Lily's Birthday

While we were at Rob and Ang's house in NC over Labor Day weekend, Lily looked over the cake books Ang has and decided on a castle cake. From there I told her to draw the cover for her invitations, something that could appeal to the boys she would be inviting, also. She drew a princess, knight, dragon and castle. Aunt Angela provided the wording for the inside, and when we passed out a copy to each child at the end of school on Tues, you wouldn't believe the response! They were all so excited, not particularly about being invited to the party itself, but to receive this awesome card! The next morning when we walked into the class many parents stopped us along the way to mention their child was excited about the party and about receiving the invitation. But the best was as I was leaving the classroom a little girl walked in still holding her invitation, and when I gave her mom a questioning look and she said "She wouldn't put it down all night, and she had to hold it all the way to school!"

As I tucked Lily into bed the night before her birthday she informed me that she would not be waking up until breakfast was ready, that she would be sleeping in until then. How could I not bring her breakfast up on a tray, knowing she thinks it must be such a treat, since Mom and Dad get breakfast that way for their special days. And she didn't fail to notice that I let her use my favorite crystal goblet :)


Although many of her friends would be walking home with us for the party within minutes, we still let Lily share little brownies and juice with her classmates while they sang Happy Birthday to her.

The party went as well as can be expected with boys being invited :) One in particular really couldn't keep away from the sandbox, the swingset, and the scooters, especially not to do party crafts and party games. We tried to let them have plenty of "free play" time, but at one point after he'd left in the middle of Prince, Princess, Dragon (Duck, Duck, Goose) and took half the kids with him, Lily came up to me and said "It seems like my friends just wanted to come over for a playdate and not a birthday party." I felt badly for her and told her we'd let them play a few more minutes then I'd be better at enforcing participation. Which worked better, especially when I told Tom how Lil felt. They did all seem to enjoy themselves, including Lily. Lily was a most gracious hostess, and Tyra was a huge help running things, running to fetch things, etc. By 5:30 all the kids were gone and we relaxed for an hour or so before having Lil choose a Chinese Buffet for dinner.

So Lillian Regina Severina Draper is now 6, and able to do new things every day. It was a pleasure to see her with her friends, as they so clearly took to her sweet, obliging ways.