Eight IS Great

This girl turned eight years old on me.  On her official birthday she requested an ice cream cake and we went and got her favorite dinner at Panda Express.  She also played soccer and has genuinely loved it this year.  It was a perfect way to spend her actual birthday.

 She also had a big birthday party this year.  She really wanted an art themed birthday and then we started going to the stores and saw all the fun Halloween decorations so she decided to combine forces and make it a Halloween/art party.  It ended up being a great success.  I put together their costumes from many different stores but was really happy with the results.  They made a couple of cute cheetahs.

 Pinterest provides limitless Halloween snacks.  We used many of them.  We did the donuts rather than a cake and I think the kids liked it better.  I'm sure that every Halloween party that was thrown this year included these donut vampires.

 We got canvases and created fall trees.  The girls did a really great job.  It was nice to do an eight year old birthday party because the girls were able to handle all of the games/crafts thrown at them.  I still cringe as I remember trying to make necklaces with six year olds when I was nine months pregnant.

 I made the girls pose for a group photo.  Julia has such an incredible group of friends.  Kind and sweet girls all around.

 We put dry ice in the root beer.  They were totally fascinated and gathered around.  Julia was very specific that it be called "witch's brew."

 Look at the focus of these eight year olds!

 I was so relieved when I saw that the weather was going to be nice.  It made our party so much better.

 They all had such cute costumes.

 We also had mummy hot dogs and witch fingers (bugels).

 They played the game where you fold the piece of paper and each girl adds to create a monster without seeing what the previous girl drew.  It made for some really funny looking monsters.

 Honestly, I think they would have been happy if I just let them play on the playground the entire time.

I found these skeletons connected to parachutes so we had parachute races.  I was amazed at how much they loved this game.  Audrey even made Bryan play it with her after the party she loved it so much.  

 Pin the tail on the kitty.  They were all amazingly accurate.  Or there is a possibility that the kitty blindfold wasn't effective enough.

 Then it was on to Julia's favorite party of the day.  PRESENTS.  I am always in awe of how much they get spoiled.  I tell you what.  She has such great friends.

At age eight:
Julia is happiest when she is outside running and moving.
She really loves reading and her very favorite book of all time is the first Boxcar Children book.  I bet she has read it twenty times.  She often has a book in her hands.
Julia loves school and is a pleaser.  She desperately wants to make her teacher happy.  She loves projects and homework.
Julia LOVES art.  She is constantly drawing.
Julia loves music.  She tells me that when we have songs playing in the car she imagines in her mind that one of her stuffed animals is singing the song.  I love her active imagination.
She still loves playing with Audrey.  She creates "set ups" that include intricate placements of every single toy in the house.  They play for hours.
She loves movies so very much.  Her current favorite show is My Little Pony Girls of Equestria.  I recorded it for her recently and she has watched it over and over.  She also really loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates and any show with talking animals.
Julia is a good friend and I love going to her school and watching her interact with her peers.  Her dad has always encouraged her to find those that need a friend and she tries very hard to do just that.
Julia is doing really well on the piano.  This makes her mom VERY happy.  She is currently playing Silent Night and it sounds so beautiful.
Julia always tries to make good choices and is very conflicted when she knows we don't really want her to do something but she really wants to.
Julia can get very frustrated and isn't afraid to show it.  I think the right word may be a temper.
Julia is a wonderful big sister and helps me with Audrey and Lily quite often.
We just love this Julia so much.  I am so proud that she is my daughter and so pleased to see her constant desire to do what is right and to make her Heavenly Father happy.  Happy birthday Julia!