Eight is Great!

 We've been looking forward to celebrating this big birthday with Daisy for a looooong time.  The days-long partying began the Saturday before her birthday.

 Grandpa and Grandma Jones, and Jamie and Jade drove up to have birthday dinner and open presents with Daisy.  It is a long drive for them and we are so happy when they come.

 Daisy wanted biscuits and gravy, her favorite, but mom didn't want to make them so we went out for some purchased birthday dinner and opened presents there.  Grandpa and Grandma gave Daisy a special baptism necklace and money to pick out a baptism dress.  Jamie and Rian gave her a CD case and the new Taylor Swift CD.

 The next day we had birthday dinner and opened presents with Grandpa and Grandma Dansie and the cousins.  For birthday dinner this time around, Daisy chose mashed potatoes and gravy (what is it with this girl and gravy?  Oh, I know, she is a CLONE of her father.)  Grandpa and Grandma gave Daisy some new dance clothes, a 'peace' hoodie, a doll, and a fashionista necklace.  It was great!

 After dinner, we Skyped with our cousins in Ohio.  It is always so fun to see them.  The kids sing songs together and show each other their latest greatest toys and creations.  It makes it feel like they're not so far away.

 On the morning of her birthday, Daisy requested Cream of Wheat and scrambled eggs for breakfast (now that's more like it!) 

 She opened her gifts at the breakfast table.  She got new DC shoes (which is the only thing she asked for) and a new karaoke CD (since she is a blossoming rock star.)  She was ecstatic and put them on right there at the table.

Right after school we geared up for Daisy's first birthday party ever.  We always give the kids a choice between a family activity (Jazz game, trip to the zoo, etc.) or a friend party.  Until now, they have always chosen a family activity (or my convincing powers have been very persuasive.)  This year Daisy wanted to have a Rockstar Birthday Party...so we did! 

 With the help of our super creative and extra generous friend Jessie, Daisy had the PERFECT hot pink and zebra stripe invitations.  We played games and sang karaoke before eating birthday cake and opening presents.  Turns out that having a friend party wasn't quite as bad as mom expected.  We had a lot of fun.

 One of the best parts about being the birthday girl was being Star of the Week.  Each day was something very special.  On Monday Daisy shared her very special Star poster that she worked so hard to create.  We're just glad Grandma let us borrow her Cricut or we may have been in trouble.  I went and joined Daisy for school lunch, which was fun because she was so surprised.  And just as a side note, you don't need to worry about our kids consuming too much red meat at school because I have no idea what that cheeseburger I ate was made out of, but it was not beef.  On Tuesday it was Daisy's Star of the Week sharing day.  She, of course, wanted to share the puppies.  And they, of course, were a hit with the whole second grade class.  On Wednesday it was Star Story day so I went to her class to read her favorite book, which is her Shutterfly photo book of the year she was 6.  It was fun to share with her class.  Thursday was Star Cafe where she got to eat lunch in her classroom with her teacher, and Friday was Star Snack day which had me flying off to the bakery at 7:00 AM to buy fresh hot doughnuts for the entire class, which I'm sure they completely appreciated.  Oh well, I know Daisy did.

One of Daisy's favorite gifts was from Aunt Chelsea.  Chelsea lives in Korea, so she sent a digital gift.  It included a host of Chelsea's friends and coworkers wishing Daisy a happy birthday in their native languages, which was fun for all of us to see and hear.  It also included Chelsea's memories of Daisy's birth, her testimony of baptism, and her expressions of love for our girl.  It really is a priceless gift and I'm so glad that we have a digital version of it so we can watch it over and over again (which Daisy has done!)

We've already learned that eight is great.  Next up for Daisy: baptism.