Party Weekend Part 2 - A is 8!

Last Saturday, we had a small birthday party for A who turned 8 on October 20. She has been SOOOOO excited about her birthday. For two whole weeks before hand, she got off the bus every day looking for "stuff" in the mail or her. She was expecting cards and gifts to start arriving at any moment. And she did get some cards before her birthday and a gift or two from grandparents who couldn't attend the party.

On her actual birthday, she wore a pin to school that said "birthday princess" and took cupcakes and juice boxes so that everyone could celebrate with her.

Her new favorite color is blue and so that was her request for the decorations. We invited our neighbors down and A got to invite one friend from school over.

Eating cake

Opening gifts....she loved this part =)

She received 3 board games. She has loved playing them all!

And she got some "cool" new clothes from Grammy.

These clothes came from A's favorite clothing store, Justice.

I am sad that these clothes are beginning to look less like

my cute little girl and a whole lot like a big girl.

One of the games that A received was a new Twister Hopscotch Game.

These are pics of the girls playing it outside.

Miss M.

Miss L and Miss R.

They were going to pass one another in the middle.

A's friend Miss A. She is such a sweet girl!

Miss A and Miss E --

they were passing each other

while singing and dancing.

Dear A,

I can hardly believe that you are 8 years old now! I feel like you were just born yesterday and I blinked and now you are 8. You are such a great daughter and sister and friend, Miss A. You love your sisters and mother them as much as you can get away with. And for B you act like his second Mother. You are incredibly smart and make straight A's so far in second grade. We are very proud of you!

You absolutely LOVE to read and will go through books in a few days if you have your way. I'm beginning to see a glimpse of grown up behavior from you. Just this morning I heard you say to L,

"L, if you find my American Girl Doll toy, would you please just put it on my bed?"

I was amazed and pleased that you were so calm and understanding with your little sister. In the past when your sisters have played with your stuff without asking, it was a huge deal and you would be very upset. To hear you be calm and kind to L even though she had gotten your new stuff made me so proud of you.

I'm a little sad, though, too. I'm sad that you are getting so grown up. I love you simply because you are you -- and I love you more than you will ever know! And your Daddy does, too!

Love, Momma

in HIM-