Eight is GREAT!

Eight IS great! Or at least our first actual day of "8-ness" is. :)

It has been party (and/or party prep) central around these parts. Last week we celebrated Lauren's birthday a bit early with our families and one mighty pleased sweetheart sittin' pretty behind the cake. Today Tyler & I were invited to visit Lauren's classroom, read a couple of stories to her class and share birthday treats. What a delighted Second Grader she was sporting her birthday crown & a big grin as her friends sang and clapped for her. Never a prouder big sister could there have been than our Lauren, who led her baby brother around to each desk and prompted him to give high fives to each classmate. (and never was there a more tearful Tyler when it was time for us to leave ) :(

Today is all about our best girl and rightly so! Tomorrow? An (intimate) LOL party for 23 kiddos at one of those gigantic bouncy places ~ they call it a "Classic Party" but one of my friends fondly calls it chaos! LOL And then?.........probably a tired but elated girl, settling in to being All About 8! And yeah, I think that's pretty great!

So as a twist and since its been done so often for T-man, I thought it might be fun to list some of Lauren's favorites and milestones, sans her height & weight. Suffice to say that she has always been and remains on the tall & slender side!

All About Lauren..................

* Loves music, loves to.......dance? Sort of. But really she would rather grab a hairbrush and lip sync to her favorite tunes, which includes songs from the Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and Miley you know who. :) Right now she is crazy for her Kidz Bop 18 c.d. which takes all the recent hits and redoes them in a kid friendly way. Gotta love that!

* She's a voracious & strong reader (all about the Magic Tree House chapter books right now), but if pressed she will tell you that her favorite subjects in school are Art & Math. Or.....Math & Art, depending on the day. :)~ She may also mention playing with her pals at recess and writing. She loves to journal and keeps a fuzzy pink notebook near her bed in case inspiration strikes!

* Favorite color is blue or turquoise and she loves cats, dolphins & mac-n-cheese. Her second favorite foods are pickles and fruit roll ups. Go figure. LOL

* Enjoys Sponge Bob Squarepants, the American Girl movies and Scooby Doo, but will almost always choose to head outside to play when she has downtime. Its even better if a neighbor buddy happens by and our girl would stay out all day long if possible.

* Her favorite sports are swimming, roller skating, snowboarding and if Daddy's listening.......soccer. :) She does enjoy soccer(especially the social part of it!) and the snazzy cleats and uniform, but she excels at individual sports and simply does not give up once her mind is set on mastering a new skill. She runs like the wind too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* An old soul & a bit of a worrier........hmmm, wonder where she gets that from???......lol.....nevertheless is easily tickled & amused, loves to laugh and does so often!

* Almost always very well behaved. But when she's not? DRAMA!!!!!!! Yup.

*From about age 2 1/2 began taking a keen (arm twisting, foot stomping) interest in selecting her own outfits. (Yes, ladies she did.......dress those wee girls now to your heart's content, just in case your sweet pea follows suit!) :) Has her own sense of style and somehow it always just works!

*Same with decorating her room. I have learned over the years to simply stand back and watch, wait & see..........her schemes and visions might be quirky or not traditional but by golly I almost always end up appreciating the end result. And honestly usually can't wait to see what she creates!

*Artistic ~ drawing is a strength.

* Passionate about animals ~ won't tolerate mistreatment of them. Passionate about science & nature.

* Wants to be a Dolphin & Whale trainer when she grows up. Or? A professional Race Car Driver. *gulp* Or? An ice cream truck driver. *grin* But....but, she did tell her teacher that she wants to own her own ice cream truck so she can be her own boss. That's our girl!!!

*Tremendous big sister ~ over and again amazing us with her patience, joy and love for Tyler!! AND....she's ready for a baby sister too. No NO y'all, our family is happily complete.

* A girly girl, who is not afraid to get dirty and try new things!

*The old saying, "sugar & spice and everything nice" suits her to a T. My sunshine girl.

Happy birthday baby girl!!! We love you oh so much............forever & always!