Livvy the Birthday Girl

There's no one quite like Livvy and we like it that way. It is easy to celebrate Olivia because there is so much to celebrate- her creativity, her zest for life, her love of people, and her feeling right at home in the spotlight, to name a few. Olivia turned 9 on June 4th! Let me just tell you a little about what Olivia has been up to these days...


Yesterday, I peeked out in the backyard to remind Faith not to hang on the net of the trampoline. One of the new neighbor boys (being ages 9 and 11) asked me why Olivia wasn't coming outside. He then went on to tell me, while chuckling, that Olivia had just posted a sign in her bedroom that said "HELP!" What a flirt. Apparently the boys found it charming and were happy when Olivia freed herself and came out to join them.



Olivia is a busy little crafter and artist. She has been weaving potholders (I couldn't resist the flashback when I saw the kit at Hobby Lobby), convincing me to tie-dye t-shirts, creating "Puppy Love" drawings to decorate her bulletin board and making multiple signs for her bedroom door that read "Private! Keep Out! and Knock!"



Speaking of her bedroom... Olivia has requested independent living quarters and her request has been granted. We moved Olivia out of the room she and Faith shared and into the playroom which is going to no longer serve as a playroom. It is anything but a playroom to anyone whose name doesn't start with "O" and end in "livia." No one else is allowed beyond the doorway unless he/she has been summoned or has important business (like putting clean clothes in her dresser.) We had to sympathize with this big sister because little sister really was getting into (and usually destroying) her stuff at every turn. It has really gotten to a "What did Faith do now?" point. So while we hoped that (and still do) Olivia might be a bit kinder with her ways, (think outrageous drama over a missing "pony in my pocket," a used up gel pen, or a goobered tin of lip gloss) we did see the need for her to have a place that wasn't so easily accessible to a four year old. And thus, the move.

Olivia has also been quite the "little Mama" to baby brother Seth. She LOVES cuddling his warm little body and is a good helper, as long as my timing is okay. She has even voluntarily changed a couple of diapers (as long as they were just wet, of course.) She loves to show Seth off to her friends.


And one more thing I want to mention about dear Livvy. Her tween-ness is becoming more and more apparent as she has become interested in taking better care of herself. She has been studying a book I gave her last year, "The Care and Keeping of You" which has something to do with American Girl. It has inspired her to brush through the pesky rats in her hair, bathe and shower more frequently, and even consider eating fruits. I'm imagining she would hate that I wrote these things- how embarrassing right? But it is so much of what Olivia is right now that I want to remember this time.

And as if this post isn't long enough already I'm going to cram in some details about Olivia's birthday party. There are a few things you can count on when it comes to an Olivia birthday-- 1- it's going to be a slumber party, 2- there will be a DQ ice cream cake and 3- there will be a pinata.

Olivia had 5 girlfriends join her for a night of pampering at her SPA slumber party. After making bagel pizzas, jumping on the trampoline and bashing the heck out of a pinata, the girls did facials, pedicures and manicures. After settling a couple of homesick issues, the girls giggled until about 12:30pm which I thought was quite reasonable. I refused to sing bedtime songs in front of the crowd, being that I am so shy. But Dave gave into their pleas and helped them finally get settled down. Olivia told me that when he sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" which is a staple goodnight song for Olivia, Dave told the girls to just picture him in a blue and white dress, with long brown braids, and sparkly red shoes. What a crack up! I'm sure all thoughts of missing mommy or pet doggie flew out the window when this image came to mind. No wonder it was so hard for the girls to stop laughing. (Dave is such a good sport- he's gotta be since he married me.)

The next morning a couple of the girls were up at 6:30am, unbelievable. There was more trampoline jumping and a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. Then the girls who didn't have to rush off for summer school or cheer camp, decorated some really cute flip flops.

So that's the rundown...several days late. Can I tell you that I have had no time to blog since school has been out?! The only reason I'm getting this post up now is because the guilt has become unbearable, and I propped the bottle for this nighttime feeding. (Shh!)



Now, I'm going to try to get some sleep before the crew wakes up. If I can just get the image of Dave skipping down the yellow brick road out of my head...