*Wide ribbons were wrapped around their glasses so the warm hot chocolate didn't burn little hands.*

Sooo this whole FIVE thing came and went, and now I have a kid who is starting to act like a school kid, and hold real conversations. We transitioned Maggie to a toddler bed the same week, and I've been mourning the sudden realization that my babies are not babies.

Sophie is a big girl now. She adores girly-ness, tutus, rainbows, sparkles, and wands. All this considered, I decided to throw Sophie a sparkly, fancy hot chocolate party. I used sparkly wrapping paper as a table runner {wrapping paper is the BEST bang for your buck, ps}, got AMAZING sweets from The Sugar Studio {my go-to for birthdays!! Hilary is incredible... lucky me that I have such talented friends!}, added cake stands, macaron erasers in tiny envelopes with tiny cupcake stickers, and I made wands that I was sweetly told don't really look like wands, exactly, but they're nice anyway {five-year-olds are incredibly quoteable}.

In spite of the fact that I texted friends to invite them {I had the best of intentions to send paper invites this time, but never did!}, and it was the end of a holiday weekend, and Maggie was in the ER getting staples on her head from running into the dresser the night before, it was basically a successful party to celebrate this sweet girl.

The best part of it? Children are beyond entertaining. I went ultra fancy and put cranberries in the pink lemonade... and they got spit out into napkins! I can't stop laughing about it still! "Mommy these cherries taste very bad!" I didn't explain, just emptied the tartness from glasses, and continued serving food with a smile... Egg sandwiches girls? Oh no, not at all, but the hard boiled eggs were spotted, they wanted their own... also:

"I only want the cucumber sandwiches!"

"May I have anything BUT cucumber sandwiches!"

"Can you take the apples out of my salad?"

"Oh no, this cheese isn't good!" {brie}

I was dying laughing inside at the realization that this fancy party was thrown for the wrong target market. The good news is that they loved the hot chocolate and the fresh marshmallows and every sweet. The other good news is that little girls don't eat much, so there were plenty of leftovers and I didn't have to cook on Monday. ;)

After they ate, I threw on Mariah Carey Christmas, removed the coffee table, and let the girls twirl and dance with their whole little hearts.

Sophie at five: has imagination and creates something from nothing. She steals my bathrobe strings and creates leashes for stuffed animals, or ties them to baskets to pull her sister around in a "boat." She can basically teach ballet at this point, and we have "class" regularly where she insists that my friends and I stretch with her, and fly like fairies together, regularly putting grown-ups in comedic scenarios. She has a heart that cares how people feel; I couldn't have asked for a sweeter big sister for Maggie. She is becoming very careful with her treasured items, tucking her new shiny necklace away every night, and setting her nutcracker on her shelf while she sleeps. She will climb anything higher than she should, and has learned {thanks to her daddy} how to climb down just as proficiently. She is loving and affectionate and melts with joy in our arms when we tell her how much we love her. Her eyes shine with life and excitement and we adore her with our whole hearts. Happy birthday dear girl. We're praying for you every single day.

xoxo.

All the best photos were taken by our great friend Manus Chau. :)

All sweets made by the fabulous Hilary at The Sugar Studio.

Ps. Remember this? Maggie's 2nd Birthday.