Katherine turns 11!

Katherine had her birthday party on February 10 and was allowed to invite 10 friends! Amazingly, they were all able to come. 

She wanted to recreate a party that she had before and enjoyed. She likes familiar. Decorating cupcakes and a Valentine's theme again!

A little prep work on my part, but a pretty easy party overall.

The girls spent a good chunk of time decorating cupcakes.

They looked pretty and tasted good too, if I do say so myself.

The girls also had a nail polish station set up in the basement. They painted nails and then played games like hide and go seek. Kate and I agreed that they didn't really need me to organize games this time. She also didn't want to open presents in front of people, so we hadn't planned on it. They were still playing as parents arrived to pick them up.

I felt bad when parents had to stay at the end because the girls wanted to see Katherine open the gifts that they brought her. They were very generous and Katherine loved the presents. More though, she was glad to have friends over and to spend time with them. We want to have her friends over more frequently as she approaches middle school.

She had school on her actual birthday.

She let me come visit for lunch, but didn't want fast food or any special treats or cupcakes for her class. She really didn't want the extra attention in that way. I was both sad and proud that she didn't want anything special and wanted to pack her own lunch. I sure loved visiting with her!

That afternoon we had to wait until everyone was home to have a party.

She chose creamy Italian chicken and broccoli for dinner.

She loves chilling at home and watching tv.

In this case, she chose Dude Perfect.

She got some stickers that looked like her- vans and campers and outdoorsy things.

She also opened a new sweater and new math 24 cards with holes punched out and a ring to store them on so that they don't get lost.

Mark Rober shirt from Grandma was a hit!

And Stem kits for her to build and experiment with were exciting too. 

Brownies and ice cream for the win!

May all of your wishes come true, Sweet Girl! We love you so much!

And back to tv for a little bit before bedtime. (Note that she is resting with the new softball mitt that she got for her birthday, but Danny gave it to her a few days early because they went to play. )