Kara Turns 7

On February 12th, Kara turned 7. Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year, so the class celebrated on the Friday before, the 12th. It was the first day in months that I didn't have to wake anyone up for school. They were all so excited! Kara combined her birthday outfit with her Valentine outfit to create this awesome combo:

As tradition dictates, Luke and I went and had lunch with Kara. He is becoming much more social. He kept walking in circles around Kara's table, stopping to "talk" to each girl. No one had any idea what he was saying, but he was content with their smiles and nods. We also had lunch with Jack and Anna, but their table is much smaller (peanut free table). Anna doesn't have to sit there, but she will join Jack sometimes and always on the days when Thomas or I visit.

Very earnestly explaining something to Kara's friends.

The kids had their class parties and came home on a sugar overload. Kara had gymnastics that night and wanted to save her birthday dinner for when the Darrows could join us. So, we did homemade pizza and had ice cream sundaes. We gave her a gift from us (Shopkins) and Anna and Jack gave her their present as well (the Calico Critters doctor's office).

Saturday, we had planned on going to Mount Vernon, but it was cold! The wind chill was in the single digits, so we ended up going to the library and then Ollie's for some baseball supplies. It wasn't the fun day we had planned, but it was still nice. Kara had a friend over to play and seemed okay to miss out on Mount Vernon.

Sunday was Valentine's Day. The kids each awoke to a small gift from Thomas and me. They were thrilled! Thomas and I don't typically exchange gifts on Valentine's Day, but I was excited to see that he left a surprise for me as well. A box of chocolates, a gossip magazine (one of my guilty pleasures, but I won't generally waste the money on them) and a cute stuffed panda, since I had loved Bei Bei so much. It was very sweet and unexpected. Unfortunately, I had nothing for him.

I spent the morning working on Kara's cake, which did not look at all like I had planned. I really wanted to try my hand at fondant, but it just wasn't working for me. So, I just put more and more candy on it until I thought Kara would like it. We made her requested birthday dinner of lasagna. As usual, the girls wanted to help make the dinner and did a great job at layering the meal. They were also happy to finally use their aprons from Grandma Marta.

The Darrows joined us for Kara's birthday meal and we had a nice visit. I can't believe we have kept up our monthly dinner tradition for over 4 years now, but we have and I am so glad!

I think Anna was afraid the smoke detector was going to go off.

Monday was supposed to be Kara's party at Pump it Up. The forecast was for a dusting of snow on Sunday night and 1-3 inches on Monday. We awoke to 6 inches of snow with no end in sight! Pump it Up called and said they were closed and we were forced to reschedule for March 12th, which was the first Saturday with an afternoon slot available. Kara was extremely disappointed. We had warned her that the postponement was a possibility after seeing the forecast, but she was still very upset. I tried to cheer her up with waffles and the promise of a special day, but she was not ready for any consolation. She rejected all our offers of fun snow day activities and chose to spend about an hour sulking. Finally, she decided she was ready to live again and asked to take me up on my offer of a fun day.

We sent out a message inviting all her neighborhood friends over for cupcakes, which I quickly baked. I scoured the house for juice boxes and found those along with a bag of pretzels. Thomas shoveled the sidewalk and driveway and the "party" was formed. Everyone showed up at 10:30, a few even brought her gifts. They played, sang happy birthday, ate the cupcakes and opened presents. I think we ended up having 16 kids here (counting my 4). Kara had a blast and loved it!

A little Karaoke

A bit of food

And some presents, what more could a girl want?

She spent the afternoon playing with her presents, then went outside with Thomas to enjoy the snow. They built the biggest snowman I had ever seen! It was taller than Thomas, who is 6'2". We let them have some extra electronics time to end the day and Kara proclaimed it was one of her best birthdays ever. I think it is the birthday that never ends. She had her actual day with ice cream, singing and presents. Then, her birthday dinner with the Darrows, which included more singing and cake. Then, her pseudo party with the neighborhood kids, still more cupcakes and singing. We also promised we would take her to Mount Vernon this weekend. It's good to be 7!