Forgiven and Saved: A time to party...

In Ecclesiastes, we are taught there is a time for every season in life. October 15th, it was a time to party in our family. We gathered friends together for a crafty birthday party to celebrate our 9 year old angel. Claudia was beyond excited and just could not wait for everyone to finally arrive and get started. We actually began the fun on Friday evening when we met Paul, Amy, Isabella, and Hayden for dinner in Auburn. We had not seen each other since the end of July when they moved from our circle. I cannot believe neither Amy nor I took any pictures. That is very unlike us. We had dinner at Olive Garden and it was so fun. Our boys were LOUD, our girls could barely eat for catching up, and the adults were equally as happy to have some time together. Izzy came home with us for the night and I could barely get any work done because I just wanted to be with the girls getting to catch up with Izzy. They were a huge help on Saturday getting everything ready and they were very anxious. So without further ado...

Claudia's Zebra Party

I was so happy with how all of the details came together. Claudia loved it all and it brought me so much joy to make her happy. Thankfully, my sweet Amy drove all the way back on Saturday morning to be my right-hand-woman. What in the world would I have done without her? I shudder to imagine. She was busy from the moment she arrived and worked so hard to make it all perfect for Claudia. She also served as my photographer, one of her many talents...

I ordered this banner for Claudia from this seller on ETSY and I was delighted with how it turned out. The quality was great. I decided to do her name instead of Happy Birthday since it matches her bedroom. It now hangs above the headboard in her room and looks perfect there as well.

Just cannot believe my little girl is already 9 years old.

Cooper and his big sister. He got to have a friend come to the party so we hardly saw him at all. They stayed in the gym side of the FLC and played ball all day.

Just a few of the details...

I had a near disaster with the cupcake toppers and I was very distressed. I did not have a cake so without the cute toppers, it was just cupcakes and that was not what I wanted at all. My order was confused, not fulfilled, and we ended up having to email them to Office Max for printing the night before the party. Thanks again to Amy, she got the toppers all cut out and put in the cupcakes. The cute toppers in the jumbo cupcakes were perfect and everyone loved them! I loved the ease of doing cupcakes instead of having a cake to cut.

Shelley and her girls also came early to help. Izzy was very excited to see them as well.

I miss this friend so much. I am so thankful for a day to spend with her...also thankful she doesn't mind driving all the way here to have me work her like crazy all day. What a friend...

The dining area...

The name tags were such a simple detail but one of my favorite things we did.

As much trouble as these toppers were, I loved the finished product. Thanks to Kelly, I had this pretty pewter stand to display the goodies.

The gift table was adorned with a lamp from Claudia's room and looked so cute.

We made these bags for the girls to take their crafts home. The little sign says "You were the perfect accessory to my party. Thanks for coming. Love, Claudia"

We tried to plan our crafts around girly accessories. We started with this lapel flower pin. They turned out so cute. The girls had pre cut flowers and we taught them how to fold them and glue in a pattern to make the flower. They could alternate the pink and zebra fabrics. They all seemed to love making these.

We also made coffee filter flowers. These were not really an accessory but just something fun. Claudia and Cooper had made these when we went to the McWane Center over Labor Day weekend so she wanted to include them in the crafts. They were messy and I was very thankful for Chad and Shelley...you will see why a little later...

The girls stood watch at the door waiting for everyone to arrive.

3 Generations of girls...MawMaw, Me, and Claudia

My sweet boy who keeps me hopping all the time...

The girls are anxious to get going with the crafts...

Here are just a few of the moms in the picture with me. What in the world would I have done without the moms? They all worked just as hard as I did to get the crafts done and help the girls. Boy am I thankful for such sweet friends for both me and Claudia.

Now that is one great daddy right there...he has no idea how to make these bracelets but that is Chad, he is always willing to try and help if he can.

See why I appreciate these two...they were covered in marker and it did not wash off very easily.

These girls are all in 3rd grade together.

The crafts all complete and drying while we eat.

I don't have a picture but in this one you can see the hair streamers we also made out of pink and zebra ribbons. I have loved seeing the girls wear them to school since the party.

Claire coordinated her outfit to match the theme and was so cute.

Here are all the girls.
Back Row: Katlyn, Hallie, Gracie, Claudia, Jameria, Alayna Grace, Isabella, Kaylor
Front Row: Mary Madyson, Maibyn, Rachel, Tori, Emily, Claire, Grace, Abbie

Claudia did not want us to sing to her and she got very embarrassed. Bless her heart, she is not crazy about being the center of attention.

I love this look on her face...

Precious friends together again...just not long enough...

Claudia is blessed with a sweet group of friends. I am thankful she has such kind girls surrounding her as she grows into the person God wants her to be.

When most f the guests had left, Amy and the girls had some fun with the camera.

A collage of Claudia and each of the girls.

We had a wonderful day to celebrate our sweet 9 year old. She has always brought us so much joy. Celebrating her birth is special for her daddy and I because we treasure the day God blessed our lives with this princess. We do not look forward to the years passing so quickly (as they have proven they will do) and our little girl growing up. I love seeing her experience new things but I also wish I could pause time for a while and keep her little. After her party was complete and the Family Life Center was cleaned and back to normal, the four of us hit the road to see a precious angel who was just a few hours old. As I wrote about here, Lily Kate blessed our world while we were busy with our girl's party. We missed being there with Amy and Ryan and could not wait to get to the hospital.

We always let the kids open their birthday presents the night before their birthday. After gymnastics and soccer, Claudia could not wait to open her gifts.

Cooper was super excited to give Claudia her surprises.

We celebrated with her classmates on her birthday. Chad was off so he was able to come party with us. Claudia happily passed out cupcakes and other goodies to her friends. All I could think was how this is the last year I can do a school party for her. It made me sad...

She stood shyly as they sang to her. Sweet girl of ours...

Claudia and Mrs. Head

Love this picture with Rachel in the background.

That night we had dinner at Claudia's favorite place...Mexican. She has always called it "rice & beans" and it has always been her favorite place. One of her surprises was this matching outfit for her American Girl, Kit. They dressed alike and Kit joined us for dinner. Juna, Grandaddy, MawMaw, and Sister also came bearing gifts.

That afternoon I texted Amy and told her what we were doing. I told them we'd love for them to come if they were feeling adventurous with their brand new 4 day old baby. Never dreamed they would come but we were all delighted when they walked in the door. Gracie was glued to Claudia the entire time.

Lily Kate slept through the whole time and she was just precious. This was the first time Chad had gotten to hold the sweet girl. He was in heaven sitting with this sweetie.