ELEVEN! It looks so good your number one TWICE!

One. One. How did this happen? Eleven years of blessings beyond belief from this vivacious, dynamo of a kiddo. God has lent me this girl, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

She woke up to a card that maximized a hug for her and a “let’s go buy a book today!”

AND SO… at 9am, the minute Barnes and Noble opened, we were there. Coffee, books, and relax. aaaahhhh.

While she read, I put the new cover on her new…..well, yes, phone.

Ok, here’s the scooperama on that. She uses my old iPhone for pictures, music, and some podcasting capabilities (recording). I figure that I shouldn’t fight the “NO PHONES” until she’s 16, and then BOOM, here’s a fancy computer (phone) with all kinds of capabilities. Dumb. No, you work up to it with building trust. You also work WITH your child to teach them how to be responsible with this powerful device. Liken it to you not just handing over the keys to a car and so, “good luck driving.” You drive with them for at LEAST 6 months, teaching them the ins and outs of how to drive and what NOT to do. SO…as is with a phone.

Verizon had a deal that I could turn in my phone and add a new phone to our family plan for free. AND, I could disable the SIM card so the phone number would not be active. She would only be able to text me ( or other iPhone users). Also, she could download APPS ONLY after it texted me to ask if OK. AND…no phone number until we are ready for that capability (texting too). It’s a great way to build trust and also make it so the phone isn’t this “TABOO” thing until _____. It’s like withholding candy. They go BERSERK behind your back…so we work on this together and I teach her tech responsibility and tech manners (and tech balance).

After three days, it’s already lost its “thrill.”

Ok, onto the festivities of the day. After the surprise B and N, Verizon visits, I made some pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting (all dairy, sugar, and gluten free!). YUM!
(She’s off dairy and gluten right now due to some health issues…:-(, but we make the best of it!) (actually they taste better)

Ok…thennnnnn, I said, let’s go see a movie! TROLLS 2. SO fun, so 3-D, here we come.

OH, but WAIT!!! FIRST< we must go outside and see what Daddy has in the back of his car.

Let’s “scoot” on over to check it out.

Matches your shoes and all, oh, and we got TURBO (which means that you can GOOOOOO as fast as those green shoes will take you, my love.)

FIRST< a GAME to say, “SORRY.”..I must beat your booty!

So, after all this fun, we said to meet at the dining room table for some more lovin’ fun.

All her cards decided to sing to her, and did she have a dance in her step.

Snoopy NEVER gets old.

Truly the BEST DAY EVAH was 11.22.

And our fav ….HOOPS and YO YO!~
Little fun gifts….socks, ornaments…and her new video game (she ‘s been asking for this and it’s parent/family approved)

To top it allllll off, some dairy free, coconut-whipped-topped with marshmallow birthday sundae.

That’s right. This little light of mine. I love to see her shine, and she truly brightens EVERY minute of my day. Even the dim moments, she still flickers love.

Was it a full-fun-filled day?
You be the judge.