Seven-Year-Old Sunshine

My kids have learned well how to stretch their birthdays out for a week. May as well maximize things, right? Sunshine declined a birthday party. She wanted a roller skating play date instead. She met 2 friends at the rink (with her siblings in tow), skated a couple hours, ate a big pickle at the snack bar and called it a day. Tonight, she had chick-fil-a for dinner and a red velvet bundt cake. Throw a few presents in there and the girl is happy.

Things to remember about Sunshine during her 7th year:
1. We got two cats in the fall--Simon and Heidi. Sunshine cannot pass a cat without picking it up. No matter what she should be doing, she CAN NOT ignore the cat. She is extra thrilled when one jumps on her top bunk.
2. Sunshine likes a lot of people but she's one of those kids who wants a few really good friends and that's all she needs. She has a couple good friends at school that she would play with night and day if time permitted. Apparently, she and the couple of friends have a "club" at recess and they swap love letters regularly.
3. If Sunshine were forced to play one thing for the rest of her childhood, it would be babies. Not baby dolls. Babies. She can easily convince Junebug or Chickadee to be a baby. Sunshine is either the mom or the teenager every time.
4. Sunshine loves books. She is not yet reading much on her own but she can sit and listen to them for as long as I am willing to read. Favorites this year have been Harry Potter (books 1 and 2), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches and Dory Fantasmagory.
5. Sunshine is still the most serious out of the bunch. She doesn't mess around at dinner. She doesn't trick people or try to make them laugh. Every once in a while though, she crosses her eyes, sticks out her tongue and puffs her cheeks out, only to immediately go back to being serious. It's like all the silliness is tucked up in her brain and pops out for that split second.
6. Sunshine is still an animal lover. Her library books are almost always non-fiction animal encyclopedias. One was a vet book with real surgery pictures. On the ledge right now are two non-fiction books about sharks and sea animals.

I say it every year and it is still true. The thing about Sunshine is that her character doesn't change with age. She is the same kid she was as a two-year-old as she is now. She is loyal, kind, observant and just that teeny bit stubborn still. She keeps us grounded in a way no one else in the house does. We are all so lucky to have her loving on us.

Happy 7th Birthday, Sunshine.

Boy Boxers

A certain girl requested "boy underwear" for Christmas. She received 6 glorious pairs of slightly too big boxer briefs. Said child has spent the last 9 days in only her underwear when we have been home.

Two entertaining conversations re: these undies:
Two days after she had been wandering around in her underwear, she declared: Oooh look! These have a POCKET!

After sticking her hand in her "pocket" and realizing it was not at all a pocket, she said: oh, wait. I was wrong.

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Last night, she was tucked into bed wearing only her undies when we have not reached a high of 32 in the last two days. It's freezing.

"Aren't you cold sleeping in just your undies?"
"No, I am so happy because boxers are so clean and so FRESH! They keep me warm!"

Wacko.