HC is Officially FIVE TODAY!!!

Today my HC is 5!!!!!! I can't believe it! I can still remember her being a teeny babe - I remember her scooting around on the floor - I remember her pulling up on the sofa and those giggles - I remember food everywhere as she tried to feed herself. I remember the tip toe walking and almost falling and her first goose egg and the list goes on and on!

Here we are today at 5! WOW~ here is a glimpse at her party on Saturday, starting off with the cake! (I heart cupcake cakes!! They make cake time so much easier!)
We arrived at the mall an hour before the party to get our tables ready. HC was SO excited (and so was JB). The excitement was waning - they were on look-out for their friends!
Me and the 2 on look-out duty!
At one point, HC began circling the table repeatedly saying "My guests are late. My guests are late." She was cracking me up! We had a week long count down until this day and the last hour was a bit much for her to endure!
She even had JB in on the pacing.
Finally!!! We walked down to our girl party destination and found some friends!!
Then it was off to dress-up!
A happy girl! Who doesn't like Libby Lu when you are 5!?!
Next it was hair and make-up and nails! DIVA DAY!!!!Mommy needs to go to Libby Lu for hairstyling lessons! HC LOVED every minute of the pampering! Truly she is her mother's daughter! TA-DAH!!!!!! She was completely glamorous!!!!

All of our Diva's were finally ready for their big show! Even our most bashful one was up for the dancing and singing! That made my day!
Learning the dance moves!
SHOW TIME!
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HC!!!!!"
Time to eat!
Sweet JB hung out with Dad at the tables with the presents. He was so wanting to watch the girls get glam-ed up but he was a trooper. When JB went to pick out a gift for HC Daddy wisely picked up a car for JB and he quietly played while waiting for us to return.
Then JB was given a BIG honor - he helped Dad carry the cake to his stister.
HC was loving the attention of being sung to!
Candles out - cake eaten! It's now time for.....
PRESENTS!!!!! Once we arrived home HC tore open every gift and put it in it's new home! She loves to organize her things! She has played with it all and loves it!!! THANK YOU FRIENDS!
To our friends who are boys - we felt we would spare you the icky girl-ness of this party! I hope you understand - but next year we will return to celebrating with you ALL!! You were missed for sure! :) I thought you would understand that turning 5 was calling for a girlie day!

Happy Birthday HC!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Our 'Almost' Weekend

It has been an interesting weekend! It started off with Friday morning and my post did not appear on my blog. I went to Dashboard to find that the Blogger Robots had locked my blog and thought I was spam! (Later on I found that MANY others were in the same situation!)

Friday was busy anyway with preparations for a 5 year old birthday party! We were running errands and such. Saturday was the big birthday party day and my 11th year anniversary (and tax free school supply shopping day)! We've been married for 11 years! WOW! It seems like when we 1st married I could not imagine ever making 10 years! It seemed like... well... a decade away! haha Anyway, here we are just on the other side of 10 years and life is great! Love you husband! :)

Sunday was recovery and church and a wedding shower. HC will be going to the 5 year old class next week so her day was filled with goodbyes to her friends and her favorite teacher! It was a good day but a busy one. Then Monday was well - I felt like I couldn't think to write! So sorry if I left my loyal readers with the same old post from Friday (although I couldn't post it until Saturday). I will post about the birthday events tomorrow but I couldn't resist giving a slight update and sharing a few pics with you.

Almost 5 is a big deal! Bigger than I ever remembered! HC has had many big almost moments over the last week leading up to this monumental day - here are a few for you to enjoy:

HC has officially snapped at least once - but almost snapped 100 times.
HC has also whistled a few times but almost whistles all the live long day! Almost 5 has many almost events!!!! Too many almosts in too little time!

Girl's Night and Boy's Night

Last Thursday night we had separate date nights. The boys went their way and we went ours! We haven't done this type of thing much and they both LOVED being the center of attention!

HC and I were headed to see the American Girl movie and then dinner. We arrived at the theater, after checking the website SEVERAL times to be sure of the times, and when I went to buy the tickets - I found out that they cancelled the movie we were to see. HC was devastated! She was so looking forward to a girls' movie night! I had to quickly regroup and come up with a suitable plan B. The problem was - this was not Friday or Saturday night. This was 7pm on Thursday night. Many businesses close earlier on Thursday night. So no ceramics, no going to the local girls boutique. NONE of that! Step 1 - dinner.

I frantically came up with a decent plan B - the mall. I had to be creative so.. we went to Build-A-Bear and a friend told me of a killer deal at the Children's Place. So we indulged. HC was giving her newest family member 'Cutie Pie' her first bath and then we were off to Children's Place for the 50% off of the sale price plus an additional 15% off at the register sale!! Ca-ching!!!!
Then HC decided we had to ride the carousel!! She was THRILLED to ride the carousel. Can you tell? We both 'raced' while we rode!The night was finally complete with a pretzel! My HC really knows how to enjoy the mall to it's fullest. She walked in with a slight frown and left with bags of goodies (at bargain prices no less) and a grin big enough to melt a Mommy's heart. I did good - our night was not lost!

Meanwhile - the boys were doing boys stuff. JB found a new freedom of an open window. Steve said JB rode the whole way with his hand hanging out of the window! The simple pleasures! (Somehow this picture does NOT capture JB, as he looks to me.) Then JB got a cool hat and mini-bat for a keepsake of their night.
Doesn't he look thrilled??? He came home beaming from his 'boys night'. He loves Daddy time!!!!
Next date night I will take JB and Steve will take HC. We cannot wait! I hope JB and I can find something fun for him to enjoy. I am sure Steve feels the same way about HC. It is easier for me to find things HC will enjoy as is the case for Steve and JB. I am sure we will figure it out when the time comes! This summer has been the best so far! I cannot imagine anything more fun than this summer!

Traveling the Backroads...

You will find that one man's trash truly IS another man's treasure! You will see sights that draw you in... only to find - everything is closed!
OH how I wish I had the priceless photo to accompany this next one!!

A country mall is NOT the same thing as an outlet mall! Let's just get that straight right now! A country mall (with a strict sign forbidding dipping and any and ALL dip spittin' cups) is more along the lines of an overpriced Rack Room Shoes (with rude staff too)! Never NEVER ask the Country Mall sales clerk if there mildly overpriced goods are REAL leather! You may get a used spit cup thrown 'atcha! :)

School Days

Last Monday we began having school days. Our summer days become so extremely hot towards the end of July and being outside is so very unappealing. So I decided to try starting school on the icky hot time of year so that our school days will end when the weather is great! Here are HC and JB posing for their school days picture. (I forgot to take a picture on day 1 of school - so this will have to do this year.) We are studying Creation, using My Father's World, and here are the numbers HC colored for each day of creation. Each number has pictures on it showing what God created. JB has been listening to our Bible lessons and creating too, usually his own creation. They've played with puzzles and made comments to me such as "We aren't having a school day today are we Mom? We're having a play day." The puzzles are part of the curriculum and the kids LOVE them!! :) School and learning has been fun!!!
In addition, HC colored a page for each day of creation. She drew fish and birds for Day 5 and animals and people for day 6. She really did well drawing. Last year she didn't enjoy drawing and I was concerned she would be overwhelmed with the daily drawings. She really did fantastic! She didn't show the slightest concern that everything wasn't perfect. I was glad she had fun with it.
So, we discussed Day 7 today. HC has a booklet to read - that she made!! It has been a fun start to our schooling so far. We don't even miss out on any of the fun things our friends are doing (although we did miss a movie today - but we can watch it tomorrow if we want!).
I did write the words for HC in pencil and she traced them. There have been more wins in our school day too - I will share that soon enough. I was thrilled to find a simple tool to help HC enjoy reading again!!! More to come!

Fancy Nancy Party Fun

Last weekend HC and I had a fancy day planned! Our friend C had her birthday party and we ALL had to be fancy! Here is HC and C listening to C's mom give advice on coloring their Fancy Nancy color pages. Mrs. R later read the Fancy Nancy book to all the girls.
Then there was nail painting. Definitely fancy!
HC's finished fancy paint!
All fancy girls need a crown! HC was working so hard to make her crown just right!
I think she did just that!

And last - a fashion show! The girls loved it!!!!
All the Fancy darlings...
And then... a parfait in a fancy cup with a fancy spoon! Totally fancy party!

Last glimpses of Florida fun!

We were able to see Daddy in the evenings. He missed out on most of the fun but we really enjoyed our trip more when he was with us! Me and the kids in the bustling wind!
Here are a few of the friends we made - their daddies work with our daddy!
JB's buddy! Reid was so gracious to play with JB. JB thinks the world of him!
One night we played putt putt... but our final night was dinner and straight to the hotel. We ordered JB and HC a shark attack. It was a sprite with a toy shark in the sprite. The shark had an open mouth FILLED with cherry juice. We poured it in their drink and they thought they had something special. Only problem was it was a big bulky cup and JB spilled it all over him. He wailed while we quickly took off his shirt and hurriedly ate our dinner. I think it was great to go to the hotel early our final night and unwind before our long trip home. But I hated that JB was so uncomfortable!
A nice shot with the dolphins. I hope one day we will all swim with the dolphins! Wouldn't that be fun?!?
In their touristy gear!

And we headed home! Next year we will definitely make time for going to the beach! I hated to drive off without having our toes in the sand once. It just wasn't the best idea this time. So - a fun work 'vacation' was had by all!