Her birthday fell on a Tuesday this year. She was waiting and planning and plotting and making several lists and leaving notes around the house where I'd find them for at least a month in advance. She knew she'd never get everything she wanted, but I guess her philosophy was "nothing ventured nothing gained." Needless to say, we had plenty of time to contemplate Alison's celebration.
The actual day wasn't too out-of-the-ordinary, but I think she had a great time. She opened her presents first thing in the morning, after scripture study. She got many of the things she requested (the reasonable ones, at least). One of her favorite things was a book I made and had printed for her that was filled with pictures of her throughout her life, lots of little quotes about happiness, and a letter to her from each of her parents telling her what we love about her. I'd love to try to make a book for each of our kids on their tenth birthday. It seems like a good tradition.
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| The kids like to make a big ceremony out of bringing in the presents. |
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She chose Lucky Charms AND Cap'n Crunch for her breakfast cereal. Nothing like two bowls of sugar to start your school day! She had a great day at school. I think her teacher goes out of her way to make the birthday child feel special. She even decorates their desk. For her class treat, Alison brought a box of those orange-crackers-filled-with-peanut-butter-type-thingy's. Ew. While she was away, I was working like a banshee cleaning the house for company and cooking like a mad woman. Luckily, I felt pretty good that day.
When school got out, Alison was surprised to get picked up by Grandma Smith instead of her mom. Grandma took her and Nicki to Tasty's Donuts. Grandpa Smith met them there. Then, Grandma brought her home and gave her an AMAZING present, which was also her favorite thing of ALL. Grandma gave her a book called Grumpy Cat. She also gave her a T-shirt that has a picture of a cat in a taco shell and says, "Taco Cat spelled backwards is Taco Cat."
Anyway...around dinner time, Dave's brother Nathan and his family came. They live in Pennsylvania and had been visiting the west for a while for a family wedding. We were so happy to see them! It's only once per year or less that we get to see their cute family. In fact, when their first child walked in, I said, "Hi, Kahri!" The little girl looked up at me in exasperation and said, "I'm not Kahri, I'm Hailey!" I couldn't BELIEVE little Hailey was so big! (until I saw how big Kahri was!)
Alison chose home made chicken noodle soup and Rhodes Roll breadsticks for her birthday dinner (Hooray! Easy to make for a crowd. I don't know what I would have done if she requested fried chicken or something.) I think everything tasted good. Our table was crowded, our counter was packed, and I had to stand. We had a fun, loud, exciting time! After dinner, Aunt Katie, Megan, and my parents came over for cake and icecream. It was fun. What's really nice is to see the kids all pair up with their cousins and take off to various parts of the house/yard to play. Grandma and Grandpa Gee called and sang happy birthday to her at one point, but I didn't get to hear it.
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| I slaved all day over that cake. NOT. Thank you Sam's Club. It was marbled chocolate and white cake inside. |
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| Front, around the cake: Half of Nicole, Blurry Alison, Emily, Johnathan, Kahri, Bronson, Hailey (Josh was next to Hailey, out of the picture). Back: Gma Smith, Megan, Aunt Katie, Andrew, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Dawn's shirt. (Gpa Smith was also out of the picture, sitting next to Dawn.) |
Nathan and Dawn's family spent the night at our house. I felt a little bad that we weren't more exciting, but it was a school night for our kids, and they go to bed pretty early. We set up their kids in sleeping bags upstairs, gave the parents our bed, and our crew stayed downstairs. The next morning both Alison and Nicole wanted to play sick so that they could stay home and play with their cousins some more. Overall, I think Alison had a really fun birthday.
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