Muffin is 8 - well, almost

Last night we had round 1 of Muffin's Birthday parties. This one was with our family. We had 22 people over for dinner that included some of Muffin's favorites: sloppy Joes, pineapple, green beans, oranges, cheese curls, crescent rolls, cake and ice cream.

We are blessed to live within 20 minutes of everyone in our immediate family. My two brothers, Andy's brother, and both sets of parents live nearby and are a regular, integral part of our lives. And we wouldn't have it any other way. There were 11 kids here last night between the ages of 2 and 14 and I did not have to intervene in one single incident between them. To my children, their cousins are their best friends, their aunts and uncles are people whom they know and know well and their grandparents are a part of almost every day in one way or another. I guess we do have a "it takes a village" kind of lifestyle in that sense and I couldn't be happier about it!

I was probably a little too proud of Muffin as she opened her gifts and was so gracious and sincere in her excitement over each gift. Especially the darling cards her little cousins made by hand-she appreciated them and fussed over them so that they knew how thankful she was. And I was thankful that she was thankful!