The Sweetest Party Ever

August 28th was my birthday. It was a busy day. David had an orthodontic appointment in town, followed by normal school stuff, followed by my cross country practice and then a few hours off before needing to go to worship team practice in the evening. I knew we wouldn't have time to properly celebrate my birthday, so I planned on doing something later on in the weekend that would be special to celebrate my day. Enter in Abby and her sneaky ways. I came home from cross country practice with Ana and picked up Keilah from my friend's house. Abby often goes there too after school while I am at practice, but this day I was told Abby didn't show up. I was a bit concerned since Abby doesn't like to stay home alone and I was afraid that we had miscommunicated in the morning regarding her after school plans (we've done that before). So I rushed home wondering if I would find a little girl in tears. Nope. Not even close. She was cheerful and happy and led me into the living room where she had blown up balloons and hung streamers and suddenly a couple of my friends and their kids jumped out yelling surprise! My sneaky little Abby had gone home all by herself and walked to my friend Julie's house to see if she and another friend could come over for a surprise party for me. She and Julie's kids then came back home to decorate the house together and anxiously await my arrival. When Julie asked if she should bring anything, Abby asked if she could bring a cake. :) Since there was not enough time for the baking and decorating of a cake, Julie brought ice cream and donuts instead. Here's a picture of the birthday party goers.

Abby had also gone to the nearby convenience store and bought a popsicle for me with her own money. You can only see the top of it in the picture below. She was so proud of herself for pulling off this party. I was too. I felt so blessed and honored to be the mom of this sweet girl. I'm not sure which one of us had more fun at the party. Another friend had happened to drop off a huge supper for us as a gift, so we ended up inviting all my party goers to stay for supper. I have to say that this was one of the best birthday parties I've ever had! 

And on a completely unrelated note, here is David in the marching band a couple of Friday's ago. He looks so snazzy in his marching band uniform. He's in front, playing his great grandfather Bill Fleming's silver trumpet. We had taken it to a repair shop to have it flushed, tuned up, and polished. The repairman was delighted to see the trumpet come through the doors as he said you don't get to see such nice quality instruments very often. Grandpa Bill would have been very pleased to hear that. :) 

And tonight we have our second cross country meet. I'm excited for it. Since I'm helping coach middle school, I haven't been able to take pictures like I have in the past. I think my father-in-law may have taken some, so perhaps I'll get a copy of one or two of them to share sometime too. Here's to a lovely Tuesday to you all!