Madison's Birthday

On December 5th, Madison turned 4 years old!! We had already had a pre-birthday party with Grandpa and Grandma Weston while they were still here, so they could give her their gifts in person. And it was combined with 2 other b-days. She was pretty happy to have her own special day just for her :). Madison is so mature and big for her age that it always seems like she should be older than she is. I often had to remind myself she was only 3 a lot of times, because she seemed older for a long time. Anyway. We were babysitting cousins for the weekend. Andy and Shalee got to go on an all-expenses paid trip for their work Christmas party in Colorado. Since she took our kids for several days after Briggs was born, I was more than happy to return the favor. Plus, they all have such a good time together I knew the kids would be in heaven. Since we had 8 kids under the age of 8, it was definitely crazy at some points. But for Madi, it was like an all-day party with them here. In the morning she requested chocolate chip, banana pancakes with strawberry sauce and bacon. :) They pretty much just played all day long. We are having an extremely unusual winter and have hardly had any snow. Thankfully we had some then! By some great tender mercy I was able to get the 3 youngest to take a good nap at the same time, while the older 4 played outside in the snow! That's when I cleaned up everything from the first half of the day, in preparation for the second half. I also had time to make her birthday cake. She wanted red velvet. I saw a thing on master chef where they took the extra cake (from cutting off the tops before stacking) and crumbled it, then stuck it to the side. I thought I'd give it a try. It sort of looked like a weird, fuzzy or furry cake. Not as appetizing as I thought it would be, but oh well. It's always fun to try making something new. For dinner she chose sweet and sour chicken and brown rice with broccoli. That's her very favorite meal! I use Mel's recipe and it has a lot of sugar in the sauce, so I'm sure that's why it's such a hit with kids :).  Daddy surprised us all by taking the early bus home so he got home by 5:30 instead of 6:45. So we didn't have to wait as long to do presents and cake and ice cream. She's been really wanting rollerblades like her big sister for a while, and was so happy to have them. She also got some new clothes because she is growing so darn fast. She never gets any pants handed down from Bryn because Brynlee wears holes in the knees of every single pair of pants she's ever owned. I kid you not. We sure love our Madi cakes. She is such a sweet girl with a nurturing and gentle spirit. She is a smart little cookie and so much fun to have around. She gets in these silly moods where she is just such a ham. She has the whole family cracking up at her craziness, which only make her act it up even more. A funny quirk she has that I love is that she makes noises when she's eating. I don't think she even realizes she's doing it. Just little grunts and Mmm noises. It's hard to explain, but pretty funny. We're so blessed to have her in our family. Happy Birthday beautiful girl!