Callie is SEVEN

Our Callie girl is 7 and I can hardly believe it!

Once she was this

Now she is this

Celebrating Callie's birthday started the night before when Marcus and I snuck in while she slept and hung balloons from her ceiling...a tradition she loves!

Callie's not much of a morning person, but she woke up so happy! She had NO problem getting ready for school or smiling for pictures. Look at her. She was beaming!

I was excited to come into her classroom to bring the birthday treat. When I came, they sung this cute song about making a cake and blowing out the candles. It was cute. And, no surprise, she loved it. As a side note, I love Ms. Borrelli. She's such a great teacher and Callie really likes her. I feel so blessed that Callie has had her 2 years in a row...kindergarten and 1st grade.

So here's the deal. We can't bring treats to school for birthdays anymore. I have mixed feelings about this, but it does provide awesome opportunities. This year Callie wanted to bring a balloon for everyone. I decided we could do that, and was actually kind of excited myself. But here's the thing to remember if you ever decide to bring 30 helium balloons into a classroom. They take a lot of space in a car! I didn't even think about that. When I picked them up, I almost couldn't fit Micah back into the van. Luckily, I did. And I got the balloons to the classroom, much to everyone's delight!

Sophia, Mattea, and Callie

Even string cheese is more exciting on your birthday.

Pre-party Goofy Faces!

On Monday night we had a few visitors including Callie's new cousin, Liam. We were surprised when they showed up and honored to be the first party he attended.

Callie chose chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. Then we decided to add a little orange to the frosting. It was a little too strong, but she liked it a lot. 

What I like a lot is that it looks like Colin is a cut-out set on top of Callie's head. That's funny.

Bummer for Sammy...as we were eating dinner, she threw up all over the floor. Well, actually bummer for Annie because she was sitting there by her. Sammy spent the cake-eating period on the couch watching everyone else.

See, up above there are 2 children stuffing their faces with processed food, too much sugar, and hydrogenated oil. This is the traditional birthday. Below...pale, sad, staring off...no birthday fun. This was moments before she threw up again. We did a lot of laundry that night.

Analisa and Alex participated in the birthday fun too. Analisa called and Callie decided skype would be better. It was.

Our birthday crew, minus Mommy Photographer. Even sick Sammy is wrapped up in a blanket, and Micah is 1/2 in the picture.

 I love my birthday girl!

Earlier while we were frosting her cake, Marcus decided to do a little teasing.
"Oh no Callie! We forgot to get you any presents!"
She looked at me with a little worry on her face. "It's true Callie, I'm so sorry. I've been so busy getting things together for your class and tonight." I went along with it for a bit. But Marcus kept carrying it on. Then Callie came up to me and whispered, "Just tell Daddy he can just give me a lot of hugs and kisses for my present." We both thought that was pretty great. She did get a ton of hugs and kisses...and some presents.

Later that night when she was going to bed, I asked Callie if she had a great day. She said, "Kind of." I was so surprised. She had been floating high all day long. "Just kind of?" And then she explained and it was so sweet. "It's my birthday and everyone is supposed to be happy. But Sammy is sick. I feel so bad for her."

Our 7 year old is one sweetheart. She still is made of fire, but there certainly is some sugar in there too.

Love you Callie! You make my days bright!