Avynlea turned 12! She has been so excited for this birthday and all that it entails, young women's, make-up, slumber party, so many fun things happening! I made Avynlea another onesie and I made it out of some really cute Beauty and the Beast material that I found at JoAnns. I let her open her pajamas on her birthday eve so that she could be wearing them when she woke up on her birthday. She loved them and she looks so cute!!
She got an email from our Dentist wishing her a Happy Birthday which was fun.
We thought it would be fun to have doughnuts for breakfast and I made Avy some funfetti doughnuts with a coconut flavored glaze. To keep it a little bit heathy I had everyone drink a yogurt smoothie.
It was Ward Temple night that night and Kefford really felt strong about us needing to be there to support our Ward. I felt bad about leaving Avy on her birthday but she was cool about it since we were doing her party the next night. We let her open some of her family gifts that morning before she left for school and she was excited about what she opened.
A Captain America A...
Cookie stamps, money and a fun game from Grandma Alison...
A cute sweater and a cover for her Kindle..
I got a text from the Beehives Advisor saying they wanted to come and decorate the front for Avy but wanted to do it as surprise. She told me the time they were coming and it was the time I needed to pick up Rylee from Honor Choir and so I made Avy come with me. Sneaky, Sneaky.
It was a fun surprise for Avynlea to come home and see the cute hearts everywhere. After taking a picture Avynlea collected all of ht hearts on sticks and brought them inside so they would not get ruined. We put them in a vase and put them on the table for cute birthday decor. They also left the cutest packet filled with everything she needs as a new Beehive... For the Strength of Youth pamplets, Personal Progress books, bookmark ribbon holders, a Young women's necklace, it was chock full and a lot of fun!
Avynlea requested Chinese for dinner so I made orange chicken and chicken fried rice.
Avynlea was especially excited to be able to start wearing make-up. I told her she had to keep it to just mascara for the time being and she was more them fine with that.
Friday night was Avynlea's big party. She wanted a sleepover and that is what she got. I do not let my kids have sleepovers until they are 12 and then only at our house, it is what it is. She invited 10 girls including Rylee, Roree could not come because she had other things going on and at the last minute Rose had to cancel because she got hit with the flu. Rose is Avynleas best friend and she was really sad that she was sick and could not come. They decided that Rose would have to come and sleep over another time when she was all better.
As the girls arrived we had pizza dough and all the toppings so they could make their own pizzas. While those were cooking they danced around and played some games.
Before the party Avynlea painted a wooden A teal and then we had a silver sharpee out for the girls to sign the A.
Dinner was delicious with homemade pizzas, salad, root beer and kool-aid for those not into soda (Avynlea :))
We wanted to do a craft and so we had the girls make their own lipgloss with vaseline, kool-aid and powdered sugar. They turned out pretty good except we needed a lot of sugar because the kool-aid was so sour and the colors were not vibrant like we hoped they would be.
Avynlea found really a really cute idea for her cupcakes on pinterest and they turned out pretty perfect! The nail polish were made from marshmallows. tootsie rolls and colored sugar. They were so cute!
Avynlea was really excited to open her presents and she got a lot of fun things. She also got a lot of gum, about 15 packs and they were all her favorite flavor except for 1! I asked Avynlea if she told them her favorite flavor and that he wanted gum ands said no, they all just had the same idea. It was pretty funny and Avy loves gum so she really scored! From me she got a Calico Critters hedgehog family and a Calico Critters car which she was super excited about. I also got her make-up brushes, mascara and face wash.
Grandma Bonnie sent Avynlea her favorite candy, snickers and sour gummies. In all the excitement of present opening Avynlea did not open any of her cards until the next day. When she finally opened her card from Grandma Bonnie she found $22 inside. My Mom always sends a birthday gift up until the sixth birthday after that the grandkids get money in the amount of a dollar per age. Avynlea got the $12 she was expecting but didn't;t know why there were an extra 2 $5 bills in their. I told her that he Grandma probably made a mistake and Avy said that we needed to let her know and that we would send it back. After talking to my Mom we found out it was needed a mistake but she said Avynlea could keep the extra money. Lucky Avy! We decided that Avynlea will have to bake my Mom some yummy treats when she comes to visit us next fall!
After presents and cake the girls changed into pajamas and did blind makeovers. I demonstrated on Rylee how to do them and Rylee and I were able to keep the make-up on each other pretty toned down. These girls went crazy with each others make-up and were all a hot mess by the time we were done. I was cracking up looking at their faces. I let them use my make-up brushes and when I used my blush brush the next day I got a big streak of brown instead of the pink I was expecting. I definitely needed to clean my brushes.
top row: Hope, Savannah, Makenzie, Paige and Emily
bottom row: Sadie, Rylee, Avynlea and Hallie
After the girls washed all the makeup off their faces they put on face masks and relaxed with cucumbers on their eyes.
After the masks were washed off we settled down in the bonus room to watch "Miracles From Heaven".
A couple of the girls were not able to spend the night so we took a picture of everyone before they had to leave.
top row: Sadie, Paige, Savannah, Avynlea, Hallie and Makenzie
bottom row: Hope, Rylee and Emily
By the time the movie was over it was time for me at least to get to bed. It was about 11:30 and I told the girls they needed to stay in the bonus room and not make too much noise. They were surprisingly well behaved and not once did I hear a peep out of them. Avynlea said they talked and watched brain games on netflix for a while before falling asleep. The next morning i found them awake and playing Mario Kart at about 8:30. I made chocolate chip pancakes and smoothies for breakfast and by 10:30 everyone had been picked up. The party went so much better then I was expected but I am glad I do not do parties every year, they are too stressful for me to plan and execute, not my thing. Avynlea had a great time and that is all that matters!
Avynlea's Favorites:
- Food: Orange Chicken
- Dessert: Cheese cake
- Candy: Sour Gummys and Snickers
- Color: Blue
- Book: Saddle Shoe Blues
- Movie: Beauty and the Beast
- TV Show: Liv and Maddie
- Radio Song: Stay Stay Stay by Taylor Swift
- Primary Song: Gethsemane
- Scripture Story: Moses Parting the Red sea
- Friend: Rose Hostetler, Paige Little, and Savanna Phillpot
- Thing to do: swim
- Place to be: Grandma's house
- Toy: Kindle
- Princess: Belle
5 Things I Love About Avynlea
- Avynlea is so helpful and is always willing to help me out when I need it. From helping in the kitchen to helping clean or put something away she is almost always a willing hand and I know I can count on her when I am in a pinch. She does a good job of keeping her room tidy and always makes her bed in the morning.
- This is her first year going gymnastics but she is already proving to be quite good at it. She works really hard in class and comes home tired but stronger because of how hard of a worker she is. The owner of the gym and the team coaches have all noticed Avynlea's skills and have mentioned numerous times about having her compete on team. I think Avy would love to compete but I love how understanding she is about not doing it because it takes so much money and time. Avy really wants to be a cheerleader in High School and is happy about being able to take gymnastics to learn skills that will help her be an awesome cheerleader.
- Avynlea set a goal to get her Faith in God award and worked really hard to get it done before she turned 12. On the Sunday after her birthday when she was graduating from Primary she was freaking out a little because she still had numbers 12 and 13 of her Articles of Faith to memorize before she could get her award. Our Ward does not meet until 1:00 and so as I was getting dinner prep done that morning I worked with her on those two Articles ofFaith and she was able to memorize them and earn her award. I am pretty proud of her for being willing to work hard to earn that award rather then just giving up when it got hard and seemingly impossible.
- Avy is happy and fun and full of joy and I love being around her. She has a funny wit and makes me laugh all the time. She is loving and kind and is a really good friend. I love her compassionate nature and her deep desires to do and be good. She loves the Gospel and has a testimony that the church is true.
- Avynlea is a natural beauty inside and out and her dimples always make me smile! I love Avynlea's beautiful brown eyes and they are even more enhanced with her mascara that she wears.