The (Pink) Elephant In The Room

I've always let my kids pick their birthday party themes.  I make a homemade cake because I think it's more personal and it's WAY cheaper.  But they get to pick the theme for it and the plates/cups/napkins.  This year, I think Sophia just tried to pick the most abstract theme possible.  Elephants.  Just elephants.  Um, okay, really?  Yep.  She never wavered.  So, elephants it was. 

As I started looking online for elephant plates/cups I found that most of them are either A) circus themed or B) for babies/toddlers, not an 8 year-old.  Finally I found some pink elephant party gear that is meant for baby showers.  Looking closely, some of the plates and cups didn't actually say baby shower on them so I bought those.  Then I just made the cake look like the plates.  Turned out pretty well I think.  But I had to make it out of 2 9x13 cakes.  I really need to invest in a good sheet cake pan! 

The plates.

The elephant.

The cake.

The spread.

Sophia's birthday was on a Thursday this year which meant we had Bible study and t-ball already on schedule.  So we ate some pizza, had a small store-bought cake and opened a few presents. 

The girl now has every single "Magic Tree House" book published and has only a couple left to finish reading.  We're going to have to find another similar series soon. 

On Friday she got to pick where we went out to eat and of course we ended up at Red Robin.  By the end of the night she had convinced us we needed to go to Orange Leaf as well.  Then Saturday rolled around and we had her actual family party.  The girl got pretty lucky with a 3 day birthday celebration.  We learned our lesson last year and have so far avoided the repeat slumber party. 

It's hard to believe she's 8.  I can still picture her as a newborn. 

Trying to roll over and crawl for the first time...

stand...

take those first few steps and first words...

Taking her to preschool for the first time...

and then kindergarten..

 Watching her learn to read, play ball, swim, make friends, and find a love for exploring, hiking and all types of animals.  Some days it seems as if it's gone by incredibly fast.  Other times it seems like a lifetime ago that we had just one little baby girl.  Now, she's 8!

We're incredibly blessed to have Sophia in our family!  Pink elephants and all!