Lydia is 8!

Last week was Lydia's birthday and she turned 8! What a big year!


I was elated to get this beautiful smile! I swear, trying to get a decent smile from that girl for the camera is impossible!
For her class treat she wanted Jell-O (or here they're called jelly cups). She chose those because there is a girl in her class who is allergic to gluten. How thoughtful of her! As much as I dislike Jell-O, these were really fun to make (not to mention a bazillion times easier than cupcakes!). Lime on the bottom and raspberry on top. Fun fun!


For dinner she chose her favorite "bacon noodles" or spaghetti carbonara. We are grateful for Australian bacon (pretty much diced ham) which makes it tons healthier than the American version. And since we'd just had Evelyn's cake two days earlier I was able to convince her to choose a different treat for her birthday. She chose ice cream sundaes! Delicious!


She got some cool things for her birthday like Nancy Clancy books. Our beloved Fancy Nancy all grown up (like age 9) in her own chapter books! Super cool!


And technology! I couldn't believe my little girl is already to the technology stage, but this is what she really really reallllly wanted. It's a Sony MP3 player (like an iPod at a third of the price). The cool purple thing is a brilliantly clever case. It has its own speaker that the player plugs into and it becomes like a little radio! And it keeps her from losing this ridiculously small piece of technology! Clever!


Here are the kids enjoying listening to Lydia's new present. Dance party! Mike and I had tons of fun going through our library of music and preloading it with some good stuff and even buying a few One Direction songs for her (which I really like myself).


On the very evening of her birthday Lydia got to go to her very first Faith in God Activity Days. I'm a primary counselor so I'm there for every activity anyway. It was fun that Lydia finally got to join me! She was ecstatic! And the leaders brought cupcakes for her too (just in case she hadn't had enough birthday already). The activity was very fitting. We talked about baptism and even got to scrub the font! I'm so excited for Lydia's upcoming baptism!

8 is also a big year in my family because that's the age of ear piercing! My sisters and I were all 8 when we got ours pierced, so 8 it was. As a mother, I never knew how stressful it would be! I had to make sure those purple dots were perfectly placed. Talk about pressure! Luckily, it all worked out. Fancy, fancy!


We love our Lydia! She is an amazing help in our home and I love her kindness and creativity. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!