Maria Turns 12 Years Old!

One more year until we are the parents of a teenager.  I always say this, but the time sure flies by, and I just can't believe my little girl is this old.  But since I can't stop time, the best I can do is enjoy every second and be very proud of the young lady that my daughter is turning out to be.

This year, the celebrations began with a family birthday party that was actually a week early, so that we could celebrate while both sets of grandparents were already here for her dance recitals.  Her main gifts this year were a cell phone (her first), and a Nook (electronic reader).  We had a dinner of shish kabobs (her choice), and topped it off with an ice cream cake before we dashed off to the recital.

This past Friday night, six of Maria's friends joined us at Skate Zone 71 to roller skate and play Laser Tag. This went well, even though many of the girls had not roller skated before.  Then we brought the girls back here for a slumber party, which didn't go too late - the last noise Ben heard was around 1:00 a.m. 

Today, Maria's actual birthday, was pretty low-key.  Maria got two more gifts - a new baseball glove (which she had been asking for), and a new mirror for the back of her door.  And we had the kids' piano recital this afternoon.  Maria's birthday dinner of choice was last night at Red Lobster, where the staff brought her a piece of cake and sang to her.

It seems we did a lot for her birthday, although its the same as every year, it just seems longer since it was dragged out over eight days.  I'm sure she's a little disappointed its all over, but with only eight more days of school left, she has summer vacation to look forward to!