Family Friday {Belle's 8th Birthday}

On the 15th of this month we rounded out our birthday marathon with the celebration of our beautiful Belle's 8th year. We abandoned the traditional m&m pancakes in favor of strawberry smoothies and number 8 donut kabobs.



On tradition we did stick to was unwrapping presents after breakfast. From Mommy & Daddy Belle received a clay model kit, Harry Potter book, and her first jcrew necklace, which has been deemed the most gorgeous piece of jewelry ever (second to mommy's engagement ring--ha).

The boys each purchased and selected a gift for their big sis. Hair bows from Little M and a new puzzle from Peanut.



After gifts, Belle and I sat down a crafted quite the menagerie of clay critters. If you are looking for a fabulous gift for the 8+ crowd I can not say enough good things about this air dry clay set that I scored for $10 at Costco!

Our third and final, birthday trip to Busy Bee produced a birthday cake of royal proportions for our little princess. This cake is a throwback to years ago and exactly why we love this bakery that hasn't changed a smidgen since it first opened many moons ago.  



While the Boys napped, Hubby, Belle & I enjoyed a quite lunch together of her selection: Panera Mac'n Cheese. We reminisced about the days when we were just a little family of 3 while making a few more clay creations.

Finally 3:30 rolled around and Belle, Peanut & I were off to the clay studio to meet up with her besties for a party pottery session. The most patient sculptor, Mr. Jerry gave the littles a tour of the studio before instructing them on the basics of working with clay. For the next 2 hours, the studio was a buzz with giggles, grins and goofballs as these budding artists created and underglazed mugs, bowls, animals and ornaments of all shapes and sizes.

Afterwards we loaded up the littles and returned home for a pizza party and free play. Belle selected the party decorations and we went with a loose theme of pink, purple & teal.



The table runners are geometric wrapping paper from the dollar section at target. For centerpieces I split a bouquet of pink, purple & white blooms from Trader Joe's into three vases and adorned each with a Happy Birthday pennant. Atop the pink plates (which alternated light and dark pink) was a glittered mini clothespin which held a handwritten place card. Lastly, glass jars with blue polka dotted straws and pink flags rounded out the placesetting.

At the dessert buffet, along with cake guests enjoyed kettle corn, Busy Bees famous sprinkle cookies in Belle's favorite shades of yellow & pink, macaroons, and an ice cream sundae station. The Happy Birthday sign again came from lovely Tarjay!
 

We managed to wrangle up all the party guests to sing Happy Birthday and the shot below is the only "family" shot we got as these little girls were off and running most of the night. 

After a few of Belle's guests departed, things slowed down a bit and we all settled in the family room to watch Belle's 8 year photo slideshow (one of the littles' favorite parts of their birthdays is watching photos of themselves over the past year set to music...this year Belle's song was Let It Go from Frozen) and opening gifts.

Thanks Bestie B for grabbing this quick shot of me with my baby girl

A special thanks to Big YiaYia & Big Papou, YiaYia Terry & Papou Yianni, YiaYia & Bopi  & Besties H & B for joining us during all the craziness.

Happiest of Birthdays to our darling Belle...my first baby, our only princess and truly an amazing young lady. We are so incredibly proud of you and are full of excitement for all the wonderful things life has in store for you!

And with that we close the chapter on our littles' birthday celebrations for 2014!