And together we learn

Hazel's party, OR, the importance of having sisters

My sweet Hazel turned 7 last week. Seven!!! It seems like such a great big grown up number. This is one fabulous kid, people. She's so loving with her baby brother, she is responsible, compassionate, hard working, and just fun to be around. Oh, she has her moments, and she does those moments better than most anyone I know. But overall, this is one amazing little girl.



To honor the milestone of being on the planet for seven years, she chose a cooking themed party. Each of the little guests got to roll out their own pizza dough (I quintupled a dough recipe!!), then add their own toppings. Let me tell you, you haven't seen chaos until you've watched 13 small people with dough and rolling pins in their hands!

We made each of them sweet little aprons, and for the life of me I can't understand why there are no pictures of them. Drea, you got any??

Parties like this are really only attempted if there are sisters present, or if those aren't available, very long-suffering friends. I was so completely fortunate to have FIVE sisters and sisters-in-law there!! This was a complete collective effort. From cake and home decorating to crowd control and clean-up, they were there for every stage.

Andrea is the mastermind behind the operation. She provides inspiration, is an endless source of creativity, is always game for an impromptu trip to the craft store or Target, and dang, she makes amazing cakes!

Fondant olives! Can you believe that?? She grated fondant for the cheese!

Steph decorated the house, and is a master hand with crepe paper.


Emily, Catherine and Tasha provided desperately needed party time support and are all around amazing.

For party favors, we gave them the aprons and this little set of wooden utensils. I love Ikea. We did a obstacle course/relay game where they had relay spoons full of rice to fill up a glass, then we played Pin the Meatball on the Spaghetti. Big hits, both of them.


About a half hour in, we noticed that the token boy child of the party was missing. I placed a nervous call to his mother, because really, how do you say to your neighbor that you've just misplaced their child during a party? There's no good way to say that. Fortunately, he was there. He came over, gave us the present, rolled out his pizza then walked home and announced to his mother that the party was over. Kind of an odd child, in general. She sent him home and I assured him that there was actual fun in store for him.

We decided that it actually would have been a great concept--collect presents, force them to cook for us, then pack 'em on home while we enjoy the pizzas they've slaved over and eat the cake ourselves!

Overall, it was an amazingly fun little party. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

posted by Becca at 8:48 PM