it's great to be eight

this girl just turned eight and it is great!

she is really my favorite girl...she is growing up to be so sweet and smart and pretty and fun!

we celebrated with the traditional cinnamon roll breakfast.

she opened up a couple of gifts and started playing right away!

later, we picked up a couple of cute boys and went jumping!!!

we ended the celebrations at kooky canuck with grandparents and 18 scoops of ice cream!!!

now, please, no more growing!  eight is great after all!!!

date night

we took grace on a date night and it ended up being the greatest date ever.  her future boyfriend is going to have some pretty big shoes to fill...poor guy.

first, we went to the peabody and watched the ducks march.

on our walk to dinner, we found elvis' duck feet...we were really just trying to impress mimi with our pic.

we ate a yummy dinner at kooky canuk and then john let grace order dessert!

she chose the avalanche!!!  18 scoops of ice cream and all the toppings.  i don't even understand how they ate that thing.  i was stuffed from dinner, but even if i wasn't, there was no way i could have even put a dent in that thing.  they had no problem at all!

after dinner, grace and i went to the orpheum and watched the wizard of oz.

this was her first show at the orpheum and she loved it.  she didn't love the wicked witch though.

we ended the night with a carriage ride through the downtown.

she kind of felt like a princess.

the driver stopped at this fountain and gave her some coins so that she could make a wish.

and, we all lived happily ever after!!!

field day!

Grace had field day this week and I got to go cheer her and her first grade friends on to a first place victory!!!

CHeeR!!!

PuLL!!!

HoP!!!

RuN!!!

JuMP!!!

FoCuS!!!

SQueeZe!!!

FLeX!!!

WiN!!!

she's a rocker

 Grace went to her very first concert, The Rock and Worship Roadshow, with Beth, Lily, and me.  The girls were super excited!!!  We went to see Jamie Grace, but unfortunately, she was sick and wasn't performing that night.  After a bit of disappointment, we had a great time!

Matt Maher was so good.  He was no Jamie Grace, but we still enjoyed him.

Grace was so fun to hang out with.  I loved just watching her!

My favorite of the night was definitely Crowder!

LOVE!  LOVE!  LOVE!

Grace told me that the music makes her feel like she just wants to jump up and down.

And, that she did!  Especially, when Tedashii hit the stage.  That girl was getting' down!

We had a super fun night, but we had to leave early because it started sleeting.  By the time we got home, our car was covered in ice and school was already canceled for the next day!  I'm pretty sure that won't be her last concert because that girl is a rocker.  Ha!

party people

grace and carter were super excited to celebrate their birthdays especially since their party included pjs and cereal!!!

when the guests arrived, they began making their fruit loop necklaces.

next, we tossed pancakes.  there were lots of giggles during this game.  carter and pierce were chunking the pancakes at each other.  andrew kept trying to eat his and then turned it into a hat.  allie had to dodge them.  pancakes landed in lots of unusual places.

the kids enjoyed lots of yummy breakfast foods...cereal, donuts, pancakes, and fruit.  mmm!!!

before our friends left, we played one last game...

this may have been the most entertaining!

we loved having friends and family over to celebrate!!!