I am officially the mom of a teenager! It seems crazy. Time flies. Cherish each moment. It seems like just yesterday she was a baby. Yada yada. You’ve heard it all before. Let’s get down to the important stuff… How did we celebrate???
Well my kid is lucky enough to have her birthday fall on a 3-day weekend, plus there’s the whole Valentines Day factor, so she’s had many a heart themed birthday and extra time to party. This year she had her annual TLC sleep over on Friday night. Smart Jr went to daycare when she was little, back when I was a H.S. math teacher, and she had four good friends. Well the five girls still get together at least 5 times a year and have a sleepover for each of their birthdays. They call themselves the TLC girls because of the day care they attended. Friday night was pretty low-key. They made ice cream sundaes and slept in the basement. They used to sleep in the family room, but since I tore out the carpet and put down ceramic tile in its place, that room doesn’t have the same sleepover appeal it once had. An added bonus if you ask me! I can barely hear them from my comfy bed if they are in the basement. With the door closed. 
Valentine’s Day consisted of hubby going to a cheerleading competition with Lulu at the University of Delaware. We live in NJ. They got picked up at 6:30am! While I had to get up and do her hair and makeup I was happy to go back to sleep. I was also able to squeeze in some time to take Smart Jr. shoe shopping. She got slide-on Converse. 
Today was church followed by a stop at Lowe’s to buy a new USB outlet for Smart Jr’s room. 
We already have 3 of these in the family room and they are working out great. It’s hard enough to find a cord to charge my phone, but forget trying to find a cube. We have 2 of these right behind the couch and another one installed in the new built-in bookshelves. 
Anyway, Smart Jr has to charge her iPhone and her school-issued iPad Air every night and it gets to be a hot mess of charging right when you walk in her room. I know you feel so sorry for her! I joked about getting her a USB outlet in her Christmas stocking, but it never happened. So I was determined to make it happen on her 13th birthday. Every teenager’s dream. Lowe’s was not cooperating with my plan though, as our Lowe’s wasn’t stocking them anymore. Sheesh. We drove to another Lowe’s (local peeps – Maple Shade has plenty) which just so happens to be right next to Smart Jr’s favorite consignment store. So we hit up Plato’s Closet for her birthday too. Yes, she is definitely my daughter. Her idea of shopping for her birthday is to hit the consignment stores. She got a cute pair of Abercrombie jeans and then it was off to lacrosse practice. Smart Guy installed the USB outlet while she was at practice. 
Speaking of LAX, did you ever see this post from LAX camp? And what was I doing while she was at practice?? I made a rainbow cake. It was my first attempt. We just bought the Wilton Rainbow Cake pan set today at AC Moore. And even though it says “Easy Layers”, it wasn’t exactly.
The little ones helped me mix food coloring into the white cake batter.
The pans are very small, which made it hard to stack the cake when it was time to ice it.
And after they were finished baking they looked like this. 
It worked out well enough though and looking at it now, the inside looked pretty good, it was the outside that was lacking. All the girls care about was that it was very tasty!
You might as well Pin It now and save it for your next birthday party. 😉
The LAX girls also like a nice chocolate fountain, so I set that up too. But once it stopped working and there was still a ton of chocolate left, I decided to get crafty. Lulu made me buy Banana Dippers at BJ’s the other day. She loved them. And yes I know I should make them myself. Well now I have. Done.
But before I head to bed I have one last little thing to take care of… The hallway has been bothering me because the jackets and backpacks get so bulky. (Read about my board and batten install HERE and HERE.) So while I was at Lowe’s picking up the USB outlet, I picked up 2 more hooks. These will be for the bookbags. I installed them while the girls were partying it up in the basement. Ahh. It’s the little things.
Goodnight! Be sure to check out my other food posts!
Please wish her a Happy Birthday! I may need to get one of those usb outlets and I love Platos Closet! 🙂