My baby girl – my first baby – is going to be 10 years old on Monday. It’s hard to believe, because I can still remember SO vividly when she looked like this:
Such a little punkin'!
The day she was born, as with each of my children, was one of the happiest days of my life. Bee has always been such a joy and a blessing to me, and I just couldn’t be more proud of her. What a great kid!
To celebrate her 10th birthday, I put a little Happy Birthday announcement in the newspaper. Also, because her birthday is actually on Monday, and she has both school and worship team practice at church that day, we decided to celebrate her birthday this weekend. To make it a bit easier on myself, because I’ve been sick this week (AGAIN), and I’m trying to finish painting my kitchen (long story – I’ll write a separate post about this), I decided to spread my birthday work out over several days. Yesterday I wrapped Bee’s presents, which included a purple, glitter lava lamp, a Barbie play set, a ballerina outfit for her American Girl doll, a dress and wig (yes, a wig) for her favorite Build-a-Bear, and a money balloon. I made this by using a funnel to fill a pink balloon with about a tablespoon of pink, heart-shaped confetti (10 cents on after-Valentine’s Day clearance), and a tightly-rolled $10 bill – $1 for each year Bee has been with us.
I blew up the balloon with one of those $20 helium tanks, which you can buy at Wal-Mart or Target. We’ve used ours for all of the kids’ birthdays for the last 3 years. A little helium goes a long way!
I love that she still runs around the house in a dress-up dress. So cute!
I tried to take a picture of Bee popping the balloon with a pin, but when it popped it made such a loud bang that I jumped, which ruined the shot. I did get some great pictures of her face as she opened her gifts, though.
She was actually jumping up and down for this one.
Bee’s favorite lovey is her battered (formerly) pink bear, Pinky, and since she and Cakes are having a joint friend party at Build-a-Bear next weekend, I decided to make Bee a Pinky cake! In keeping with my frugal tradition, I refused to buy a bear-shaped cake pan, preferring instead to test my creativity, and my cake decorating skills, by making do with a paper template that I enlarged on the copier. I actually baked the cake yesterday, and froze it in several layers of plastic wrap, so that it would be easier to cut and frost.
I used my $6, garage sale-purchased Pampered Chef accent decorator to decorate the cake, and I loved it! It was really easy to use, and made changing icing colors really simple. To make Pinky’s eyes, I used a ballpoint pen (which DJ had conveniently dismantled), to make small circles in a flattened Tootsie roll.
I think it's a pretty good likeness.
Bee gets out early from school today, and I can’t wait for her to see her cake. I think it turned out really cute!
For the kids’ birthdays, I always let them pick all the meals for the day. We’ll do this for Bee on Saturday, and she chose chocolate chip pancakes and turkey bacon for breakfast, “fancy” chicken and wild rice for supper, and a “wine and cheese party” for lunch. This is something I started with the kids one night when I was too exhausted to cook, and they all loved it so much that they request it all the time. I put out a fresh, sliced baguette, along with an assortment of cheeses, fruit (usually apples and grapes), crackers, and sparkling red grape juice in fancy glasses. In keeping with the bear theme, for Bee’s birthday wine and cheese party I decided to attempt bread bears, using my standard white bread recipe. I’ll post more about these (provided they actually turn out!) I’m planning to bake cupcakes for Bee to take to school on Monday, too.
I also wanted to share an essay that Bee’s teacher gave me last night at her conference. It means so much to me, because of all the people in the world, there are only a few whose opinions truly matter to me, and at the top of that list are my children. If they think I’m doing a good job, then it doesn’t really matter what other people think. (Click the images to enlarge and read).
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God has blessed me with such a wonderful daughter. I’m a very lucky Mom.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! Another great birthday! Bee looks really happy. You always come up with great ideas for birthdays. I have to admit that I have used a few of them and tailored them to my theme. My daughter keeps saying she wants a Barbie birthday next year so I already know I will be implementing some of your ideas. Thanks for posting and I can’t wait to see what fun stuff you do for Cakes.
Yum! What a wonderfully happy time for both of you!
Happy Birthday Bee! I love the filled balloon idea! I’ll have to take note of that idea.
My oldest turned 13 yesterday and I’m having a hard time accepting that my baby turned double digits like Bee this past June and now I have a teenager. Time flies and can be so bittersweet.
Happy Birthday to Bee!! Such a sweet letter she wrote you
Another beautiful post Heather!!! Bee must be a treasure to have as a daughter!!! What a lovely essay Bee wrote about you…you and hubby must be so proud of her!!!