Katelyn turns 9

Katelyn has turned 9! We gave her an unusual gift of a room make over! She has been complaining steadily to Darin over the past year while they read together in her room. We celebrated with a birthday lunch. She picked the local diner 'Bridgestreet Cafe'. Emma had bought some clothes for Katelyn and then we told her about her room makeover. At first I could tell she was unsure what this meant and whether it was a good gift or not! After lunch, Darin returned to working at home and the girls and I went into Maple Grove to shop for her room. I must say Katelyn is easy to shop with. She looked around the store and immediately knew which comforter she wanted. Emma wanted to convince her to look at other stores so she would know all her options. But Kate knew what she wanted. Generally Katelyn does not like to shop so she picks out what she wants and she's done.. no second guessing. She picked a teal, pea green and yellow comforter. Then we needed to pickout all the accesories: sheets, rug, baskets, pillows, throw blanket and paint for the wall. When we got home Darin and I prepped her room for painting. It was easiest to leave the furniture in her room and just move it around to paint. Katelyn and Darin left for a varsity girls basketball game where Katelyn was a rocket budddy. So Emma and I painted Katelyn's room. She was so suprised when she came home and it was all ready. The paint fumes were pretty strong however so we made her sleep in the livingroom on her matress. The next day we added a magnetic chalk wall above her bed. There were so many coats that needed to go on that it wasn't finished for a couple of days and much to her dismay she had to sleep in the livingroom a couple of days longer. I had to shop for the perfect curtains by buying 2 different ones and the returning the rest. I'm also still looking for a black chandelier for above her bed.

The next weekend she had a slumber party with 4 of her friends (Ellie, Jordan, Josie and Kayla). This was her first group sleep over so everyone was very excited and giggling. They of course stayed up late and woke up early... but fun was had by all. The one thing Katelyn insisted on was that she wanted a chocolate fountain instead of a cake. So after several trips to the grocery store to get the correct amount of chocolate.. they were happily dipping and dunking in chocolate. The favorites were cherries, pringles and bananas.