Birthday Girl

I can't believe our little peanut is half way to officially being an adult.  She's 9!  I saw a link to this article called "To My Daughter at Halftime".  It talks about how my job as a parent is half way over, but perhaps the hardest part is yet to come.  Everyone told me it would go fast......... 

I never could have imagined that I'd have a daughter like Macalister Jane. It hasn't been all easy.  She is a self proclaimed "sleep freak" and she hates all things related to table manners.  She's not neat and she is a bit absent minded.  BUT, she is one of the funniest, kindest, smartest, independent thinking, beautiful kids I know.  I am bias, but we love this girl to pieces.

Cally started planning her 9th birthday party sometime during the summer.  Maybe it was even while we were hiking up to Punta Union Pass in Peru?  In any case, she had a plan and it involved a hibachi dinner and a late over.

Cal wrote the invites in mid-November with her plan.  The girls would get off the bus, come over to play, go to dinner, and then come back to our house for cake and a movie.  We opted out of the sleep over because it usually doesn't involve much sleep.  However, once we did the math, John and I realized we'd have to entertain seven girls for 7 hours.  We also realized that Cal's first day of ski club was to begin the next morning at 9am.

But, a plan is a plan, so we went with it.  Five girls got off the bus at our house.  They snacked on fruit kebab's, went sledding, had cocoa and before we knew it, it was time to head to Koto.  On the way, the girls played Mad Libs in the car.  One of Cal's oldest friends, Thompson, met us at the restaurant.   

The girls were transfixed and had so much fun!

We headed home for cake and presents. I made a chocolate cake and John frosted it like a pro.

The girls were wonderful and the time flew by!  Cal had so much fun.

The good news about throwing the birthday party a week before Cal's actual b-day, is that we had more time to plan for our holiday guests and make fun classroom treats for her actual birthday. 

Just to get a sense of who our 9 year old has become, here is the letter she wrote to Santa this year: