Seven?!?

In the midst of our moving and unpacking, Lily had a birthday. It's hard to believe that my baby girl is 7, but she is. We told the kids last year that we wouldn't be having parties this year, so there wasn't any expectation there. Which was a good thing, because I wasn't in a position to pull together a party. But, we did celebrate Lily, and the blessing she is to us, in a few simple ways.

For breakfast, we had a special birthday treat. A few months ago, Lily had tried some cream horns at co-op and loved them. She has asked me multiple times if we could buy them, and I've always answered with a resounding no. Abby had the idea of letting her have them for her birthday, and I thought it was a fun idea. She was both surprised and delighted when we set a big plate of cream horns in front of her!

Abe helping Lily open her birthday gift.

A new DS game (notice that it weighs nearly nothing and has almost no volume, perfect for a carry on piece of luggage!) And yes, that is a baby shower bag, but don't tell Lily, she thought the duckies were adorable. Let's just say we're definitely living in a "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" lifestyle these days.

The Friday after Lily's birthday, she had two friends come over and play for a couple of hours. Then, we shared pizza and a birthday cookie. They had as much fun as they would have had with an organized party and it provided no stress for me. It was a win/win!

Lily could not believe that we could actually make a big cookie, like they make at the mall. She was thrilled. I was appalled that it had been long enough since I've made one that she couldn't even remember it. Needless to say, it was a hit!

Lily and her friends, ready to eat some cookie cake.