8 Years Old!

Emmalee turned 8 years old on Tuesday this week! She woke up to breakfast in bed: an eggo, a clementine, milk, and 2 andes candies mints! After she ate, she opened her presents from Steve and Micah and Lily and I. She got an Ipod Nano (an ipod is a device to which you upload music from the computer and can listen to, like a walkman, for those of you who are wondering what that is!), some new clothes, the new Taylor Swift cd, a Hannah Montana wig, and a Hannah Montana pillowcase!

Next on the birthday agenda was to call Gramma Pat and wish her a happy birthday as well! Emmalee loves sharing her bday with Gramma.

After that, Emmalee went to the dentist for a cleaning. I know what you're thinking, "what kind of mother schedules a dentist appt on her kid's birthday?", but it was the only one I could get! Thankfully, she had a great visit with no cavities, and the dentist let her choose 2 prizes afterwards because it was her birthday! All of the staff treated her like a queen, which of course Emmalee didn't mind! From the dentist, with gleaming white teeth, I brought Emmalee to school. We brought in cool pencils to give the kids in her class, since bringing cake or edible treats is discouraged (and she has 2 kids in her class who, together, are allergic to about everything!). As Emmalee walked into the classroom, I heard the kids all yelling "Emmalee's here! Happy Birthday!" And as I started to walk down the hall, they were singing "Happy Birthday" at the tops of their lungs to her.

Shortly after Em got home from school, the phone rang, and it was her best friend Quinn, who recently moved to Kentucky, calling to wish her a happy birthday. That really made Emmalee's day. She misses Quinn so much!

Steve came home early so that we could all go out for dinner. Emmalee chose to go to Bertucci's, an Italian chain restaurant right down the road. She likes their ravioli. She wanted to be sure she chose a restaurant where the server would bring her a piece of cake and sing to her. I told her any place would do that if we asked. So off to Bertucci's we went, and I pulled our server aside and mentioned that it was Emmalee's bday and she wanted to be sung to. And, at the end of the meal, our server brought a huge piece of chocolate cake with a candle and we all sang Happy Birthday. Emmalee was so happy.

After a quick phone call from Uncle Pete, Aunt Rachael, and Bryson (I think Riley must have already been in bed), wishing her a happy birthday, our birthday queen went to bed with a big smile on her face. "Funny", she told me the next morning, "I don't feel any older!"