Lily Turns 9!

Lily is my super-special-first-born.

For Valentines Day at the elementary school they had a Valentine box contest.  This year the boxes were out of control.  One really young kid had a Frozen castle that was as tall as she was and super ornate; just about every one was so over the top, it looked like parents had spent hours on them.  I didn't feel like this project was that important, so I let Lily do it on her own, which she was happy to do.  She made a simple box, covered with red paper and glitter glue hearts.  The school does this Covey 7 habits - leadership program, so in the hearts she wrote the school leadership mottos.

It was so smart, she knew the teachers and PTA people would like it, and they did, and she won over all the over-done projects.  I was so proud of her, because she thought up a really smart idea and did it all on her own.

For her birthday party she decided to have a movie themed party.  Here was the invitation:

It was a really fun and easy theme.  We had a variety of popcorn.

One of the flavors of popcorn was buffalo.  None of the other kids liked it.  Wacky Lily loves Franks.

We invited a lot of kids and they unexpectedly all showed up.  

The cake was pretty fantastic.  Those are painted marshmallows on the top.  

She had a bunch of really great friends come.

Grandma and Papa gave Lily a few horse riding lessons for her birthday.  She loved it so much.  She saddled and brushed a little horse named Sugar.

She learned to ride her, turn, stop, all that important stuff.  She did such a great job and couldn't have been happier.

Here is her birthday survey:
What's your favorite color?  Blue
Favorite animal? Dolphins
Favorite TV Show? Wild Kratts
Favorite Movie? Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Favorite Music?  Roar, Katy Perry
Favorite Food?  Pizza
Favorite Hobby? Drawing
Favorite Dessert?  Smores Pizza
What do you want to be when you grow up? A Horse Trainer