Gray's Art Party

One of Layla and Jenna's best friends, Gray, recently celebrated her 2nd birthday with an awesome art party.  I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about how well an art party would go over with a group of toddlers.  I mean, there was no question they would all have a ball, but I could vividly picture gobs and gobs of paint getting EVERYWHERE!  Much to my surprise, all of the kids did great!  This Type A mommy was certainly impressed! 

First stop...the 'Van Gogh Play-Doh' station.  Side note: Gray's grandmother, Mimi (that's her real name, Gray calls her Grammy...I know, confusing, right?), made all the play-doh.  The colors were so vivid...I must get her recipe. 

"Thanks for the help, Mimi.  Our Mommy hardly let's us play with this stuff...she says it reminds her of the disaster it made on her classroom carpet."  

Layla: "Hmmmm, what shall I make?"

Jenna: "This is just like cutting pizza...MMMM, pizza....that sounds good!"

Next, they were on to 'Pollock Splatter Paint'.  Layla LOVED this station.  It took a few tries before understanding the concept of this activity.  At home, the girls take spray bottles filled with water and spray them back on themselves and even in their mouths.  Let's just say there were a lot of victims of their sprays, but eventually they got the hang of it.      

Layla:  "Do I have anything on my face?"

"Okay, Mommy says to point the bottle this way."

Taking a little break from the art to play fetch with the dog... 

...and to spin with the pinwheels.  

Back to work...

Layla: "Check out how nicely this chalk is packed into the box!"

Layla: "Well, I took care of that!"

For the final art activity, each child got one of these super cute paint palettes and their own blank canvas to create a masterpiece.  

Jenna got busy right away...

...but, Layla's canvas remained blank for quite some time.  She was a little preoccupied.

Layla: "I don't want to paint over there!  I'm just fine painting over here!"

Eventually, we convinced her to come over and her creative juices started flowing!

Layla: "How does that saying go?  More is more?"

Jenna: "What do you think Gray?  Any suggestions?"

All the other kids were finished, but, as you can see, my budding artists could not get enough!

Layla: "Just putting on the finishing touches."

This is Jenna's over the shoulder approach.  That's talent!

Okay, now she just looks like a down right professional holding that palette like a real artist!

Just getting settled in for a yummy meal...

...but the down pour quickly moved us all inside.  

No worries...leave it to Oklahoma weather...we were right back outside for dessert!

Jenna: "Gosh, I love cupcakes!"

Layla: "These cookies aren't so bad either!"

Layla: "Hmmm, I think I need a little something to wash it all down!"

What is it with my girls and Miller Lite?  I seem to remember having the same incident at Gray's party one year ago!  Again, this was our sign to call it a day!  We had such a great time celebrating a very special girl on her very special day!  Thanks, Gray, for inviting us to your amazing party!  

Oh, I couldn't end this post without including a picture of the playhouse Gray's grandfather, Oompah, built for her birthday.  He's an architect and, obviously, a darn good one!  What a lucky girl!