It’s Great to be Eight!!

So here we are again, another birthday for my sweet little Maisie Miao Miao.  And once again I’m feeling that the years are passing too  quickly, I mean seriously, where have they gone?  Each year I say the same thing, that it seems like just a short time ago when we saw her cue ball cutie face for the first time and she was just a scared little 14 month old being placed in our arms.  Each year I also say that I can’t believe how grown up and mature she looks though it’s the same sweet face from when we first laid eyes on her. 

Maisie is my sweet, kind, hard working, generous, smart, sassy, beautiful, caring, talented, athletic and loving girl.  She is excelling in and loving fourth grade and she still loves being at her gym and is having a fabulous time training for her upcoming USA level 6 season.  Each and every day I feel so lucky that Maisie’s my daughter and I adore watching her grow into the person she is and can only imagine the adult she’ll become.  Though I wish I could slow down time and keep her my wee little baby girl forever, I look forward to each new day with my girl, seeing all that she is, does and accomplishes.  She is my A-Maisie-ing Maisie Miao Miao.

This year for her birthday Maisie asked to have some of her favorite girls over for a pajama, candy eating, sit around the fire pit & roast hot dogs and marshmallows, chalk, play together, gymnastics, decorate cupcakes, hang around like-big-girls party.  So that’s exactly what she got. 

Happy Birthday my sweet little Maisie Miao Miao, I love you more and more each and every day and each and every year.

Maisie, ready to celebrate with her friends.  (Thanks to Lisa for this and most of the pics in this post)

Briana was very excited for the party to begin!

A little chatting and lots of candy eating, a great way to begin an evening.

Some games on the lawn.

Handstands.

And headstands.

Let the hotdog roasting begin.

Yep, making the girls cook their own dinner!

Watching to make the perfect roast dog.

Yummy!  Cooking your own food makes girls hungry.

A few hotdogs were dropped followed by a good number more which were “accidentally” dropped once they found out that they would be fed to the fish.

Working off some of their dinner with more games on the lawn.

Friends with chalk on the driveway.

Fun and easy playtime on a gorgeous evening.

April, Briana, Taylor, Maisie, Aspen, Alyssa & Sarah.

Then it was time for dessert!

The girls at this party had to work.  Not only did they have to cook their own dinner but they had to frost and decorate their own cup cake!

Going for the sugar!

Ready to enjoy their creations.

YUM!!  Worth the wait and the work!

After the cupcake decorating and eating the girls all grabbed flashlights and ran around the neighborhood playing hide-&-seek.  Well until they needed more sugar…

More work for the girls as they had to roast their own giant marshmallows.

Some preferred them barely cooked, others burned and some just wanted to roast but not eat them.  Thankfully the adults sacrificed themselves and ate the roasted cast-offs.

The girls did actually slow down long enough to settle into their blankets and watch a movie.

But Briana was the only one who stuck it out and watched to the end of the movie as the other girls ran off with their flashlights to play hide-&-seek through the neighborhood again.

It wasn’t just for the girls, the adults enjoyed the evening too.  Sitting around the fire pit on the deck, drinking, eating and relaxing.  A fun night for all.

At 10PM it was time to hand out goodie bags and say good night to her friends.  It was exactly the party that Maisie had wanted but she was tired and ready for bed!  Thanks everyone for making Maisie’s birthday party so much fun!

I have to share these cute pictures of Maisie at her gym. 

Coach Johnny holding five-year-old Maisie by her legs after he plucked her from the pit at her birthday party.

Coach Johnny, three years to the day, holding eight-year-old Maisie, who by the way is wearing the exact same leotard.  Looks like they’ve both grown and put on muscle!!

I still can’t believe that my girl is really eight but here’s photographic evidence showing my sweet little Maisie on her birthday through the years.

 2012 ~ Maisie 7 years old.

2011~ Maisie 6 years old.

2010 ~ Maisie 5 years old.

2009 ~ Maisie 4 years old.

2008 ~ Maisie 3 years old.

2007 ~ Maisie 2 years old.

2006 ~ Our second picture of our sweet little Maisie Miao Miao.  Waving to us and waiting for us to come and get her.

2006 ~ Our first picture of our cue ball cutie.  (she’s probably about 7 months old)