Happy Birthday Jacqui ~ 7*

Our Jacqui Rose is 7 years old! She had a wonderful birthday this year. She was able to spread it over a few days. We had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese over the weekend, with a few of her close buddies. She had a blast! She picked out a Littlest Pet Shop cake and played games to her heart's content. She is quite excited about being 7. She got a new bike (she has outgrown the one she got when she was 4) and some fun games and toys to play with her friends.

We spent an evening over the weekend going to dinner at my coworker's house. They do not have kids, so I am always a little nervous about what my little narrator will say. Children have absolutely NO filter so it is always interesting what pops up in conversation :) After being completely nosy and searching their entire house, and insisting on seeing their basement and every other area of their house, Jacqui was ready to sit down and eat dinner. After dinner we were sitting and chatting while she was looking around at their 'treasures'. She found a big rock crystal on a table and initially thought it was really neat. "Ooohh what is this, that is SO cool". After a closer inspection she let her thoughts be known (no filter) "Don't you guys ever clean your house? This thing is filthy! I can see slimy bugs in it... You should really think about cleaning this!" I was mortified, they were amazing hosts and offered to let her clean it. So they got out q-tips and tweezers and she spent over an hour getting all the dirt and grime from between the crystals. I just love having a precocious child, never a dull moment! They enjoyed Jacqui and her tales of her fish and school, and how things ought to be done in the world and decided to give her the crystal rock as a birthday present. She opened it up at home and was ecstatic. I have never seen her so excited with a present she got in her life! She did the whole "This is for me?!? They didn't have to do that, they are so nice" just like an adult would say, it was cute... Anyway, we had a great week with her birthday and she is quite the happy girl.

A few updates to go along with the birthday info. Jacqui is currently enrolled in soccer for Spokane. Her and a little friend are in the same team and so her friend's mom is able to take them to the games on the weekends I work. Jacqui is pretty excited and has been practicing her drop kick skills. She got her first set of cleats and shin guards and got a pink soccer ball for her birthday. I will post some pics after we have a few games...

Jacqui is in an after school class for the next month or so to be a cheerleader. She signed up for it and absolutely loves it! She comes home and practices her clapping and cheers. She is learning some little jumps to go along with the cheers and she's pretty good at it! Her voice carries (don't know where she gets that from!) so we have fun practicing what she learns every week. Again, they will get their little pink t-shirts in the next few weeks, so I will post a pic when she gets it.

School is going well for both of us. Jacqui is getting into sciences and discovering and exploring. She is starting to ask lots of questions all the time and is trying to figure things out. I love it, it makes going on walks very fun and interesting! I have 2 weeks left for my current class. It is going well, although it is my least favorite class I have taken to date. I am looking forward to some of my upcoming classes...

Work is well, we are busy and starting many new projects that are fun and exciting. Being on day shift is a blessing and spending the evenings and every other weekend with JR is great!

It is still snowing off and on here, snowed this morning and actually covered the ground (YUCK!). Ready for spring to stick, we have been working in the yard and mowed the grass for the first time of the year last weekend. It is starting to look pretty, and we have been planting beautiful flowers just as fast as our deer can eat them :( We are working on finding plants that deer do not like, turns out there are not many plants like that, or our deer aren't picky...

Hope all is well with the rest of you, hope your spring is blooming with blessings and opportunities... Love YOU!