Grace is 10!

Life is so, so, so busy.  What else can I say?? I feel like the end of the year has started to rush in like a landslide and pretty soon I'll be swept away into an ocean of even MORE busy-ness.  Because I've got a LOT going on.

• For one thing, I just got called to be the 1st Counselor in the Primary presidency, which is totally fun and games to me and I love it, but it also means I'm over CUB SCOUTS now.  Dun dun dun.  Hahaha.  Considering I know nothing at all about the scouting program, and it's not exactly something I'm passionate about, this is going to have one steep learning curve as I go along.  :)
• For another thing, I'm still Jane's Daisy Troop Leader in the Girl Scout organization.  {Although, thankfully, I now have TWO co-leaders working with me to get everything done, so that's awesome!}
• And then there's the Book Club which I spearheaded a few months ago.
• And the Quilting Bee which I formed during the summer.  {And which I'm FINALLY now caught up on with the last couple of month's worth of blocks.  :)  }
• Not to mention the five kids to take care of.
• AND the house to be kept up. 
• And all the MEALS that need to be prepared.
• And everything else that it takes to keep a home and family running smoothly.

So, yeah.  Life is busy.  BUT, as I always say -- I'd rather be busy than bored.  :)  So, here's to a very UN-boring next couple of months!  Hahaha.

To pick up where we left off, though, Grace celebrated her 10th birthday this past weekend!  {Although to be more accurate, Grace has actually been celebrating her 10th birthday for the last week and a half.  Hahaha.}  It all started with a package from Papi {my dad} last Thursday and continued through the weekend with a movie outing, presents from siblings, a package from Scott's parents, and a Cupcake Wars themed cake extravaganza on Saturday night.  Then, she managed to drag things out even longer with the arrival on Monday of the iPod case she ordered on Amazon with her birthday money, and the cards and presents that came from my sisters were just a little bit more icing on the cake.  Grace really knows how to work a birthday!  Haha.

Papi also sent a bunch of Halloween candy for the family, along with a few other things for all the kids as well.  :)

Thanks Papi! :)

For her actual birthday on Saturday, Scott took her with Ethan and Sophie to see "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" for the second time {although it was the first for Ethan}, and then popped on over to the Target after it was over to let Sophie pick out her gift for the Birthday Girl.  Once home, Grace dove into the package from her grandparents and the card and present from Aunt Emily, and then went ahead and packaged Sophie's present in the gift bag from the day before to have some more fun opening up presents.  You know, because she had already worn me down into opening the bulk of her presents the day before her birthday.  Hahaha. 

Another junk! Thanks grandma and grandpa!

"I always NEED markers!" she declared when opening it up.  Thanks Auntie Em! :)

Opening sibling presents -- Take 1!  Friday, October 31st.

Jane picked out a Pound Puppy and Alex picked out a DigiBird.  She was ecstatic about both.  And, in the not-pictured-category, "Ethan," "picked out" a pen shaped like a dog for her.  And I'm using air quotes here to let you know that I am the one who actually picked it out because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to drag him to a store to do some shopping.

Opening sibling presents -- Take 2!  Saturday, November 1st.

Two more dog junks!  Thanks Sophie.

And that is about all I have time for this evening.  We ended that chaotic Saturday with a Cupcake Wars competition between the older 3 (for the cake and ice cream portion of her big day) but you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for the recap of THAT.  :)  In closing, I leave you with Grace's top 3 memories from the past year, as related to me on Saturday night at bedtime: 

1. Dog-sitting Friday this summer
2.  ?
3.  ?

Okay, just kidding.  I can only remember the first one.  Clearly I should have written them down after leaving her room that night.  Hahaha.  I'll ask her again tomorrow and hopefully she'll remember what she said!  Until then, goodnight!!