Sophie Turns Eight

Prepare yourself for more photos in a single post than you have ever seen before.  Consider yourself warned.  Hahaha. 

Sophie turned 8 on Saturday, and celebrated her birthday with flair for the entire day.  I made her waffles for breakfast, helped her wash and curl her hair, and put the rest of my party people to work while I dashed off to a baby shower {or a baby bath, as Alex called it} first thing that morning.  While I was gone, Scott took Alex and Jane to the store to pick out their present for Sophie, and then returned to the store a second time, after committing the rookie mistake of getting the two little ones a treat without thinking about the three older ones who would throw a fit upon finding out.  You'd think this was his first time to the rodeo.  Hahahaha.  I kid, I kid.  Scott is the best.  He humors all of us on an hourly basis, and we would all fall to pieces without him.  :)

 

 

 She didn't want to sleep in the curlers -- they hurt her head and I can't blame her -- so I washed her hair the morning of, and dried it most of the way before wrapping it up in her curlers for the day.  I think she's REALLY loving the fact that her hair is almost to her derriere.  Hahaha.

 

By the time I got back, Grace had gotten all the presents wrapped, and from 12-2 (during the final sweep of preparation before the party started), Ethan went to town on the party decorations.  He Google-searched balloon and streamer ideas, and enlisted Scott's help in both of the above.  With the presents and decorations under control, I got to work making the requested Rice Krispie treat cake in the shape of a heart, along with pink frosting for both the cake AND the vegan sugar cookies that a friend so kindly made for me the day before.  For the record, I have to say that these were the best-tasting effort at dairy-free, egg-free sugar cookies with buttercream frosting that we've ever accomplished!

Once the guests began arriving at 2, we were ready to get the party started!  Sophie invited 3 friends from school, and while waiting for everyone to get here, we went with our now standard "banner decorating" for the opening activity.  :) 

 {It wasn't until I heard one of Sophie's friends asking her if THAT was how she spelled her name, that I realized I had forgotten the "H" in my haste to get the banner drawn out before the party.  Hahaha.}

 {So there is a purple "H" hastily scribbled in place.  :)  }

From there, we migrated over to the Dining Room where the cookies were waiting to be frosted and sprinkled, and after indulging in a few, the girls moved on to the Family Room, where Ethan was waiting to put on a Magic Show.  Grace was his lovely assistant, and it seemed to capture everyone's attention remarkably well, but I did hear some grumbling from Ethan afterwards that one of Sophie's friends kept spoiling all the tricks because her older sister is in Magic Club, too, and therefore had been told all the secrets.  Haha.  Poor little magician.   

{For both the cookie and the frosting, I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks.  For the buttercream frosting recipe, I substituted vanilla soy milk for the coconut milk because Sophie is allergic to coconut, too.  The cookie recipe was doubled to make enough for the party, and there was MORE than enough frosting for both the cake and the cookies.}

 

 Behind the Scenes.  :)

 Scott was getting quite the kick out of the Magic Show, too.

"I'm not into magic tricks.  I'm into superheroes.  And cake."  -- is what this face is thinking.  Hahaha.

Once the show was over, Sophie enthusiastically opened all her presents before we transferred BACK to the Dining Room to sing Happy Birthday and cut into her cake.  The last 20 or 30 minutes of the party were spent on the Wii with Sophie's birthday gift of "Just Dance 2015" providing one last bit of entertainment before the girls' parents started to arrive.

Sophie had a lot of fun and everything turned out really great!  All in all, though, birthday parties are a rather exhausting affair, and I'm kind of glad we only do family parties most of the time.  :)  Here's to hoping that Ethan's 12 birthday this summer will really be as simple as having a pizza party at the pool!  Hahahaha. 

Happy Birthday to Sophie!!!