Cat Turned 14!

Cat had a great birthday.  As she was going to bed that night she was thrilled with the day she'd had.  We started with a few presents, raspberry rolls from Shirley's, and watching "My Fair Lady" with Grammy.  (Also, there were several neighbor kids hanging out with us while their mom was busy having a baby.  But that didn't bother Cat at all.)

Then later in the afternoon Grammy took Cat shopping at one of her favorite stores and out for ice cream.

They were gone just long enough for me to tell the younger kids that we were about to pull off a surprise party and to get everything set up.  We got the house cleaned up and decorated a little more (Cat had actually put up several decorations the night before, just because) and set out the food.  Cat's friends arrived right on time, and Grammy brought Cat to the house exactly when she was supposed to, after being forced to come up with several delays in order to get the timing just right.  It worked out great!  Even though Cat had requested a surprise party and I knew she was suspected she would get one, we managed to pull it off anyway.  (She was expecting the surprise to happen later, when she thought she'd be hanging out at her friend Janie's house.)  Janie had been a huge help in getting friends to come, even though lots of Cat's friends were out of town on summer trips with their families.

The teenagers had a lot of fun just eating dinner, hanging out and talking, then we watched the original "Men in Black" movie and they had some time to play a few games before parents came to pick them up.  The two gals we were taking home also did sparklers with us before we headed out.

I love that Cat's two big birthday gifts were a Hydro Flask water bottle and a Book of Mormon study guide she's been wanting.  That's just who she is.  But I think she was the most excited about a gift that didn't cost any money: I finally let her have her own Instagram account.  She has several parameters she'll have to operate within, combined with the general understanding that I can revoke the account at any time and for any reason, but it was a win for her nonetheless.  And the timing was perfect since she quickly connected with her friends on IG and they gave her some sweet birthday shoutouts.  So far, she's been responsible with the account and kept to her promise to not post too often and to always run her posts by me before she publishes them.  And the posts have been very honest and sweet and uplifting.  I sure love this girl.