The BIG 7

So our precious Whitney had to go and turn 7 years old on us...

We started out the morning early before Tyler went to work. She went on the traditional "find the presents" search through the family room. Here she is with her loot and gang sign for the day. :)

She wore this cute new birthday outfit to school from Grandma Decker:

We stole her out of school to take her to any restaurant of her choice... McDonald's.

She even got chocolate milk with her happy meal... what a treat!

Whitney's birthday request was that she go ice skating with her cousin, Lauren. (see questionnaire below--I had Tyler and her fill these out so I could keep track of their b-day ideas and figure out how to organize things)

For a minute there, we started adding names of others who might come to an ice skating party, but with everything going on that weekend, we scratched those plans. 

After Whitney got out of school, I dropped off Cole and Annie at my sister's place and then took the girls to the rink. I love this shot below because they agreed to let me take a picture but said, "Let's just pretend to hug --and not really touch each other-- or we'll fall down."

 Cutest little posers

In case anyone forgot how old she is...

Now this was a real hug after they had been on the ice a while and felt more confident:

After ice skating, I took the girls to get a quick snack before gymnastics and to the grocery store for Whitney to choose a cake (long story on why it was store-bought and not homemade--just chalk it up to lack of planning on my part. Doh!). 

Whitney's request for dinner (not on her worksheet above because she found out that we weren't going to eat out at 2 restaurants in one day) was tacos. My sister and her family joined us at home for dinner and a mini-party with cake. This shot below doesn't do the moment justice, but Cole was right in her face singing "YOU" as she was rolling her eyes. We got a good laugh at the way she was tolerating him.

 Presents from Uncle Phil/Aunt Ashlee and the cousins!!

**Side note: Whitney bought herself a Nintendo DS... excuse me, "DS-I" as she always corrects me, and we (and her cousins) gave her some games for her b-day.

Happy Birthday from all of us!!!

7 things we LOVE about our 7-year-old Whitney:

1) This girl has the most grateful little heart. She LOVED writing her own little thank you cards to everyone who gave her gifts. Got them done the day after her birthday without any prodding from me. She is quick to say thank you for the smallest things and is very aware and appreciative of the things others do for her. That day we took her to the mini-amusement park, I think she said thank you 200 times.

She could be nicknamed "the grateful leper" because she is usually the one who stops to say thank you for anything we do. This is probably my favorite characteristic about her; I hope she always keeps that grateful heart.

2) She is obedient. Whitney thrives on obeying rules (and making sure others do too). At the beginning of 1st grade, her teacher made this behavior chart that Whitney adored. Whitney came up with the idea all by herself to modify her teacher's chart that read from (top to bottom) "Outstanding, Great Day, Good Job, Ready to Learn, Think About it, Teacher's Choice, Parent Contact" to this below:

She asked me to write the words, but Whitney did all the artwork for it. We laminated it and have it on our wall. It works wonders when the kids are getting positively reinforced for things. [In case you couldn't tell... everyone's clothespin starts on "Ready to Love" at the beginning of the day. As they do good, they get moved up the chart, and vice versa.] Whitney gets on "outstanding" a lot, and Cole and Annie are learning to be outstanding as they follow her example. 

3) For the most part, Whitney is a patient little girl. She made this poster for her 100th day of school project. The morning she was supposed to take it in, I noticed Annie had eaten 3 marshmallows off of it. Instead of throwing a fit, she just glued 3 new ones on. This poster hung in the classroom for about a month, and then Whitney brought it home all in tact with the 100 marshmallows still on it...

... but before I was done helping Whitney with her homework that afternoon, Annie & Cole had eaten off every single one of those stale, glued on marshmallows. Whitney just rolled her eyes at those two partners in crime.

**Oh, and on that patience note: It also took a lot of patience for her to save up her money for a DS!!

4) She's "trustworthy". Even got an award for it at the school assembly last month:

5) She's full of faith. I found her here reading her scriptures the other night and just had to take a picture.

She tries really hard to understand what she's reading and asks us some great questions.

6) She's super helpful around the house. Whitney likes to ask, "Can I help you with anything, Mom?" Sometimes it's a bedtime-stall tactic, but I know she's sincere. She loves helping with Shannon, reading to Annie, teaching Cole how to spell things, and helping me cook and clean. 

The other morning she even brought Shannon to me with a freshly changed diaper!! Seriously, who is this kid?!

7) Whitney is a persistent little gal. She remembers to follow through with things. One example: this height marker. She marked her height on the wall when we first moved here, and has remembered on (or right around) her birthday every year.

Tyler and I feel so blessed that Whitney came first in our family. She really tries hard to set a great example for her little siblings. I will take the blame for all of her sass and attitude that she gives us at times. But Tyler and I agree that we can't take any credit for the good girl she is; she just came this way!