*ALEXA'S BUILD-A-BEAR GIRL SCOUT PARTY*

Alexa's girl scout raised enough money in their cookie sales to get to go to Build-A-Bear and make their own bear. They all had fun getting to pick which one they wanted and building their bear. They sat outside the store in a big circle and made a wish on a heart to put in their bear. I wonder what Alexa wished for. Then they lined up to put the stuffing in. After all the bears were made they all dressed their bears and went back to sit in the circle where they all got a chocolate chip cookie. They voted on what to do with their money. I think this one was a good choice.

*ALEXA'S FAMILY BIRTHDAY PARTY*

Alexa kept asking when her family was going to come to celebrate her 8th birthday. I wasn't going to have the family over (maybe go out to dinner or something) since we had her party, but I felt bad so I decided to try and throw something together at the last second.
That morning we had the Annual Trolley Run and then afterwards people came over to eat pizza and celebrate her birthday. She was so happy to see everyone there. Erin brought the largest cupcakes for the party, which she also picked some up for me for Alexa's class the next day. When she said big I didn't realize how big they would be. I felt so sorry for Alexa's teacher. I am sure the children were on a major sugar rush. After eating the cupcake, everyone watch Alexa open her presents. The first one was from Trey. He got her a webkinz and some chocolate chip cookies. Angie said that she had given him 4 cookies and he decided to save all of them for Alexa and her party.
Alexa also wanted a digital camera, so everyone gave her money and she had enough to get one. I told her she could either buy a new camera or she could have my old one and save her money for something else. She of course decided to save her money. She said she wanted to spend $40 here and then spend $60 on vacation. I thougth that was pretty smart.
I was also so grateful that everyone could come at the last second to her family birthday party.

I still can't believe my little girl is 8. I remember when she was a teeny, tiny baby and it amazes me how big she is and who she has become.
So here is a quick recap of when she was 7:
*She LOVES Wii. Begs to play it any chance she gets. She loves Rock Band, Super Mario Bro, pretty much anything she can play.
*She is a super reader. One of the tops of her class. She enjoys Magic Treehouse, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and whatever else she can find.
*She is into writing. At least once a month she is wanting a new journal to start a new series of writing. One journal has stories, another has songs, and I can't even name all of her other ones she starts. She also started her own blog, which is super cute to see how her little mind works.
*She loves her stuffed animals. For as long as I can remember, Alexa has loved her stuffed animals. Even though she has never been into baby dolls she has always loved her stuffed animals. Whether it's webkinz, ugly dolls, or just one that a loved one gave her, she always loves it.
*She is great at piano and she just started right before school started. She doesn't even realize that she has talent, but this girl is fantastic! This is the one interest that she will sit down and do randomly without me having to fight her on it. You can tell that she really enjoys music.
*She has a wonderful imagination. I try to remember to ask her what she did each day when I see her after school. She usually tells me of some imagination game her and her friends play over recess. It's usually a shape-shifter game, pretending to have horses, or most recently their made up card game. No matter what it is interesting to hear what game they played that day.
No matter what, I think Alexa will remain my little girl that wears her heart on her sleeve, puts other's before herself, adores animals, and has one of the best giggles a mommy can hear!

*ALEXA'S MOVIE BIRTHDAY PARTY*

This year Alexa had her birthday party at the movies. There was another little girl named Ashley in her class that had a birthday party a few days later, so her mom and I decided to throw it together. The kids all showed up prior to the movie and we had cake and popcorn. We had the kids sit in between Alexa and Ashley as they opened their presents from them. We also played musical chairs and Alexa was so excited to be the person to run the music. Then we went into watch the movie "How to Train Your Dragon." The kids acted great throughout the movie. They were all super quite. I did however line them up and marched them all to the restroom before the start of the movie, so none of them had to have a potty break.
After the movie, we all went back to our room and played duck, duck, goose and sand the songs that they learned in music class until the parents picked them up. I think Alexa has a great birthday party with all of her friends!

*ALEXA'S FEILD TRIP TO THE ZOO*

Alexa's class went to the zoo and I was able to go too. It started off pretty chilly, but warmed up by the end of the trip. We broke up into groups and walked around answering questions about the different exhibits. The number one thing Alexa wanted to do was to feed the Lorakeets and we were able to do it right before we went back to catch the bus!

*ALEXA'S BIRTHDAY INVITATION*

*ALEXA'S BIRTHDAY PICTURES*

Alexa had a dual party with her friend Ashley, so we decided to do a quick photo shoot for her bday invitations.

*THE LEMONADE STAND*

The girls got rice bowls at church today. They are plastic little piggy banks in the shape of rice bowl. The idea is for them to make sacrifice's or raise money to fill the banks up. It helps to raise money for rice for the children of Haiti. Alexa has been begging to do a bake sale or something to earn money for Haiti, so she was really eager to start raising money for the rice bowls. At church she asked if she could have a lemonade stand. I was unsure at first, but her dad helped her set it all up. Maren even sat with her some of the time. However, Alexa stuck at it and was very outgoing at asking people if they wanted lemonade. She kept a tally of her money each time someone bought lemonade and explained to them what she was doing with it. Her goal was $10 and she ended up earning $50! She was so excited and wants to do it every weekend. I am so proud how hard she worked and how determined my little girl was. (Maren was really cute too!)

*MAREN'S ESCALATOR*

Every time we go to the Legends, Maren begs to go on this escalator. Of course it's always raining or freezing out, so we always have to say "Next time." Well this time it was perfect weather, so Grandma Adams took her on a ride up the escalator. She finally got to see what's on top!

*EASTER DAY*

Both the girls ended up crashing in our bed for the night, so it made it easy for them to wake up and tell us when it was morning. Of course I always go downstairs and check the scene out before the girls get too (usually it's me getting my camera ready.) I think this was the first year Maren understood what the Easter Bunny did, so she was super excited to come down the stairs. Alexa of course has been excited for as long as I can remember. Finally they got to come down the stairs and see what the Easter Bunny brought them in their baskets. I asked the girls what their favorite thing was and Alexa loved her new pink wii remote and Maren loved her new necklace. Although, I think her favorite was her Princess and the Frog DVD. After a morning of egg searching we headed to church.
For the past 6 weeks, we have been listening to the steps leading up to the death of Jesus. The church we have been attending does an amazing job explaining everything and doesn't assume that we know everything. I really have enjoyed listening to it all. Of course I have heard all of it in the past, but for some reason this church and Pastor Adams does a great job at keeping my attention and really making each Sunday meaningful. Usually the girls go to Sunday school while we attend church, but today only Maren went and Alexa came to the family service with us.

*DECORATING EASTER EGGS & JUNIE B JONES*

We ended up asking Trey to come with us to Junie B Jones the play. Since he was with us until we went to the play he got to decorate Easter Eggs with us. They all had fun dipping their eggs and then decorating them with stickers. I was pretty impressed at how well they all took turns on the colors.
After working so hard at decorating their eggs, we went to go see the play Junie B. Jones. Alexa and Trey have both read the books who are written by Barbra Parks. Alexa really loved them last year and still will check them out from the library if she sees one she hasn't read. Trey just started them too and he said he likes them. The kids looked like they enjoyed it a lot and giggled through the whole show. At the end they stood outside to greet everyone, so Alexa got their autographs. One of them was named Alexa too, so she told her that they had the same name.

*EATING BREAKFAST WITH THE EASTER BUNNY AT TREX*

We had to wake up super early to eat breakfast with the Easter Bunny at TRex at the Legends, but it was really worth it. We thought the girls would enjoy going to TRex and seeing the Easter Bunny. All of the cousins came too. At the beginning, each family gets a raffle ticket. Throughout the meal, numbers are read. Each time the kids would get excited to see if we had won. Our number was read and you would have thought we won the lotto. The girls didn't care that all we got was a coffee mug (which if you know either Jay or I you would know neither of us even drink coffee), it was just the excitement of us winning.

*EASTER BUNNY TIME!*

We had to go get our pictures with the Easter Bunny this year. I ended up having Friday off, so Jay and I took the girls to Crown Center to get their pictures done. I think this was the first year Maren didn't become hysterical when it was time to go near him. It just shows how big my girls are getting.
Afterwards we met up for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Burhans, Grandma Marilyn and Aunt Rachel for dinner at Manny's.
It was a great Friday off!