It's Great to Be 8!

Anna Elise turned 8 today!  At our house when you turn 8 you get a friend birthday party.  Anna Elise was so excited to invite a few friends over and have her birthday party on her birthday!  It's Columbus Day and so we had school off (thank you Columbus!)  She was up early to open presents, but had to wait for her Dad to come home.  Who knew that 9am was so far away!  She opened her family birthday presents and then she and the girls ran upstairs to watch her new Barbie movie!  I got to work making her fancy Barbie cake.  I don't do cakes.  My half-hearted efforts usually look, well, half-hearted.  This year I decided that I needed to step up and be 'the mom' and make Anna Elise a fancy cake.  It turned out ok.  The girls all loved it.   I think I'll be able to practice a lot over the next 10 years - Celeste is going to have some awesome Barbie cakes when she gets a little older!
After lunch Anna Elise's friends came over and they played inside and out and had fun together while Mike took the 'little kids' to the park.  When Calvin, Madeline, and Lilah came back they got to participate in opening the friend presents, eating cake and ice cream, going on a treasure hunt for the goody bags and playing some more.  For dinner Anna Elise picked McDonalds and I was happy to not cook after a long day.  Anna Elise was very pleased with everything and had a great day!  She is excited to be 8 and to get baptized in November.

Mike was the camera man, so we only have 2 to share:

 opening her new boots from Mom and Dad

Anna Elise with her 'fancy' Barbie cake