Happy 8th Birthday, Autumn Bottom

For her birthday breakfast she wanted breakfast in bed and she requested Eggos w/ nutella, blueberries, and apple juice.  We spent the whole morning watching the Disney channel, b/c that’s what she wanted to do.  Her hair is curly b/c she wanted me to put curlers in her hair after her shower last night.

We finally got cleaned up & left the house at 1:00.  It was a surprise & I didn’t tell her where we were going.  We met up w/ the Deckers to pick up Kylie & Kenzie after Kylie’s color guard practice.

We stopped & picked up Ashley and went to the movies to see Paddington Bear.  We saw that one b/c it was showing at the time we needed, plus Autumn & I had already seen all the other kid-friendly movies at the theater during Christmas & New Year’s break.  I had really low expectations for the movie, but it actually ended up being REALLY cute!  There was some kid in the theater that had a really LOUD laugh, and it was so funny when he would laugh during the movie.  I’m so thankful to these AWESOME teenage girls who took time out of their super busy Saturday to spend time w/ an 8 year old for her birthday.  Autumn just adores them and looks up to them, and I’m so thankful she has such great role models & friends!

We dropped them off at home and then rushed to Costco to get a big huge pepperoni pizza & a few other things we needed.  We came home started party #2 w/ some of Autumn’s friends.  The kids ate and then went upstairs to play for a little bit while I cleaned up.  Then we had brownies & ice cream & sang to Autumn while she blew out her candles.

We loaded into the car and went to Kid Mania for the kids to play.  Autumn thought she was SO COOL b/c she had to sit in the front seat so everyone could fit.  The kids had such a great time and ran themselves ragged for an hour and a half.  I should have taken an “after” picture of them w/ their red cheeks & sweaty heads.

I didn’t want to mess w/ party favors, so I took them to the $1 Store and let them pick 2 things each.  They thought that was the coolest thing ever.  We dropped the kids off at home, and then Nate & Riannon & Olivia came over for brownies and ice cream.  It was fun to visit w/ them.

I think Autumn had a good birthday.  I know it’s so cliché to say I can’t believe how fast the years have gone, but it’s so true.  When I got divorced and we moved back to Texas, she was only 5 MONTHS old, and now I blink and she’s eight YEARS old!  I feel like I’ll blink again and she’ll be 18 and going off to college.  We for sure have our times where we clash, but I am so thankful she’s mine and that I get the privilege of being her Mom.  I tell her all the time she’s my greatest blessing, and it’s true!