So, about that 7-year old...

I decided to do a separate post to gush about what a good girl Jenalyn is.

She. Is. Amazing.

I didn't want that information to be put aside or skimmed over for the sake of looking at pictures of her super-fun party. She is sweet, tenderhearted, kind, grateful, loving, thoughtful, friendly, honest, responsible...and I could go on and on.

She tells me every day what a great mom I am. It doesn't matter if I'm having a grouchy day, or if I'm having a lazy-don't-want-to-move kind of day. (Trust me, I've had several loser-mom days during the last couple months of this pregnancy!) She always tells me I'm the best. And she never forgets me in her prayers. It makes me feel so loved.

When we were planning her party I told her she could only invite 8 friends. We have a small house, and not a huge budget. So she picked her 8 friends (and a handful of adults that she wanted to have here to help out *LOL*).

I told her before she went to church last Sunday, and again before she went to school on Monday, that she needed to be sensitive to those we were unable to invite. I explained that she probably shouldn't talk about her party because it might hurt other's feelings if they weren't invited. She understood and agreed.

Thursday, the day before her party, I picked her up from school and she asked me if we could invite A to her party. I explained that it was too late to invite more people, and then I got distracted with a conversation with Corbin. A few minutes later, she sniffled from the backseat and said, "Um, Mom, can I please tell you the whole story?" She then explained to me that her teacher mentioned in class that the next day would be Jenalyn's birthday and then Jenalyn accidentally let it slip about the party to A, who was sitting next to her. She said that A really really wanted to come to her party (by now Jenalyn is losing her battle against the tears, which breaks my heart) and she really didn't want to hurt A's feelings!

She is so sweet. She doesn't like making people feel bad.

I don't know if you noticed, but she only frosted half of her cake at the party. She did this because the frosting had milk in it and she wanted to be able to share her cake with Corbin. She is so very thoughtful.

She loves making people laugh! She's the life of the party. Her personality is larger than life! I caught a couple funny-face pictures of her at the party.
She thought it was hilarious that she was sitting on the couch with a cup full of frosting, eating from a plastic butter knife.

Showing off her muscles. She kept saying, "Look at these fat girls!" and then looked down at her muscles! *LOL* I have no idea where she got that from, but it made me laugh.

Anyway, if I were a 7-year old, I would totally want to be her friend. She is so much fun! I'm so happy to have her in my life! She makes life fun.

Jenalyn's birthday party.

Before I get too mushy-gushy over my sweet bug, I'll tell you about her birthday party. I fussed over what to do for the party for weeks! I couldn't think of anything (preggo-brain!). Finally, a week before her birthday I found an awesome blog post about a great party idea that seemed totally do-able. A CAKE PARTY! How fun!

I wanted to re-create every single little detail from that creative blog, and I had full intention of doing so, but my pregnancy discomforts limited my abilities. *sigh* But it was still a super fun party.

Here are pictures from the big party:
Each girl got her own cake to frost and decorate. I made EIGHT cakes (plus cupcakes) within 48 hours of this little party. Thank goodness for my KitchenAid mixer!

They got to take their cakes home to share with their families in their own, personalized cake box.

Here's the treat table. We had strawberry/marshmallow kabobs, oreos, cupcakes, and strawberry/kiwi juice with frozen strawberries for ice cubes.

Jenalyn's completed cake :) And her BFF from school. She and Sydney were in the same class in Kindergarten, but they have different teachers this year. They still eat breakfast together every morning and play together at recess.

This is Jenalyn and her BFF from preschool - I'm so glad we've managed to stay in touch over the past two years. They are still great friends, even though they go to different schools.

This is Jenalyn's BFF from church. She got to play with Katie a lot over the summer and she tells me all the time how much she loves her.

Jenalyn loves all of her friends so much. When I asked what her favorite part of her party was, she said "Having all my friends over at my house!" I wish I had gotten individual pictures of her with each of her guests!

Acknowledgments: This party wouldn't have been possible without the following people's help and support:

• Jason - He funded the party, did some of the shopping, and helped clean the house. Besides all that, he expressed many times how much he admired and appreciated all the work I was putting into this party to make it wonderful for our daughter;
• Venessa - She let us borrow her table and, as always, stepped right in and did what needed to be done to help with the party. Aside from all the help she gave me, my kids just love having Auntie Vee around! Just her mere presence left us full of gratitude (James too!)
• LeaAnne - She also let us borrow a table for the cake decorating. And she was willing and ready to help with whatever needed to be done. Plus, she gave me much-needed moral support thru the preceding week, "You can do it, Cari!" "It will be great!" That helped me keep on keepin' on.
  
• Aunt Dale - What an answer to my prayers! She showed up unexpectedly around 4:00 and I still had *somuch* to get done before the party at 6:00. Dale assembled the kabobs, divvied up the frosting cups, put together the cake boxes, and swept my floors!!! I am so grateful!