Kari's 10th Birthday

I think this is the longest I've gone without posting on the blog! December got away from me. We were busy with Christmas preparations, birthday celebrations, and school parties and projects. Kari Lynn turned 10 on December 17th. She is officially in the double digits. We celebrated with family the Saturday before her birthday and had a birthday brunch.






She made and hung these snowflakes as decorations for her party. We were impressed!




On her actual birthday, Greg surprised her by taking a long lunch and showing up at school during lunch with Arbys for them both. She loved it. 

 

She had a great day until just after our dinner of chicken pot pie (her request), when we realized Tiger Lily (the kitty she picked out) was missing. We had Oreo but no Tiger Lily. We couldn't find her in any of the usual hiding spots and, after a couple hours of searching inside and out, determined that she was not in the house and was gone. The cats are inside cats and have never been outside. We walked the neighborhood with flashlights, twice, with no sign of our kitten. Kari was devastated, just sobbing. Her birthday evening was ruined. She couldn't enjoy her birthday cupcakes and ice cream, and we didn't even try to sing to her. She was up way too late, finally crying herself to sleep at 10:30pm. It was a very cold night, but we left the garage door open just a crack overnight anyway, hoping the kitty would come home. It was a rough night. I prayed that God would bring the cat back to us, begged him, actually. It was awful seeing Kari so heartbroken, and I wanted so much for her prayer to be answered, but there was no sign of the kitty in the morning.

 

I took Kari to school early the next morning for a jump rope practice before school and came back home with the other kids. Just before it was time to take the other two to school an hour later, I checked the garage yet again, calling for the kitty, and this time I heard a "mew." I could hardly believe it. I kept calling and kept searching, and the "mewing" continued. I made my way closer and closer to the sound, and saw a little paw poking out of a hole behind the furnace where a heating duct went down under the house. I was so happy, I cried. I ran into the house screaming to the kids, "I found her!" The kids came out, and I tried to get her out, but she was stuck, wedged in the hole between the wall and the heating duct. I was about to go in the crawl space under the house to get her out when I decided to try one more time to lift her up so she could get out, and this time, it worked. She was able to squeeze her way out. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a cat. Aubrey and Joel couldn't wait to go to school and tell Kari we'd found her kitty. I wish I could have been there to see that cute little scene.

 

We had a birthday night "redo" and ate cupcakes and ice cream and sang to her that night instead.

Happy girl with her kitten.

 

Kari has entered a pretty fun age. Nine was great, and I think ten is going to be great, as well. She has grown up so much in the last year. She started piano lessons a year ago, this week, and is still really enjoying the piano. Her teacher said, of all her students, Kari learned the most Christmas songs. She was motivated and has at least eight of them under her belt now. :-) She's doing really well. There are some frustrating times, when new songs are difficult, but we rarely have to remind her to practice, and she's advancing quickly!

 

She likes soccer a lot and is starting to get into tennis and will be taking some lessons (birthday present) this spring. She likes school and is very much a self-motivated learner. She's in the jump rope club at school this year and, even though she's nervous about performing, is excited to do her routines in a couple months at the school assembly and at Barlow, during half-time at one of the high school basketball games. She still really likes the color pink but decided she wanted a blue room, so that was our birthday gift to her this year--redoing her room. We painted it a bright sky blue and got new bedding that should last her a while, well into the upcoming teen years. I'll have to post a picture later. She is still ridiculously organized and never has a thing out of place in her room. She is not really into clothes or fashion. She'd much rather keep things plain and simple, very practical and all about comfort. :) She is maturing, learning how to be more flexible, learning to think about others more, helpful to us around the house, and is just growing into a delightful young lady.

 

We decided not to do a big friend party this year, and instead, planned a little outing with her good friend, Ellie, who has a birthday two days before Kari. We had a mother-daughter tea time after Christmas to celebrate their birthdays. The girls had hot chocolate; we mom's drank "fireside orange" tea, and we all shared some sweet treats. The lemon tarts were amazing. It was fun. :-)