A Birthday Celebration at Preschool

On Tuesday, we brought a special snack to school so that Makena could celebrate her birthday with her classmates. Makena was excited for another celebration, but she was equally excited to be the line leader for the day. 

Daddy stepped out of a meeting to join us. I loved that he wanted to be a part of the celebration and excused himself from work to do do. 

Makena told me today that she feels "nervous" when everyone is singing to her. That would explain why she looked at Derek and I the whole time her friends were singing Happy Birthday. 

It was fun to make her feel extra special and to be a part of her school day for a brief period. 

Happy 4th Birthday Makena!

I was excited to throw Makena a party this year. She hasn't had a party since her first birthday. Her last birthday was just three months after we moved to Texas. She didn't know a lot of kids so we just celebrated as a family. This year, she had almost twenty kids celebrate with her. Even her preschool teacher showed up -- such a sweet lady!

When I asked her about her birthday, the only thing she really wanted was "a bunny cake." She wanted a 2-tier cake like sissy had and she wanted her little bunny blankie on top. She left the rest of the party details to me. 

We had the party Sunday afternoon at church.

We had a bunny craft, bunny bead necklaces, some coloring pages and stamps and large bunny punching balloons for the kids.

  

The kids got to take home a bag of candied popcorn and m&ms.

  Kyle and Daddy hanging out. Funny how they both tilt their heads at the same angle...

Mommy friends

Time for cake!

Loving the attention!

The girls and one of their Sunday school teachers. She's a high school student who spends a lot of time with the preschool ministry. The girls love her!

Makena had a great day from start to finish! She said the best part of her birthday was the cake. I love making the girls so happy with their cakes. The best part for me was last night when Makena slept in her undies. She is now Pull-Up free! 

I love my sweet girl!

Celebrating Sissy

Karis was so excited to celebrate Makena's birthday. She came up with lots of ideas for her party. She also drew cards and pictures for Makena and tried to find something to give to her (even though she knows we go to the store to buy presents, she likes to find things of hers to give to others). 

She made a card and planned to give her Fluffy. Then she made a card and taped a bracelet and other small toys to it. I finally offered to take her to the store so she could pick out a gift. We went to Michael's and looked around. I made a few suggestions, but she didn't like any of them. She then found a soft, stuffed, purple unicorn in a bin of stuffed animals. She found the perfect gift! She proudly carried it around the store. She knew Makena would love it.

Makena was so excited when she woke up on her birthday. "Am I four today?" she asked excitedly. She put on a dress and ate some chocolate chip pancakes. 

She then opened up her gift from Karis. I should have videotaped it rather than take pictures. I hope I captured the sentiment through the next few photos.

Karis loved seeing Makena open her gift. And she was right, she loved it. After breakfast, it was off to church where she would tell all her friends and teachers that she's four years old!

Update on Fluffy

Karis has been trying to think of what she can give to Makena for her birthday. First, she decorated a large Easter egg with stickers and filled it with some sparkly decorative eggs she purchased at the dollar store with some gift money (Thanks, Auntie Linda!). But then she changed her mind and wanted to give the egg to her teachers at school.

She then decided she wanted to give Fluffy to Makena for her birthday. She drew her a card and asked for Fluffy so she could put it with the card. I hesistated and tried to convince her to do it later, in fear that she would "relapse." She then told me, "I want to say good-bye to Fluffy." I pulled out Fluffy and gave it to her. She smelled him and then... she said, "Ew, he's stinky!" I was so relieved! She taped his ears onto the card and then gave him back to me. 

Karis at Age 5

I was talking with some friends today about the terrible 2s and how 3s are the real terrible stage... and  4 isn't much easier! I have to say that I'm finding the "5-year old stage" to be quite sweet. Karis has matured a lot and I'm loving the changes. She has been pulling away from "the pack" (namely, her brother and sister). 

She talks differently and acts differently and seems more even-keeled. Both girls recently realized that they haven't seen the spanking spoon or been in time-out for a long time. We can talk through most stuff with Karis. She does still whine and seems to get most upset when I say one thing but change my mind (e.g., I tell her she can watch a show, but then realize we have to leave the house soon and then say she can't).

I love hearing her talk about school and what her classmates said and did. She can't wait to go to Kindergarten. She loves the idea of going to school five days a week.

Today while Makena and Kyle were sleeping, I was doing some things around the house. Karis asked if there was anything she could do to help me. I was shocked. Usually she asks me to play with her, but I was impressed that she was willing to do some of my stuff. 

She used to ask me "why" a lot and it bothered me because it seemed more like she was talking back than being inquisitive. Now she is really asking questions... and a lot of them! Some of the recent ones that I remember are, "Can you really die from being cold?", "How can Ariel and Sebastian talk underwater?" "What does 'what' mean?" When we read books, she no longer just listens but asks about any word she doesn't know. 

She's been trying to take care of Kyle instead of just playing with him. A couple days ago, I let her take Kyle with her to check the mail. She ate it up! They got to walk about two houses down to the mailbox and then walked back to our house and then continued to walk about two more houses the other direction. She took great care of him while I stayed by the front door and watched. They loved being out on their own!

She is a responsible and obedient girl! We are so blessed. The most challenging part right now is her clothing. She wants to wear dresses all day, every day. It's been really cold here so I try to get her to wear warm clothes. On non-school days, I want her to wear comfortable clothes. But she always wants to wear a dress. The other day the girls wanted to play in the backyard. Makena had a dress-up dress on and striped blue/green leggings and she threw on some pink boots. She was out the door. Karis put on an Easter dress. I made her change. I told her to put on pants. She brought out another dress. I told her no. She put on a short-sleeve knit dress. TWENTY MINUTES of back-and-forth and she finally put on some play clothes. Can't wait for the teenage years...