Happy Birthday Tess!

Yesterday our sweet Tess turned 7 years old!  We had lots of fun celebrating over the weekend.  First, we went to Willard Bay with Papa and Aunt Mel's family to do some boating.  The weather was pretty windy so the water was super choppy--not too fun for water-skiing, but the kids still had fun playing on the beach.  Tess got to open her gift from Papa on Saturday.

 On Sunday morning I needed to decorate Tess's cake for her.  She asked for a bunny rabbit cake this year. She and Miles loved helping me pipe on the rabbit's fur.

Sunday evening Gramma & Grampa Terry joined us for dinner and Tess got to open her present from them.  Tess is getting to be a pretty big girl--she asked for CDs as gifts this year.  (I guess we should get her an mp3 player and join the 21st century, but for now she still likes CDs on her portable stereo in her room.)

We realized that Tess's cake didn't have whiskers...I asked her what we should do for whiskers and she suggested that the candles could be the whiskers--brilliant!  So, here she is blowing out her candle-whiskers.  During the first blow she only got 4 candles blown out...

This next picture is just priceless...when she didn't blow out all 7 candles, Miles leaned over and blew out the last 3.  Bryan snapped this picture immediately after (if you click on the picture, it should open up bigger, and clearer...).  Everyone's faces are just perfect.  First, starting on the right, you see Gramma looking at Tess, like "oh no...what's she gonna do to Miles?"  Then you see Tess, with her mad face, growling at Miles (and she even stood up off her stool, maybe to hit Miles?), and then Miles on the left with the look like, "oh crap, now I've really ticked her off."  Luckily she didn't get too mad; just growled a little and then she moved on.

On the actual birthday, Monday, we surprised her with a new bike and a new tetherball set for the backyard.  Bryan buried a hollow fence post in concrete a few inches below the grass and then this pole is removable so we can take it out when we need to.  Apparently Bryan was quite the tetherball-king in his school days at Shelley Elementary, so they had fun playing with this all morning.

Tess is quite the little tetherball-pole-climbing-queen in her own school days at Freedom Elementary and she showed off her skills to us at home too.

 Bree was just excited about Tess's choice of chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast!  Yum!

For her birthday activity we went swimming as a family.  I was so proud of Tess's swimming skills--she has gotten really good.  She went on the big water slides alone this year and also jumped off the diving board for the very first time this year too!  Way to go Tess!

Tess's birthday interview

Favorite vegetable: I don't really have one.

Favorite fruit: strawberries, raspberries, and that's all.
Favorite dinner:  chicken cordon bleu, french dip sandwiches, and pie.

Favorite food:  pop-tarts and cake.

Favorite treat:  Snickers.

Favorite Movie: Monsters Vs. Aliens, Happy Feet 2, and Tangled.

Favorite TV show:  SpongeBob and iCarly.

Favorite thing to do:  play with friends.
Favorite game:  Chutes & Ladders and checkers and War and chess.
Special friend:  Mari.

Favorite book:  BFG and The Witches and Matilda.

What makes you laugh?  tickles. 
What makes you sad?  my brother hitting me or kicking me.

Does anything make you scared?  Wicked did, at Lagoon.

What makes you feel better when you're scared?   calming down in my room.
What is your favorite part of school?  recess and math. 
What is your favorite song?  Rumour Has It by Adele.  I like Taylor Swift too; Speak Now.
What do you want to be when you grow up?  a singer.
What's your favorite toy?  my radio.
What do you like to play with Miles?  teenager.  
What do you like to play with Bree?  give her toys & stuff.

I sure am glad that Tess is in our family.  At the end of first grade Tess's teacher gave out class awards and Tess won "Most Spunky Personality."  I love that!  That fits Tess to a T.  She is spunky!  She is quick to laugh and giggle (and she has a super cute laugh and giggle; I love to hear it.)  She makes friends very easily because she's a bit of a class clown.  She is very, very loving; she's always giving hugs and kisses to me, Bryan, and especially Bree (not so much with Miles...they are getting to that age where I guess it's gross to hug and kiss your brother!)  She loves to read stories together; one of my favorite parts of the day is laying on her bed with her at night and reading chapter books aloud together.  She is so creative; she's always making "stuff" out of other "stuff."  Usually it's jewelry, or a clever hair decoration, or a cute little book or story that she wrote.  She is super athletic and coordinated too (she did NOT get that from me!)  She can do tricks and flips easily and she's getting better and better at doing back handsprings at her tumbling class.  One thing that is a huge strength (but also something that is frustrating) is that Tess is stubborn!  It's frustrating as her mom when we argue and she digs her heels in and won't budge on her opinion (sadly, she DID get that from me...), but it's also a strength because she'll keep trying and trying until she succeeds--she won't give up easily.  Our "Miss Tess" is a wonderful little girl and we love her very much!