Ava Kate is Eleven!

I've taken a different approach to birthdays as the kids have gotten older.  When they were little, I could completely control and plan exactly how there birthday would go.  But now, they have opinions, strong opinions.  It is just easier to let them tell me how they'd like to celebrate their birthday and just go with that.  Ava is the only one that I have to reign in at this point.  She plans it down to the tiniest detail and it's exhausting and no fun!  So, I let her have some say and I take care of other details so there is at least a little surprise involved!  She plans her birthday exactly 365 days in advance.  You heard that right.  She starts planning on next birthday on the day of her birthday.  Either way, she turned 11 and loved how her day went down...and why not?  It was EXACTLY how she wanted it! LOL

Since her birthday was on a Wednesday this year, her and I did a special pre-birthday thing to celebrate.  This of course was her idea.  She wanted a manicure.  She'd never had one before.

She picked a purple gel nail polish that changed colors with heat/cold.  It was pretty cool.  At the typing of this blog, the nail color made it exactly six days before she peeled it all off.  I informed her that that would be the LAST time I paid for her to have a manicure.

After the manicure, we headed to Chic Fil A, her choice, for dinner and a coffee shake.

Then she wanted to go shopping at Target, Old Navy, Bath and Body and Michaels....and so we did.  Then we came home and showed the family all of her new treasures.  She was on cloud nine.

On her actual birthday Shawn and I brought her Panda Express for lunch at school.  Again, her choice.

After school, FINALLY it was time to open gifts.  She could barely contain herself!!!

The thing she wanted more than anything else was a pocketknife.  She got her 1st official pocket knife in cheetah print....and a box of bandaids to go with it.  Let's hope that's all she needs....hasn't cut herself yet.  

Then she wanted to go eat sushi for her birthday dinner.  She picked Beluga to eat at and for the second year in a row, hated her restaurant choice, after getting her food.  Last year it was Chuy's and she hated it too, even though she picked it.  Good times.

 Then we headed to church and after church, invited any random people who were still at church after it was over, to come to the back and enjoy some icecream together in honor of her.  She prefers icecream over cake so that's what she got!

It is both exhausting and awesome that she plans every detail of her birthdays!  Either way, we survived another birthday and our middle child, is moving quickly away from childhood!!!  Yikes!!!