Hippo Birthday to Rachael!

My Rachael is 8 years old and such a treasure. Last night four of her friends came over for a slumber party. Rachael counted down as we got ready for the party and watched the clock until her friends arrived. Rachael had a hard time deciding how she wanted to celebrate her birthday with her friends. First she wanted to ice skate with her friends like Emma had done, but when she realized that Emma had never had a slumber birthday party it became more appealing. As her friends arrived she brought them downstairs to set up their sleeping bags. This was the first sleepover for 2 of the girls and they were all excited.

This year Rachael had a hippo theme party, so we played a few games like hippo on the head relay and hippo on a spoon relay. She also wanted to play the Wii with her friends so we did that as well. She picked an ice cream cake this year so I only had a little bit of decorating to do on the cake. Rachael added purple and green (Speckles' colors) M&M's around the edge and made an 8 out of them on the cake, then she placed a mom and baby hippo on the cake. It took her 2 tries to blow out all of her candles.

They were going to watch a movie so we made popcorn ball creations as a snack. All of the PJ clad girls found their spots and they watched "Jumanji". Megan and Emma were both upstairs angling for the ability to stay up late too. Megan was already tired and started crying really hard. Rachael heard her and came up to help her feel better. I stayed with Megan until she fell asleep and then went down to check on the party girls. I found the movie paused and the girls finishing up cards for Megan, all wishing her a good night sleep. It had been Rachael's idea.

Rachael was having a great time and we let them talk for a while after the movie was over. Around 11:00 Jim let them know it was time to quiet down, but they really didn't fall asleep until midnight. Jim and I woke up early to make pancakes for Rachael's breakfast in bed. They were all sound asleep at 8:00AM when Em, Meg, Bridgie, Jim and I went to the basement and started singing. Breakfast and the rest of the morning went smoothly.

This evening we went to Rain Forest Cafe for dinner. It was Rachael's pick. This visit Bridget found the animals and noises very scary and spent the first part of our meal wrapped around my neck watching the big fish. Those she liked. We did walk around and some of the animals grew on her.

We returned home and Rachael unwrapped her gifts. The guitar was a hit. Jim set it up for her and she then walked around the house with it slung over her shoulder. She is hopeful that Emma can teach her to play. Emma didn't look quite sure that the skills she was learning on violin would be sufficient for that job. Luckily we have an instructional DVD as back up.

Rachael is an amazing girl. We sometimes find it hard to parent her but that is on us not her. She abounds with energy and ideas and she goes in many directions at full speed. But she is also sensitive to harsh words and touch. She feels things with great intensity: excitement and anger, joy and hurt. She makes me see on both subtle and amplified scales our impact in how we discipline and reward. Rachael is a blessing to us, and we thank God for the responsibility to guide such a wonderful child. She truly is a gift who made her appearance into this world in the same way she lives; with intensity.