Happy Birthday baby!

It's been a big year for my birthday girls. Xochitl turned 8 in April; Dawna turned 12 last week, and Jade turned 5! My mind is spinning with big kids!!

My five-year-old Jade is imaginative, loving, and absolutely adorable! She's been looking forward to her birthday all year. Every time we go to any store and she sees something that strikes her fancy, she says, "Get this for me on my birthday!" Unfortunately, I couldn't buy out Target, Party City, Michael's, and Toys-R-Us for my daughter's birthday, so we had to pick and choose just a few things. Still, the night before her birthday, she told me exactly how her morning should play out:

"When I wake up, I'm going to open the window covers and then I will see a beautiful unicorn in the window.  You could tape it if you want, or you can just lean it in there. Then, I will come out and see my breakfast and my birthday presents."

I, for one, was glad that she shared this vision with me, because there's NO way I could have come up with that on my own. And of course, with such specific ideas in mind, it was no problem making her birthday morning wish come true! She found a rainbow unicorn card in her window, had presents lined up along the fireplace, and delicious blueberry pancakes with bacon and apple juice!

The only trouble was timing... usually, Jade wakes up around 8:30am, just after the big girls go to school. But as a special treat on her birthday, Jade woke up at 7am... oops.  So, her breakfast wasn't really ready when she got up, but she accepted my tardiness with understanding.

She also had a perfect vision in her mind of her hair-do for the day: "I need five ponytails. In a diamond shape like a crown. Then the ponytails have to get together in the middle to one big ponytail." ... I did my best... and she seemed pleased with my efforts:

(Really can't go wrong with those awesome curls!)

We had a relaxed morning of opening and enjoying presents, with local company stopping by to read new stories together: Fancy Nancy!

Later that afternoon, we had a party! Jade had previously made arrangements with Mandy Pim to have a swim party at her backyard pool. We also found a zebra pinata at Bro. and Sis. Wiggin's Grocery Outlet store.

I am generally not a fan of pinatas... big sticks mixed with little kids scare me... so I made a "string pull pinata" game, which only lasted about 30 seconds... but at least nobody was getting swung at... and everybody loved the abundance of Air Heads and Blo-pops that filled our little striped friend.

We also had a "treasure hunt" in the pool. Jon and Jake (the dads at the party) tossed a variety of coins into the pool and the kids had to dive in and get them.  One coin had zebra stripes on it and was exchanged for a little zebra prize. Grace Ringlein found the right coin and won the game! Everyone else still got to take home a few coins. Everyone thought the game made perfect cents (sense...get it? teehee!)

Jade is showing us how grown up she is every day. She loves practicing piano, reading and writing, and counting. She loves for us to play ponies with her and enjoys sibling and friend time, especially when they are willing to join in the game! She is going to make a fabulous five-year-old and an impressive kindergarten student! I just hope I am ready for that...yikes...