Aubrey Rose is EIGHT!

Our Monkey is EIGHT years old!!  I can hardly believe it.  Here are some of my favorite pics of Aubrey from 7 to 8....
(It was hard to find pictures of just her....is that what happens when kids get older??)

Aubrey at EIGHT:

• She loves school and loves to learn!  She is a very good student, and we have never had to worry about her academically or her behavior (so far!).
• She LOVES to read!  Her current obsession is Harry Potter.  She and Brian are reading the series together, and it's been a really fun thing for the two of them. I've also really enjoyed that this obsession has taken over (pretty much) for the One Direction phase.
• I know I've put this for 6 years, but it remains true....Aubrey is such a good sister! She can still argue with her siblings (mostly Carson) and occasionally wants to be left alone, but mostly they all just play, and create, and run around, and have so much fun together.  Both Carson and Charlotte have way more fun when Aubrey's around.
• Although Aubrey has long grown out of her princess and Barbie phase, she has quite a good time playing with these things when she "has" to for Charlotte!  Having a sister 5 years younger has really allowed her to relive a lot of the games and toys that she used to love playing with.  
• Before Aubrey started 2nd grade, she taught herself how to say the R sound.  It was the last sound she couldn't say, and she was determined to figure it out before school started.....and she did it.  From speech therapy at 4 to now 8, she has perfect speech.
• She only wants to wear her hair in a ponytail.  She will NOT let me put in any bows, flowers, ribbons (except soccer), headbands, etc.  We've had to designate every other day as "ponytail day", and I force her to do a different hairstyle the other days.  Mostly she chooses one braid (aka, a braided ponytail).  
• She loves to be called a "dare devil."  And she kind of is!?  She loved being crazy off the high dive last summer, super excited to go on the roller coaster at the fair, try out the crazy new waterslide at Roaring Springs....
• She likes to be independent.  About a month into school, I was told in no uncertain terms that she did NOT want me picking her up from school.....she would now be walking home every day with her friends.  Brian and I can have the tendency to be overprotective, so I have a feeling she'll be asserting her independence more and more over the years....
• She tells the longest stories ever.  She recounts every small detail and tells what every person was thinking and saying, and what she was thinking and saying, and what happened next and next and next....  
• She can be a leader and a follower.  She is very concerned with what others think of her (which scares me).  But then she'll turn around and be organizing a game for her friends to play and not backing down when she wants her way.  Go figure.
• She can get quite the attitude.  Brian is starting to wonder if he'll make it through the "teenage years."
• Aubrey loves:  brinner, creating, weekends, making up games and the rules to go with them, being outside, playing with friends, telling jokes, doing handstands and cartwheels everywhere, her family, her new queen-sized bed, Harry Potter, and sleeping in.

Happy Birthday, Aubrey!  We love you so much, and are so glad you were born.