Cooking Party!

Jesikah wanted to have a cooking party because she loves to cook!  She is a great party planner, so she figured out what cake she wanted, what was on the menu, what games she wanted to play, and what the take-home gift would be.  Then she made a list for me of all that I needed to buy... :)  I think it turned out very well.

One of my biggest jobs was to make the cake.  I like to make cakes for my kid's birthdays, so she picked what she wanted out of a recipe book and I made it.  It was a definite winner for many reasons.  (1) Jesikah loved it! (2) it was pretty fast and easy (3) it didn't require a lot of ingredients, (4) the frosting was very creamy and spreadable, and last but not least (5) it tasted good!  I'll definitely be making this one again.  Eric had the idea of putting the raspberries around the top as I was making it, and I think it was a great idea. 

When they first got there, each person got a white apron to design how they wanted with fabric markers and stencils.  They didn't even use the stencils much because they were very creative on their own.  Then, each person got to make their own personal lasagna.  On the menu was also garlic bread and raspberry sodas.  While the lasagna cooked, they made fruit and veggie people and animals and snacked too.  A game they enjoyed was "Guess that Liquid".  I had samples of lots of different liquids with numbers on the bottom and they partnered up and one partner would close their eyes while the other partner presented them with a liquid to drink.  Then they had to guess what it was they were drinking.  Some of the liquids were yummy like soda or fruit juice while some were not so good like vinegar or lemon juice.  It was pretty funny to watch.

The cake:

Kissing the cake

 

Making Aprons:

Making fruit and veggie people, etc:

Some wanted shishkabobs

 

Dog in grass by Isley (who wouldn't let me get her picture)

Side view of dog

Opening gifts: (as always, Jesikah's friends know her well)

She got lots of books, earrings, makeup items, and other things and she loved them all!

Finishing their dinner and cutting the cake:

You can see Jesikahs' raspberry soda...I was so mad that I forgot to get straws!

Garrett with his piece of cake...it was strawberry cake

Their take home gift:  it had gummy hamburgers, pizzas, hot dogs, sodas, etc as well as a set of measuring cups or measuring spoons and a spatula or serving spoon.

Jesikah's 12th Birthday

We let Jesikah open a couple of presents before school on her birthday. The gifts both had clothes in them, so she got some options of what to wear to school. She appreciates getting clothes much more now that she pays half of all her clothes. She really liked them...some of those were ones we hid away while we were school shopping that she wanted but couldn't afford.  We didn't get pictures of the first gifts, but she is wearing one of the outfits in her pictures below.  We let her open the rest of her presents when she got home from school so she'd have the rest of the evening to enjoy them.

Here she is after school getting ready to open her presents.  The flowers in the background are my anniversary flowers from the day before.

A shot of the family

\

First present is from Jarem...he picked it out and paid for it

Hugs

Fluffy stuff and a paint by number dolphin picture

Eric is trying to conjure up "real" smiles

The Harry Potter Wii game years 1-4 (Jesikah loves Harry Potter)

A few make-up items in a cute little case.  At 12, we told her she could start to wear a little make-up but not enough to be noticable.  She's done a good job.

Alex giving his typical mischevious look

More clothes

Another cute shirt...one of Eric and my favorites

A 1-oz silver coin

A close-up...as you can see, it says Happy Birthday.  Jesikah is collecting these type of coins.  She and Tessa both got a tooth fairy one recently too.

She also got a fun food set from American Girl and some favorite littlest pet shops.

We didn't do much more celebrating this day because Eric and I headed to Nashville to celebrate our anniversary (another post).  However, her birthday party was the following day, so she really got 3 days of birthday fun!