bean's a big girl

the bean's birthday weekend was quite a success.  we didn't go all-out or anything, considering the fact that her big bash is next week, but i think she enjoyed her actual pretty princess day all the same.

we kicked it off with a little party at school with her class.  i baked up a batch of chocolate and red velvet cupcakes, brought in a costco pizza and goody bags that the teen had assembled the day before, and celebrated with her friends.

and no, i have no pictures of the party.  none.  in my haste to get everything there on time, i forgot to grab my camera.  and my iPhone...well, it's out of commission at the moment.  super sore subject.  suffice it to say that everyone was happy with their treats, and the bean was beaming as she rocked this crown the whole day:

as you can see, that thing lasted all the way through the day at school and into the following day - her actual birthday.  she'd requested red velvet pancakes for breakfast, and since i firmly believe that you should get whatever you want on your birthday, i complied.  hell, if she'd have asked for a lollipop i'd probably have given it to her. 

these are the ingredients for my quickie-cheater red velvet pancakes - instant pancake mix, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, dry buttermilk, mini chocolate chips, red food coloring, and a little water.  i don't have exact measurements to share, because i just mix it all together till it looks good.

they come out fluffy and perfect, and taste just like the ones from the buttermilk truck.  better, even.

a little later, she decided to help me make her some birthday cupcakes.  after all, she had to have something to blow candles out on, right?

she's funny.  when she woke up that morning and crawled into our bed, i gave her a hug and wished her a happy birthday.  she broke out into the biggest sleepy grin i've ever seen, stretched like a cat, and sighed "it's my birrrrrrrthdaaaaay.  i'm foooouuuuuuurrrrrr!"  and when we asked her what she wanted to have for her birthday dinner, she said "chicken and rice from the other taco bell."  this, of course, means del taco.  ha!

but then later on, when we asked her again what she wanted (because she's 4 and changes her mind on the hour), she decided that she didn't want del taco after all, but couldn't think of what else sounded good.  and so instead, we ended up at shogun, a local teppan grill restaurant.  dinner AND a show!  woohoo!

she was inexplicably afraid that the show would involve really loud noises.

but she peeked out as the dude tried to entice her with fire...on his fingers.  i was trying to get a shot for the teen of the dude at the other table, to the left of our chef, because he was a total nick jonas lookalike.  alas, i was unsuccessful.  sorry, babe.

the old "look, i made a heart out of the fried rice" schtick, complete with the heartbeat and "broken heart."  yuk yuk yuk.  even she thought it was cheesetastic.

although the volcano is always a winner.

then she proceeded to scoop out her rice and spread it out carefully on her plate.

 when we got home, i scrambled to whip up the frosting for the cupcakes, which i'd busted out my "tea cupcakes" silicone set for.

brother wan got there just in time to sing her the birthday song and watch her blow out the candles.

after carefully removing the candles, she swiped a finger across the top and licked the frosting.  but she had her eye on a pile of fun stuff on the table next to her.

i won't bore you with the contents of every single package, but here's her favorite of the pile.

i also loved the genuine excitement as she unwrapped these:

we made her cover her eyes as the hub brought out a surprise that was too big to wrap. 

and it was fun to watch her reaction as she finally got to fling her arms out, open her eyes, and get her first glimpse of her very first big-girl bike:

she rode it in circles around the house until it was time for bed.  and when we finally got her in her pajamas and down for our bedtime routine, tinker bell was firmly in her grasp.

next week's party is gonna be such a blast.  now that she's old enough to fully enjoy it and understand what's going on, it'll be so awesome to watch.  i can't wait.