Emily's in the Double Digits!

It doesn't seem possible that we're old enough to be parents of a ten-year-old, but it is easy to believe Emily's ten; she's been about ten for years, and now that she's chronologically ten, in some ways she's practically teen. I just hope that with this early beginning she is able to skip past lots of lessons most teenagers have to learn the hard way, and be a model teen when the real years hit. Dream on, I know. A mom can dream. Anyway, since last year was a big friend party, and knowing how much she loves the "Girls Night Out" that we do, I planned a day of shopping, out for lunch, and more shopping with just the two of us. She got to pick out some clothes that she'll actually wear and a bike that she actually likes. Now you may think this ruins the surprise factor. Well, you have to know Emily, but she is a girl with a plan, who has both feet on the ground at all times. She likes to have fun but still know what's coming! So after we girls played, we picked up the boys and took her to her favorite restaurant. The evening was topped off by a tropical fruit ice cream cake made with orange cake, cream cheese frosting, vanilla ice cream, and tropical fruit on top. Doing the ice cream part was exciting; let's just way there was a round tub of ice cream and a long string of dental floss involved! She wanted trick candles, but at the last minute she decided she wanted her wish to come true, so she just wanted one to blow out. She still had to blow twice, but the kid has asthma, so we'll give her a break. ;)
We just love Emily so much. From the moment she came into our family, she has brought us nothing but joy and pride. She is all we could ever have hoped for in a daughter. She's bright and loving and sensitive. She helps with her brothers and takes on a lot of responsibility in our home. She's even started babysitting. My favorite thing about Emily is when she gets the giggles late at night. You can say anything to her and she busts out laughing, it's too cute. It's my goal to make her spray her water by saying something funny. She loves when we get silly and make videos of our silly dances to laugh at later. She will even let me take her hands and dance with her in the aisles at HEB, until she thinks about those little cameras that may be watching us. Em, you're like a good cheese--you just keep getting better with age!