Wowie wow wow! Lucy M. Ryerse, 1st Grader is 7!

Our favorite 1st grader turned 7 years old! For her birthday, she really wanted to celebrate Junie B. Jones style.  These books by Barbara Park are her favorite (and some of my favorite) early chapter books to read.  They really make you laugh out loud! And Junie B. reminds me a lot of our Lucy, so it was fitting!  :)

Lucy was so excited about this birthday and telling everyone the week leading up to her birthday, "It's my birthday in __ days!"  The day before her birthday, we sang to her in Primary and she got her bookmark and candy and was grinning from ear to ear!  We also made cupcakes that day for her class, and all of the elementary teachers  She wanted to do rose cupcakes and helped with at least half of them and did a great job!  "Little squiggle in the middle, do the bud, make little rainbows" she reminded herself as she was moving each cupcake around to decorate it. She was quite thrilled about how they turned out and I think she did great! 

The morning of her birthday, she was out of her bed right away (unlike most mornings) and ready to get ready (she decided to wear something similar to what Junie B. wears, a skirt, leggings, cardigan and a polka dot headband), open one present, and have the breakfast burritos she requested.  Then she was off to school!  She told me that night "it was no fair I had to be at school most of my birthday!" I reminded her what a blessing it is to be able to attend school and that most kids go to school on their birthdays unless they have a summer birthday or a holiday.  She said lots of people wished her a happy birthday.  She got a special birthday crown she was excited about and lots of the teachers gave her happy birthday stickers.  Usually we eat lunch at school with our kids when it is their birthday, but it was sloppy joes on the menu and Lucy said, "Uh, we don't want those on my birthday!  I want home lunch." Haha, so Dave and I brought in the cupcakes in the afternoon during snack time and got to sing to Lucy and help celebrate.  All the kids and teachers really liked the cupcakes, and Lucy did, too.  Lucy also had Junie B. Jones bookmarks to hand out to her classmates. After school, Lucy had homework and reading, but I let her off the hook with practicing and chores.  I taught piano for a couple of hours, and she and the kids played after their responsibilities were complete.  Then we let the party commence!  We did a bunch of Junie B. activities - read some of the books, colored a paper doll, did a spot the differences, maze, and other great printables we found on the website.  Then it was dinner time.  "Skeggi" and meatballs was on the menu, which is ironically both Lucy and Junie B.'s favorite meals.  We also had fruit salad, green salad, cheesy breadsticks and fruit punch.  Always a hit with everyone (but Dave, who resents spaghetti and meatballs), yummy and messy!  Right after the prayer, Lucy reminded us "Okay!  Now it's time to say what you love about me!"  which we did.  Emma said she's fun.  Cal said she likes cheese and is nice.  Cov said she tickles him. Dad said she says funny things. And I said I love that when she says she'll do something, she'll stick to it and get it done.

We wrote some haiku poems (5, 7 and 5 syllables, give or take with us, haha!), as Junie B. does in Top Secret Personal Beeswax  Here's what everyone came up with -

Love Dad, by Dad. "Lucy is smiling brite.  Her birthday wishes are in sight. Happy birthday, Luce!"
My Family, by Mom. "I love you, you see.  We are a happy family.  Forever we will be."
Jazzy, by Emma. "My cat is a psycopath. Jazzy is my cat.  She sneaks out all day."
Jeff, by Cal. "Jeffery the boss.  Jeff has a pool in his back yard. Jeff likes cheese and crackers."
My 7th birthday, by Lucy.  "It is party time. I am seven years old today. I am happy today."
Super Cov, by Covey. "I am a strong boy.  I am super Covey, away! See me pow! pow! pow!"

We also had some other little "Getting to Know You Sheets" we filled out.  Lucy wanted to play Junie B. Jones tag where someone would have one of the books and tag someone else with it and they'd have to be it next.  So simple, yet so fun!

We opened presents and cards next, Lucy was so excited for everything she got but most of all her little live pets turtles that can swim or walk on the ground.  They are pretty cute!

Next we did cake and ice cream.  The cake I designed to look like a book, and wrote "Lucy M. Ryerse is turning 7!" on it for the title.  Lucy wanted cookie dough ice cream to go with it.  We lit 7 candles at first and then Dave remembered he got a blooming flower candle.  So we blew out the 7 candles and got out the mother of all birthday candles.  Forget the frosting on the cake, this candle was that! Lucy was a little worried Dad would torch us as he lit it, but everyone thought it was super cool!  And after her birthday, it kept singing the "Happy birthday" song over and over for two days.  We had to go smother it and hide it in the closet because it was so loud and kept going.  Lucy said she couldn't go to bed that night because the candle was creeping her out!  When I tucked her in, she said she couldn't believe it was already over! All in all, she had a great birthday and is looking forward to her next birthday already!

 

 

Lucy, still as sweet and fun as the day she was born!  We love you, little Luce!

All About Lucy at 7:

What is your favorite color? Purple

What is your favorite toy? My Hatchimal, Jelly Bean

What is your favorite fruit? Watermelon

What is your favorite vegetable? Cucumbers

What is your favorite tv show? Teen Titans, EllenTube games

What is your favorite movie? Moana, the real Cinderella

What is your favorite thing to wear? Puppy jammies

What is your favorite animal? Parrots

What is your favorite song? "Welcome to New York" by Taylor Swift

What is your favorite book? "That Is Not a Good Idea" by Mo Willems (or any book by him), any Junie B. Jones

Who is your best friend? Brooklyn

What is your favorite school subject? Art

What's your favorite thing to say? Welcome, because it is like two words - well and come.

What is your favorite snack? Pretzels

What is your favorite drink? Fruit punch

What is your favorite breakfast? Eggs, any kind

What is your favorite lunch? Cheese and crackers

What is your favorite dinner? Tomato soup & cheese sandwiches or spaghetti & meatballs 

What is your favorite game? Do This, Do That game

What is your favorite thing to play outside? Horses

What is your favorite thing to play inside? Simon Says

What is your favorite holiday? Valentine's Day and Halloween and Christmas

What do you sleep with at night? My unicorn

What do you want to be when you grow up? A veternarian

Lucy is very strong willed.  She makes up her mind to do something or not do it, she sticks with it.

This girl has a great imagination and never gets bored.  She always finds some game to play.  Which sometimes makes it hard for her to focus and get thing done.  If we use her imagination to get her to do things, it seems to go better.

She loves art lately and will draw and color and paint a lot.  She enjoys giving her pictures to others.

Lucy's quite the funny gal.  Here are some of her recent comments (Lucy-isms) that just make us laugh:

"Every time I take a bath or shower, it's like I'm born all over again!"

(When we ask her to do something lately) "Yes, mommy/daddy!  Right away!"

"When I grow up, I'm going to move and live in New York City!"

"This is the WORST day of my life!"

"Ewwww!  Boys are so gross!  Except for Daddy!"

(Running to her room after hurting Dad's feelings, sobbing uncontrollably)  "I was just being a big brat to Dad!  I feel soOOOO bad!"

(Reading a book about the human body and Lucy shudders) "Mom, can we please stop reading this.  It just makes me feel all weird inside!"

"I don't really have a boyfriend.  Just an imaginary one."

"The things I say are funny.  And they're true."

An Emoji-onal Valentine's Day!

This year, we had a very #emoji-onal Valentine's Day.

#CreativeValentineBoxes  - The kids made their Valentine boxes the Sunday before the big day.  Emma came up with a Princess Leia idea, which turned out super cute.  Better yet, she did 99.9% of it on her own, I just helped her glue for a couple seconds.  It's hard to believe this is her last year in elementary school, last box.  So sad, but exciting at the same time.  Cal wanted to make a Minion, Stuart the one-eyed Minion to be exact.  He's not the biggest arts and crafts guy, but I gave him an oatmeal box and he had fun slapping it together.  Lucy's idea had been formulating in her brain for weeks.  She wanted to make "Lucy's Sweet Shop", so we bought a bunch of candy from the store, and she designed it and we hot glued things where she wanted it.  She said it looked so good she wanted to eat it, but luckily she didn't, wouldn't want any glue in our systems.  Cov wanted to follow suit and make one too, and decided to do a sugar coated one like Lucy so he used her leftovers and we glued them where he wanted it.

#Beoursmail  We got some fun valentines from Grandma Di & Grandpa Scott.  Lucy loved the glass heart stones, and said "it's raining!"  We got some sweet treats, a cute Peanuts book and some decor for mom.  Thanks!!  Love you back!

#LovelyTreats  We made a few fun snacks to get us in the valentines mood.  We made a veggie bouquet for after school snacks one day and also used graham crackers, frosting and candy hearts to play tic tac toe.  Super fun!

#Beautiful Morning  We started out the morning with the kids looking in their valentine mail bags on their doors, which they usually look in there most mornings, but I usually only get something in there once a week.  I was lazy the night before watching too much Olympics, so I was finishing their cards as they were waking up.  They loved them and their new shirts.  We ate some red velvet cinnamon rolls shaped like hearts for breakfast, which were a hit.  Later, we took some to a brother from our branch, and a few other neighbors.

#HeartyParties -  Cov had some fun, first at preschool the week before at our house. We did all kinds of fun things that were heart related, and they liked the candy heart experiments and games best! Then, during the day on Valentine's Day, we went to the library for Story Hour, where the kids made valentines for loved ones and decorated cupcakes. What a goon!  He also enjoyed his preschool party, which was the day before V-Day (and I think we hid his shirt...getting too small but he's in denial).  It was quite epic and he couldn't say enough about it.  After lunch, we went to the nursing home and passed out secret heart message hearts we made and chocolates to the residents.  Cov was so fun, and especially liked Andy and told me he smiled biggest at him because he had a fun laugh and was so happy.  Cov was very sweet to the people there.  Cal, Emma & Lucy had fun parties at school too.  Cal and Emma made cotton candy from our machine for their classes and I got to help out in Lucy's, where we played minute to win it games, ate chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels, fruit, little sandwiches, and cake bombs.  Lucy was quite proud of the fizzy Sprite heart ice cubes we put in the cherry punch.  She was very specific about what she wanted.  Cov loved tagging along, too.  

#FirstVDaySweetie  Sydnie was so cute and everywhere we went, everyone commented about how adorable she went and how sweet she is.  

#VDayDate - The kids thought an emoji themed family valentine date would be fun, so even though the emoji thing kind of drives Dave and I crazy sometimes we went with it!  We made some valentines for all of the family the week before and made heart face emoji valentines.  My favorite was the Voldemort one they made for their cousin Steven, which was an inside joke. They were quite proud.  Emma talked about love at FHE a few weeks ago and our valentine traditions got brought up, and I was surprised by how excited and how much these kiddos look forward to our family date. The kids got some new emoji shirts from us in the morning along with some cards I made.  First, we took some pictures before shirts were stained and kids were tired and we didn't look too terrible. ;) We decorated with some cute banners and plates from Hobby Lobby and started out first with dinner.  We had pizza with a heart emoji face made out of pepperonis, salad, fruit with dip and cherry punch with sprite heart ice cubes.  We didn't do a dessert this year, as the kids got plenty that day.  Our friends the Geottles two littles came over, we watch them on Wednesday nights while they teach religious ed classes at their church and so they joined in on the fun.  First, the kids got to color cute emoji heart puzzles.  Then we played memory matching game with emojis on the bottom of some Hershey hugs. After that, we played "hot potato" but used the emoji pens the kids just got.  We were going to use Cal's smiley sunglasses emoji pillow "Bob", but we couldn't find it anywhere.  So we made it work.  During the game, Cov got cranky and was being rude and hit, so he got to go to bed and miss the rest of the party.  Then our friends went home and we played our last game for the night.  Create your emoji was the next game we played I came up with.  I cut out six circles for each person.  We had to design an emoji for ourselves and for each other.  We started out with our own, making our very own emoji and then passed them to each other.  We shared them at the end and had some good laughs!  They were great!  Cal even said that was his favorite part of the whole day.  Lucy asked if Valentine's Day was really over, she had such a great day and couldn't wait until the next one and then remembered her birthday was coming up soon and then went off on a tangent about that. 

We ran out of time to watch the Emoji movie so we did that and another game after. We each drew a name and got to write a love letter for that person using our own words and emoji stickers.

#JustThe2ofUs  - Dave and I went on our date later that weekend.  We checked out the Bum Steer restaurant in Flaxville and went on a drive around that area and towards White Tail.  It was impressive food actually, and there were only a few that were drunk there.  ;)  Sure love my sweetie.  He's been under a lot of pressure and high stress situations lately at work but he doesn't bring home his problems.  He is kind and loving and makes time for us.  He's such a sweetheart.  Always great to spend time with him.  He gave me a sweet surprise box that had lots of fun goodies in it, and I got him a Dave's 4 Wheeler fund jar and am going to put all my piano/babysitting money in it from here on out.  He was super excited and loved it!