Rebecca's Birthday

Wednesday, 2 May 2007

Rebecca is 7 years old today. Seven. Seven. Wow. And she is growing up to be such a little lady. Everyday, I'm blown away by how grown up she is, how mature she is for being ONLY seven. And today ... this birthday, really ... was no exception.

Last week GR sat down with Becca to find out more about her birthday expectations. Of course she wants a party (something she's been planning for a mere 6 months - more on that latter), a three tiered birthday cake and here"s her wish list ...

• a new photo album
• more Junie B. Jones books, "I want to have them all."
• bookshelves in my room
• a little nutcracker to put on the bookshelf
• chandelier
• ATV for our house
• growth chart
• more doll clothes

So how did we celebrate?

The night before I made poppyseed muffins - her absolute favorite - for breakfast. I also made marble cupcakes, at her request, to take to school as a birthday treat to share with her classmates.

We attended a short play Rebecca and the other children in her drama class put on for their parents called The Peddler & his Hats. Today was the last day of class (she's been attending for the last 2 1/2 months) and they typically don't do a performance with this level class, but the teacher felt this class was ready to perform, and they did a fantastic job! Grandma Mum and Grandpa Bob came, and even GR was able to came home early from work so he could be there.

After the performance, we had a delightful dinner at a fantastic restaurant and then came home for cake, ice cream and presents. Rebecca had requested a three tiered cake and it took me a while to figure out how I was going to make a three tiered cake I could frost and that wouldn't serve 100 people. I ended up using a 9" round cake pan, a small 6.5" round cake pan and one jumbo muffin pan to make this three tiered wonder. Becca got the large cupcake on top as her very own little cake and loved every bit of it.

Sam picked out some great head bands for Rebecca, Emily chose a beautiful new photo album for her. She got a copy of Anne of Green Gables from Grandma, and five new Junie B. Jones books to add to her book collection. I also found a great reading pillow for her room, a smallish lightweight summer quilt for her bunkbed, and put together a large craft kit for her to use over the summer. And, no worries, the chandelier is coming, thanks to Aunt Elspeth.

Next weekend I'm hoping to get the shelves she requested up in her bedroom and do a little rearranging and some much overdue spring cleaning. I have a grand vision of turning the floor of their closet into a fun little reading hide away to encourage lots of reading this summer ... oh if only I had time to turn all my grand daydreams into realities!

Despite some extremely busy days and weeks leading up to her birthday, and one or two major kinks that threatened to ruin the entire day, as soon as we were all together, celebrating Rebecca and the sweet, loving young lady that she is, we had a perfectly, beautiful, fantastic birthday celebration!