almost too cute to eat--

Can you tell how we rang in Maddy's big numero seis birthday?

That's right--this past weekend, we celebrated by taking Maddy and a few of her pals to see Disney's The Princess and the Frog.

But before we left for an afternoon at the movies, the girls and their moms came to the house for froggie cupcakes and sweets. Y.U.M.

• The Princess and the Frog Cupcakes: Maddy helped me make these little guys--and it was a cinch. We made regular cupcakes, added a little blue food coloring--then a little more and a little more--and then a pinch of red until we developed the perfect blue for frog heads.

We then split a green gumdrop in half, shoved in a white chocolate chip and added a dot of black gel icing. Then Maddy insisted they needed noses, so lucky for us--and the frogs--that we had tiny chocolate chips just waiting to find a new life as the nostrils of froggy Tiana or Naveen.

Our Princess and the Frog cupcakes

Of course, we gobbled them up in seconds in order to make it to the movie in time, but they were a cute way to celebrate Maddy's birthday and Disney's long-awaited Princess Tiana.

Finally--a strong-willed, determined, intelligent, kind, and hard-working Disney princess-role model who isn't sitting around waiting for her prince to save the day. Sure, we weren't lovin' the scary Shadow Guy, the crazy voodoo stuff, or losing that silly lightening bug, but overall, I'd say the movie was a hit for our tiny group of kindergartners and moms. (And I really think I saw some of the moms jammin' in their seats and drying tears from their eyes at the end, too!).

And that's it--still busy over here getting things together for the holidays but trying to take deep breaths and enjoy the season.

Our down-times have been filled lately with puzzles, legos, crafting, and baking, but I'll share the specifics when life settles down a bit--a whole lot of secret learning and cool games going on over here that I can't wait to share. . .

And thanks to Family Fun Magazine for the super-cute Princess and the Frog cupcake idea. Looooove that magazine!