Family birthday dinner.
A with some of the boys eating hamburgers and hot dogs.

Then cake and ice cream.

Our girls with all their 1st cousins...yes, all boys. We have 5 nephews.
Lots of wildness when this bunch gets together.

And finally...PRESENTS!

First Spend the Night Party

Last Friday, A had 3 friends come over for her first spend the night party.
They had a blast and I have to say it was a lot of fun.
We started off with dinner and cake and ice cream.

Then the girls decorated a tote bag.
I have to say that they turned out really cute and the girls were so creative.
They got to take these home Saturday morning filled with candy.

Next, the girls entertained M and I with some singing and dancing (Daddy and R
had to go to softball practice for a bit). This part I videoed and will enjoy laughing at
it for years to come. Then we put colored stripes in the girl's hair. They loved this and thought
they were so cool. Even M kept saying "My turn". We put a little pink in her hair too.
Don't worry it washed out very easily.

They finished the night watching HSM3, a gift from her friend R. A was the last one asleep around midnight. Not to bad if you ask me.
Saturday morning they ate waffles and then headed outside to play some kickball before everyone went home.

I think they had a great time. I know that I had fun watching these wonderful girls.

EIGHT is GREAT!!!

A is 8 today!
My how time flies!
We can hardly believe that she is 8. She keeps telling us that she is now halfway to getting a
driver's license. UGH! I hope these next 8 years go by slower.

A, we are so proud of you and the young lady that you are becoming.
Gone are the days of babyness, toddlerhood and "little" girl.
Now, you want to hang out with the grown ups a bit more, and
you do not like for me to show you much affection in public. (This is not fun for Mommy)
However, you do love to snuggle at night every once in a while.
You LOVE reading, softball, playing outside and riding your bike.
You are a perfectionist and like to have things where you like them (you get that from your Mommy). You don't care if your room is clean, but you could spend hours putting your hair up in the perfect ponytail.
You are a great big sister and you love to get a rise out of R and M.
You have taught and are teaching Daddy and I about parenting. Unfortunately, we have to try everything out on you first.

I can only imagine what the next 8 years will bring, but I do know that we love you very much and that will never change. Keep putting Jesus first, love your family and friends with all you have and know that we are so very proud of you!

Happy 8th Birthday, A!

R's First Published Book

Here is the book R wrote and illustrated.
Her teacher typed the words for her from her rough draft.
Isn't it wonderful?

We are so proud of you, R!

Way to go!

R published and illustrated her very first book this week in school.
She is so proud and we are so proud of her. It is titled "Valentine's".
Her teacher let her pick any class in the school to go and read to and
of course she picked A's class. So, this morning she went to read to A's class.
She did such a good job. She was really nervous and shy about it, so she was really soft.
It was so cute...

Our friend, Tyler, said "Hey, I know she can be louder than that?" ha ha...he is so right.

I know the picture is blurry, but I was trying to keep M from yelling at her so we could hear the story. Oh well...

Good Job, R! We are so proud of you!