The Lee Family: Happy Birthday, Sofia!

A few days before her birthday, I asked Sofia what she wanted to do for her big day and threw out a few ideas like visit a museum, go to a movie, have a friend over, etc. Typical Sofia, she said she wanted to wake up and eat biscuits, eggs and bacon then stay at home and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, swim a little bit and then have pizza. She basically loves to hang around the house, play, read, and eat her favorite foods. I wanted to celebrate her birthday by having lunch with CK so I told her we'd meet him for lunch at The Porch and maybe go see a movie. She said that was good, even though she wasn't totally excited about a movie and just wanted to hang around the house.

This morning I made her biscuits, eggs and bacon and then had to wake her up at 9am so Olivia and I could sing "Happy Birthday" to her and we could all eat breakfast together. Usually she's up and ready to eat around 7:30 or 8am, but she stayed up until midnight last night reading so she could "see how it feels to turn 8." Just before leaving for lunch, Sofia received a gorgeous flower arrangement in an owl vase (her favorite) from her Grandparents! It was such a sweet surprise and they smelled amazing along with looking so beautiful. She was so excited to check "who they were for" and who sent them and was so excited when she saw they were from Grandpa and Grandma. We headed downtown and met CK at The Porch for lunch (Sofia was super excited, even if they don't serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). It was fun to see Papa during the day and spend birthday lunch with him and lunch was delicious, as always. After we said goodbye, we ended up going to see The Minion Movie in Southlake. Of course at the movies the girls had popcorn, water and hot tamales (Sofia and I) and seemed to enjoy the movie which was fun but also a bit overwhelming at times (I thought).

After the movie, we headed home and the girls swam and made up stories about being water dragons and mermaids. After CK got home from work, he grilled steaks and I baked cauliflower and cut up carrots, Sofia's favorites. Just before dinner, Sofia got a call from her Grandpa and Grandma and told them about her day and thanked them for the pretty arrangement and owl vase. We ate outside and enjoyed Sofia's birthday dinner. After, we went inside and sang "Happy Birthday" to Sofia before she blew out her candle and cut the first piece of cake. She had specifically requested a vanilla cake and Market Street makes them with a thick middle section of ice cream. So we had a vanilla cake with vanilla ice cream already in the cake. It was delicious!

Then we moved on to presents! Sofia opened the smallest gift first, which was two books CK and I picked out last weekend. They are "Draw It Dinosaurs" and "Draw It Sea Life" since she enjoys drawing. She loved them and flipped through them for a while before moving on to the next presents to open. She's always been like that and has enjoyed looking at each gift instead of tearing through the wrapping paper and immediately moving on to the next gift. She opened the biggest gift which was from her Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Jay, and cousins and was a magic set. She LOVED it and immediately opened it to check it out. By the end of the evening she had "perfected" a few tricks! Plus, the magician hat looks great on her! We also gave her a chess/checkers set that she was excited about, as well as a bunch of new clothes that will be perfect for the coming school year. When She opened the clothes, she said "just like you give me every birthday." which I didn't know we did, but she seemed really excited by the different tops, skirts and dress. Her final present was from my college friend Sian, who sent a heavy box of stuff a few weeks back addressed to Sofia and Olivia. I figured it included both of their birthday presents and told Sofia to open it and see what was in it. Sian actually sent it as an "Enjoy Summer" gift for the girls and it was full of fun stuff! "It included two mermaids (instant favorites), and several "The Sisters Grim" books, as well as "Little Women" and "Anne of Green Gables." It also had a princess game cd to play on the computer and a few fun packs with drawing pages and crayons. The girls LOVED it!

Sofia and Olivia played with all their new toys and Sofia ended the night by impressing us with her magician skills before she headed off to bed for the first time as an 8 year old. I always tell her she's my favorite 7 year old, but this morning I told her she isn't my favorite 7 year old....but is now my favorite 8 year old! I can't believe how quickly time is flying by!

First breakfast as an 8 year old! Homemade biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon and melon!