This girl's in heaven now that she's seven!

Caytie got lucky and had her birthday on a holiday this year--no school!  We got to take a little more time in the morning enjoying breakfast (scrambled eggs) and presents.

She wanted to be patriotic, so she requested flag cupcakes.  (PS--just cover the top with red sprinkles, and scrape some off with a butter knife for the white stripes.  Last minute improvisation, due to the fact that she doesn't like red licorice.  Who knew?)  We sang and she blew out her candles, but we took the cupcakes with us to...

Chuck E. Cheese's!

(Sweet brother Scott knows how to get masses of tickets, and he got this crown for Caytie with some of his earnings.)

She requested a roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner.  What has become of my kids this year?  I am enjoying the break from donuts and mac and cheese for sure.

Happy birthday to my charming, sparkly, bright, helpful, artistic Caytie.  I love you!

There may be a better way...

Guess what?  A new episode of Studio C came out!

Surely a larger screen would be more useful for six children??

Love

Scott gave Gracie a large piece of cardboard from the packaging of a poster.  So what did she use it for?  I found out on Mother's Day, when she pulled it out, now fully decorated with details on how much she loves me.

She is so, so sweet!

Preschool Party

Instead of a Preschool Graduation,  Tessa's class had a water party--and I think that it was one of her favorite activities.

She had to say goodbye to her fun teachers, Mrs. Lisa...

...and Mrs. Autumn, who was also Gracie and Caytie's teacher when they went to the preschool.

To "celebrate her achievements" (or because it just sounded like a good idea), Ben, Benson, and I took her out for some frozen yogurt.  Great job, Tessa, and happy summer!

Oh, we went to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

Caytie's class went on a field trip to the zoo.  Sadly, she had a fever and tummy ache for two days before her trip, and wasn't supposed to return to school until being fever free for 24 hours.  Happily, she was feeling well enough to go to the zoo with me, Tessa, and Benson!

We stopped to get some Happy Meals to bring in with us.  Benson got these Spider-man glasses (kindly decorated by his sisters with their Spider-man stickers), and wanted them on the whole time.  Those things would not stay on his face, and he would get so angry when they'd fall off!  I finally had to hide them for our sanity.

Not long after arriving, we found Caytie's class in the reptile house!  She was so happy to see her teacher.

We took lots of breaks, because Caytie was still a little fatigued. The zoo was full of school kids that day, but the weather was just about perfect.

Here's our obligatory picture with a statue.  I don't think we have the baby elephant one yet.

We rode the monorail, which is a great way to see lots of animals without lots of walking.  After, they had a little show with this white opossum.  (We learned that "possums" are actually Australian, and the American kind has the "o," though it's not a big deal to mix them up.)

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Caytie found a magnolia leaf and took it home, where she of course put it onto a headband.  (Doesn't everyone do that?)

It was a great day at the zoo.  Oh, except for the fact that as I was backing out, I bumped into
(and dented) the bumper of the car behind us.  (Should I mention that I was talking to Ben on my phone when I did that?  No?  OK--forget that part.  Just know that this is the first time that I have ever done that, despite years of driving large vehicles with views blocked by car seats and boosters.  I think that is actually admirable.  Right?  Yes, it is.  And no, I will not ever again talk on my phone while backing up.  Lesson officially learned.)  I left a note for the guy, and he called, and we got it all worked out.  I love good insurance.  The end.

Photo Buffet

A few photos from my phone...

I was Caytie's room mom this year.  I thought I was signing up to be an assistant, but...no one else signed up.  Caytie was really happy that I could do it, though.  We only had to do two class parties, at Christmas and Valentine's Day, and a basket for an auction and an end of the year gift--so not too much, but those things happen to be at very busy times of the year!  I was usually so busy running the parties that I didn't get any pictures, but I did snap one on Valentine's Day.  They frosted and decorated the cookies, and the drink was vanilla ice cream in cherry Sprite with a Red Vine straw.  We had also decorated popsicle stick picture frames and played a relay game with conversation hearts.  All that in one hour!

I maybe should have cropped this one first...  Scott and Gracie went to a piano festival, and both received a  1+ on their pieces, so they were invited to an honors recital the next day.  Their favorite part was the big medal they got at the end.  Scott is first one on the left, top row, and Gracie is third on the left, front row.

Sometimes you just have to give in and get an ice cream cone at Sonic.  It is helpful to get home quickly to eat them (and let them melt freely) on the driveway.

After church one Sunday, Caytie was jumping on the beanbag (probably from off the arm of the couch, though that was not admitted) and hurt her foot enough that she wouldn't walk on it the rest of the day or the next morning.  After dropping Tessa off at preschool Monday morning, Caytie, Benson and I went to get her foot x-rayed.  It was fine.  She enjoyed some good, old-fashioned attention with an ace bandage, and went back to school the next day.