Averie's 10th Birthday

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It's been a decade since our first born baby girl came into this world.  It's hard to believe I've been a mama for 10 years!  This girl, who in so many ways is my opposite, has taught me so much.  She has probably been the reason behind my evolution as a woman.  Without her, I'd be selfish, inpatient, prideful, and unfulfilled.  

To me, this is how I will always see her.  

I'll need to keep this image in my mind as we approach the teenage years I am sure!  

For Averie's birthday, she had a sleepover with two of her best friends.  We have to keep things simple around here lately, but she loved it so that's all that matters (thank goodness).  And of course there is never a shortage of siblings to annoy join her in all the festivities.  

I am grateful for her sweet and loyal friends that help her feel secure in the beginning of an insecure stage of life.  Good friends can be hard to come by, even at this age.

She requested a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.  Easy peasy for me!  

Then of course she got totally spoiled from grandparents.  She was super excited to receive a gift card to shop at her favorite store and pick out anything she wants.  Then she got a bunch of fun stuff from Grandma.  She is really into the Broncos and was so ecstatic to receive some Broncos gear (like I said, my opposite haha). 

She looks quite grown up in these pictures.  Look at those amazing long legs!

Her main gift from us were these cute shoes (wish they came in my size):

Some great reading material (Seriously, these American Girl books are great for her age.  She has the 1st book and it has worked wonders)!

And her other request was for me to highlight her already very blonde hair.  

She wanted to go back to her youthful color. haha  

I was secretly very nervous because this was my first time foiling, but I kept my cool and acted like I knew what I was doing.  Wish I had taken before pictures.  

It turned out surprisingly well, I shocked myself.  And came to the conclusion that highlighting blondes is the easiest to color.  I asked my hair lady and she agreed completely, I guess it's common knowledge.  It just made me happy that I won't have to spend a fortune on my eldest and maybe I can have enough practice before it's the red head and brunette's turn.    

She was super happy, one of those proud Mama moments.  Who knew that highlighting hair could be such a bonding experience! 

We also had the opportunity to attend Averie's parent-teacher conference this last month.  Averie is also testing in the 99th percentile, for both math and language (reading, writing, fluency, etc).  Her teacher explained that this is not the norm, to be so proficient in both areas.  We have been concerned that there wouldn't be as much differentiation in fourth grade (from things I had heard or observed).  I assumed this because it has been her "homeroom" teacher who has been working with her, not a specialist.  Come to find out, her teacher explained that the reason she is teaching the high achieving herself is because she had heard about them a few years ago and wanted to take on the challenge.  I loved this because if it were me, I would probably shy away from this kind of challenge, but she has been excited for it.  Good thing I'm not a teacher!

Her biggest compliment to Averie is how she is such a good writer, all because of her wittiness.  Her writing is hilarious and the comments she makes in class are so funny that she'll have everyone rolling.  She's not a class clown per say, but just says witty things all the time, in context to what is being taught.  This of course makes us proud, especially her Daddy who is my personal comedian.  What a great quality to have!

She is a leader in her classroom, is very well liked by her peers, and her teacher says she is a joy to work with.  Her teacher even commented about how well organized her cubby is (say what?  what has she done with our Averie at home?).  We both laughed in surprise.  Whenever I see Averie at school, she is always smiling and surrounded by friends (both boys and girls).  Our children have created a wonderful reputation for the Perritons.  Brenna's teacher, who is the age of retirement, told us (somewhat jokingly) that he may keep working just so that he can have Kinlee and baby Levi in his classroom (don't get your hopes up, we cannot sustain this, plus there's always at least one in a family who is a nonconformist haha).  We are so proud of Averie's behavior and successes at school, and so very happy with her wonderful school and teachers.

I apologize for this horribly sappy and braggy session.  Honestly, I am usually one to find fault and the negative in even my own children (something I'm working on).  I do this because I feel that it's my job as a parent to know their weaknesses, not just their strengths, so that I can help their weaknesses become strengths.  We all have weaknesses, but we can't change what we don't acknowledge.  Anyway, I don't want to forget these things, and I want my children to read all about their wonderful selves in our family history taken from this blog.