I turned 10! Today I had my splatter paint party with my friends and then I had another birthday party with my family tonight!

He said

This week was on our radar for some time. Because Danielle is so organized, there wasn’t too much that had to be done this week to prepare. The party – a splatter paint party – had to be booked months in advance. The invitations were sent out, and all the responses were in—everyone that was invited was happily coming. The only things that really had to be done were some of the smaller things for the party like make the cake and get the decorations finalized. The hardest part really was for Emelia and that was to wait for the day to arrive.

Leading up to the party, on her actual birthday we – as we have in the past – opted to have a quiet dinner out at her choice of restaurant and with the promise that we could do what ever she wanted to after. The only stipulation that Danielle and I put on it is that it needs to be something we do just as the three of us. Since she enjoyed it so much last year, she opted again to go to Palasad for dinner and after dinner wanted to play laser tag. Luckily last year there was a Groupon deal for it, and as luck would have it, the same deal was around again this year.

But, before we got out to dinner there was the big gift Danielle and I splurged on this year for her. She has for about the last year wanted a jacket from ivivva. A couple of her friends at school have them and she wanted one too. Trouble is, as a company founded by Lululemon, unsurprisingly the jacket was not the cheapest. Emelia had asked for it for Christmas and we explained to her just how expensive it was and that meant it was not likely to happen, knowing full well that we would try and get it for her for her birthday. Thankfully one of the other managers at the store gets a special discount at Lululemon that translated into one that we could use under his friends & family. And, with the help of the store at Masonville after it seemed eminent that the specific colour of jacket that Emelia liked was not going to be in before the discount expired, we were able to order one in stock at their Burnaby store and have it shipped to us at the discount.

When Emelia woke up Thursday morning, she was greeted by ten inflated balloons, her birthday card, a present and her Mum & Dad there to sing Happy Birthday to her. Shortly after her grumbling about my smothering, tickling, and bad singing had subsided, she finally opened her present. She was very excited that the birthday card I found her actually came with dangly feather earrings. But the highlight of course was the jacket that she was surprised by and had apparently believe us that there wasn’t much of a chance of her getting.

As for the birthday party today… It was perfect. In years past, more often than not Emelia has gotten wrapped up in the over stimulation and sugar and had varying stages of meltdown that left us exhausted and frustrated – Danielle especially as she is the one who puts the most effort, care and love into the big day. Well, this year was a shining example of the best that Emelia can be. She was fair to her friends, made sure to thank them all for her gifts and their presence, and she just had fun—rolling with everything so fluidly. Start to finish it was a party we will remember for years to come.

The painting party was just so much fun. As someone who made a bit of a career in art and even went to university for it, I was so happy to see this party build around inspiration, creativity, and making a mess! They let the girls start by painting their own splatter creations first which got them all flowing to what the process would be like as well as got the inhibitions towards making a mess out of the way. And then once they were finished that, the moved on to the much larger canvas that all the girls would work together to splatter and create a one-of-a-kind artwork that Emelia could keep forever as a memento of the day. They offer for those that want to stretch and frame the canvas so it can be mounted and we certainly opted for that as Emelia already has a wall in her bedroom earmarked for it. Not a single girl seemed to be lacking for fun today — they were all smiling ear-to-ear, still laughing as they left the party when their parents came to collect them. And I had the opportunity to tell Emelia after how proud we were of her.

As if that wasn’t enough for Emelia today, as soon as her party was done and the girls were de-painted we took the twins back to their house as it was their younger sister’s birthday which Emelia was invited to. We went over visited for a bit and opened presents with Lydia before having to leave because it was on to our third party of the night: Another birthday gathering for Emelia but at my Mom & Dad’s with all the Teeters that were able to make it. Mom & Dad graciously took care of dinner for us so we could spend less time cooking and more time enjoying each other’s company. I got some good snuggle time with Zoe who has grown and developed so much in the last month especially. And there was just a lot of good laughter and happy moments all around. Emelia made out like a bandit, and through the love and graciousness of her uncles, aunts and cousins added the gifts from friends had enough gift cards to get the FitBit she has saving for. As well as a craft loom and some tile games from Poppa & Grandma that will help Emelia with her reading and spelling.

All in all I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday weekend for our baby girl that is rapidly transforming into a little woman in front of our eyes. And the best part it while we sit back quietly and marvel at how much she is coming out of her shell, and becoming a lot more like an outgoing smart-ass like her dad, we also see her developing into this caring, smart and fair person who we’re proud to call our daughter.

She said

What an incredible week! This week was all about Emelia. We had our normal week this week but there was so much more as well. As part of her birthday celebrations at school she was the star student of the week. What this meant was she was to create and present a presentation all about her and what she loved. Emelia worked so hard on her presentation and we received a message from her teacher that she did an amazing job and her presentation was one of the best she had seen this year. This made us so proud. Along with the presentation she was also to write a letter in a classroom book about herself with some special photos of her favourite memories. The final part of her week all about her was the request for a parent letter given to her that was read to the class by her teacher. Emelia was not happy about the idea of this letter being done, she was worried it would embarrass her, we promise we would do everything to speak from the heart and not to embarrass her in any way. She grumbled about bringing the letter in but did give it to her teacher and said she was happy we sent it and she loved the letter. That was the week all about her.

A week at school all about her and then moved into a weekend all about her. Saturday morning we had our normal swimming lessons to get to but as soon as we were done there we were off to finish everything we needed to take care of her party. I had 90% of everything done, we had gone Friday evening after gymnastics to get our last few things and groceries which put us in great shape for Saturday getting everything else done. We got her cake made and iced, packed all the items for the loot bags and basically assured that everything we wanted and needed were checked off her birthday to do list. Everything was done and we were in great shape not only for her party but also for Lydia’s (the twin’s little sister) party which was also Sunday.

Saturday flew by and before we knew it it was time to get Emelia to bed and crash for her parents too. We had a big day on Sunday to rest up for. Emelia gave us a bit of a sleep-in today but once we were all up we got going and ready for the day. Emelia was beyond excited and so were her friends. We drove Anna, Grace and Marin with us and the girls were all giggles the entire drive over to the art studio. We arrived and within minutes almost all her guests had arrived, the girls did some crafts while waiting for the last few guests to arrive. Once everyone was there the girls went in for the main event, the splatter painting! I was warned that the girls would get messy but man they weren’t kidding. It was a full room with paint all over the floor, walls and ceiling! They started out with the girls each getting their own paper and picking their favourite 4 colours each and going to town doing splatter painting. I think as much paint got on the kids as it did on the paper. The amount of happy screaming and giggling made every single penny that the party cost. I heard more than once ‘this is the best party ever’. It was a hit from start to finish for sure!

Once they finished their individual paintings we were on to the main event, the group painting gift for Emelia. In advance the studio, Emelia and I had discussed her favourite colours and they came up with an amazing combo of colours that are a perfect compliment for her newly decorated room. It was a perfect capture of her personality at this moment in her life. The end result was incredible. We paid to get it stretched and we can pick up this and the girls creations in a few weeks. All in all it was the best party yet for Emelia and she’s had some amazing ones in her life.

Once they finished the painting, the cake and opened presents it was time to say good-bye to her friends and say her thank-you’s before rushing back home to get the girls cleaned up for party number 2. I had warned Susan as to state of her daughter’s so we were ready with a change of clothes and a quick clean up at our place before heading over to the girls little sisters party. Lydia who has a birthday the day after Emelia’s makes for a very busy but fun-filled weekend. We typically have the girls party on the same weekend and often the same day. It makes for a busy but fun filled day. We played with the kids for just over an hour before leaving so they could have their family party for Lydia and we could head over to Helen and Doug’s place to celebrate Emelia’s birthday with the family.

As always with Teeter family gatherings there is lots of food, laughs and love. This was no different. We had a great meal thanks to Helen and Doug! We got to have lots of baby snuggles with Zoe and celebrate all that is our amazing little girl. As always Emelia was spoiled. She got a great loop crafting kit and learning game from her grandparents and very generous gift cards from her aunt, uncles and cousins. Between these and the cards she got from friends she has saved enough to get her much wanted fitbit!

We got home in time to let Emelia play with a bit of her new toys before getting a very happy and tired birthday girl to bed. It was an incredible week and weekend, I want to thank everyone who made this a birthday to remember and made our girl feel so incredibly loved and special. Happy double digit birthday my sweet baby, we love you very much.