A princess turns 8! (and we remember 9-11)

Yesterday one of our princesses had a birthday. Princess #2 turned 8!! I had 12 months to decided how to celebrate this day...but waited until the last minute. :-o I used to give HUGE parties with tons of guests and huge spreads of food. But at one of these events something dawned on me. The parties ended up being for everyone else, except the birthday girl. I would get caught up in total house cleaning to impress the guests, and end up not being able to spend the time with the little one that I wanted to celebrate. The girls started focusing on what they might get from their guests, instead of just loving the fact that they cared enough to come. Sweet Man and I decided after one of these such parties, that we wanted to do it a bit different. Just have a small intimate party with close family, and truly treasure the day that the Lord blessed us with "this child". All that being said, I still find it hard to not feel guilty that we are not blowing our budget giving them an all out bash. I go back and forth on my convictions all the time, and this is one of them.

I wasn't sure how exactly I wanted to celebrate with this princess, but I knew I wanted to do something with just her. I thought about taking her to the salon to actually get her hair done. There are many perks to having a mom who used to be a hair dresser, but going to the salon is not one of them. I thought about  taking her to get a manicure. What little girl wouldn't love to go get her nails done with just her mom? Those were great ideas in which I knew would thrill the princess, but they were not to come about. No. A trip to Urgent Care would be how we would spend our "date" night out. The flu would hit this house the week of the birthday. The flu??? Seriously? We haven't even had fall yet and we are already picking up viruses?? Well, we made the best of it and while we waited for an eternity for the doctor to come in to our little waiting room, we played hopscotch on the tile floor. Even though we both felt pretty crummy, it was kind of a fun evening....well...kinda.

The actual day of her birthday I would be the lucky one to have this lovely virus. I had planned on getting up early and decorating the kitchen for her, but I could barely drag myself out of bed. I was so afraid she would be disappointed in this day, but that wasn't the case at all!

 Every little girl needs flowers from her daddy! (The mom appreciates them too!)

 She finally got the doll she has been dreaming about for so long.

When the girls are arguing over silly little things, or yelling at each other, I often wonder if they love each other. I get depressed thinking that all the training that I am trying to teach them goes unnoticed. Then they do something like this. Our girls get a very small allowance. 1$ a week, which they have been saving for a very long time to be able to buy things they have been wanting. The oldest and youngest princess decided to put their money together to buy a present for their sister. That in itself made me cry. To see that they do love and care for one another made my heart swell with joy.

 A party just wouldn't be a party without an activity. Wuggle pets has been on the wish list for several months. They are way over priced for what they are, but we both knew they would bring about joy and excitement for the girls, especially the new 8 year old, so this was the surprise activity we chose.

 They all loved it!

 Sweet Man got to be the hands on help, and I manned the birth certificate naming booth.

 This little unicorn was named Twinkle, and given the personality of being shy.

 I loved the fact that this was not a chaotic event,

 Just memory making fun for our whole family!

After all of the wuggle pet fun, and a couple of Tylenol's to ward off flu like symptoms, we headed to the movies to use up some gift certificates my parents gave us last year for Christmas. Cleaning out junk drawers can save you money I tell ya! I found all kinds of stuff the other day: coupons, gift certificates, and even a couple of bucks!

 We decided on the new Spy Kids movie. I say that jokingly of course, for it was the ONLY movie even somewhat appropriate to watch! I was really wanting to see A dolphin's Tale, but it hasn't come out yet. They really need more family friendly movies!!

 It was a pretty cute movie, and one of the features was smellavision. I refused to smell #7 though...it was of a dog passing gas. I am pretty sure I smell that enough around here! :-o

Despite feeling under the weather, I think this princess had a wonderful time! And she even got to have a "date" with daddy! I think she would have passed it up if she could though. You see, after the movie we had stopped at Home Depot to pick up a few things for a project we are working on. We took this opportunity to clean out the car before we shopped. It wasn't until AFTER we got home, that this little girl realized she threw her expander away with the trash! You know...the new expander from the orthodontist! The one that cost $300!!! Sweet Man loaded her up promptly in the car, and headed back to the store to dig through trash. When he couldn't find it, he brought the WHOLE bag home so the whole family could get in on this birthday activity. I have heard of scavenger hunts at other birthday parties, but this was a little bit grosser than I had imagined. The prize was found by Sweet Man, and then soaked in Listerine for the rest of the day!

I cannot leave this post without a mention of what today is. The tenth anniversary of 9-11. We have spent the morning watching the memorial on TV and explaining it to the girls. A few tears have been shed in this house as we think about all the lives that were lost on this day, 10 years ago, and so many afterwards while fighting to protect our freedom. "Where were you", has been one of the questions that keeps being asked on TV. I have a terrible memory, but I know EXACTLY where I was that day. Sweet Man was at work,  our 6 month old little princess was sleeping in her crib, and I was sitting on the couch waiting for the children to arrive that I  babysat. I remember watching in shock and disbelief at what was going on, and praying....lots of praying! It makes worrying about throwing the perfect birthday party for my little girl seem just a wee bit silly.

We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us. (2 Corinthians 1:10)