Happy 7th Birthday Hailey!

I can hardly believe it, but our sweet lil girl has just turned seven years old ~

As is tradition around here ~ We put together an at home birthday party...

Not for lack of trying... We offered her Pump it Up, the Movie theater, the bowling alley, The roller skating rink, Grand Slam and more... But this girl, she despises change, and while she was open to looking... She wanted to come right back to what she knows and loves... I bring you - her last home birthday party...in pictures.


(Last because the children are getting bigger, and our home is not...and last because frankly, she just has too many friends! A great problem to have!)

Knowing I wouldn't have time to make the cake this year, we shopped for one. She ended up custom designing her own, to accommodate a new toy we let her choose out for the topper - and it turned out MARVELOUSLY!
Thank you Billie at Target Bakery in Burnsville!
You did great, especially since you didn't have the cake topper to work with!

I make them do this pose every year - birthday kiddo holding the cake, the other right next to them in some fashion! 

We've never really bother with organized activities at her parties in the past, but thought that now that they are getting older, maybe we should.

One of the birthday party ideas we looked into, was going to the local Michael's Store to do a craft.

They have a party room, etc - but, our local store was so very unorganized when we went in to inquire about hosting a party there, that to be honest, it completely turned us off the idea.

So, we decided to bring the crafts home to us!

Who wouldn't love to paint a birdhouse?

Ideally, I'd of gotten all the same kind, but of course that wasn't meant to be, even going to 6 different stores! GAH!

No one seemed to mind, and 17 kiddos quickly and easily picked out a house to paint.

Mother Nature wasn't on our team this day and it was 40 degrees outside, making it not too much fun to paint in our garage. 

The kids painted much quicker than I had planned on...Grrrr...

But it all worked out just fine....

We had some snacks...

It was too cold to eat outside (like I had hoped) but everyone pulled up a spot and enjoyed some pizza.

A HUGE thank you to my hubs and his BFF - 

Not only for letting us girls pull off this crazy party - but for helping it run seamlessly and going and picking up six piping hot pizzas!

A quick wish or two or seven by the birthday girl,
 and all but a one tiny corner of the cake was gobbled up !

I told the kids I wanted to try and get a group picture -
and the boys immediately went into this fun pose...

                                  I knew I'd never get them all in - so I had them turn around to face the street....

And then things quickly went downhill...ha ha ha ha ha...

(What was I thinking anyway?)

And if you are wondering why on earth we agreed to 17 kids - well, 3 couldn't make it (so it could have been 20!), and, schools these days? Well, they aren't like how we grew up. Kids are busy. They are busy learnin' - they are reading and writing and 'rithmeticing...
There's not much time to visit with or play with their buddies - and I think part of a great school experience is knowing and trusting and having fun with your friends.
I thought it was so so important, and good for these little friends, to spend some good old fashioned time with each other not stuffed in their desks listening & learning.

I wanted to give them some time to be kids, together!

The party was scheduled for approximately 3 hours - give or take...

But the painting went approximately 55 minutes faster than the hour I had planned for it...

So we ventured to the man cave for some Kinect!

There isn't much cuter than a bunch of first graders singing and dancing along to pop hits?

I say this all the time, but I really do love this age...

I love how they are coming into their own - 

How they are learning so very very much and applying it to their lives...

And forget the gifts - these hand written notes?

And the memories that come along with them?

Priceless.

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How did it get so late so soon?

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon...
December is here before it's June ~
My GOODNESS how the time has flewn -
How did it get so late so soon!

We saw our little girl off this morning for her first day of first grade...

A month from today, she'll be 7.

I swear it was just 7 months ago we brought her home from the hospital for the very first time!!

Last year, she was up hours before her bus was to come...raring to go...

This year..not so much...
Almost seven, going on almost seventeen???
I had to wake her up to get her going....

But after a shower and a blueberry waffle...

She was a tish more awake and ready for all that this day will hold...

 You may or may not know - we let her choose her clothes, completely...

Hence, the reason last year's first day of school outfit left a little something to be desired. 

I'm not going to lie...I was a little bit thrilled with what she choose for this year!

I was starting to panic that she has nothing to wear for the first day, or for picture day which is already next week...

Thankfully, a quick trip to the store for a birthday present resulted in a few new items for her that she actually loved...And an added bonus - so did I!

And I, I love watching her grow into her own person, always evolving on her own terms, not giving into the peer pressure that is her classmates, friends, or even me, her mom!

Remember how upset he was last year that he didn't get to go to school?

Well, he's still a bit bummed that he has to wait a couple more days to start kindy - 

but he was much more pleased to let her go this year... 

 Damn shadows from the early morning light! GRRR!

There she goes...  ::sigh::

********************

This year, things are going to be different for our girl...

Like, she has REAL textbooks...and workbooks.

I may have gotten a bit teary eyed seeing these on her desk at our open house night!

 Her own desk with her own stuff inside...

(These pics are from open house - her bus was too late for me to get her first day of school pics at her desk! GAH! Why does that ALWAYS seem to happen!!)

 Her and her Bestie are sitting directly behind/in front of each other ~ 

We'll see how this goes...

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Her bus was late getting her to school, where yes, I was waiting! 

HA!

I got her photo coming down the hall to head to her classroom....

SO SO excited to be a first grader.

BFF's

It really does get late so soon...

I love how each stage of life brings such amazing new adventures. I miss the cuddly newborn stage, the language development stage, the wonderment of all that is new in this big big world - but this age presents it's own unique and amazing things too.

Seeing the world through the eyes of a young lady, who is just shy of her 7th birthday......
A little girl that has gone from being a quiet, shy, reserved...and even somewhat anxious in many situations....little thing, to a girl who has grown her wings and taken off flying over this last 12 months.

We are so very very proud of you Hailey Elizabeth.

My cup runneth over....

Last day of Kindergarten - June 2012

Seems almost impossible that we are wrapping up an entire first year of school for our first born.

Say WHAT?

Weren't we JUST sending her off on her first day of school?

She let me snap a couple of pictures on the way in to school that morning...

And that afternoon, she got the surprise of all surprises - 

Daddy not only showed up at school to pick her up on the last day of school - 

He also brought her flowers!

To say she was excited, would be an understatement.

I love that she is wearing the same shirt that she wore on the first day of school!

It still fits...

The pants however, stopped fitting when she was about 3 - but, she wears them as capris anyway.

They look great with heels no?

I can hardly believe we have a whole school year under our belts.

We are so so proud of you Hailey Elizabeth.

We love the person you are and we love watching who you are growing into.

May your love of life and learning continue all the days of your life ~ 

One of the many 'boyfriends' you made this year -
Hailey & M.

                         And here's hoping that next year is just as amazing as this one has been!