Eight years ago I brought home a sleepy, black-haired baby girl that loved to snuggle.  What a contrast to the little person she is now-always talking, moving and living life colorfully (literally always coloring and drawing).  She still does love to snuggle though.  It is fun to mark these milestones as they grow and this year we focused on her.  Her partying started at school where we served up cupcake pops for her treat.  Hannah worked beside me for over two hours (!) creating our little masterpieces and was so proud that the principal, office ladies, librarian and gym teacher got one.  She loves to share.

Awhile back she got to decide on a friend party at home where she could invite kids and we would do party games, etc. OR she could pick two special friends and do an outing.  She picked two friends, much to my surprise, and we had them over to play, then we went to Bounce (an indoor inflatable play-place), then on to McDonald's for lunch.  Hannah got to pick everything.


On her birthday, her Dad took us all out to breakfast and she got to open one gift-a fashion book where she can make her own creations!

Then we had a family party that night.  She chose meatloaf, mashed potatoes, rolls, peas and a fruit salad.  I made this fabulous 6 layer rainbow cake, it was quite the colorful dessert! She got barbie clothes and Easy bake mixes from her cousins and a bean bag & Kidz Bop CD from Grandma-exciting stuff!

Hannah took this picture-she is loving the horses!

I always worry in the back of mind, often, if my children are spoiled.  Do I do too much for them, give them too many "things" and not enough of my time or teaching them about the world around them? I realized with this birthday of Hannah's just how much these little people really love to have someone notice them, listen to them and let them make choices.  She got a few gifts from us but I think what she really enjoyed was that we celebrated her.   She wasn't spoiled with "things", she was given events that told her how much we love her, and how much she means to us.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this birthday making her cake and those cupcake pops and it was a little tiring but I understand how temporary all this is.  When she's 13 she won't get to take birthday treats to school or be impressed by a rainbow cake, so I am taking full advantage of this window of opportunity.  Next up is Taylor's birthday!  We'll see what he picks :-)