Kya's Actual Birth-DAY

On Kya's actual birthday, she had preschool in the morning. She was very excited to go to school that day, because I had made cupcakes for the entire preschool (morning and afternoon classes). Her teacher made her a special Birthday Crown that she was able to wear all day. Because it was Kya's birthday, she was the line leader for the entire day and picked out the special song of the day for the class to sing.
Here Kya is acting very proud and shy all at the same time, while her classmates sing Happy Birthday.

All the kids wanted to see the cupcakes and couldn't wait to eat them. I hear they were a hit!

Her teacher, Ms. M, gave her a birthday present to open. It was a book about Fairies.

After school, we picked her up first and then went and picked up Daddy from his work before heading on over to Chuck E. Cheese.

A good time was had by all, until I noticed that Seth had some gunk coming out of his eye. I knew immediately that it was Pink Eye and that we needed to get out of there quickly and head on over to urgent care for some eye drops. First, we made a quick stop thru a fast food drive thru and dropped the girls and Wayne off at home so they could eat. After a rather quick doctor visit, we came back home to watch Kya open up her present from us.

All in all, I think Kya had a very good 5th birthday.

Happy 5th Birthday Kya!

Who could have ever guessed 5 years ago that this chubby, bald headed baby would grow up to be......

...to be this beautiful, fun loving kid with a gorgeous mane of hair! Kya, I remember looking at you the day you were born and just being in total awe that you were here and mine. I wondered what you would look like in 5 years and now I know! You by far surpassed my wildest dreams. How did 5 years pass by so quickly? I remember being terrified, because I was now responsible for your well-being. What if you got sick? What if other kids picked on you? I never wanted you to hurt, physically or emotionally, and yet I knew that there was no way I could prevent that from happening. Of course, my biggest wish/prayer is to see you come to know the Lord as your personal Savior. This is still my prayer! I love how you love to pray and sing. I love how you can light up any room you enter. I love to see how much you care for your siblings and friends. And now I am wondering what you will look like and be like in 5 more years. I am guessing that you will continue to be very pretty inside and out. I am guessing you will have lots of friends and will continue to be a great big sister. Heck, you might even be singing in Southland with your Daddy, praising God with your voice. Who knows, but I am excited to take this journey with you. We love you Kya and Happy Birthday!

Kya's 5th Birthday Party Weekend

Kya's actual birthday isn't until Wednesday, but we spent the weekend celebrating her. I am still having a hard time accepting the fact that my "Oldest Baby" is going to be 5 years old! Where has the time gone? It is so fun watching the changes within her.

On Saturday, we allowed her to have her very first friends party. She had 4 little girlfriends over for a Spa day.

Every girl had a manicure....

...a pedicure.....

and their hair done.

Thankfully all the mom's stayed and helped with the pampering. It was so fun to see the colors that each girl picked out and how none of them picked the same color for their hands and feet. Blue polish seemed to be the favorite.

Here are all the girls after their make-over. Even Elsie had tons of fun getting glammed up.

Then it was time for lunch. Four of the older girls sat together at one table, while the younger two sat together at another table.

They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into butterfly shapes (cute!) along with fruit, chips, vegi/dip and everyone's favorite....chocolate milk.

Then to keep the girls occupied with us mom's ate, I had made star shaped cookies on sticks the day before, which the girls then got to decorate with edible markers and frosting. Although, they all got very quiet while doing this project, it didn't keep them occupied for as long as I had hoped. lol Even Seth got to decorate one! (See him in the upper right hand corner)

Here they are drying. Of course, I had sprinkles for them, but I forgot to get them out. Oh well. Then, once they were dry, I put them into clear gift bags for them to take home. Fun!

Then it was time to head outside in the freezing cold to hit the pinata. Seth joined us for this too, as this is all he talked about for days. We didn't blindfold anyone, because I am pretty sure they would never have been hit the pinata if we did. As it was, everyone went once and some even twice and they still couldn't break the thing open. I ended up just tearing it open and dumping it out on the grass after awhile.

Here is Kya trying to give it a big 'ol whack. Isn't that a cute high heeled pinata?

Kattie was the oldest girl in the group (7 years old) and so she is a bit stronger than the rest. Check out the power behind her swing!


Everyone diving in to get their fair share of candy

I love how little kids love to surround the birthday child while opening presents. It is like they are all so excited to see what they are getting and to make sure they know which is from them. I will spare you all the pictures of her opening each gift! lol

I really wanted to make a cake that looked like a purse, but I couldn't find the cake mold anywhere and I didn't have time to order it online. So in the end, I just decided to do boring cupcakes, which I am actually glad about, because I had major trouble getting the icing to set up right and there is no way I could have decorated a cake with it turned out.

She was able to blow 4 outta 5 candles out in one breath! I was very impressed.

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On Sunday afternoon, we had a small family party. It was very simple and quiet and just what we needed after the busy day we had the day before. I just bought lasagna, a salad kit and rolls at Costco and a store bought cake a Ralph's. No mess, no fuss! I was actually planning on making another cake for the family party, but by Saturday night I was just too tired, so this was our first ever non-homemade cake an it turned out just perfect.


Look at how pretty my birthday girl looks with all her presents. She was so polite too. After opening each gift, she would go to the person and tell them thank you and how much she liked it.

This package was almost as big as she was and she was insistent that she carry them all by herself. Just another sign at how she is growing up.

Her cake with the big FIVE on it.

I missed getting a picture of her actually blowing the candle out, but

here she is just a second afterwards.

On her actual birthday, I will be taking cupcakes to her class and then we will pick up Daddy from work and go to Chuck E. Cheese. I am sure I will post more on that day later.

Snow Sledding!

Seth has been begging for the past two months to go sledding and Saturday his wish finally came true. We went up to Mt. Baldy and found an area that wasn't too steep, but still fun for the kids. Wayne and I thought for sure that we would get up there (thankfully it is only a 20 min. drive) and the kids would get wet and cold and want to go back home. But nope, they were excited and all into it for about an hour! Then they started to get hungry and so we headed back to the van for lunch before heading on home.

All bundled up and waiting for their first ride on the sled.


Wheeee!!!

Our own little bobsled team!

Then it was time for Mommy and Daddy to go for a spin.

Tummy style!

Early Valentines

Valentine's actually started at our house on Thursday this year! The kids and I drove around leaving these heart shaped balloons on various ladies front doors from my MOPS group. When we came home, we were surprised to find one on our door too! Then, I had one balloon left over, so I just added it to the other balloon. Of course, being that I have three kids, you can imagine the fights that have occurred over these balloons

Then on Friday, Kya had a Valentines Party at her school. She and her classmates had lots of fun exchanging cards with one another. When she came home, the basket she had made in class earlier in the week was overflowing! She also came home with a large heart that had her hand prints on it and it said "A special Valentine for my very wonderful family! I Love You, Kya"

Of course, she couldn't wait to dive into her candy, but I made her look at each card and we read who they were from first. Mean Mommy huh?

Saturday, we went sledding and you can read all about that above.

Sunday, we went to church at the speedway. It is Racers for Christ and they had asked Wayne to lead the worship. Then we went and bought some food and headed to a local park for a picnic as a family. Wayne and the kids bought me some beautiful flowers and cards. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this day, but it was a lot of fun and we have great memories.