the birthday day.

What a wonderfully sweet twelfth birthday London Eli enjoyed.

And I am so tired, somehow.  Maybe because of the early rising to bake monkey bread and sausage per the birthday girl’s request.  And to bake that extra cake that just didn’t get baked earlier.  And to whip up the frosting.

It was both quietly satisfying to bake a cake before eight a.m. and highly unusual for me to be productive at that time of the morning.

But hey, it’s a birthday morning.  You gotta do what you gotta do.

We opened presents and enjoyed a lovely breakfast together as a family.

For a really long time London has been pondering what type of party she wanted this year.    The girl loves food, loves to cook, loves cooking shows.  Naturally a food-related birthday party has been on her mind.

Logistically speaking, lots of kids cooking in one small kitchen is not entirely convenient.

So we landed on a party that was more decorating contest than baking contest.

A group of her friends came over – all wearing their aprons – and the party began.

Ya’ll.

It was just the simplest and sweetest little gathering of kids.

Chef’s hats were worn.  A theme – story/character-related cake masterpieces – was given and a planning time was held – pencils and paper were involved.

It was the most fun just to watch these eleven kids chat, grin, share ideas, laugh and have a genuinely fun time crafting cake designs from fondant and a wild assortment of toppings.

I feel blessed and humbled that twelve looked like this.

It looked like honest fun, simple laughter, pure enjoyment.

The cake designs were so cute and clever – we had novels like Anne of Green Gables and Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings represented.

The judges were impartial and purposely did not watch the cakes’ creations happening so they would not know which young baker had crafted which particular cake.

In the end, a cat from the Warriors series took first place, with an Olaf and a hobbit hole coming in second and third.

This year London’s gifts shifted from kind of typical child gifts to what I would really call grown up gifts.  She received treasures such as her own paring knife and a whoopee pie making apparatus and fondant supplies.  You know – not toys.  It’s a bittersweet rite of passage, this birthday.

This birthday party was about as inexpensive as they come.  The toppings were a collection of items we mostly had in the pantry – chocolate chips, graham crackers, raisins, pretzels, Cheerios, coconut flakes, crisp rice cereal.  We tossed in fondant and lots of homemade buttercream frosting and stack of small cakes per decorator.

And I think the kids – and especially the birthday girl – were jolly well pleased with the entire experience.

(I know I was!)