What a whirlwind of a month! April is always so busy, but sooo much fun! We celebrated Easter, Lauryn's birthday, and my birthday within a two week span.
Here are my babies and me on my birthday - they will always be my greatest gifts!
Here's our little family at the Easter Egg Hunt at our church. Since I am the co-director of our church preschool/nursery, I get to head up the egg hunt each year. It's crazy busy, but so much fun to watch all of the planning and organizing come to fruition!
Now on to more birthday fun! Our little Lauryn turned 8 years old this year! WHAT??! We continued our donuts-for-breakfast birthday tradition and stopped for a treat before taking her to school.
And instead of cupcakes at the end of the day, she always wants to bring donuts to her class at school! This is something we first did for her 4th birthday when she was in pre-k - and the tradition was born! Aren't these the most adorable little donut holes you have ever seen!? We have a sweet little donut shop down the street from our house. The ladies are sooo nice and whipped these up in just an hour after I called that morning.
What better way to end a birthday than to celebrate with your besties at a yummy Mexican food restaurant!? She chose the restaurant all by herself and we couldn't have been more thrilled :)
PRESENTS! She was most excited about receiving another butterfly kit! She also got a couple of dresses, headbands, and EARRINGS! She looks so grown up with her ears pierced :)
And she picked out a cheesecake from Kroger. Seriously one of the BEST cheesecakes we have ever had in our life. And that is coming from someone who has a Cheesecake Factory a mile down the road.
So we sent off for the caterpillars and once they arrived, the girls were really excited to watch how much they grew every day! It was pretty amazing to watch. Finally they formed their chrysalids and we waited about a week before the first one hatched.
Each day it seemed a new butterfly was "born" but we never actually saw it happen. Then finally, the very last butterfly began to hatch just about 10 minutes before we left for school one morning. The girls were screaming for me to "hurry" and I came running out of my bathroom to expect an emergency only to find this little one--slowly making his way into the world. This happened on May 1st, which would have been my grandmother's 94th birthday. She celebrated her first birthday in heaven this year - and I can't think of anything more perfect than witnessing the transformation of a caterpillar going from one "life" to the next, and thinking of my grandmother celebrating her new life in heaven.
The day had come to release our butterflies. They had been eating carnations and sugar water. Lauyrn reached into the habitat and picked up a carnation. One of the butterflies was sitting on it, and he stayed there for several minutes!
I sat with Lauryn to do her traditional birthday survey. I love how some things about her never change, while there are times it seems she wakes up one day a completely different kid! She has grown in so many ways in just the past three years since staring school. She is becoming independent, less anxious/worrisome, more confident, and let's just be honest - she is hilarious! Her sense of humor cracks me up on a daily basis.
She is still thoughtful, caring, compassionate, and generous. And ridiculously smart.
Just a couple of examples of her character I don't want to forget: We were at a birthday party for a friend whose daughter was turning 3. There were lots of younger children there. The kids took turns hitting a pinata and when the candy fell, they swarmed! Of course several of the younger kids were lost in the chaos and weren't quite quick enough to get candy. Lauryn walked over and gave all of her candy away to the little kids who didn't have any.
And when they had tryouts at her school for a singing competition (much like American Idol), a friend in her class wasn't selected. She approached him and reassured him that she thought he sang very well and she knew he would get it next year. She constantly does things like that and I am certain I was not that way at age 8. I'm pretty sure up until I was about 13 I thought the world revolved around me. She is a wonderful big sister and we thank God for His perfect placement of Lauryn in our family! Happy 8th birthday Lauryn - we love you!
Lauyrn's Birthday interview: 8 Years Old
What is your favorite color? light
blue
What is your favorite food? Tuscan
pasta with tomato basil cream sauce (last year, "a plum" was on her list - she keeps me on my toes!)
What is your least
favorite food? peas
What is your favorite movie? Mirror, Mirror
What is your favorite place to
eat? Posados and Olive Garden
Who are your best friends? Liz, Audrey, Allie
What is your favorite book? Double
Fudge by Judy Blume (currently reading now - next week it will be whatever she is reading at the time :)
What is your favorite activity? Swimming, Riding my bike
What is your favorite toy? My American Girl Dolls and Baby Alive
What is your favorite game? Life
What is something you are really good at? Spelling
What is your favorite subject in school? Writing
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher
2 comments:
such a great post! Happy birthday to you and Lauryn (again). She is a special girl! Both of your girls are because they have such a great Mommy. :)
Aww- she would make such a great little teacher! :)
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