Brooke's 11th Birthday

Brooke was so excited to plan her 11th birthday party this year. Because she was turning 11, she wanted it to be a Harry Potter party. We stayed planning her party weeks before her birthday! And I think we put together a pretty fun party. 

We sent out actual invitations a little more than the week before. Brooke really wanted to hand-make the invitations. She and Camille worked together to make the paper look like parchment, and then we wrote the invitation on them, making them look like letters to Hogwarts and a ticket for the Hogwarts Express. They were pretty fun. 

We held our party on the 18th of August, after school. We spent most of the day cleaning up the house and getting things ready for our party. Brooke's guests arrived starting around 5pm (although Claire came over earlier to help make food). I managed to go pick up pizzas with just enough time to get home. While we waited for all the girls to arrive, we played "Don't Eat Dudley", kind of a spin off of "Don't eat Pete". 

For our first activity, we had a kind of sorting game, kind of like pin the tail on the donkey, only we had the house crests on the wall, and they pinned a broomstick on the wall and whichever house crest was closest was the house they were sorted into. This was a lot more fun than I thought I would be. They all loved it.

Once they were all sorted into their houses and we had 3 relatively equal groups (Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin), we did house competitions in the form of minute to win-it games. The girls LOVED this. I had three games, and I was going to have them rotate who competed in every game. But they all wanted to try every game, so we played games for much longer than I'd intended. I think Ravenclaw house won the competition. 

We ate then, because all the girls were starving. We did simple food: pizza, grapes and soda. Then we did cupcake decorating... big girl cupcake decorating, using frosting and FONDANT. We had made cupcakes earlier, and the goal for each girl was to make a Dobby face for her cupcake out of fondant. They also loved this so much. They all said it was such a fun idea, because the fondant is kind of like play dough, and they had to mold it to the shapes they wanted. It was so fun to see everyone's own creation. Baylee had the funniest Dobby, and Brooklyn made a bubbling cauldron for her cupcake. 

We played pass the parcel when everyone was done, with 3 different presents. Brooke is the one who wrapped the parcels, and she wrapped each one so many times, so it was pretty fun. And then they watched while Brooke opened her presents. They all got her really cool things, things she wanted and will use: art supplies, bags, crafty things, etc. 

While we waited for parents to come get their kids, we put on the first Harry Potter movie to watch together, and I made popcorn for everyone. I asked Brooke afterwards how she thought the party went and if it was everything she wanted, and she said she loved it and it was. 

We celebrated as a family on her actual birthday a few days later. She opened presents first thing in the morning when everyone was up and ready. We didn't get her much, because her birthday party was a big portion of her present, and her friends got her so much stuff. But we got her a kids fitness watch, a small sketchpad and a drawing kit with pencils and erasers, and Mom got her a nice crochet bag. 

She and I made her birthday cake together, a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and she and the other kids got to watch a movie... I think they watched Balto.

She requested my cream cheese breaded salmon for dinner and carrots. It was a very delicious birthday dinner, and the cake was so good too. After dinner, we relaxed outside and she harvested her little carrots from the garden. 

Her actual birthday was pretty laid-back and low-key. But I asked her if it was a good day, and she said it was the best birthday ever. So, I did something right. 

Some things I'm loving about Brooke lately: 

• She is the best big sister. She loves playing with her siblings and doing things with them that they love. Lately she has been begging for us to let her put Sawyer and Jack to bed, and sometimes we let her. We've had her babysit a couple of times when Daniel and I go for quick errands or dates together, and she's done a great job. Sometimes she prefers to be by herself and do her own thing. But she still very often loves to be with her siblings. 
• She is getting very interested in playing piano. Sarah has her playing things that she really likes, and so she plays all the time. 
• She's funny. She's developing such a fun sense of humor, and it's pretty fun to talk to her. 
• She is obsessed with dogs. She wants a dog in the worst way. She always gets dog books from the library and reads about different breeds, and when Emily brings Sammy over, they talk all about dog things. She's also really good about taking care of Sammy. I think she's ready for the responsibility of a dog. 
• She's a great writer! She's been writing books for the last year+, mostly about animals, and they're pretty good for her age. She's always just had a gift for reading and language. 
• She's happy and cheerful, usually up for doing anything and mostly willing to try new things and go on new adventures. She's pretty good about traveling and wants to see new places. 
• She's cute! So cute. I love her blue eyes and little dimple, her sweet personality and easy going disposition. She's so wonderful. 
• She loves to bake. She also likes cooking, sometimes, especially if it's pancakes or German pancakes (she's been in a real German Pancake kick lately, making them for breakfast a few days a week). But she's really a baker. She's always wanting to whip up some tasty dessert, and I usually assign her that task for Sunday dinners. 
• She loves movie nights. Whenever I say we're having a movie night on Fridays, she's always so into which movie we're going to watch, making sure we have popcorn at some point. 
• She loves being with her friends. She and Claire are buddies, and they love getting together whenever they can. It'll be harder now to do that, since school has started. And I keep trying to encourage her to make a few more friends. But she loves the friends she already has. She also loves her cousins. She and Baylee are thick as thieves when we get together, or she and Anna, or she and Makai. I love how much cousin time she gets and how close to them she is.