I totally remember being seven. Six is still a bit hazey, my entire twenties are a complete blur, but seven – crystal clear. And here’s my little crystal child, with freshly lost front teeth, stretching out into a graceful , shape shifting faced, thoughtful, smart, hilarious little girl entering into this year of many never to forget golden moments.
This has also been the first time Edie has been pretty particular about birthday party details. Many pictures drawn of how she was hoping things would be; all the friends she wanted to invite, the birthday crown in specific colours and even a to scale replication of her pink birthday cake; including interior shots. Done! With help from my infamous baker friend Peggy I concocted a super clean pink icing.In the food processor I blended:
1 can of coconut milk
1 tbls coconut powder
¼ cup honey
2 tbls beet root powder
Then I slowly drizzled in one cup of melted coconut oil and 2 tbsp of lemon juice. I stored it in an airtight container overnight and iced the cake right before the guests arrived. It was amazing; like pink, unrefined sugar heaven! Only one sweet little girl didn’t care for it much; she whispers her unfinished piece of cake apologetically to me “I don’t care much for coconut”. Cute! But if you care for such things as coconuts you'll love this recipe!
For the party favours we got caught up in a bit of a crafty roll. First I made Edie her birthday crown to spec and then thought it would be fun as an icebreaker to have her guests go on a treasure hunt leading them to monogramed crowns. Then, in their loot bag, a teeny weeny bunting was waiting to be hung on their bedroom wall so that Edie will be the last thing they think of before they fall asleep and the first thing they think of as they wake (I call this subliminal friend marketing).
Edie was so thrilled to help me make these. She picked out the fabric from my scrap collection and cut them out into little triangles which I then stitched right sides together, leaving one side open, turned right side out, top stitched and attached in to prefolded bias tape in no time at all.
And then came the request. I usually do a puppet show for Edie’s birthday of how she came over the rainbow bridge (complete with a puppet of Craig with the cargo pants and goatee he was sporting when Edie was sliding down said bridge) but this year she was hinting for a bit more of an elaborate production. I had to call in a professional.
This lovely lady runs a Waldorf homeschool enrichment program in town. She is magic and I notice lately I’m smitten by women with accents; Goddess Leonie, Dottie Angel, my Simplicity Parenting Training coach, Patsy from Ab Fab. Isn't that odd (imagine me saying that in the British accent I’ve been working)?
So there you have Edie’s birthday in a rainbow silk wrapped nutshell. And this is just the beginning of the birthday celebration season for us. This Sunday’s it’s Kale’s (Valentine Day kids!), then Craig’s two weeks after, then Sweet Baby Jesus’s and then finally mine in January. Then I can kick back and resume my sitting on the couch consuming bon bons position once again!
