Middlest is thirteen!

For Middlest's 13th birthday, she wanted a Cowfeathers Birthday. Hers is the ideal birthday time of year to have a gathering here, the weather is beautiful, the flowers are in bloom, and we aren't plying guests whose families heat their homes with sweaters to supplement their inadequate wardrobe choice. Likewise the breeze is blowing and no one notices we don't air condition either. Middlest decided to put her friend, Emma, to work as "Maven of Jewels" for the party. Emma has her own business making and selling jewelry- Emma's Elegance- and she has a sensational selection of baubles to make into adornment. So, she asked if Emma would bring her big bin of beads and allow each guest to create their own accessory.
Emma obliged, toting in a wonderful assortment of colorful, textural, interesting and individual doodads, perfect for getting the creative juices a- flowing. The girls all snacked on candy necklaces while they pawed through the bead bin, pulling out what struck their fancy.

The Birthday Girl gets help from Emma clasping on her jewelry creation.

The guests in their new creations.

After beading, they adjourned to the picnic table for Middlest's menu choices; fruit salad, watermelon, Cheez-its and Chex mix. Pink lemonade with rose petals for drinks.

Her birthday cake was strawberry cake with buttercream frosting, decorated with candy made into a necklace on the top, and candy swagging on the sides.

  After cake, they presents were revealed, and then on to the favorite party game of all three of my kids; Candy Stop. This is a game that mostly involves acquiring candy. This makes my children all very happy. Other children, perhaps those who actually are used to having candy, and not willing to suffer the anticipation of getting yelled at enmasse, don't enjoy the game quite as much. See, in Candy Stop, you put an assortment of candies out on the table, not touching, and the person who is "it" leaves the room so they can't see. The next person in the circle points to one piece of candy on the table. This is the "STOP" candy. All the guests, except the one who is "it" now know which piece is the "STOP" piece. The person who is "it" comes back, opens their bag, and starts choosing, one candy piece at a time. When they touch the "STOP" piece, all the guests yell "STOP!!!" really loudly. Causing the "it" person to pull their hand back from the offending piece like it is a hot coal and jump backwards in fright. Knowing that when you touch one piece of candy, a wall of sound will hit you making your heart shrink is enough to make some kids really slow choosers. Their hand hovers over the table, wanting badly not to choose the one piece guaranteed to make the candy a little less sweet. Others choose rapidly, wanting to get it over. Some choose the kind of candy they don't like first, figuring it less likely to betray them. This is a game we played at every party I had growing up too. It fits in with the family philosophy. Candy is okay, as long as it comes with a healthy dose of psychological warfare.

 Also in attendance for the party were:

The bad dog, who ate the first cake.

Middlest's flock of birds, social and wanting to share in the celebration. (And any wayward scraps of chex mix or watermelon rind.)

And a shaved cat.