It's great to be EIGHT!

We have been blessed with kids that rarely ask for anything and when they do it's usually something simple. Well for Sage's eighth birthday, all she asked for was breakfast in bed. When she got up that morning and headed into our room to shower like she always does I asked her why she was up already as I needed to get her her breakfast prepared to serve her in bed. Her response was, "No Mom, I'm going to shower and get dressed first and then you can serve me breakfast in bed!" So that's what we did!



She selected curry for dinner and ice cream sundaes instead of cake for her family birthday celebration!



It was a given I was going to be more excited about Sage's main birthday gift than she was. After all I had procrastinated until three days before her big day in search of a cute bike for her and it was becoming clear very quickly that putting off a purchase like this until a couple days before the big day was a mistake. So you can imagine how excited I was after searching high and low at all our local stores and bike stores to finally call REI in Cinci and learn they had one last 20" pink beach cruiser in stock. I was over the moon! A new bike wasn't even on Sage's radar but I was certain that she'd be excited even if not to the degree I was. So the moment had finally come that we asked her to go up to her room while we set up the birthday room with her gifts. With the phone in video mode we asked her to come down stairs. As she entered the room it was clear her attention went straight to the few gifts on the kitchen table and she didn't even notice her new bike standing right next to the table. After laughing from disbelief that she wasn't going to notice the elephant in the room unless we pointed it out, on video she can be seen glancing over at it and saying (with as much enthusiasms as someone learning they took third place in a three person race) "oh, so now I have two bikes." After reminding her that this one is more size appropriate and way cuter she goes on to explain how her old bike still fits her perfectly... So that didn't go over as planned!!! Thankfully after putting the bell put on and taking it for a spin she realized how much more she loved it and how thrilled she really was for it! Thankfully she recovered...

So here she is with her new wheels!



We laughed though because even though it's the recommended size for her height and age it still seemed a bit small but she loves it, feels fully in control of it and has told me many days since how much she loves it!

The following weekend she had her friend party. She was really wanting to have a gymnastics party but I just couldn't find any place with availability so I had asked her what she thought of a pottery party where they go and paint pottery. There is a cute place in Mason called the Mad Potter and they do birthdays. My friend Heather had taken Sage and Mackenzie to do this a couple years ago when we were out in CA and they really enjoyed it. After taking a couple days to think about it and ask a couple of her friends at school what they thought of the idea Sage decided it was a go! It turned out perfect. As much as I missed planning and shopping for a cute themed party at the house, this was so much easier and it was clear the girls all loved it! They each got to pick a piece of pottery to paint. I had prepared some snacks and cupcakes and then being it was an artsy theme we gave them each fun packages of glitter tattoos and some candy and gum in goodie bags. A week later they will be able to pick up their finished pieces and I didn't have to worry about filling time, cleaning up messes, and coming up with creative ideas to keep a bunch of girls busy for a couple hours! So it worked out perfect!

What a bunch of cuties!!!




I always try to keep track of the stuff the kids get each year so when the time comes and we need to buy gifts for others I have ideas of age appropriate gifts. She got a lot of great things including the pj's she's wearing and dog Molly gave her and her first Lego kits that she already put together all by herself that Annabella gave her! Looks like we have another builder in the house!!!



Happy eighth sweet Sage! Now we'll look forward to heading out to UT this summer to watch you get baptized!!!