My daughter Claire turns eleven tomorrow, and if this past weekend was a preview of her eleventh year, then Hallelujah!
Claire's favorite presents were crafts and books. The item on the right is a hat crocheting loom that my mom gave her. Claire loves yarn. I'm sure we can all look forward to many homemade hats. It will be an improvement on the yarn chains she used to make and hand out.
On the invitation to her party she specified that she'd like gift cards to Barnes and Noble, but I made her take it off. Nevertheless, she scored the bookstore credit and is happy with her book selection thus far. Tonight she got
- The Great Castles of the World coffee table book
- Daring Book for Girls
- A 2008-2009 planner, because she's always wanted one.
- Placemarker sticky notes
Claire's birthday party had a food theme. For an appetizer, she played Food Factor with her friends. They were welcome to try new and different vegetables, like rhubarb, cactus, raw ginger, purple cauliflower, and jalapeno pepper. All went well until one her friends touched a pepper and then touched her eyes.
Following the appetizer, the partygoers had a feast with many courses that Claire planned in advance.
- Course one: Caesar salad
- Course two: tomato soup
- Course three: funeral potatoes that Claire made herself
- Course four: steak
- Course five: chocolate ice cream
I was curious to see what activities Claire had planned for the rest of the evening. The girls ended up playing kick the can, Red Rover, and tag. It was very refreshing to watch tween girls running around like little kids.
No birthday party is complete without a spanking tunnel.
The adorable friend pose.
Happy Birthday Claire! I love you!
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22 comments:
the downside of 11 year old girls running around like little kids: they smell much worse.
looks like a great bday! i can't believe you fed them all steak. does turning 11 mean they graduate from hot dogs to the good stuff?
you took some fun pictures. way to go.
Happy Birthday Claire! Looks like such a fun party!
Eleven is good, now thirteen...not so much.
Happy Birthday Claire! You're fabulous! Can't wait to see you in your new tankini!
True Diane. Amen.
I miss the days when Scotty was the only boy among all those girls. I still have the brightly painted birdhouse in my backyard. Someday she'll want him back.
Oh, and noticed that since you know me and I didn't go to the palooza, I am no longer on the sidebar. Fine, I'm not going to love you either.
What are "funeral potatoes?" Very intriguing!
Are you sure she isn't MY kid? I may have similar overdoing it birthday party issues here.
Please tell Jeni you are on her sidebar- it's just on the pull down menu under locals. I had trouble finding it tonight too, but it's there.
Feeling some bday party insecurity after reading Paige's post and now yours. A five course dinner? Seriously?
The leg tunnel shot is awesome!
I was hoping for a fauxmade birthday dinner. Sounds like you (or Claire) did the real deal. Way to pull it off! Happy birthday to your darling girl!
Sorry, way too many exclamation points. I hate that.
Claire is a dream child. Just dreamy. I am jealous. I need a little girl!
So many courses and steak too. Very impressive. That would be refreshing to see 11 yr olds actually playing like an 11 yr old should. Happy birthday to Claire!
What a GREAT party!! I love the Food Factor!
What a great kid she is :)
I am salivating all over the keyboard after reading about the dinner. Seriously, that was such a fantastic party and I love the black and white picture with the colored candles and the closing comment of, "Sponsored in part by the Birthday Girl and thanks to veiwers like you." You amaze me Celia.
I agree with Lauren about the last picture. Very nice. Happy Birthday Claire!!!
Claire looks so arty in the last picture. Did she do that herself? When does she get "The Talk"?
Happy Birthday Claire! I love the food factor game, very clever. OOOh, and I love funeral potatoes! Good choice Claire. Looks like a very fun party.
What a blast! And what a fun mom you are! Lucky girl!
Happy birthday Claire, just remember, if you ever get tired of living at the Ashcroft household, we very much would love to have you live with us for a while. We think you are our long lost child.
By the way, I remember the yarn chains. I think we had a few here at one point.
I had forgotten about spanking tunnels!
All that talk of food this late at night makes my mouth water. It sounds like we have kids the same ages, my daughter will be 11 in November. I'll pass on Claire's cute ideas for a b-day party. I LOVE going all out for birthdays.
Let's hope our girls don't morph into hormonal teens too soon.
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