Zip-a-dee-ay and Heigh-dee-ho

My little monkey turned 9 yesterday. That's right, she's growing up on me. She wanted to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but I didn't get up early enough to make them so we ran to the grocery store and bought some. We took them to the Jr. high to eat because she started her babysitting and art classes that morning. She only ate about 1/2 her cinnamon roll; she kept saying she was full. I think she was just super excited about the day. We had plenty of time, so we just went in the school and hung out. I met both of her teachers. Her babysitting class is held in Ms. Gelwix room. I'm not sure what the relation is there, but I did notice all the rugby paraphernalia in the room.



After I picked her up from her classes she had tons to tell me about. She really likes her babysitting class; didn't have quite as much to say about her art class. We had lunch and then I let her play on the computer to help kill some time.

Gifts:
Grandma Nicholls sent her an alarm clock about 3 weeks before her birthday. I let her open it as soon as it came because she was driving me crazy wanting that thing so bad. She uses it to get up at 6:25 in morning, so she can have some alone-time with Brandon while he gets ready for work. It's been a good thing.

Grandma Bateman gave her a watch -- just happened to be the exact same one Chloe has! It seems like there is a theme going on for this birthday, but it really wasn't planned. Guess Sophie just wants to know what time it is -- day or night.

She had also received a couple cards that I let her open while we ate lunch. She really liked the charm bracelet that came with the card Nicole sent!



After chilling for a while she needed to get out of the house so Brandon took her to the park to play frisbee. I met them after I realized I didn't need to work on a dessert quite yet. She was hot and exhausted by the time I got there, but I convinced her to hang out in the shade for a while.


Then it was finally time to go to Chuck E. Cheese! Her favorite game was "Deal or No Deal." She and I both won the top prize our first times playing. Even though it was a "baby ride," she said she really liked the clock that you could ride on. Chloe's favorite game was the water shooter.







In place of a cake, we took her to Galaxy, a new frozen custard place that just opened up. She's been watching the progress as they've been working on the building. I guess it was fitting that it opened just in time for her birthday.


You would think the day would be about over by this point, but we had to throw in one extra dessert! Sophie had found this recipe in my cookbook for a strawberry and rhubarb compote with cashew cream. I had a hard time finding any rhubarb around here, but I finally tracked some down at Whole Foods. I've been trying to make this since Saturday, but it seemed like more things were going wrong than right. But yesterday the stars aligned -- other than already having dessert. So we made it after we got home and called it a bedtime snack. It was good, but we really did not need another treat!

Still she wasn't done celebrating. She got a phone call from Uncle Shane after 10:00. I think she was just about asleep, but she was happy to take the call. Thanks for thinking of her!

We are so grateful for this funny little girl. When she was two and three years old I think we were about ready to give her away. I certainly didn't see myself surviving the teen years with her, but now I couldn't ask for a better kid. She is just amazing. She has a big heart and makes me proud. In perfect Sophie style, she just asked me to post on my blog that in lieu of comments she'd appreciate phone calls! Oh, she's a silly one.