

Santa's Sack | Delivering Presents

You may remember our shopping spree at Target a few days before, for the Santa's Sack program at the Children's Hospital.  Friday morning, we delivered the gifts to the program coordinator.  Emerson was very excited to help this year, since last year I took them while she was still in school.  We had a few presents leftover from Emerson's birthday party (yes, still haven't blogged about that), so we included them with the presents for this year's gift drive.  So happy Emerson got to deliver presents this year and see the value of giving to others, especially during the holiday season!!

Emerson couldn't get enough of the new rotating door at the Women's Hospital entrance (where we met the program coordinator).