Lorelai's 4th Birthday!

It's official...she's a big kid! After celebrating on Saturday with a Halloween Party, her real birthday rolled around on Sunday. Unfortunately, she woke up in the middle of the night vomiting. Apparently there was a little too much candy intake the day before. But the good news was that it wasn't the flu and she was feeling much better in the morning.

To play it safe Donald stayed home with her while I went to church with Alexandra.

As soon as we were home, Lorelai was anxious to dive into her pile of gifts. She received:

• A pound puppy with spots (dream come true)
• A Curious George book
• 8 new colors of Play Doh
• A new Tennis backpack that holds her racket
• Clothes for her WebKinz
• American Girl doll clothes for her Felicity doll (a tennis set - from Oma)
• A new WebKinz (from Grandma Sorenson)

She was on cloud 9! We went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and we all enjoyed singing Happy Birthday and watching Lorelai blow out her candles. A wonderful day for our wonderful little girl!

Smart Girl

Alexandra scored 99% on the district math assessment. Woohoo!

School Lunch

Yesterday our cupboards were bare. We were in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store and unfortunately, we ran out of bread. There was no way to make a sandwich for Alexandra's lunch, and we had nothing else to whip up.

So I asked her if she would buy her lunch instead. She quickly responded "OK" and I carried on as usual.

Later that night she approached me with some concern:

"I am the worst at getting my lunch at school. I am terrible at it. Last time I got the salad everywhere. I am the worst," she told me.

There had been only one other time when she had bought lunch. Apparently it didn't go exactly like she thought. Now she was nervous about it and told me that she really, really wanted to bring her lunch.

My first instinct was to do whatever I could to ease her worries. I was ready to change out of my pajamas and go to the store for bread. I don't like to see my children uneasy. But then I thought through the situation. I realized that this would be a small confidence boosting opportunity. She needed to face this fear, she needed to buy her lunch.

So I calmly told her that everything would be fine and that she would still be buying her lunch at school.

And guess what.....she did great! A small moment, but one that helped build self confidence and independence.

Oh yes, and I made it to the grocery store today! Our kitchen is restocked and Alexandra will have her lunchbox in hand again tomorrow morning.

Alexandra's 6th Birthday

Alexandra had a whimsical birthday. She woke up to find the house decorated in pink and green. There were streamers, balloons, table decorations and presents. We let her open several of her gifts in the morning. A new violin case (she plays the violin that I got on my 6th birthday), a violin polishing kit, and a new green shoulder rest.

Then we all got dressed and headed out to McDonald's for breakfast. Yum.

We returned home just in time for her guests to arrive for her 10:00 birthday party. There were 13 little girls that came. Add in our 2 for a total of 15! It was a festive party! They went on a treasure hunt to discover their goody bags, played 'drop the penny's in the cup', and tried to see who could pin the tail on the donkey. Then Alexandra opened her gifts and we enjoyed delicious birthday cake and ice cream.

After the party, we went out as a family and ran a few errands. Then Alexandra and Lorelai had fun diving into the new pile of toys. Barbie's....markers....makeup....fun!

That evening we dined at IHOP with Grandma Sorenson and Uncle Shawn. We brought along the rest of Alexandra's gifts; a pound puppy, a new book, webkinz clothes, American Girl doll clothes from Oma, and two new Ramona books from Grandma Sorenson.

A perfect day for a perfect 6 year old!