Naughty number 9.

The Naughty Number 9. 

The title of this post is a reference to the School House Rock video for multiplying 9's.  It's not referring to my Big Apple at all. 

I called the Big Apple from the grocery store the other day, to ask her what kind of cake she wanted me to get.  "Mama, can we just have a homemade cake?"  Music to this mama's ears. "Well, Big Apple, is there something you want me to get to put on TOP of the cake?"  "No, Mama...I just want to use some of the toys I already have."  More music to this mama's ears. 

"Mama?  Can I make the cake by myself?"  This is normally something I LOVE to do for my children on their birthdays...because one of the things I do really well...it's decorate a cake.  But she really wanted to do it, and I couldn't turn her down. So the night before her birthday, I turned her loose in the kitchen.  She did great!

 The morning of her birthday, The Big Apple woke up feeling yucky in the tummy.  And all stuffy in the nose.  But Daddy didn't have to go into work until later this morning, so she wanted to open her presents. 

 She got her very own sewing basket and her own sewing machine.  I figured a girl who is considered half grown has earned her place at the table, right next to me~using her own machine.  (actually, the selfish part of me says that she needed her own machine so that she would stop using mine!)

I only wish she had felt better today.  We didn't get to sew together like I had originally planned.  She spent the day on the couch, sipping ginger ale and broth.
 
We are demanding a birthday do-over.

But I do have to say, that number 9 is a naughty one.  The way it kind of sneaks in and takes away your little girl in the middle of the night....replacing her with half grown young lady....A young girl who is brilliant, and vibrant, and eager to make her way in the world. 

Yup.  That 9 is a naughty one.