Yep, they're big alright...

The kids have passed another year - 6 and 8 now. Declan's day was kind of routine with school in the morning and gymnastics in the evening. In between those and after he was spoiled, of course. Declan and I played at Chuck E. Cheese for the afternoon and he chose Jungle Jim's for supper. After gym, Nana came by to have cake and watch him with his presents. He got his coveted Taylor Hall jersey. Not much mattered after that. Declan's party was this past Friday at the A.C.T. centre. We fed and sugared 20-odd kids in a smallish room then let them loose in a big gymnasium with floor hockey equipment. All was well with with the world. Mika's big number 8 birthday is today. She is mostly sad because she's not feeling well and doesn't like the idea of growing up. She's been asking how to stop the growing process and crying about why people need to age, anyway. Poor nugget. Despite being under the weather, she had a good day creating a stuffy at build-a-bear and having a quick dip. It was iffy at times if we were going to carry on or pack it in, but she trooped along not wanting a do-over birthday. She requested bacon and blueberry waffles for breakfast and Red Robin for supper. Mika's birthday gift was the build-a-bear trip and resulting accessorized teddy bears - she found a baby version of the one she originally picked and *had* to have it too. I'm surprised her gift cards went as far as they did. Mika's birthday party will happen in March when her bestie returns from Hong Kong. Both kids danced Saturday at the City Centre Chinese New Year show - Declan's first show outside the school and last. He joined in November and was told if he was going to sign up, he had to commit to at least the new years show. He did and announced his retirement from chinese dance. Too bad because he's a good dancer and a showboat on top of it. He's decided not to continue gymnastics either. Hockey and Soccer are it for the boy. Swimming lessons too in between seasons. He regularly performs for whomever is around where ever he happens to be, so the world won't miss out. ;) Mika danced beautifully as the centre because her partner was away in Hong Kong. Mika is already making Jr. High school choices based on who has better dancers. There is little chance she will ever drop a dance class. She told someone recently she plans on being a dancer and if that doesn't work out, she'll be a dance teacher instead. Sammi joined dance and made his debut performance. He did great!