Samantha is 11!

No matter how much I bribe them, my kids don't seem interested in staying little. Therefore, we had to celebrate Samantha's 11th birthday. (Oh, it kills me to say that. How did she get to be 11 so fast?!)

She was up bright and early, begging to open a present or two before school.

Look at that face. This is a girl who loves her birthday. She plans her cake at least a year in advance, keeps a running list of possible birthday presents and generally knows within a few days how much longer until her next birthday. (I don't feel the same way about my own birthday and my kids can't believe that I actually lose track of how old I am. I wonder at what age that shift occurs?)

Oh, phew! We gave in and let her open something in the morning.

I have to say the cake wasn't much trouble for me or the cake boss this year, although there were some very specific requirements and expectations. (Two full pages to be precise.)

She wanted a cake covered with Harry Potter candy. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't have a mother who is on top of it enough to plan ahead to find the actual Harry Potter candies she had in mind, in a timely manner, so we had to make a few substitutions. I did my best to find something close to levitating sherbet balls, droobles, chocolate frogs and string mints.

When it came time to make her cake, she got tired of waiting for Shawn and I to make it, so she finally made it herself. (That was a good deal on our part.)

I had just finished frosting it when she got home from school and she decided she wanted to decorate it herself, too. (Maybe all of that "Cake Boss" and "Next Great Baker" watching is paying off. - She loves those shows!)

So, here is the final product - birthday cake by Samantha:

Just so you know, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are absolutely disgusting. (At least the flavors that aren't just your average jelly bean flavors. Dirt really does taste like dirt, and there are much worse flavors than that.) My girls thought it was hilarious to watch me trying the various flavors. Really, they were laughing hysterically at my faces. YUCK!

Then of course, it was on to more celebrating by opening the rest of her presents.

She was very excited to get a few things to add to her Harry Potter arsenal.

And she has happily been creating all sorts of things with her rolls of colored and patterned duct tape as well.

All decked out in her Gryffindor paraphernalia.

And finally, blowing out the candles and eating cake and ice cream!

Happy Birthday Samantha. We love you and are so proud of the young lady that you are becoming. You are becoming so responsible and helpful, and as always, you keep us on our toes and laughing all the time.