Tessa turned 8 on March 24th and as we planned her baptism, I kind of hoped that her actual birthday could be a quiet one. However, she remembered that we had originally said that on every even birthday they can have a party, so Tessa really wanted a party. I tried to explain that with her baptism and family coming into town, maybe we could forgo the party. She quickly replied that Abby had a party when she turned 8. Of course she was right, so we planned a party. Luckily, Tessa had been dying to have a party at Peter Piper Pizza, so when their school had a fundraiser there the week before her birthday, Tyler and I got all the information to have a party there and even booked it that night because the prices were reasonable. Plus, I was happy with having the party somewhere besides my house, so I didn't have to worry about decorations or clean up. That was the best part! So the final weeks of March and the beginning of April were all in celebration of Tessa's birthday and baptism. Here's the birthday girl on her actual birthday before leaving for school.
That night, we had the Kasallis family over to help celebrate her birthday. We had steak kabobs and meatballs which are some of Tessa's favorite foods. She chose a lemon cake that has a pudding/cool whip frosting. She's my lemon lover, just like me!
The Friday after her birthday, we had scheduled the Peter Piper party. She was allowed to invite 8 friends, most of who she chose from the girls in her class at school. She has some close friends who are boys: Sam (see picture above) and Santiago who lives two doors down, but when I asked her if she was sure she didn't want to invite either of them she just stuck up her finger and said, "No, this is a girls only party!" Okay, so girls it was. We had the party right after school and it was the perfect time because it wasn't busy. They had fun playing games, eating, and buying prizes.
Between all these pictures, I tried to get all her friends in at least one of them.
Tessa's sisters of course loved to be included in all the birthday festivities. I love this picture of Aubrey because she was on the little carousel and I took the picture while it was going. I love how she's pretty much in focus, but you can tell from the fuzzy background that the ride is moving. Abby and Taryn are riding the roller coaster ride together. I think it even vibrates their chairs, so they always have funny looks on their faces.
We took a picture with everyone from the party, and the hostess even gave us a framed picture of this one. I thought it turned out pretty cute.
Since we did birthday cake at home, we opted for cupcakes for the party. The cupcake was the perfect size to fit the one huge number 8 candle. It was also picture day at school so a lot of the girls were in their fancier clothes and dresses like Tessa was. It made for a perfect girly party.
A few fun facts to remember about Tessa being 8:
She has lost 6 teeth and as they all grow in at different times, she currently has a pretty awesome gap-toothed smile.
She is in the GT program at school and loves all the things she learns there and at school. She picks up things quickly and is so smart. Her teacher always comments about how much of a help she is, even with other students as they learn new things.
She reads to Aubrey and spells words for Abby. Taryn still loves playing with Tessa and can usually get Tessa to play with her most easily.
She really, really wants to be in gymnastics which we're hoping she'll start this summer. Even without official classes she can do cartwheels and perfect round-offs. We spent one day having her try all these exercises around the house like getting into a handstand against the wall and then doing pushups while still in the handstand and she can do them no problem! She's close to doing a back walkover and loves to flip over our couches as part of her "practicing."
We love this girl and are so happy to have her in our family. Her baptism post will be coming shortly, but we're so proud and happy that she's made that decision to be baptized. She's so grown up! Time goes by so fast. We love you Tessa!
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