Ellee’s 10th Birthday

She literally spent the last month talking about her upcoming birthday and we completely soaked it all in.  Because this year, our sweet Ellee would turn 10 and I knew it would be one of those special milestones that we would always want to remember.

I told her we could have a party with school friends.  We don’t always, but I realized this would be a good year to do one.  I told her we had to limit it to seven friends because of nature of the party we decided to have.  This was a bit tricky, but in the end she narrowed it down to her close friends from this year and a few from last year as well.

We decided to have a Fashion Re-Design party.  It was an idea that I had and to be honest, I wasn’t really sure how it would all work.  But basically, we decided to collect dresses that each girl could pick from and then we would let them re-design the dress in any way that they chose.

I called on friends to help me out.  And that being said, a huge thank you to everyone who handed off bags of ribbons, tulle, cloth and buttons to me throughout the past few weeks.  Everything we received was absolutely perfect!  We paired it all with quick drying fabric glue and fabric tape and were good to go.

I spent the past few days getting ready and decorating for Ellee’s party.  And as I did, I reveled in it.  Because I realized that it might be one of the last parties that I would get to plan in such a scheduled and involved way.  Truth is, our daughter is ten this year and is quickly growing up before our eyes.  Her days of having her Mom plan out special themed parties are probably fleeting, as sad as that is to me.  So I did all I could to enjoy every minute of the planning and preparation for this day.

I also kicked in some of my creativity genes to save on some of the decorations.  We found these cute metal words at Michaels (on super sale), but they were a dark copper color.  A little white spray paint make them brighter and they fit right in with our fashion design theme.

After cleaning and getting last minute things ready, around 3pm this afternoon, I opened my door to welcome two of my friends (who graciously came to help out) and then we walked over to the school to pick up Ellee and her friends.  It was so fun to have them all walk over to our house for Ellee’s party.  They were all talking and excited and it made my heart so full.

We fed them as soon as they walked in.  We got a nice veggie tray and fruit bowl from Costco along with chips and guac.  Christian and his friends stopped by to enjoy some snacks as well before taking a walk up to Citarelli’s.

After their snacks and spending time playing with Koko (our gecko) in Ellee’s room, the girls came back to get started on their redesign projects.  They all picked their dresses and thankfully all were happy with their choices and then it was a constant flurry of activity as they cut and glued and taped their creations.

They all worked so intently.

And I was so happy because every single one of them was into it.  It’s hard to know when you throw a party if all of the kids will enjoy the activities.  But apparently, 9 and 10 year old girls are fans of being creative with their clothing designs.

In addition to the other supplies, I got these cute stick on jewels from Amazon.  They already had adhesive on them and seemed to stick well enough onto the dresses.  It was a fun and easy way for the girls to add embellishments to their dress designs.

In the end, they all did a fantastic job on their dresses.  Most of them decided they wanted to wear them and it was so fun to see the different ways they chose to create.  After the dresses we had time for a quick game.  This was another delightful surprise, because these girls are all from a generation of kids that are used to being entertained by fun electronics like iPhones and tablets.  But the game we played literally consisted of one simple button (one person had the button hidden behind their back and the person who was it had to guess who had it) and they all had a great time playing it.  When we stopped to go eat cupcakes a few of them were upset that we didn’t have more time to play the game.

For dessert, I made chocolate cupcakes and chocolate frosting using the Hershey’s Cocoa recipes.  We left the cupcakes unfrosted and let the girls decorate them.  We also had powdered sugar and fresh raspberries since some of Ellee’s friends have dairy allergies.

We sang Happy Birthday to our sweet Ellee who smiled all throughout while looking in delight at her ten candles.

As she blew them out, I couldn’t help but think of my wishes for her on her tenth birthday.   If I got to make them, I wish that she would always be kind and sweet and that her heart would always be the most beautiful part about her.  I’d wish that she would continue to choose nice friends and that more importantly, she would be a kind friend.  I’d wish for good health and that she would be strong and happy.  I’d also wish that as she starts to grow older that she would know how much we love her and how much we will always be here for her.  And finally, most of all, I’d wish that she would always know and love God and that she would know that He has a great plan for her life.

All in all, Ellee’s 10th birthday party was a great success.  It was a wonderful time with good friends and when it was over, I was so thankful.  I was thankful for my friends Erika and Esther who helped everything run so smoothly.  I was thankful for Jeremy making fun Shirley Temples for all of the girls (Ellee’s request) and for Christian being supportive of Ellee on her special day.  I was thankful for the girls that came to celebrate Ellee and for how hard they worked on their dresses and mostly for how well they all got along.  And finally, I was thankful for our sweet Ellee and for the ten years that she has made our lives so special with her contagious smile and her beautiful heart.

Technically Ellee’s birthday is tomorrow (the 19th), but all in all, it was a wonderful celebration today.