Kayte turns 8!

What a big day! Kayte turned 8 the day we returned from Portland. She had her day mapped out and planned for nearly two months. It started with a 6:30 am wake up call and a trip to the Breakfast Club with her dad for Mickey Mouse pancakes! (I wonder at what age 6:30 won't sound so exciting :) Then, of course, presents! We like to get that out of the way early :)

There was a lot of American Girl. Kayte said that Felicity will now be able to spend her days just trying on clothes, just like the Emperor from the Emperor's New Clothes. Not a bad life.

She also scored her dad's old digital camera, which means we have a new am-pro photographer in the house!

Ah yes. Snacks for school. I'm not so much in to crafty foods. They can be tricky and I was already skeptical of popcorn balls shaped into tulips on a stick! It did not disappoint. It was such a gooey mess, but I managed to arrange some kind of heart-shaped flower on a stick before spilling the bottle of red food coloring all over the kitchen counter and floor. Yes. The project took me all morning. And I don't even have a photo to show for it. (Mostly cause up-close, not so impressive.) But Kayte's friends seemed to like it. Score one for me :)

Bloody mess. It was almost halloweenish.

We brought up some pizza to eat lunch at school with her. She sat for awhile and then headed back to her friends. It is nice to enjoy celebrity status for a day!

After lunch she went shopping with her Grandma Jan to pick out a little present. Kayte wanted to surprise me by getting her ears pierced (I'd been trying to talk her into it for awhile now :), but thankfully, Grandma just bought her some earrings so that Kayte and I could go do it together. Big Mom Moment. I'm really excited!!! And she was so excited to tell me. She'd been savoring that little secret for months and months!

So busy was I with the tulips, I nearly forgot cupcakes for dinner. That, and shrimp pasta, and her Casebolt relations rounded out the evening quite nicely.

Ooo. A pretty trunk for all Felicity's trinkets.

And a matching nightgown!

After dinner, we kidnapped our cousins for a movie night with the dolls. We watched Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken and ate popcorn. The movie had all our favorite stuff: orphans and orphanages, horses, blindness, and some romance :) I forgot how much I liked that flick.

Then Kayte opened her gifts from Sara and Will. She was really sweet. She loves that kind of thing the best.

What a perfect day!