Dolled Up

Once all of our guests arrived, the pampering began.

 

We started with nail painting,

lip gloss

and beads for the girls,

and headbands,

necklaces

and tutus for the bears/dollies.

Cousin Evie and Hippo

The boys got bowties (for themselves and their bears), which they did NOT want to wear.

While awaiting their turn, the kids colored teapots.

Friend Evie and Theia

cousin Kiyah

The tea party was about to begin.  We just had one more preparation.

Planning and Prepping

Birthdays are a big deal around here and turning five in our house is a REALLY big deal.  The girls anticipate it for weeks, even when it's not their birthday.  They tell everyone about it, even strangers. Living near family meant that we were able to invite cousins to the tea party.  They arrived the night before, just in time to supervise the cake decorating process

 

and try to keep Gramps out of the frosting.

They heartily approved of the platypus teapot cake (Theia's request)

and so did Theia when she saw it later, even though I needed to explain that platypus was walking in the grass (those are his footprints) and the blue was the water.

Joe created a one-of-a-kind cheese tray, like he did for Xandra's party.

and Grandma Mary 

fancied up the birthday girl's hair.

The living room was tranformed into a tea room

the table was set and decorated.

Soon our other guests began to arrive, dressed to the nines, with favorite dolls in hand.

Miracle and Theia

Most of the tea party crew (from left):  cousins Lucy and Cora, Xandra, cousin Evie, Theia, Miracle, Joey, cousin Laney, Aliyah, cousin Liam

With presents piling on the counter and Xandra's "Theia Pull I Heart You" sign hung, all our preparations were complete and we awaited the arrival of our final two guests

 

for the pampering to begin.

Wild Animals

Name these wild animals.

 

I found them recently watching over our kinkajou.

 Bonus points is you guessed:  bandicoot, porcupine, platypus and binturong.

Stories

Reading is a big deal in our house.  It's part of our everyday routine to enjoy books together and alone.  Although everyone partakes of reading, it doesn't look the same for all of us.

She's been reading independently for awhile, and as a consequence:

1.  I can't visit the library often enough 

2.  I also can't barely tear her away from the books long enough to eat dinner some evenings

3.  I regularly find piles of books in the bathroom where she goes to hide and read

He has always been too busy to stop for books, but recently he's changing his mind, especially when trucks and flaps are involved.

She is well on her way to becoming an independent reader, which is exciting for both of us, and at times exhausting for me.  Teaching a child to read is like potty training a child.  Lots and lots of work, but very rewarding upon completion and used and valued for a lifetime.

 

Aliyah isn't far behind her, with her never ending plea to "Reeead a book." and a few reading lessons under her own belt.

So far, all Tikvah wants to do is eat the books, turn the pages five at a time and yell loudly when the rest of us are reading.  It's a good start.

Passing On The Fun

There's something about babies and the Pulls that makes them want to smoosh them into small spaces.  Here's proof:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Exhibit E

Exhibit F

 

This is unfortunate for her in a few ways: 

1. her sisters have caught the bug

2.  she's growing, but the spaces aren't

The good news is that soon Yoshi will be here and not only will everyone leave her alone, she can be the one to pass on the fun.

Older and Wiser

The fountain of youth experiment has come to an end. 

 

On January 24th, a mere two weeks before my 35th birthday, I went from this

to this.

I definitely look older, but my husband would testify to the fact that I'm probably not much wiser.  I thought those two naturally came together.  That just goes to show you what I (don't) know.

Birthday Girl

I don't know how it happened, but on January 23rd, this girl

 

turned five.

And the rest of us celebrated with her.

She let us eat dinner with her, but when it was time to open presents,

she didn't want any other participants.

One of her favorite gifts, still to this day, was a handmade purse from a dear friend of mine.

Xandra had gotten one for her birthday in August and so the two of them together proudly modeled  their fine accessories.

 After all the presents were opened, including a fun do-it-yourself mosaic jewelery box from Aunt Tami and Uncle Josh,

she helped me make and decorate cupcakes to take to Cubbies that evening.

Before we headed out the door for Awana, we celebrated with a lemon blueberry cupcake for each of us

and a birthday song

all for the birthday girl.