Birthday Celebrations

Birthday Pancakes!

John made Big Sister a fun birthday streamer decoration for her door!  Little Bud was a fan too!

Little Bud was just as excited as Big Sister about the Sophia the First doll/pillow from Great Aunt Meg

Happy and Silly Birthday Faces!

About 6 months ago, my dad brought my American Girl doll home from storage.

Samantha was one of my favorite childhood toys, and she was well loved!  Poor thing had suffered some serious hair loss at my hands, so I decided to send her off to have her bald spots repaired.  I decided to give her to Big Sister for her birthday this year.  Samantha was a Christmas gift from my grandmother (I think she gave her to me when I was about 8), who passed away when I was in college.  It breaks my heart that Big Sister (and Little Bud) aren't able to know either of my grandmothers.  They would have loved both kids so much!  Giving Samantha to Big Sister was a little more emotional than I thought it would be.  It almost felt like I was giving a gift to her from my grandmother.  She was so excited when she opened the box with Samantha inside, and she was even more excited when we told her that the doll was mine when I was a little girl.  She said that she's going to take very good care of her so that she can give her to her kids one day.  I might have shed a few tears when she said that!

Little Bud was excited about the "girl" too

we took a few pictures of the birthday girl before we headed off to Classical Conversations!

Silly Faces!

Aunt Jamie gave Big Sister some fun puppets for her birthday.  She was so excited to see that one of them was a twin to her CC teacher's puppet "Polly".  "Polly" helps Mrs. Emmerson teach the kids Latin each week.  Big Sister had to bring her "Polly" as her presentation topic on her birthday!  Her friends were just as excited about it as she was.

friends from her CC class

We had a little birthday pizza and "pupcake" celebration with Big Sister's friends after CC.  Big Sister originally was a bit frustrated with having to "work" (go to school) on her birthday, but in the end, she had a great day celebrating with her friends.

On the way home from CC, Big Sister asked if she could go swimming!  Silly thing thinks we're experiencing a major heat wave, since we hit 80 this week (she obviously has forgotten about how hot Alabama summers actually get!).  We compromised by setting the sprinkler up for her.  She was running and playing in the front yard when I heard her say, "This is the BEST DAY EVER!!!!"  

She looked extra cute running playing in her new Minnie Mouse swim suit from Grams and Papa!

Big Sister LOVES decorative tape, so when we ran across this washi tape dispenser at Costco a few months ago, I knew we had to get it for her birthday.  She was pretty jazzed about it (I am too, it's bound to keep her busy for hours and hours!).  

Grammie and Papa Jack and Grandma and Grandpa Dudley came by to visit the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

5

This sweet and spunky girl just celebrated her 5th birthday.

Somehow 5 sounds so much older than 4.  And, she's already asking about when she'll turn 6!  She also wonders how old Little Bud will be when she turns 18.  If the last 5 years are any indication, she'll be turning 18 before we know it.  Thankfully, she's decided to buy our next door neighbors house when she's grown up, so that she'll be close by and I can help with her babies.  We've shaken hands on that plan, so even if she decides she doesn't like me in her teenage years, she can't change her mind ; )  She actually told me the other day to not be sad about her growing up; someday she'll have babies, and I can hold them.  For some reason, that didn't help me feel any better about her growing up so quickly!

Big Sister's little mind constantly amazes me.  Her brain is a sponge, and she's absorbing so much information!  We've had a lot of fun this school year learning together.  Arts and crafts are still her favorite, so she's colored scores of coloring sheets ranging from steam engines to woodwind instruments to Russian leaders to South American countries.  This year, coloring has been her gateway to learning new information : )  We recently reviewed some of the things she learned early in the school year, and I was surprised by how much she remembered.

She loves to spend time with her friends.  At the park, library, zoo, playground or in our backyard, her face lights up like a Christmas tree whenever I tell her we have a play date scheduled!  Big Sister also loves spending time with family; she thinks of both sets of grandparents as her best friends : )

One of Big Sister's greatest qualities is her kind and giving heart.  Her generosity often amazes me.  She is equally excited about other people's birthdays/celebrations as she is her own!  She loves choosing and wrapping gifts for friends and family members.  Making someone a birthday card is one of the highlights of her life!  Over a year ago, she started a little tradition of giving an ivy leaf (or 20) to anyone who comes over to visit.  As they leave, she runs out to the front yard to pick them a parting gift.  It's kind of a funny little tradition, but it reminds me that "gifts" is one of her love languages, and we try to make sure we love and nurture her in that way.  Simple gifts like a flower or a card or even making her bed for her, mean the world to Big Sister.

It has been one of the greatest joys of my life to watch Big Sister become the 5 year old that she is today!  She's taught me so much, and even though I really don't want her to grow up, I'm looking forward to our future adventures together.