The joy-baby turns 11

Tomorrow is a special day at our house: my baby girl turns 11. Last weekend she had a Frozen-themed party with her little friends and my house was FULL to the brim with princesses! I'm afraid the bar is set ridiculously high for Frozen parties these days, but ours was cheap and fun and handmade, and we did it together. The girls were as happy as Olaf, and I made it through all five hours of an endlessly looping soundtrack. I'd call that a success.

Our house is very compact, so I moved the furniture and took everything all this wall to make a little vignette. My goal is always to buy as little actual pricey character merchandise as possible, but still carry off the theme. I had tulle and tall vases and white peacock feathers from my wedding decoration stash, and together with dollar-store "icicles" and 10-packs of plastic snowflake ornaments plus a banner from the Celebrations Basics kit, it all came together. It's not easy to transform a fully-decorated-for-fall, crimson and taupe room into a princess party, let me tell you : )

We watched the movie, of course... and sang along....loudly and with great drama, naturally...and then we did an Anna/Elsa necklace craft with the All Is Calm snowflake embellishments from Stampin' Up (see the matching All is Calm punch art invitations here). I made little jewlery boxes from leftover embellishment containers with Silver Glimmer Paper, Basic Rhinestones and a big Vintage Faceted Glass Button hot-glued on for the handle.

Several of Natalie's best girlfriends are homeschooled, and one switched schools last year, so they were all tickled pink to be together. None of them are in her actual grade, so they don't get to hang out much.

We were very blessed by a wonderful gift of gorgeous hard-icing snowflakes made by my fellow crafty decorating friend Ann Bolton. She'd been wanting to learn the technique and was happy for an excuse. They were just perfect on our cupcakes! I'm thankful Natalie was happy with cupcakes--cakes are so stressful to me. All your eggs in one basket, so to speak. God bless whomever invented cupcakes! And Natalie refused to consider other party foods besides pizza. So that made my life tons easier.

It snowed that morning, too, first snow of the season here in Wisconsin. So take THAT, super-mom Pinterest-loving over-achievers!! Beat those decorations.

And of course, no party is complete without goofy group pictures on the staircase... I took a ton, but this is the one that really made me giggle. Love these girls.

And here's the best one from when we were ATTEMPTING to be serious...

Pretty sweet, eh? Blessed to have had the privilege of mothering this adorable, smarty-pants, musical, wildly-creative girl. I miss the baby sometimes, with the rose petal cheeks and the wisps of curl, but I love each new stage for totally different reasons now. I can't wait to see the woman she will become.

Father, from Whom all blessings flow, my heart is full. You are the only One in the whole universe Who loves my daughter more than I do. Thank you for the precious gift of girl You knew and loved before she was formed. Guide her steps aright. Lead her in the way everlasting. Empower her father and I with wisdom from on high as we raise her to love You.

Happy birthday, baby!

Comments

[Kristine John]

And now I'm crying…such a beautiful summation of the day…and you captured so many precious moments in the pictures. The decorations are beautifully simple and yet still convey the feeling of ice and snow so well. But your prayer at the end, THAT, that is what makes me cry. For you to verbalize the prayer of your heart, that so closely echoes the prayer of my heart in regards to my children…THANK YOU. <3

[Jayne Behringer]

what fun! but, I too, was taken by your wonderful prayer at the end. Thank you for the reminder that He loves them more than we ever could.

[Faith Gaspar]

Oh Lyssa, What Wonderful pictures of a Beautiful Birthday Party!! Everything just Looks so Inviting and the looks of the girls faces say it was a huge success, and that is what matters... Beautiful Prayer of a Mom's Heart... My daughter is 30 now, it's hard to even say those words... every time we pass the children section at Holidays and look at all the dresses, we both laugh 'cause I "always" say... I want to buy that for you... (always a child size)and my daughter would just look at me with knowing eyes... "I know you do Mama"... She is such a Beautiful Soul and knows her Mama Loves Her... Wishing you all the Lovely Moments that comes with raising our daughters...

[Vicki]

Not being blessed with a daughter...I just loved seeing these gorgeous fun photos. And I like the movie Frozen - even if I did have to watch it by myself! LOL. Like Kristine above. your final words just brought tears to my eyes and hence the reason for the comment. Thank you for sharing such heartfelt words and such a lovely day for you all.

[Ruth Bingle]

Wow Lyssa! What a great mom! good job! and what fun and what memories. Good for you.. it all goes by so so fast.
And those cupcakes! Beautiful! Hooray for good friends!
Thanks for sharing!