Best. Birthday. Party. Ever.

"Hooping is magic...you just have to believe..."

That's what Jessie told the girls as they spun hoops 'round and 'round at Juliana's birthday party.

We discovered Jessie's talents back in the spring when we saw her perform in a local production.  She mesmerized both Juliana and I with her skills and Juliana pretty much decided then that she had to have Jessie teach her.  Lucky for us, I've got a bit of an 'in' since I know Jessie's mom so that's how the idea for her party was born.

Jessie arrived with an arm full of hoops, including a special one for the birthday girl to keep.  She danced for our group and we watched, a little in awe, while her hoops were spun, twirled, and tossed to the music.

And then she taught the girls.

First they learned the secrets to spinning the hoop around their waists.  Then they learned how to spin the hoop in one direction and their bodies in the other.

They spun the hoops around their arms and then passed the hoop to a partner - sometimes while tossing it in the air!

They jumped, they cartwheeled and, before I knew it, they were incorporating their own dance moves into what they had just learned.

I think that I spent the entire time with a big goofy smile on my face just watching them move - the confidence, the giggles, the run-away hoops, and the shocked laughs that came when a tricky move worked out for them.

Jessie inspired them to try things that they thought that they wouldn't be able to do.  She taught them that in order to succeed, they had to first make mistakes.  And she taught them to believe.  To believe in the hoops and to believe in themselves.

And before long, they were making magic.

Sheldon, who spent most of the afternoon using his scooter as a tracking dolly to videotape the fun, didn't forget to get in on the action.

After she left, Jessie let us hang on to the hoops so that the girls could play around with them again after the presents and craft.  We closed out the party with a little more hooping, some cake pops and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday".  

And so I've been driving around for the last two weeks with a van full of sparkly hula hoops.  I've felt like my van was full of good, happy karma.

Today we returned the hoops and all that's left in the back of my van are some grocery bins and a sleeping bag.

But Juliana has been using her hoop out on the front lawn insisting that she is going to keep practicing so that she can become as good at hooping as Jessie is.  She's already figured out that all she needs to do is to play the music and move with her hoop.

It seems as if some of that sparkly, happy karma will be sticking around after all.