Our Peanut is now 8, going on 30

January 20th was Peanut's 8th birthday. Yes, I am just now getting around to posting the pics. (It took me until last week to send my mother Christmas pics so I figure this timing could be worse.)

Around Christmas, we were at Party City and I noticed that in one of the numerous birthday party aisles was a section for just about every single Disney Princess. And Peanut LOVES Ariel.
The Friday before her birthday, I made a trip (alone-YAY!) to Party City and picked up decorations, balloons, and Little Mermaid rubber bracelets.

This was the result of decorating the night before her birthday, right after she went to bed:

I also put another balloon in her room, tied to a little Ariel stuffed doll that I found at Hallmark when picking up a couple of birthday cards.

The morning of her birthday, we went in to wake her up and she was READY to start celebrating. She saw the balloon in her room and got excited. Then she climbed down out of her bed, making it up as she came down the ladder. (Yes, our kids make their beds without arguing.)

This is what I saw flying down the hall towards the kitchen:

 

I think she almost exploded once she got into the kitchen: (love the hair)

 

She was so happy. And then she opened her birthday present:

The gift was the Lego Cinderella Castle. 

And wow.... you'd thought we had given her an actual castle of her own to live in.

I made her cake myself, which is why the shape is great but the decoration on top could use a little improvement. (I can pipe those edges but drawing freehand on top? Negative.)

P is for Peanut

She loved the cake. We let her pick the cake and flavor of frosting instead of just surprising her this year and she loved that. She went with cherry frosting and triple chocolate fudge cake.

Making a wish:

This next picture is starting a new tradition. I found this birthday hat at Hallmark. It sings and dances back and forth when you press a button on the front. It's going to be a tradition that each of us will wear it on our birthdays. (It reminds me of the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter.)

After opening her gift, she went to put it together while I took a shower. Once we were all ready, we headed to the one place she wanted to eat dinner.... The Cheesecake Factory.

Dinner was delicious and filling. We walked it off at our in-town family destination spot....IKEA.
Yes, my kids love IKEA as much as I do.

It was FRIGID that day, the wind chill kicking us all in the arse. But getting an awesome new Lego set, chowing down on cake, being able to go to her favorite restaurant, and getting to go wander around IKEA for a few hours made the weather more bearable.

She loved the whole day:

And neither aliens or the government can read her crazy thoughts.