celebrating

goin’ swimmin, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

This weekend we celebrated CatGirl’s birthday with a wild slumber party (lots of tween girls, their giggles, their voracious appetites and their cameraphones documenting everything). All in all, it was a great experience, and even GameBoy says he doesn’t mind that the midnight truth or dare game included an speed hug dare(!) with the (hawt) sleeping older brother.

I had a moment to reflect on how our family parties have changed in the past few years. It used to be that when a birthday rolled around we’d go to the party store to pick theme party goods, including paper plates, napkins, cups, candles, invitations, etc. This year CatGirl sent out email invites to her friends and they used our everyday washable cloth napkins and dishes for their snacks and meals. I popped their popcorn on the stovetop (yum), baked the cake myself (and frosted it with help and advice from the birthday girl). We did buy a few large pizzas, but in doing so we patronized a favorite local business. As party favors CatGirl assembled friendship bracelet kits in each of the attendees favorite colors–with embroidery floss recycled from grandma’s abundant stash.

Photo: A favorite of CatGirl from when she was a toddler. See how she’s holding up her index fingers? She’s showing her ‘sucking fingers,’ which were both named “Aubergina.” Yes, CatGirl is quite a character and we love her so.