My niece's birthday

It's officially Spring Break, so I get the week off! That is, I have to correct some exams, do some lesson planning and prepare activities for my students for the next few weeks, but no classes for a whole week. That will be a nice break! It doesn't feel like spring just yet, though...it's still pretty cold, and there's a lot of snow on the ground.

Today it was my niece's birthday. She hardly slept the night before, she was so eager for the big day to arrive!! She was also completely congested, so that didn't help! Poor kid...
We took her to the mall to get her ears pierced, and she got to choose what she wanted for dinner. Of course, the big golden arches was what she chose as her special treat. Seeing my niece's excitement and watching my brother and his wife prepare the cupcakes for school, plan the birthday party, wrap birthday gifts, buy a cake, etc...it was great. It made me realize two things: a) how much I'm looking forward to having a kid and being able to do fun things like that with him or her! and b) how much work it is to be a parent! My brother and his wife put so much time and energy into their daughter's birthday, and I'm sure she'll remember it for years to come.
Anyway, it's been great fun to watch and to be a part of my little niece's fourth birthday. It's nice to see her and her sister growing up!! I enjoy watching them learn, discover and grow.
My mom got each of the girls a scrapbook, so they can start an album. I think they will love this! I guess I'm sort of scrapbooking too in a way through this blog, but online!

I've been hearing and reading a lot about this Yahoo adoption chat group. I should really check it out! It sounds great. Thanks! Very useful and helpful info!!