Happy Birthday Andie!

It has happened.  Andie is officially 7 years old.  It's so fun to watch her grow up - although, I tell her daily to stop growing!  It's been a fast 7 years - but we have loved every minute of it!

 Right when she woke up - she came to see the Birthday tree.  It's so fun switching the decorations for her!

 I also made a sign with the magnets.  She wanted her hair curled before Breakfast, as well as waffles for breakfast.  So - we had to rush to finish everything.  Fortunately, it was early out, so she only had school until 12:30pm.  Perfect time to come home and open presents!

 She loved the Pink hoodie from Grandma and Grandpa Pratt.  Ali also loved it and was cheering all around the house, "Go BYU!  Go BYU!  Goooooooooo Cougars!"  loved it!

 Andie has been wanting a magnifying glass for quiet some time.  I don't know what she has planned with it - but it was a cute picture to get her BIG eye!

 This brought a BIG smile to her face, when she opened a new white kitty from Grandma and Grandpa Broderick!

She also asked for a stuffed animal with a light in it.  If you don't know Andie by now, you should know she LOVES stuffed animals.

 and a jewelry boc

 And now the cake.  For the first time in 7 years, and didn't want a pink cake with pink frosting!  She is maturing.  She requested a mint chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting.  Then, she wanted it decorated with a snowman. 

 And so, that is what she got.  I made a chocolate cake and sprinkled Andes mint chips in the batter.  Let me tell you - IT WAS SO GOOD.  She is a girl after my own heart.  I made a snowman out of marshmallows and used pull-n-peel licorice left over from the gingerbread house to write Happy Birthday. 

 Andie couldn't decide what to do for her birthday.  She wanted to go see the movie Frozen, go eat at a restaurant and go bowling.  I told her we could only afford to do one of those activities.  She thought about it for a day or two and then said, "Mom - I think bowling will be the most fun!"  And she was right.  We had SO much fun. 

 Adalyn enjoyed pushing her ball down the "slide"  The girls also enjoyed it on occasion.

 Impromptu picture taken by itself up on the scoring table.  Probably one of the better family pictures we have.  haha

After bowling, we came home and had dinner.  She wanted pizza, then changed to chicken alfredo, then back to pizza.  We enjoyed pizza and then some cake and ice cream. 

 She chose mint chocolate chip ice cream to go with her chocolate mint cake!

 Since we never got a picture of Caleb enjoying a cupcake on his birthday, we thought we would get a picture enjoying Andie's cake.

 And boy oh boy - did he enjoy it!

as did Ali...

 and Adalyn...

 ...but mostly Caleb.  What a ham!  I love this little kids so much!

 We had a great day with Andie and a lot of fun.  We think she had a really great birthday.  She is such a great little friend to everyone in the family.  Although it's rough being the oldest and feeling like "you always ask me" to do everything to help out with the younger siblings, she is learning and growing in leaps and bounds.  We recently had parent-teacher conference and her teacher said, "Andie is so smart, and I'm not just saying that.  Usually when there is an advanced student, there are areas that need work, like nicer handwriting, or spelling, etc.  However, with Andie - everything is perfect and she really needs more enrichment and challenging things to help her continue to grow."  It was great to hear that she is working on special projects.  She is involved with a research project, 3rd-4th grade math and reading.  Her teacher also said that most of the kids, if they don't know will go ask Andie first, before they ask her.  She sent me a video the other day of Andie in front of the class explaining how she solved a math problem.  She was the only one to get it right, so Ms. Hartwell had her go up and teach the class her thought process.  It was fun.  Andie has always been so talented and smart, it is simply amazing.

She is a sweet, sweet girl and we love her so much!  Happy Birthday Andie!

2013 Questions answered by Andie:
Favorite Color:  Pink and Turquoise
Favorite Food:  Treats and Pizza
Favorite Activity: Watch TV
Favorite Toy: All my stuffed animals
Favorite Subject in School:  Recess and math and reading
Favorite Book:  Magic Tree House and the fairy books
Favorite Movie:  I don't know.
Who is your favorite person:  (shruggs shoulders)....Mommy!
What else do you like to do:  Color, play in the snow, ride my bike
Why are you excited to be 7?:  I do not know.
What's your favorite song:  Mary's Lullaby