Maddie's Birthday

Mom and Dad had given Maddie an early birthday present of a couple of really intricate popup books, one with instructions on how to make some on your own. While Mom was in Phoenix for the week after accompanying us home, she also gave Madeline these black boots with hot pink zipper details. As you can see, they were well received!

A couple weeks later, on Madeline's actual birthday, we did the standard Forman birthday routine. Everyone gets around early before school, and we stop by somewhere for donuts while the birthday kid gets to open one present from the siblings. It is an exciting way to start the day and keeps the kids' gifts to each other from getting lost in the evening shuffle.

Not surprisingly, Madeline elected to wear a panda shirt on her big day. She was quite thrilled to receive a little panda from Katie and Jackson.

Her birthday dinner of choice was Pizza Rice Casserole and steamed broccoli.

Happy 9th Birthday, Maddie Grace!

To fulfill a special request, I decorated lemon cupcakes with pandas, and served them with lime sherbet. The pandas are made almost entirely out of parts of Oreos. I didn't realize when I picked them out, that I would spend hours the day before dissecting Oreos, but I did: regulars and minis and double stuffs. Wow. (I don't know why the picture loaded with a grey bar across the bottom.)

The panda received a halo of nine multicolored burning candles for the birthday song.

Jackson enjoyed Madeline's choice of birthday cake.