Kate Turns 9

I remember when Kate was born, I wished so many things for her.  I wished for her to be confident and kind, willing to take on challenges and also humble.  I wished for her to be active and love school.  She is now 9 and I can't think of one ingredient I'd add to her personality.  Kate is sunshine, truly.  She is affection and grace and humor.  More than anyone in our house, she is social.  She thrives on friendships and playdates and conversations--even conversations between adults.

Zac's sign:

Mermaid-themed paper for our mermaid girl.

The morning of, we all worked together for her special birthday breakfast.  Zachary was in charge of the orange syrup.  The best part of the quarantine thus far is working together in the kitchen.  My kids have very limited exposure to cooking, and they have been involved in every meal for the past two weeks.  I love Zachary's nervous grimace:

Folding in the egg whites.  If you have not seen Schitt's Creek and the cooking episode, you should ("Fold in the cheese!").  Here's looking at you, Brady.

Brady was on a conference call to help people in our ward, so he joined us with AirPods in his ears.

Next up on her birthday: home church.  I really like home church although miss the interaction with our ward.  Each kid took time to prepare something to share.  Owen even took a turn, singing activity songs with us and his favorite primary song.

Zachary insists on pulling his hair to the wrong side and it makes me a little crazy.  #smallkineproblems

He asked questions and gave an ice breaker to anyone who got them right, but it turns out you had to be "exactly right" and that's hard to do in religious discussions....(insert questioning emoji).

Proof that I do brush my hair sometimes.  And wear clothes that aren't swim-related.

This was a bummer set of circumstances for my socialite little lady, and we had to find a way to make up for the fact that 1) There was no birthday gathering, 2) No birthday dinner, 3) Not even cake and ice cream with friends, and 4) That our planned trip to Oahu where we would hit up Dave and Busters and Target was canceled.  We came up with a present scavenger hunt around Poipu, and it was a hit.  The kids were so excited to read the clues and hop into the car over and over again.

At the end, we came home to her two major gifts--a Polaroid camera and a wet suit top.

Cards from both grandparents.

Trampoline time with Dad while I made her favorite meal: salmon bowls.

I was so touched that the Smiths drove to our house and sang her "Happy Birthday" in the driveway.  Spencer is an ER doctor so they kept their distance.  Penelope and Kate have been friends since they were three.  Kate also had special calls from Cory and Kristen and Grandma and Grandpa Edwards that made her day shine.

Happy, Happy Birthday to my darling girl.  Thanks for being so positive and happy even in disappointing circumstances.