Our “baby” is 8 years old. It’s crazy!
I didn’t see her first thing on her birthday morning because I was busy running 5 miles to jazzercise. But I left her a little birthday note along with telling the kids what they could eat for breakfast. When I got back from my class I saw my last 8 year old for the first time!
She and her siblings didn’t stick around for long, though. As soon as I got back, I packed them a little food and they took off for the “sand dunes” where they spent most of the day. After an exhausting day of continuing to build their shelter, they came home and relaxed in front of “Monkey Thieves” (which is an awesome documentary series we are watching and highly recommend) for a little while.
When the Hubba got home, we took Wink out for dinner. She chose Carl’s Jr., much to the Hubba’s chagrin. Then she played in the play place with some new friends for a bit while the Hubba and I talked.
Back at home, we had birthday cake and a little family party waiting. Wink had said she wanted chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cake. So we made her a chocolate cake with whipped cream and strawberries. It was SO good. Unfortunately, she was so stuffed from dinner that she could only eat a bite or two of her cake. Luckily she has a 13 year old brother going through a major growth spurt who was willing to help her out.
While we ate the cake, we went around the table telling the birthday girl the things we love about her. Sadly, there were only 5 people there to tell her those wonderful things. Obviously, the missionaries were gone. But also Baboo was out with friends and X was at work. So it was just the four “littlies” and us parents.
We broke out with the birthday presents and she was happy to get an awesome pair of striped capris and a t-shirt that says “I’m 8!” (She may have worn those clothes for three days in a row and I still don’t have pictures!) She also got some snacks and “hair thingies.” Pink made her a bead necklace and Mack made her an origami pentagon.
After our celebrations, the family settled in to watch “The Good Dinosaur” which Wink had been dying to see for weeks. It was all well and good until the very end when Wink was sobbing (SPOILER ALERT) about the dad that died and separation from loved ones. So we spent the last 30 minutes of her birthday comforting her and talking about the resurrection.
I’m so glad that she was born into our family. She is a lot like Wiyah. She looks like Wiyah and she acts like Wiyah. She is brimming over with self-confidence most of the time. She loves her backside and making jokes where it is prominent. She loves to get out of the house and go someplace. She is very sensitive and likes to surprise people to make them happy. She misses Wiyah and JJ terribly and is sad that most of her siblings are of the age to be going away. She is a very good reader and a great memorizer.
sparkling blue 