She's Seven!

Since Bree does school at home, it's been easier for me to forget she's growing up. But it's pretty hard to deny that she's quite the young lady now. At seven years, Bree is a smart, beautiful, curious, active, independent, dramatic, and precocious girl.

One of her favorite things to say on a daily basis is, "I don't really like school." But she can't disguise her natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge. She grasps most concepts quickly without the need for further explanation. Her reading is coming along really well, especially since we've switched to reading out of the actual scriptures (we've done really well with the kids' story books, but she is ready to move on). Her vocabulary is astounding. Her knack for remembering facts, especially when it comes to History and Science, is amazing.

When we go to the library, she makes a beeline for the nonfiction section, and asks me to help her find books on a subject she wants to learn more about. Her most recent selections included a book of stories from the Ramayana (it was not easy to find a juvenile nonfiction book on Hinduism, but she was quite insistent), a book on ancient Egypt, and a bird guide book. After bringing them home, she brought me her books to show me the pictures of Rama and Sita (if you've ever seen the movie the Little Princess, Rama is the blue prince Sarah tells stories about), to name several Egyptian gods and goddesses, and to show me that she had identified the type of birds that are constantly flying around our house (they're called a house sparrows). She also can't get enough of educational shows like The Magic Schoolbus, and is always spouting facts.

She loves animals, so she chose a zoo animal theme for this year's birthday party (last year it was jungle animals). She shopped online with me for all her supplies, and we sent out invitations to a simple party at Pioneer Park, which is just across the street from the Mesa Temple. The animal cupcake toppers looked very cute on the "grassy" cupcakes.

Just the right amount of friends came (not too many, since I had totally forgotten it was General Conference weekend; I was preoccupied with moving or something).

The gifts were thoughtful and perfect: nail stuff, art supplies, a journal. And she was gracious and thankful.

We played the new lawn game we had bought for the occasion.

And the kids made animal masks, which were very cute (it would have been cuter if the glue had held better, but oh well!)

The kids had a great time, and I accomplished my goal: to make sure Bree had a nice birthday party even though we had just moved into our new house the week before!