Eight is Great!

My little Wizabeff is now 8 years old! I don't know how this is possible, and I have very mixed feelings about it, but it happened nonetheless. If my all-in-one printer/fax/scanner/copy machine actually worked, I'd post adorable pictures of Elizabeth as a baby, toddler, and younger girl to show her growth (and make me cry), but pictures from this year's birthday celebrations will have to suffice. 

Ever since I pulled her out of school at lunchtime on her birthday last year, she's been talking about doing it again this year. Of all my children, Elizabeth loves and asks for private dates with me the most, and I don't know about you, but if one of my children wants one-on-one time with me, I think that's the best! (Unless they are a nursing baby that has been glued to my body all day in a baby sling. Then I want a big fat break.) So at 11:35, I picked up her smiling face at the school office and headed over to Blue Lemon for her favorite Mac-n-Cheese. Here she is before ordering, on the phone with Mimi (my mom):

True love:

My true love:

Okay, the "for real" true love (for both of us): Orange Leaf. (It's written all over her face.) We had the entire place all to ourselves:

After Orange Leaf we walked down to Dear Lizzie (and that's pretty much the trifecta of dining/shopping in the small downtown near our home: Blue Lemon, Orange Leaf, and Dear Lizzie) where I let her pick out a present for herself. This is such a great way to do things if you're a mom who has been extra busy trying to get ready to move and don't have a whole lot of time to invest in present shopping. She was thrilled by the thought of going into this fancy schmancy store to pick something out for herself:

And she picked a goody: a sweet pearl necklace (no, of course they're not real!) to wear to church and her baptism later in June when both sets of grandparents can be in town:

Then it was off to Cookie Cutters to get her hair cut! That was the other thing we did last year that she really wanted to do again. But this year she wanted to cut it SHORT. Take your last looks at this:

There's the whack!

(Is it just me, or is a big dead braid like that kind of gross? Yes, I know hair is already dead. You know what I mean.)

Okay, get ready for the transformation . . . ta-dah!

Am I crazy, or does she suddenly looks 5 years older with this haircut and the pearl necklace? What have I done? Where did my wittle Wizabeff go? (Wiping tears off the keyboard . . .)

That night, Grandma Reynolds, Aunt Emily and her three cute kids arrived in town for Uncle Brent's funeral the next day. It was great timing, really, especially with Brandon out of town until the funeral the next morning. Elizabeth really wanted to make everyone cupcakes in her little cupcake maker instead of having a cake, so that's what we did. (Speaking of which, that's one of the best presents I ever purchased for my little wannebe pastry chef. Don't bother with the expensive but cheaply built Easy Bake Ovens, just get one of these real cupcake makers!)

(Don't you love Kate's doodle in the background?)

Cute cousins:

(He wishes he's been to Hawaii!)

Since we already had our fair share of treats, we saved this present from Mimi until a few days later. Elizabeth likes to say she has a whole mouth of sweet teeth (as opposed to just one sweet tooth), so she LOVED this present from Mimi: 

(And that teddy bear in her arms is from my own 8th birthday--his name is Buttons.)

Then we opened the rest of her presents, which were few. (Thank goodness Grandma Reynolds also brought something fun and cute on her actual birthday!) But that's something about Elizabeth that I just love--she is so optimistic and easy to please! I was feeling bad because I noticed I didn't get her very many presents and what I did get seemed pretty lackluster, and yet she exclaimed several times that this was her best birthday ever! It really wasn't about the presents for her, it was about all the fun things we did together. (But she is pretty excited about getting a "new" bike next week. I noticed she was getting a little big for hers, so we pulled down Kate's old one on her actual birthday and took it into the bike shop to get it ready to ride again. She couldn't be happier!) 

We had to postpone her friend party by a week because of the funeral, but I convinced her that it was fun to drag out her birthday for a whole week. Which is exactly what we did. I took her out of school on her actual birthday, Saturday was the funeral, Sunday we broke out the cookie cake and opened her presents, Monday I made her favorite birthday dinner of drumsticks, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob . . . it just went on and on. And here she is last Saturday at Classic Fun Center with a few of her friends: Will was happy to have another little man with him at the party:

Elizabeth wanted the same chocolate brownies with homemade peanut butter frosting that I made for Will's birthday party (with my totally awesome cake decorating skills):

I sure do love this little girl. Happy happy birthday, Elizabeth!