Last week we celebrated Chiquita’s 11th birthday! I mentioned the other day that our schedule has been pretty full lately, but we still managed to squeeze in a fun day for the birthday girl! The girls watched Little House on the Prairie (our favorite Disney version) and played with paper dolls after finishing their schoolwork while I decorated the cake. They dressed up in their prairie dresses and bonnets and played outside. During the older kids’ golf practice, we drove to town for her free birthday drink (a huge strawberry smoothie!) and to pick up pizza for dinner. She couldn’t decide between a “Little House” or “Saint Kateri” themed birthday party this year, so we combined the two! Happy birthday, beautiful girl!
.: Paper Dolls :.
“Mary and Laura stayed close by the fire, sewing their nine-patch quilt blocks, or cutting paper dolls from scraps of wrapping paper, and hearing the wet sound of the rain.”
Haha! I spy two teens making fun of the paper dolls, putting baby Carrie’s head on Pa’s body…
.: St. Kateri’s Ice Cream Cone Teepees :.
These were so easy to make using sugar cones, pretzel sticks, melted chocolate, sprinkles and green coconut for grass. The kids had so much fun decorating the teepees.
I still have some cookie dough in the fridge for St. Kateri’s Indian Corn Cookies…
We ran out of time to make them on her birthday.
.: Animal Tracks :.
“And over these tracks were tracks of rabbits and tracks of birds, and wolves’ tracks. Pa read the tracks for Mary and Laura.”
I had so many games that I wanted to play (including kick the can and potato sack races!) but we ended up just having time for Animal Tracks Memory! I picked up Animal Tracks while we were in Yellowstone last summer and still had it tucked away in my closet. It was perfect for the “Little House on the Prairie” themed birthday!
Her older siblings turned on some fiddle tunes and set up the game in the shape of a little house!
“Outside, the night was large and full of stars. Pa sat for a long time in the doorway and played his fiddle and sang to Ma and Mary and Laura in the house and to the starry night outside.”
.: Wagon Wheels :.
“When the sun rose, they were driving on across the prairie. There was no road now. Pet and Patty waded through the grasses, and the wagon left behind it only the tracks of it’s wheels.”
In addition to her two favorite pizzas (Pepperoni/Olive and Hawaiian) I also picked up a “Cinnamon Wheel” from Papa Murphy’s! Mmmmmmm… Smelled so good!
.: Birthday Gifts :.
Reading the birthday card from her Grandpa and Grandma/Godparents… Miss them already!
Sean and I were both surprised at just how excited she was when she opened her first gift from us, Little House in Brookfield (The Caroline Years, Book 1). She has been wanting the rest of the Caroline, Charlotte, and Martha books for awhile now. I need to keep searching for the rest.
My parents gave her a fun Four Seasons Coloring Book.
When asked before her birthday, the only gift she requested was “a new paint by number!” I ended up choosing this Goldfinches kit for her to paint. It will look lovely in her bedroom with the Chickadees and Lilacs Painting her uncle gave her to paint.
The Puffin in Bloom Collection will be a great addition to her bookshelf, if we can make some room!
She also received a beautiful hand-painted Saint Kateri for her bedroom wall from Audrey Eclectic!
I loved her big eyes and grin after peeking inside the wrapping paper as she started to open the last gift. She is pretty excited about her new Bow & Arrow, even though she can only use it with her Dad’s supervision and help. The rest of the time it will be safely stored in it’s case.
.: Little House Birthday Cake :.
“There was no door and there were no windows. There was no floor except the ground and no roof except the canvas. But that house had good stout walls, and it would stay where it was. It was not like the wagon, that every morning went on to some other place.”
I didn’t have very much time to spend on the cake this year (inspired by this cake) and it didn’t turn out exactly as I pictured, but it was covered with the birthday girl’s favorite cookies and rock candy.
She LOVED her cake!
I served the cake with Rocky Road Ice Cream, recalling the rocky roads and trails traveled by the pioneers in their covered wagons.
“The whole top of the chimney was on fire. The sticks that made it were burning up. The fire was roaring in the wind and licking towards the helpless roof.” – Little House on the Prairie
Happy 11th Birthday!
The Cake looks Great!