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Maria's Friends Birthday Party

Maria had her birthday party with her friends today. We invited 6 friends (classmates and neighbors) to her birth'tea' party. We did crafts (made bookmarks, lace fans, tea party favor bags, name bracelets and sachets), had tea (only Maria liked it, all the others said 'yuck') with cookies and sandwiches, ate cupcakes, sang Happy Birthday and opened presents. The girls each got to take home their crafts, a handkerchief, and pencils and lollipops that were made into flower centerpieces. Needless to say, the 2 hours flew by!
We are now (finally) finished celebrating her 7th birthday. My aunts were right, it really is a 'birthday month' not just one day :)

Thanksgiving and Tea Party

We went back 'home' for Thanksgiving. It was nice to see everyone. We rented a school gym and cafeteria this year which worked out good as the adults played some volleyball and the kids had lots of room to run around and play.
On Friday, we had a tea party to celebrate Maria's birthday. Fun was had by all. Now Logan wants one for his birthday too :) Thanks again Oma for all your effort and great tea supplies.

Maria's birthday

Maria turned 7 on Monday (I can't believe she's 7 already - where did all that time go?).
She had a wonderful birthday. In school, instead of journaling, all her classmates made her birthday cards. She even got a new book and pencil from her teacher (they are so nice!) She brought cookies for snack time and was able to pass them out to all her friends. Since there were extra's so got to pass them out to other teachers around the school. During lunchtime, everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to her (and 3 other birthday celebrators).
That evening, we had the Hull's over for pizza, cake and ice cream.
We got her tickets to the Nutcracker ballet that is performing in a few weeks along with tickets to the Land of Sweets Tea Party with the characters. She loved it and is really excited to get dressed up and go!!
Happy Birthday sweetheart. We love you more than we can ever express! (Afterall, you are the reason Mom and Dad are a mom and dad.)

P.S. Happy 7th anniversary of parenting Dave. You are an awesome dad. There's no one else I'd rather share this experience with!

The Polar Express

We went to the Children's Dance Theatre's production of The Polar Express tonight. The kids loved it! Maria really wants to be a dancer now. She loved the ballet parts when the dancers were up on their toes. Raymond stood the entire show and watched it quietly. His favorite part was the hot chocolate song. And we didn't hear a peep out of Greta :)

I'm really glad we went (thanks Amy for suggesting it and organizing tickets). It was nice to get everyone dressed up for a show.

Houseguests

Two of my aunts and their families are visiting for the evening. We had a great night of chatting and playing cards (the women won!). We love having you visit. Already looking forward to the game in two years. Love you!

Pipsqueaks

We went to Pipsqueaks (an indoor play gym) for the first time today. It's been open ever since Maria was a baby, but for some reason we've never made it over. Today's playdate with Ed and Riley was here. I'm glad we finally got to check it out. It's a gymnasium that has a bunch of kid toys (riding cars, jungle gym, train table, etc..) and some tables for eating lunch. We had a picnic lunch and played for several hours. We realized that it is better to go over and after lunch as the place really cleared out. I had forgotten that some people have to go home for naptime :)