Happy birthday, Sarah...

Last night, John and I joined 4 other wonderful couples for a surprise celebration of Sarah's birthday. Aaron did a great job planning a really fun night on the Durnin's boat laughing, talking, picture taking, wine drinking, and eating.

John, Nickie, Sarah, Aaron, Brenda, Colby, me, Allison, Johnny J, Matt

The Irelands........The Foxes

The Durnins.....The Wards

Kisses for the birthday girl...

Cake time...

Happy Birthday, Sarah!!

Kate Ryleigh is 5 years old...

5?!! 5 years old?! How can that be?! I can't believe it but this week our little girl turned 5! It seems like a milestone for some reason. Kate enjoyed four days of birthday celebration starting Wednesday with lunch and a mani/pedi with Auntie B. This was Kate's first nail salon experience and she LOVED it!

Bright pink polish with multi-colored polka dots...

After some pampering, Kate did a little birthday shopping with Nana....a pretty good day for any girl. =) On Thursday, her actual birthday, Kate requested to go to Disneyland...we go to Disneyland a least a couple of times a month so I thought it was funny that that's what she chose to do. John took the day off and the four of us headed out for a nice couple of hours at the Magic Kingdom. After naps at home, we were joined by our whole family at our favorite pizza place for a nice birthday dinner.

Big girl...

Friday was Kate's school celebration. They don't do big parties but we did take some yummy pumpkin muffins for her to share at snack time, as well as a birthday book to donate to the school. Her class sang happy birthday and prayed for her year. =)

Luke, Kate, and the "birthday book"...

Today, we had a very small party for Kate and her girlfriends. We've decided that parties every year have become a bit much so the kids can have one for "milestone" birthdays (i.e. 5, 10, 16, 18...). In an effort to keep things easy and budget friendly we did a girls only, close girlfriends party. Kate decided she wanted a "rainbow party" so our decor and food followed a bright color scheme of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Lunch was pb & j for the kids, chicken salad sandwiches for the moms, Sun chips, pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, green grapes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, and cupcakes. The girls had a great time playing together and dressing up and the mommies were amazed at how quiet it was....I guess there is something to be said for an 8 person party. =)

Kate waiting for her guests...

The tables...

Kate and her buddies...

Paige, Sophia, Reagan, Rebekah, Kate, Anna, Emmerly, and Bailey

Happy birthday, Kate!

Open House...

Kate's open house at preschool was a couple of weeks ago. We had a fun morning checking out all the activities and projects the kids have been working on. Her teachers had weighed and measured the kids in October and April...Kate gained 2 lbs. and grew 1 inch! It was so fun to see how much she has developed cognitively and grown physically. Her art work has gone from random strokes to shapes and pictures...specifically flowers and hearts. =) The classes looked amazing, the raffle baskets turned out great, and the kids put on a really cute performance. Kate was so excited to show off all the work she's done in the last year.

Kate's family portrait, complete with toe-nails. =)

Kate with Grammie, Pop Pop, Nana, & Grampa...

Kate with her teachers, Miss Angela & Miss Debbie...

They did such a great job setting up the classroom.

Self-portrait...

Our class "Concert in the Park" basket...I had so much fun putting it together and so wish I would have won it. =)

Paige & Luke can't wait to go to school too...