Olivia's 7th Birthday

I know I probably say this with every birthday, but I can never grasp where the time goes with each passing year. For some reason seven sounds so much older than six. And that big gap in her front is starting to show signs of the big teeth coming in. Rats. I wanted that gap-toothed smile to stick around till she was sixteen. :(

 

Olivia's birthday landed on a Thursday, so she spent the day at school. She woke to donuts for breakfast, with lots to choose from, since we picked some up and so did Grandma and Grandpa Sticha. As we sang to her that morning I thought about how blessed we are to be living with my parents and have them there for special little moments like that.

At school she got plenty of sweet attention from students and staff. She also tried to incorporate acts of kindness into her day, like Pat and I did on our birthdays. She gave a mini bottle of hand sanitizer to a student of mine that she adores, an orange for her teacher, and some crayons for a birthday collection the church is doing.

 

Back at home for the evening we made homemade pizzas for dinner, and had cupcakes for dessert. Olivia, Henry and Papa have been playing in their sauna pretending it is a rocket and various other things. A highlight for her evening was playing in the sauna. She also loved when Papa gathered some fresh snow and poured maple syrup on it, just like Mary and Laura did in the Little House books.

On Sunday we celebrated with extended family. We met for brunch with the Clarks at a bar/restaurant in Anoka, and went to Grandpa and Grandma Clark's for gifts and dessert.

 

 



This stinker was all smiles when she intentionally left one candle lit. She has a little crush on a high school boy who has been singing in the church choir the past few weeks.

 

She was overjoyed with her gift of an American Girl Doll from Grandpa and Grandma Clark. A little back-story... When we traveled to Pepin WI to see the Little House in the Big Woods from the Little House book we stopped at the Laura Ingalls Museum. There I picked up a book and a corn cob kit to make a little doll like Laura had before Santa brought her a real doll. Those were the gifts we gave Olivia for her birthday. When she opened it she was sweet and polite, but also said it "Wasn't exactly what I was expecting." I asked her what she was expecting and she said an American Girl Doll. I felt terrible that we gave her a corn cob when she was expecting an American Girl Doll. Not that we probably would have gotten her one because of the price, but we certainly could have spent the money to get her the Target brand knock-off.

 

I shared the story with Grandma Clark, who was looking for gift ideas. I only intended that maybe they get her the Target brand version because I wouldn't have wanted them to spend so much money. I should have known better...

 Not to leave Henry totally out of the birthday celebrations, he did enjoy some good sword fighting. (We should have had him wear his belt!) He also finished up this monster blanket he has been working on sewing with Grandma Clark for the past year or so.

When we got home from the Clark celebration we whipped up a giant batch of chili quick and then were off to ice skating with the Sticha side of the family. Aunt Katelyn and her boyfriend Donovan even came home from college for it! It was the first time skating as a family, and boy was it fun but exhausting! Pat and I hadn't been on skates since one of our first dates over ten years ago. Mix that with our kids first times and we weren't too steady or quick. We took turns with the kids though, and had a few chairs to use as balance, or to push kids on.

All in all, we had a blast. Henry didn't want to take a single break, and was sad when our time was up. We came back to the house for a dinner of chili and another round of cupcakes. Again, Olivia left a single candle and couldn't have been happier.