Gretchen Turns 12

Over the weekend, we celebrated Gretchen's 12th birthday!

After lots of discussion, we opted to have a small friend's party at our house. Thankfully, middle school doesn't have rules about sending invitations to school, so Gretchen invited 12 of her closest friends. 

Her entire party was planned around the cake she chose. She picked out a cake with black, white, gold, and pink, so we went to Party City, and picked out lots of fun stuff! Oh, and we added in a few pops of teal, because it's one of her favorite colors.

 

We set the table with wrapping paper, which I prefer to table cloths, and set up a candy "bar"... we had macaroons, bubble gum, sixlets, jelly beans, and rock suckers. Since I had to buy flowers for her cake, we used the remainder as a centerpiece for the table, and I was able to set out lots of crystal serving pieces. 

Lots of streamers and some balloons served as the backdrop for her party. 

Her cake was gorgeous! I let her flip through the bakery's photos and she saw a black and white striped cake and asked the baker to recreate it- with roses on top. 

Cake perfection. 

And one more, because I can't get enough of this. 

Gretchen also wanted all of her friends to make bath salts, so we set up a little bath salt station for them. 

I can't explain how proud I am of this girl! She is blossoming into a gorgeous young lady and is so incredibly smart and kind, and man, does this girl stand up for what she believes in. 

She's looking so grown up. Sigh. 

Also, she asked to wear make up since she's 12 now, so there's that. I totally regret telling her that she can start wearing makeup at age 12. 

Just a momma and a birthday girl. I'm sure by the time she turns 13, she'll be as tall as me. 

Lots and lots of friends... and one little sister. 

Other than bath salts, we didn't have any activities planned- I figured the girls would really just want to play, and they seemed pretty happy with that! 

Sweet girls :) 

We had pizza for dinner, lots of candy, and then Gretchen opened presents before we served cake. 

Gretchen got lots of books for her birthday! She also got a few gift cards, book marks, a new cell phone case and pop socket, a Harry Potter blanket, and a few other gifts from her friends. 

After presents, it was cake time! 

Around 8 pm, all of her guests went home, and as usual, I took a "night before your birthday" picture.... so, this is her last picture as an 11 year old. 

Oh, and just one more with a tired momma. 

For Gretchen's birthday, she asked for a girl's day out. Sunday afternoon, we went to the bookstore so Gretchen could spend her gift cards. 

Deciding on books is hard. 

She ended up choosing 5! 

After picking out a few books, we went to Old Navy, and then to a park to play, because her sisters were with us :) 

We dropped her sisters off at home, and then went to get mani/pedis. 

Nails done.  

After our nail appointment, we went to eat dinner as a family. She ordered a chocolate bomb for dessert, and wouldn't share, but said it was delicious! 

We had so much fun celebrating this girl all weekend! 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!! I was so thankful for a short week, and I'm so looking forward to this weekend! We have lots of celebrating on the agenda, because Gretchen turns 12 on Sunday!!! 

I mean, it was yesterday when she looked like this

and now she's a pre-teen and I just can't handle it. 

In true Friday Fashion, I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci and sharing my Friday Favorites. 

Megan received a kiwi crate membership for Christmas and she and Gretchen finally put the first box together on Sunday. Addy and I had a birthday party to go to, so it was perfect that the big girls could stay home and work together on the box without Addy getting in the way. 

A clean kitchen is my favorite. If you missed it, I shared our New Year re-fresh to our dining and living room here. 

And this diffuser blend was giving me all the feels over the weekend. 

The girls were out of school on Monday for MLK day, and it took me right back to when we visited the Lorraine Motel this summer where he was shot and killed. The hotel still looks exactly the same, and I honestly had no words for all of my feelings while we were there, and I still don't. 

I guess now, I just want to teach my girls to love everybody for who they are, and I pray to Jesus that they're kind. 

The little girls had friends over on Monday morning, and after they cleaned up from their play date we settled in to watch My Girl 2. We watched My Girl (on Netflix) Saturday night and after it was over, they all wanted to know what happened next, so we rented My Girl 2 on apple TV, and they were much happier with that ending than the first. 

(Warning- if you watch My Girl 2, it does talk about sex in the beginning of the movie, and of course, I had forgotten about that. )

Monday night, we prepped for back to school, and this girl did her reading. 

Tuesday afternoon, Adalyn had a playdate, so Megan and I had about an hour home together and we loved having the 1:1 time, which is so rare with us. I love this girls heart and spirit. 

And I caught Addy in the act at gymnastics this week- look at that handstand on the beam! 

Wednesday after school, the little girls and I went to get our nails done. Addy picked a sparkly purple and Megan picked silver sparkles. I went with a neutral gray-ish/purple color. 

When DJ came home Wednesday night, he surprised us with our favorite cookies. 

Young Living announced FREE shipping on their Premium Starter Kits which of course, was a favorite announcement!!! You can grab your starter kit here and get free shipping, and then et a welcome gift back from me! 

And, they released new vitality drops to flavor water. We tried them out last night, and yum- they were delicious! 

Alright, I'm off to clean house and get ready for a party this weekend with lots of celebrating! 

Home Refresh

I'm not sure about you, but after the holiday decorations came down, I'm ready for a clean slate. I like to pack away the clutter and frills and get back to basics. 

This year was just like the others, and we took down the Christmas decorations as soon as we got back from the Alamo Bowl, and I spent two days getting our house put back together. 

In our dining room, I switched the table around, it ran the length of the room and now it runs the width, and I'm so happy with it.

My table runner is hearth and hand (similar here). The dough bowl was my grandmother's (but, I found a similar one here), and I have faux pears inside. Our salt & pepper shakes are also from hearth and hand. 

My grandmother's old sewing stand is our little sideboard. I have an antique pitcher with eucalyptus stems. (which was my grandmother's), a small vase, a picture of the girls and I baking during Thanksgiving one year, a cute little wood house, and a candlestick. 

After I finished in the dining room, I freshened up our living room too. 

Our table has a little Bible verse sign, and underneath, I did a tray filled with lemon accessories that were my grandmother's, a few bowls, another photo, and an oil diffuser.

I thought I'd share my little tiered tray too :) This tray just makes me happy. I bought it from Magnolia in Waco several years ago, and it's still one of my favorite things. In keeping with the "crisp" feeling for the New Year, I placed lots of neutral accessories on it. 

And finally, I changed around our entry way. The secretary use to be under the signs, but I shifted it to the wall, and hung up hooks to hang coats or bags on. We also have a place for all of our shoes to go- mostly because our floors show all the dirt and dust! 

Sigh. A fresh crisp start in January just makes me so happy. 

Do you declutter your home in the New Year? Do you love having a fresh slate in your home?

Alamo Bowl.... The Game

DJ informed me last week that I never blogged about the Alamo game after I blogged about our bowl trip. #whoops

So, I'm back today and sharing about the actual game- you know, the reason we were there. 

We rode the buses from the hotel with the team, so we arrived about two hours early. Once inside, we found DJ and he came up to join us for a family picture. We had somehow gone the entire football season without getting a family picture, so we had to make up for it. 

And then just one of he and I. 

The girls had fun playing with friends and in the stands while we waited for the game to start. 

DJ's mom, aunt, nephew, and sister in law all came in for the game. We were so excited they made the trip! 

In true Adalyn fashion, she was there for it. 

This girl loves Texas football. 

We were just a few rows behind Bevo. 

And most of the action during the game was right on our endzone, which made our seats perfect. 

After 4 quarters, we headed on to the field for the victory celebration, but before greeting DJ, we had to greet Bevo. 

And finally, the clock ran down, and we were able to run on the field for big hugs and celebrations! 

This is always my favorite part of the game.

Champions. 

At the end of the game, we had the trophy presentation and MVP awards presented. 

And then it rained confetti and balloons on us. 

At this point, my heart always goes out to the losing team, because we've been there too, and even when victory is so sweet, it's also so bittersweet, because you know the heartbreak the other team is experiencing, and in that moment, you know how bad it sucks. 

This girl was determined to bring home all the balloons. 

Instead, we opted for some super cute photos. 

And of course, a photo laying in all of the confetti. 

We eventually made our way off the field, but Addy spotted a megaphone, so we sneaked in one last picture. 

Once we made it back to our hotel, we had strawberries and a note congratulating us on the win. DJ and I immediately devoured these! 

It was New Year's Eve, but we decided not to venture out, so we rang in the New Year in our hotel room with family. 

It was a pretty fun kick off to 2020.