hello, nine.

Colin turned nine recently.
And this weekend capped off what felt like
two weeks' worth of birthday celebrating.
Birthday requests for a nine year old
are a lot different than they were when he was four.

He requested a sleepover, a lego set, and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

{i wish i had this kid's hair.}

I love birthday cake.
And you know a birthday cake is going to be good
when the frosting contains three sticks of butter.



{recipe here...i just increased it by half, hence the three sticks.}

It was just a funfetti mix,
but inspiration struck as I was putting the cake together
and I made a Nutella buttercream frosting for the filling.
Delicious, I tell you.
{just mix together nutella and buttercream.}



He had to wait until Riley got home from soccer at 8:15 to open presents.
It was torture.



She really really really wanted to help him open a present.









And then this weekend was his sleepover.
With ten boys total.
Plus Avery.
{and her friend, until 9pm.}
And that adds up to a lot of kids.
Yikes.



But he was so happy to be surrounded by all of his buddies.
Some of these boys are like brothers to him.



And they're a great group of kids.



This picture cracks me up.
In the morning the boys were all obsessing over some game called Mindcraft.
And Avery was right in the mix, as usual.
This girl is NOT going to be intimidated by boys.
Ever.



I cooked A LOT of cinnamon rolls and A LOT of bacon that morning.
Boys can eat.
I can't imagine what it will be like when they're teenagers!

Riley's birthday is in October and he's already talking about his own sleepover.
I think I'll need that much time to mentally gear up to do this again.

she's five, and it's hard to take.

Avery turned five when we were in Yosemite.
Five is, like, basically a big kid.  You know?
I did not give her permission to get big.

I hope she remembers that on her 5th birthday
she got to stand inside of a huge fallen Giant Sequoia tree
with a big group of boys: brothers and buddies.



And that she roasted s'mores over a bbq on the giant wrap-around deck of a house
that overlooked a deer-filled meadow.
Not a bad birthday backdrop.





And maybe she didn't get a birthday cake,
but a tower of birthday brownies with a Hello Kitty candle
didn't seem to bother her much.



And the day after we got home from Yosemite,
the real business of being a five year old started.
She was adamant about getting her ears pierced.

She was all smiles in the car on the way to the mall.
All smiles walking into Claire's.
All smiles picking out her earrings, and in the chair, and even when they were marking her ears.



I was almost in tears!
I was so nervous for her.
I kept warning her in the days before that it would hurt a little.



And then next thing you know...boom.
Her ears were pierced.
And she didn't even flinch when they did it.
No tears.  Ever.



She was so brave!
Definitely braver than me.
And she was loving herself just a little bit.



And then the birthday celebrating continued, and we had a few little family parties.
One involved cake pops.
It was my first foray into the world of cake pops.



They were hard.
But then my helpers stepped in and made it easier.



In the end, the client was happy.



So...she's five.
And she'll start kindergarten in the fall.
And I'll have this whole big chunk of time all by myself during the day.
It's going to be a tough transition, I can tell.

{for me.}

the princess tea party

The princess tea party is over.
And {I think} a success.

I loved planning Riley's 7th birthday Halloween party,
and Colin's 5th birthday Lego party,
but this is the most fun I've had planning a party.

Here's the play by play,
in case you care:

The table.
Oh, the table.
The table is the most fun to plan.
{and a super important part of a tea party, right?}

Bright fabric sashes for the chairs
are super easy to do,
and make the table look so festive.

A few months ago I put out a request on freecycle 

for some embroidery hoops.

A guy responded that he had about twenty hoops for me.

Twenty!?

They weren't the size I wanted for the project I was doing,

so they have sat in the garage for months.

But then Friday I had an epiphany:

 

They are the perfect tea party chargers!

I love them.
{i might hang them on avery's wall now...not sure.}

 

My mom came down to help with the party.

She is the best kind of helper:

the kind that brings food and helps you clean up.

Thanks, mom.

When the girls started arriving they colored 

until all of the guests were here.

Then once all of the princesses were here

they got to work making princess wands.

Every princess needs a wand.

After the wands were finished I read

"The Princess and the Pea".

{you know the one...the king and queen know the girl 

is a real princess when she feels the pea in her bed under the 

20 mattresses.}

And then we played a game to find out

which girl at the party was a *real princess*.

I l-o-v-e this age.

They buy into things like this one hundred percent.

Then it was tea time.

But before eating I gave a little mini

princess etiquette lesson.

{napkin in lap...please and thank you...the usuals}

After the girls ate their food

we had a princess ball.

Except instead of the waltz

we danced the freeze dance

to some fun songs.

{think "happy working song" from enchanted and selena gomez' "who says"}

Then after dancing

and some free play time

it was time for cake.

I had some major icing issues.

Let's all try to pretend the cake doesn't look like it's melting.

After cake the girls jumped on the trampoline for awhile

and then went home with ring pops, bubble wands, and a hair clippie with their initial.

(And I have to give major props to my friend Pat for

many of the party ideas.

She is the princess party planner extraordinaire.

Thanks, Pat A-J!)

I can't believe this girl is turning four.

I know everyone says this,

but it really does go by so quickly.

I remember her being a baby so clearly.

And now she wears a size nine in shoes

and sits on our bench with her feet almost touching the floor 

playing the iPhone.

It's not right.

But I love that she still looks little when she sleeps.

So fitting that she wore her Sleeping Beauty dress today.

****************

{don't forget to enter last week's give away here.  i'll pick the winner tomorrow.}

A birthday tradition.

Back in 2009, a tradition was born.
Every January 8th, my sweet kids bake me a cake.
{2010 birthday}
{2009 birthday}

{Technically I bake, they decorate.}

They are my very favorite decorators.
Even if they are a bit heavy on the sprinkles.

I was feeling horrible when they were decorating these cakes.
The stomach flu was about an hour from hitting me full force.
Seeing all of those sprinkles on the cake was not looking good to me...at all.
Thank goodness the flu only usually last about 24 hours, right?

But the kids were so sweet.
They told me they would make me a cake every single year for my birthday.
Even when they're grown-ups, they said.
Even if she lives in China, Avery said.
She added even if she's in jail.

Uh...'scuse me??

 They were very proud of their cakes.

 

Tonight we went to dinner with my family and then had cake when we got home.

I'm feeling mostly back to normal, so I was able to eat some cake.
Wow...sprinkles.
But delicious,
and made with a lot of love.
I'm a lucky girl.
:)

Saturday night I wasn't feeling 100%, but my sweet friends had planned a dinner.
So my handsome date and I headed to dinner.

Unfortunately, 20 minutes into dinner, my handsome date was blindsided
with the dreaded flu.
He headed home and I was dateless for the remainder of the evening,
but it was a special night.

I love these girls.
(And their unpictured hubbies, too.)
It was a lovely birthday,
despite that wicked flu bug.

Now we're all on the mend
and the kids go back to school tomorrow.
Real life will settle in again.

We're all ready.