Birthday celebrations and pillowcases.

I've mentioned before that Hadley loves to plan parties, especially her own!  She decided a few weeks ago that she wanted to have a "Late Over" birthday party and the planning began in full speed.  She spent hours googling and searching for all of the fun activities suggested for sleep overs.  She was really excited about one that she found that suggested having all of the party guests sew a pillowcase.  I had to agree that it sounded like the perfect activity for a late over.  And the perfect activity for someone who owned a sewing machine and knew how to use it.  Unfortunately I haven't really sewn anything on a sewing machine since my Home Ec class in 8th grade.  And I think the last thing I made in there, ironically enough, was a  . . .  pillowcase! 

I was telling my crafty (should own etsy.com) girlfriends all about Hadley's great idea for her late over activity and my inability to sew 20 pillowcases and needed to figure out something else to do for the party.  They had this great idea.  Monogrammed pillow cases.  No sewing machine required.  I loved the idea.  Went shopping for fabric and pillowcases, found a cricut machine to cut out the fabric letters and flowers, and got started ironing on the sticky stuff to make the fabric stick to the pillowcase.  Did I mention I'm not very crafty?  Who knew that ironing on sticky stuff could be so challenging?   After a few attempts and permanent wrinkly fabric with iron on stuff attached, I decided I was going to need some help.  Okay, I was going to need A LOT of help!  Luckily, my friend Jenni is super crafty and makes everything look easy and simple.  She came over and helped me re-iron the fabric and saved yards of fabric.  We worked late into the night, and the next day and the next day.  Our lives were taken over by pillowcases.  I seriously underestimated the difficulty and time of this project.  

But Hadley loved them and that was all that mattered!  She was so excited to help me iron all of the pillowcases, letters and flowers and couldn't wait for the big day to finally arrive!

The party guests

There was pizza and soda, gift opening, lots of laughter and cueing in the house.

What's cueing?  I hadn't ever heard of it before this year either.  Hadley's friend, Payton, (sitting next to Hadley on the right) is deaf and just transferred to Hadley's school this year.  The students in 4th grade have all been learning cueing so they can communicate with Payton.  Cued Speech is different than ASL.  It's based on the phonemes and properties of traditionally spoken languages.   The coolest thing about cueing is that once you understand the concept of it you can say anything you want.  All of the girls in her grade are fluent, that's right, fluent in cueing.  

And then it was time to sing happy birthday to my almost-10-year-old-girl!

Making a wish!!!

 Pillowcase time!  

The girls attempted to hand stitch around their letter.  It was harder than it looked (ongoing theme of this craft).  They kept sewing their pillowcases closed and getting their thread tangled in knots.  They did a few stitches and then were ready to move on to popcorn, candy and a movie.

Love this movie!  

So while the girls were enjoying their movie, we were busy sewing.  Everyone had a good laugh as they came around the corner into our basement and found Gavin sewing with us.  Laugh all you want but I must say my boy's got some mad sewing skills.  Jenni showed him how to do the stitch and that was all he needed.  My pillowcases looked like the girls had finished them.  Gavin's looked a little more polished.

There was more cake on Sunday at Grandma's and Grandpa's house

We checked her out of school for lunch on her birthday.

And the rest of her birthday was spent dancing.  Just Dance 2.  

10 things we love about Hadley:

1.  She is an amazing big sister to Morgan, Mia and Griffin.  She loves to play and will take them outside and play on the trampoline and swings with them for hours.  She likes to get Mia dressed in the morning and fix her hair and then when I try to change her clothes to something more appropriate for the weather, Mia won't let me because Hadley already helped her and put her in whatever she wanted to wear.

2.  She's a great student and loves school.  Her teacher got sick in January and has been gone for 2 months.  It's been a little chaotic in her classroom these past few months.  Her substitute teacher called to let me know how much she appreciates Hadley and what a help she is to the other students.  She said Hadley is always able to finish her school work quickly and then looks for opportunities to help other students who are having a harder time.

3.  She's extremely independent and would rather chose her outfits and fix her hair without any input from her mom.

4.  She loves performing in a singing/dancing group with two of her best friends.  She was excited about getting two solos for their upcoming show.

5.  She's a great friend!  She brings several friends home with her from school every day.  She cleans her room every morning before school so she can play after school.  She makes her bed every morning without having to be reminded.  Playing with friends is more than enough motivation.

6.  She is an example to her family.  She loves Family Home Evening, scripture study and family prayer and helps us remember when we forget or are too rushed.  

7.  She loves dogs.  It's her only wish every Christmas and Birthday.  A dog.  We haven't been able to have one because of Ryan's asthmas but just found out about the Havenese breed and am hoping that dog may be an option for our family.  

8.  She just got braces on her top front teeth!

9.  She walks Morgan home from school everyday to makes sure she gets home safely.  It takes lots of patience.  Morgan likes to stop at the playground and go down the slide over and over again.

10.  She is an amazing daughter!  I was talking to the parents of one her friends and commenting on how Mia reminds me so much of Hadley.  Mia is already doing some of the exact same things Hadley did at that age.  The dad made a comment that I would be so lucky if Mia turned out like Hadley.  He went on and on about Hadley and how wonderful they think she is.  It was a nice reminder for me.  Hadley really is such a great girl.  We are so lucky to have her in our family!  She makes our family a better family.  She is always willing to give someone a hug, share a special treat, play a game, help out at home, and let her brothers and sisters know they are loved.  

Happy 10th Birthday, Hadley!  We love you Hadlebugs!