Fourteen!

Can you believe it?  My little girl is fourteen!

Like many teenage girls, Alyssa loves clothes.  It's tradition for me to buy her a new outfit to wear to school on her birthday.  She is so easy to please and always loves whatever I choose for her.  

About a month before her birthday, she expressed a desire for a pair of Hunter boots--which are basically just designer rain boots.  Knowing Grandma Seely is the person to hit up for expensive wish list items, they started searching for the perfect pair together.  I knew she had settled on red boots, so I selected a birthday outfit that would coordinate.  The Nordstrom box containing the desired boots arrived a couple days before her birthday, but Lys waited until the night before to open them.  She is just like me and can't open presents early--even if she knows what is inside.

I hung her new outfit up in the bathroom and taped a "Happy Birthday" banner to the mirror.  When she came downstairs for breakfast, she was visibly pleased to be dressed her new birthday duds.  

I served her crepes with Nutella and strawberries and sent her out the door looking absolutely adorable.

After gymnastics, she opened some cards from her grandparents and a present from Jon and me--a darling Vera Bradley purse, perfect for holding all of that birthday cash.

While Jon and I were picking up Lys from gymnastics, Natalie was setting the table for Alyssa's birthday dinner.  She was so cute and thoughtful about the details.  She put together a little centerpiece, made a card, a pitcher of lemonade and set out some sides to go with the birthday girl's requested main dish: noodles and clam sauce.

Then she made a wish over fourteen homemade Oreo cookies.

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!  You're just like Mary Poppins--practically perfect in every way!