Alice Turns 17!!!

For Alice's 17th Birthday, we celebrated her with friends the weekend before her actual birthday.  The theme was "Alice's Favorite" things.  = )

Juliet made a strawberry shortcake bat dragon cupcake topper to enhance the table.

Emily made her main cake.

I only get to see Melony at Alice's birthday parties, since they are no longer in the same school, but I'm so glad they have stayed friends!  Aubrey and Alice have a class together this year, so she gets to see her frequently, and we run into her at school events too!

17, which means the countdown is officially on for her 18th birthday!!! = 0

I think she really enjoyed her day.  She handled all the decorations, from things that we had around the house.

Her actual birthday fell on the second day of school this year, so it was an early morning celebration!

Her siblings collected things for her this year too, so she had lots of very Alice gifts waiting for her!

Happiest of birthdays to my favorite Alice in the whole wide world.  I hope this next year is filled with all kinds of wonderful things and events!

later days

edit 8-30-26: backdated for continuity.

Shay Shay Shendig

Tabitha threw a birthday party for 'her dog,' but it was epic!  She did an awesome job of encouraging people to get up and walk around and interact with one another (which is no small feat!)

Emily, Grace, and Juliet all helped set up and run the little 'trading post' and ceramic painting stand.  Billy and I also got another use out of our German Oktoberfest costumes!

I didn't realize that you only had to find one of the melon "dragon eggs" so I found all three!

"Dramatic pose!" 

Happiest of birthdays Shay!

I guess I don't have terribly much to say about this party, we had a ton of fun!  Emily helped set up, then walked home, but the twins stayed for the duration.  Billy enjoyed the poker game towards the end, and we left just after sunset! I Hope Shay had a fun day, I know we did!  Tabitha threw a fantastic party!

later days

Emily's 15th Birthday Party!

Emily's birthday party was unintentionally late, but intentionally small.  March and April were so busy, that it wasn't until after Memorial Day that she could invite people to celebrate her latest birthday!  Sadly, that meant that people already had summer things planned, and of the four she invited, only Lydia could make it.  

Luckily, Emily has a whole slew of siblings who make everything feel like a party anyhow, so with the decorations and party food, it was a very festive day!

I sure enjoyed celebrating my Emily!

It was a much prettier day than it would have been in March!  I was happy to get to use my yard signs for a second time!

later days

edit 6-15-26: backdated for continuity.

Grace and Juliet's 12th Birthday Party

Just like Emily, Grace and Juliet had to wait until robotics season wrapped up before they could have their birthday party.  So, in early May, we planned their party, but Grace wanted to invite everyone she met this year, and Juliet wanted a sleepover.  

The compromise was that Grace could invite whoever she wanted, but only those that Juliet invited would spend the night.  Zoey was an exception, because she's been Grace's BFF forever, and 5 is an odd number.

 

The girls didn't seem to mind sitting on the floor at the coffee table from in front of the couch!

Grace and Juliet made their own cake, I have no memory of where I was, but they did a pretty good job!

We did order it cold this year, because we were unclear about Emily's tennis commitment that day, and if it had to sit for a long time, in the refrigerator seemed like the way to go.  So, when Billy got it home, I heated up half of it, and we ate on it for lunch. Then, after the day partiers left, I heated up round two for dinner!

They both seemed to really enjoy having their friends over, and no one ever complains about eating chick-fil-a!  Another big happy birthday to my all-time favorite twins!

later days

edit 6-15-26: backdated for continuity.

William's 13th Birthday

 As of November 11th, we now have three teenagers in the house!

The night before his birthday, we took one last picture of him as a twelve-year-old!

And, then just a few hours later, we all got up early (some of us twenty minutes, some of us hours) to sing happy birthday to our newest thirteen-year-old!

He was able to open most, if not all of his gifts before it was time to leave.

Juliet played him "happy birthday" on the clarinet.

He really liked the m&m dispenser.  We bought him a solid bag of green m&ms to fill it up.  He was super sweet and shared with everyone!

And, the long-awaited day, he finally got to ride up front!  Alice didn't even fight him, though she usually sits there.  It took some maneuvering, but we did get his trombone in a better configuration.

With all of the robotics events, we didn't plan a birthday party, but I reached out to two of his friend's moms and we were able to have a 'birthday outing' for him at fun city one Sunday.  We didn't rent a room, but did have cupcakes and snacks at a dedicated table!

It was wonderful for him to have Weston & Jacob in attendance, and I think everyone had a good time!

We sure do love our little growing boy!

later days

edit 12-3-25: backdated for continuity

Alice's 16th Birthday Party

Somehow, my little bitty baby Alice turns 16 this year!  She chose a Cold War theme for her party, and it was such a fun theme to collect for!

Her invitations came to me one day just a few weeks before the party, and I was able to cut up some file folders that I had already collected, and pump out her invitations in just a few hours!  Truth told, the USDSBPC* seal took as much time to create as the rest of the invitation!

Since her party took place later the same morning that Billy and I drove in from our 24 hour travel from Poland, Alice was in charge of placing most of her props around.  I thought she did an excellent job.  Avia stayed over to help too, and I was so thankful!

Alice even sorted the food by color on the table! Warm colors were on the Soviet side.

And most of the food went on the American side of the table.

A happy Birthday Girl!

Hanging out with her friends. = )

The party favor pins, as well as some of Alice's souvenirs from Berlin.

Time for Birthday Cake!

On my first publication, I totally forgot to include that Grace was in charge of making Alice's cake, and she did a great job!!!

Her friends got her some delightful and thoughtful gifts!

I want to give a shoutout to Kristy for her help in sourcing some of the decorations for the party!  She found these pots, which gave a nice 'empty' balance to the table! 

I think Alice had a lovely time, and we look forward to celebrating her one more time, for her official birthday, which also falls on the first day of school this year!

later days

 *United States Department of Sixteenth Birthday Party Celebrations

edit 8-17-25: backdated for continuity.

edit 8-21-25: edited to add content.