Frogs and mashed potatoes

While her friends seem to be requesting princess parties and Hello Kitty cupcakes this year, our little birthday girl is a little, well, quirky. Always has been. She didn't want a pink cake, and she didn't want to dress up for her party. Her requests, in fact, were very, very simple.

"My two favorite things are frogs and mashed potatoes," she told me, when I asked a while back what kind of birthday party she'd like to have for her friends and family. So I did what any good mom of a frog-loving, mashed potato-eating birthday girl would do.

I planned and executed what I'd like to think is the world's first four-year-old Frog and Mashed Potato party.

My friend Rebekah of Lollie Cakes whipped up some amazing froggy cake pops for our little shindig, and Justin spent the afternoon peeling 10 pounds of potatoes for our mashed potato bar. We set out toppings of bacon, sour cream, crunchy onions, pulled pork and more, and the kids each enjoyed a plate of custom mashed potatoes before chowing down on the most adorable cake pops they'd ever eaten.

The rest of the time was spent controlling the chaos of five little girls and one little brother as they climbed in and out of Abby's new bed tent and played countless games of ring around the Rosie with one of our guests named Rosie before collapsing in fits of laughter.

When the sugar kicked in, we took the girls (and Caleb, who either didn't notice or didn't mind that he was so outnumbered) outside where Abby went for a spin on her new big girl bike (with pedals...an upgrade from the balance bike she's had for so long) while her friend Neely coached her and Justin followed close behind.

A good time was had by all, as evidenced by the sugar crash and excellent night's sleep that followed quickly on the heels of our guests' departure.

Special thanks to Neely, Mazzy, Eliza and Rosie for making my daughter's fourth birthday party so much fun!