piercings and pets

Not to be confused with piercings ON pets.

Maddie turned ELEVEN!!

I think the happiest part of her birthday, aside from a doughnut cake (per request), came from reminding Rick that young womens is only one. year. away. They've been battling over her growing up for years now, and it would appear that Maddie is winning. Poor Dad.

On the big day, I picked her up from school for a surprise trip to get her ears pierced. She was super excited about this finally happening and got a sweet stash of new earrings to wear in only 6 weeks time. She feels impatient about this, but is faithfully caring for her cute new ears in the meantime:

Then we came home to party with the menfolk...

One of her gifts was a cage with a paper hamster in it, care of Brayden who knew how much she's been wishing for a pet, so off we went to the pet store to pick out something real to put in it. Introducing gerbil sisters, Pepper & Lulu:

Don't let the picture fool you, these are busy girls! We've learned that unlike hamsters, gerbils are NOT nocturnal. They are hyper little things and considering how they wrestle with each other, Brayden has his suspicions about them really being sisters. I hope he's wrong. Also, Maddie & I were happy to learn that being desert rodents, they eat & drink less requiring less cage cleaning, if you know what I mean.

They are well loved and so far, no gerbils have been accidentally released into the wild. We'd never be able to catch them if they did. They take turns running at warp speed on their wheel, only to stop and get flung out with a thump. Maybe they're hyper because they have brain damage. I knew I got along with them for a reason.

All in all, a memorable birthday filled with new & responsible things...just right for the source who is just plain growing up! Maddie, you are AMAZING and continue to be our favorite daughter (despite any confusing competition from Connor.)