Téa Turned 11!

I’m finally blogging about Téa’s big day last week and her awesome party.  I’m still in denial that she turned 11.  How can she be that old?  It doesn’t seem that long ago she was just a little ‘Squirt’ (which ended up being her nickname).  Here she is at age 3 and 7. 

And here she is on her 11th birthday.  So grown up.  And I love her personality.

Can’t start your ‘birthday’ morning off without present-opening.

All she wanted was a stuffed zebra, earrings and cross-word puzzle books.  She’s easy to please.  We did throw in a few surprises, though. 

Unfortunately, Téa had to go to school but I made it just a little sweeter by bringing donuts to share with her class.  Her class embarrassed her by singing Happy Birthday to her, which is a rite of passage thing in school, right?

Téa wanted crepes for dinner (which everyone loves) so we had a great meal and then topped it off with birthday ice cream (since this kid does NOT like cake). 

Sisters…

Téa loves, loves, loves Harry Potter.  She has known for a while that she wanted to have a Harry Potter themed party for her 11th birthday.  For those who don’t know, 11 is an important age for a wizard or witch.  It is the age when they receive their acceptance letter into Hogwarts.  I did a little research on Pinterest and found tons of party ideas.  I’m so not creative on my own, but with a little help I can get the juices flowing. 

Invitations for the party were sent via owl post.  Téa helped me write the letter.  We had fun making it sound like a Hogwarts acceptance letter.  I’m making sure I save all this stuff for when the other girls want HP parties.  I had to figure out how to free-hand the owl on the balloon.  I think they turned out pretty good.

 

Two nights before the party I was getting a little desperate for help.  Mark was kind enough to help paint some of the wands.  Such a handsome guy in a Lompoc Police Department apron.

As the guests arrived they had to go through Platform 9 3/4. 

Then it was off to Mr. Ollivander’s to choose a wand, or as the saying goes ‘the wand chooses the wizard’. 

I have to admit I had a lot of fun making these. 

Everyone practiced their first spells. 

After receiving their wands, all the girls were sorted into houses.  Téa didn’t want anyone thinking they were evil, so we left out Slytherin.  I handed out bandanas in the house colors after the sorting hat chose which house the guest was to be placed in.  Here’s Piper getting Hufflepuff.

Everyone headed to Hogsmeade next to visit Honeydukes Sweet Shop.  Probably the most popular event of the night.  I let the girls go wild on the candy.  I’m sure the parents didn’t appreciate that.  Oh well.  Not my problem. 

I borrowed all the decorations from Leslie.  I loved the floating candles.  Hard to see in the picture, but they looked cool. 

Professor Snape (aka Mark) helped a lot.  We were having Transfiguration class here.  The girls had to make an object out of play dough in a certain amount of time.  It turned out really fun. 

Professor Snape was in charge of Potions class outside.  Mark came up with showing the girls what happens when you combine a string of Mentos in a closed bottle of Diet Coke.  They loved it!  And they all got sprayed with Diet Coke. 

Then it was back inside to ‘visit’ Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor for ice cream sundaes.  Yes, I gave them all MORE sugar just before they went home.  I’m so awesome. 

I think they all had a great time.  I usually cringe at themed parties, especially the part where I have to plan one, but I ended up having a lot of fun coming up with ideas and it wasn’t as time-consuming as I thought it would be.  It helps that 11 year-old girls just want to sit and chat most of the time.

We are so lucky to have Téa in our family.  I love the woman she is shaping up to be.  She is a passionate kid who loves to read, read and read some more.  She is starting an obsession with soccer that I think is just in her blood.  She doesn’t really have a choice.  But there are worse things she could be obsessed with.  Téa genuinely cares for others and tries to accommodate everyone, but not at the expense of her beliefs.  She has such a strong moral compass. 

I’ve enjoyed watching her grow this past year.  She has learned so much in school, added more understanding of the gospel and listening to the spirit, and I’ve had the opportunity to watch her grow as a soccer player while I’ve been an assistant coach on her team. 

She is an incredible help to her family.  Téa has learned that offering to babysit her sisters brings her parents insurmountable joy (and a whole lot of extra cash in her pocket).  Her sisters look up to her (even though Calista wouldn’t admit to it) and she has a special talent dealing with Piper that I wish I possessed.  If we could just freeze time right now it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.  Pre-teen years have, so far, been pretty good.