Look Who's 7 today!

I know this is a little past due, but my Sammy is 7 years old! She is growing up way too fast and she reminds me of that every single day. We celebrated with our family the day before her birthday and she was so excited as you can see. All year she asked for only one thing... an ipod! I was not about to spend a lot of money on something she was likely going to lose within the first few months. So, we gave her my old one... sort of as a trial period. If she can take care of it then maybe we'll think about getting her a new one. I told her right away that it will be used as leverage and if she is being disobedient or unkind I have the right to take it away. So far it's worked well, but we're barely a week into things. And of course she picked out a cake to match her wish!

This was definitely not my best work. I didn't have time to let the cake chill and then the whole thing split right in half. Whoops! She was still very pleased with it, though.

On her actual birthday we decided to through a pizza party. She invited a bunch of her friends over and we had pizza (thank goodness for Monday night deals) and then they watched Despicable Me. Afterwards they had cake that looked like pizza, and ice cream. Then she opened presents and the kids were all ready to go home and crash! It was the easiest, low maintenance party and a huge hit with the kids!

This year Sammy has changed a ton! She is doing very well in school and loves to read and do math. A few of her favorite things at school are recess and eating lunch in the cafeteria. She LOVES her teacher, Mrs. Massimino and comes home smiling on a daily basis. She lost her first tooth this year and has also learned to tie her shoes. Some of her favorite things are Bratz dolls, drawing/coloring, playing the Wii (mostly Just Dance), playing with her friends, listening to her ipod, and bossing her sisters around. She loves to babysit when I need to get things done around the house. She tells me weekly that she wants a baby brother, but would be fine if she had another little sister, too. She is so great about getting up and ready for school. I don't ever have to fight her to go to school and that is such a blessing. (Last year it was quite the regular battle.) She can be very helpful around the house and loves to do extra especially when she can earn some money. We love her dearly and she has brought such joy into our home. Happy Birthday, Samantha!

"Achmed the dead terrorist"

This is for you, Becky! Last night Sarah called a few of our girlfriends and we all went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. We had a great time and Achmed was the funniest topic of the evening. Becky had never heard of him so I told her to look on youtube and type in Achmed the dead terrorist. She asked, "How do you spell Achmed?" I couldn't resist... "A-C-Flem." We were laughing so hard we were crying. Thanks for the fun girls night out! So, Becky, please pause the music to the right and enjoy a good laugh.

***This does have some swearing so please don't watch it if it's going to be offensive.

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob

My SIL had this posted on her blog. I thought it was pretty amazing! So pause the music to the right and get ready to get into the Christmas spirit!