Ailsa somehow turned nine

So, Ailsa turned nine two weeks ago. We celebrated, but--

Vaughn turned ten in January, and it's not on the blog. Oh, and Tamsin turned six in November.

I have been remiss. But I have now retro-posted both of these important days. Go ahead and check them out.

Good? Now, back to:

Girl child turns nine

Ailsa the amazing, the indomitable, the awesome, the inspirational... she is as much a force to be reckoned with now as she was for her first few months.

There is far less screaming and crying now, but the lung strength she built up with countless hours of baby rage has served her well. She, too, is a total bookworm, and does very, very well in school in both languages. She sings and dances, excels in everything athletic, and is loud and brave and fierce and funny. She is usually kind but is always getting in trouble/getting hurt for things that she thought would be funny or cool.

We were "unfortunately" in Malaga (post coming soon!) on her actual birthday, so the poor thing had to spend her special day with monkeys in Gibraltar.

She made the best of it.

AND a frozen pizza party with cake and presents.

For her proper party -- at which she actually wore a dress -- she asked for a pizza/movie party with a few friends at home.

On request, Chris crafted himself out and produced a watermelon pig fruit bowl.

Once the fruit's all gone, it can be used by Saskatchewan fans!

I made two hedgehogs: one for olives, and one for cocktail sausages. (Ailsa had found a cool party planning book for sale at the library for £1. Now, that's $1.70 well spent.)

Fact: food tastes better when eaten off hedgehogs.

And a dragon cake, which, for my first attempt with fondant, was a complete success.

We spent an hour or so making crafts: pen holders with paper and glue and a fancy pen topper with FIMO. While those dried/cooled, the girls watched a dragon movie (during which I sat in the kitchen and ate chocolate). Pizza and cake, and hometime for the guests!