Ten!

Goodbye single digits...a decade...all ten fingers!  I cannot believe this girl is 10!

I wasn't too enthusiastic when she told me she wanted another Halloween party.  We've done 2 already but some ideas started to come together and I had a really fun time making this cake.

It's only every 7 years that your birthday falls on a Saturday.  We asked her what she wanted to do on her big day and she chose to go the farm to pick pumpkins.

And Grandpa even got to join in on the festivities when he dropped by for another weekend before business.

And apple picking too...and corn, and squash...it's hard to know when to stop

Lily was fascinated by the turkeys.  It is this farm's specialty, raising turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Riding around on our neighbors motorized car.

Present time.  I absolutely loved how excited and grateful she was for each of her gifts.  

One of her favorite book series as of late...The Mysterious Benedict Society.

She's loving her new rollerblades.  She mentioned she really wanted them for her birthday just a couple of days before...thank goodness for Amazon Prime :)

Grandpa bought nerf guns and we had a few rousing battles

Making sugar cookies with Grandpa

That's how we like them, with lots of sprinkles :)

The following weekend we had her friend party.  They each got to paint their own glow-in-the-dark t-shirts

Then we did lots of scavenger hunts and relay races

And ate pizza and cupcakes

• There are glimpses here in there of sleeping in until nearly 8, but still for the most part she is an early 6:40 riser.
• She has become pretty responsible about getting dressed and ready for school on her own without any prompts from me…now we just need to keep working on her doing her own hair
• She was nervous about 5th grade and chromebooks but she has conquered it and she has yet to come home to report a bad day.
• Her teacher tells me at conferences that she is a very intelligent girl and is doing a great job turning in her homework on time and participating in class, and thinking deeply.
• Her teacher was curious to know why Rachel decided against joining a particular club designed for these higher level thinkers.  I went home to find out from her that it was because it’s during recess.  I certainly don’t blame her…it’s her last year after all.  And I love that she still loves to play!)
• She is continuing with viola again this year
• She has made great progress on the piano.  She is currently working on a piece called Pajaro Triste which her piano teacher tells me is an Intermediate-Advanced piece that he typically gives teenagers…pretty cool.  And she’s killing it, doing an amazing job!
• She is also taking gymnastics again this year and is in level 2 and still enjoying it.  She is always doing flips over the couches and back bends in the yard.
• She’s really good about finishing her homework and practicing before going out to play with her friend Alai.
• She is an amazing sister to Lily and runs to her whenever she cries, gives her piggy back rides, etc.  and she can play really well with Kate and Tommy.  I loved watching them all play together this summer.
• She can be very silly ☺
• Rachel loves her family and is always up for a great adventure.
• She is very grateful, and always sincerely says “thank you”
• She continues to LOVE reading and devouring books.