The Hooks Family: Celebrating Lily's Birthday!

I cannot believe Lily is now 8 years old. Where does the time go??? Here's how we celebrated and what's she's up to these days:

Lily loves arts and crafts projects, so what better place to have her party than at Michael's. While Ryan was in Africa a couple of weeks ago, the girls and I spent over two hours walking up and down each and every aisle discussing what projects would be best for this party. We finally settled on Perler Beads, Sand Art and decorating clipboards. Lily couldn't wait for her party!

We decided to have a small party with no more than 8 girls. Three of Lily's friends couldn't make it because her birthday falls at the beginning of Fall Break, and those families were going out of town. However, with only 5 girls, that meant everyone could ride together after school; that made Lily very happy! I went to Michael's a little early to set everything up while Ryan picked the girls up.

They immediately set about making perler bead designs as soon as they got there. They were all concentrating and working so hard. It was a very laid-back and calm party which I loved! Mia and McClendon sat next to one another.

Lily sat between Alyssa and Rachael.

Lily has such a fantastic laugh, and we heard it a lot at the party; she was having so much fun making memories with her friends.

Mia and McClendon show off their rainbow sand art.

Rachael and Alyssa were proud of their projects.

Lily with her clip board and sand art.

The perler bead projects as they cooled off. Lily made the mermaid, Mia made the big rainbow square, and the other girls made the fish, octopus and dolphin.

After all the projects were finished, it was time for Happy Birthday cupcakes!

Such a sweet group of friends.

We always like to give books instead of goodie bags as thank you favors, so each girl received a book from the "Who Was...?" children's biography series. Lily loves these books, so we thought it made sense for each girl to get one about a famous artist. Monet, Picasso, DaVinci and Kahlo were the ones selected, and Mia got a book on paintings all kids should know.

After the party, the four of us headed to Steak and Shake for dinner. After that, the girls and I headed to the Marietta Square for Art Walk. ACCA had been selected to participate in this festival in conjunction with the Marietta Museum of Art, and both girls had pieces selected for showing. They were excited to see their artwork on display in a museum. After seeing that, we walked around the Square where many professional artists had their work for sale; most of them were pretty interesting and fun to see.

Saturday was Lily's actual birthday; thrilled to finally wear her "8" shirt!

Lily was most excited about going roller skating, so that's what we did. She didn't use a walker at all! Sure, she fell many times, but she kept a great attitude and did a really good job. I was so proud of her! Mia was excited to learn how to skate too. She used the walker though she wants not to so badly. She'll get the hang of it soon, I'm sure.

Back at home, wearing her birthday tiara from Grandma Jan and Grandpops.

This girl put together all three Legos sets that Grandpops and Grandma Jan sent her! She loves Legos so much, and she couldn't wait to put together the new "rescue jungle" collection. It took several hours of the day, but she did it!

She was also very excited to open up gifts from Bama, Mia and us. Mia picked out a little Lego set and gave me a little money to help buy it; I love that sweet girl's heart. We gave Lily a book basket with a dozen new books in it. She is always asking for more books because she just loves to read. There were several of the biographies that she enjoys, Magic Tree House, Nancy Clancy, Amelia Bedelia and Whatever After series. There was also a sketchbook for Bible stories and a China paper doll kit. She was excited about each item.

As the birthday girl, Lily got to pick our dinner, so it was filled with her favorite things: pigs in a blanket, mac and cheese, orange jello, strawberries, "Lily crackers" (seasoned oyster crackers) and strawberry lemonade. Yum!

After dinner, Mom and Dad came over to give Lily their gifts and spend a little time with us; we always enjoy a visit with them. Note that Granna is holding a dog; we were dog-sitting a friend's dog, and she wanted in the picture too.