A Nutcracker Birthday

For Rory and Claire's 5th and 3rd birthday, they chose a Nutcracker theme. The ballet had so captivated them that there was little discussion of any other possibilities...

Once the guests arrived, each child colored a wooden nutcracker. Then, we continued our five-year tradition of...
pin the ____________ on the ____________. A very talented high school student (in my small group), kindly drew this life-size ballerina for us. This year, we pinned a/the rose on the ballerina.

A poor photographic representation of our game...

Michael places the blind fold on Rory, hands her a flower and

gives her a spin!

After a Nutcracker story and yummy lunch, we designed and decorated masks. I thought the girls would enjoy the feathers and jewels (fairy/princess/etc.), while the boys could be a Mouse King, soldier or other masculine character from a ballet... Below are a few of our guests.

Even Michael enjoyed the activity! Love it!

Rory shows off her lovely mask.

Claire, Rory and our friend, Katie, enjoy playtime after the cake and festivities.

What a joy! We are blessed to celebrate the lives of these two precious girls!