We have a teenager....!

Claire is officially a teenager! Yesterday she turned 13 and I cannot believe how fast the years have gone. She had told us she didn't want to have a party or do anything for her birthday this year. We gave her the option to redo her bedroom and make it more teen-friendly and she jumped on that idea. Claire and her dad repainted, hung rope lighting, and moved furniture around. All we have left to do is pick out some decorations for the walls. The night before her big day, she said "you got me a cake at least, right?". We lead her to believe we had not and told her she can get dessert when we go out to dinner.

She woke to her favorite donuts with one candle in and she said "well, I guess this is my cake". Off to keyboarding class she went (the only time she has ever been in school for her birthday).

Little did she know, I was busy at home decorating for her when she returned!

I also had a big cookie cake waiting for her arrival!

The look on her face when she walked in from school was priceless! She was completely surprised and very grateful for the effort!

Leave it to Claire to turn around the numbers and show me 31 instead of 13 and enjoy the horrific look on my face!

Claire chose to go to Olive Garden for her birthday. I convinced her to wear contacts and put on a little mascara...I tried my best to convince her to wear her beautiful hair down, but lost that battle. It is tough to wear thick hair down when it is 103 degrees outside! She looks so grown up!

Claire wasted no time digging into the salad and breadsticks and ordered spaghetti for dinner (of which she hardly ate because she had 4 big plates of salad!)

When we got home, she was showered with many phone calls from family and dear friends who took their time out of the day to make Claire feel special...thank you all!

Claire got a new stopwatch from the Fink family!

She got some clothing for camp and was very excited about that, along with some new crocs since her feet are growing, and the second half of a book series she is enjoying right now. She also got some money to use toward school clothes for the fall. We finished the day with some cookie cake and looking at her baby book, reliving some of the early years! Claire grew 3.25 inches in the past year and we expect even more growth this coming year! Pretty soon I will be looking up to her! She was very happy with how the day turned out and was super sweet and grateful. I love this young lady's big, kind heart and pray we stay close in the years to come! God sure has blessed us with one amazing daughter!