Happy 6th Birthday Ally

Ally woke up to the house decorated for her birthday. Becky made that banner for Ally’s first birthday. After a breakfast snack of cheerios and chocolate milk on the couch with her favorite special things; Pooh, Coconut, Softie and Kitty while watching My Little Pony on TV it was time to get dressed.

I had been saving this outfit not sure why, but I got it out since the flowered shirt fit this year’s birthday theme so well. Ally was pretty happy for school. We brought mini muffins as a treat to share with the other kids at before school and it was a field trip – to a farm during school today.

I went to school in the afternoon at the end of the day to bring cupcakes for snack to celebrate Ally’s special day.

After school it was time to open presents!!!

Mommy and Mama gave Ally the new Tinkerbelle movie and a really cool Lego camping set.

I think she liked her gifts from us.

Opening Grandma Debbie’s (and Poppy) gifts, a new outfit and a Pillow Pet!

A new Pinkalicous book, Silvericious and an embellished Owl shirt.

Aunt Louise came thru with a 6 year story book – Ally has volumes 1-5 already and was thrilled to get another one. Then Ally took a break and laid down with her pillow pet before opening her birthday cards. There were so many cards. Ally is loved so much.

Gruncle and Aunt Suzie sent 6 dollars in their card. Ally was so excited to get some money. She told us before she opened the cards “sometimes there is money inside” every year Gruncle sends her money the same as her age, and Ally remembers.  Thank you everyone for the cards and presents.

After opening all her cards and gifts Ally got right to work on putting the Lego set together with Becky.

Then it was time for dinner. Becky asked Ally earlier in the week what she wanted for her birthday dinner. Ally replied “I don’t know, awwwwwww, dinner? Do we have to?” Then Becky explained that usually on your birthday you get to choose the meal and it’s a special meal. Ally thought about it for a bit and then said CEREAL – I want cereal for breakfast and you and mommy will eat it too? All of us?

So we did. Becky made the best of it – it was Ally choice after all.

Then I had to deal with a bit of a cake-tastrophe. For the first time in my life a cake stuck to the pan and came out in pieces. I had this happen once with a Bundt cake, but never with a layer cake. UGH but Ally liked eating some cake plain. Luckily I had another box in the pantry so I made 2 more layers.

I baked the new layers while Becky and Ally went to the airport to pick up Aunt Beth. Then when Aunt Beth arrived we decorated the house with some more paper flowers and then Ally opened up her gifts from Aunt Beth.

The gifts were a HUGE hit – 2 books on bugs (science books was one of Ally’s gift requests) and a bug aspirator. A bug aspirator for those of you who don’t know is what scientists use to catch bugs in vials so they can study their specimens. You suck in on a special piece and it works like a vacuum on the tube to suck things in. There is a special filter on the mechanism that blocks bugs from getting into your mouth while you suck in.

Much frivolity followed, Beth declared our house was too clean, since we have no bugs. So let Ally look for lice on her head and suck up on her scalp. The good news is that Beth was lice-free.

Becky let Ally suck in her cheek – and her belly. Ally was loving it. Again…again…again it was so much fun. Then it was time for special birthday cupcakes we made as a surprise for Ally.

Flower cupcakes!

6 years old!

After birthday cupcakes it was time for Ally to go to bed. I made frosting while Becky did bedtime with Ally, then we swapped. Beth frosted the layers; all 3 of them! Since I had 1 good one from my first bath and 2 good ones from the second. Becky took over frosting the sides of the cake.

Ally and I came to see what all the commotion in the living room was – cake decorating by the sisters! It is pretty special that Beth has been here for every one of Ally’s birthdays. And she has had the honor of helping to decorate the cake, cupcakes and house for every party.

We are so thankful for Aunt Beth.

After clean up and bed time wrap up Becky, Beth and I sat down to do some late night (9pm) decorating – balloon flowers!

6 years old seems very grown up. Ally seems so much more mature, and yet is still our little girl. It is our gift everyday to have her as our daughter.

Pre-Birthday

This week we were hard at work on birthday preparations.

One night Ally and I worked on re-painting furniture. Our cat Carl scratches the hutch up and so once a year I sand it down and re-paint the damaged area. Its non toxic milk paint and Ally loved helping with the task.

Most of Ally’s gifts arrived early. We saved the wrapped ones for her to open on the actual day, but we did let her open the gift from her cousins on the 15th. Ally was super excited to open a gift early, I fear she is very much like me in her dislike for surprises and her impatience. The gift was a very cool toy called an Inki-doo. It’s a stuffed animal that you can draw on then wash and re-color. Very cool.

Then it was time to help mommy with cupcakes for school.

Ally was a big help, scooping the batter into the muffin cups.

And eating the batter. She loved eating the cake batter.

I have never made so much yellow cake mix and buttercream frosting. No amount of trying worked to talk her into chocolate or any other flavor. This girl knows what she wants so we baked:

Cupcakes for school party

Flower cupcakes for at home

Layer cake for birthday party

While the cupcakes were baking Ally entertained us with a dance and sing along to the song “Call me Maybe”

After a bath it was time to decorate the cupcakes.

 

beautiful

While Ally slept Becky and I put up some decorations so Ally would wake up to them on her birthday morning.

As excited as Ally is about turning 6 she went to sleep that night a little bit melancholy. She confessed “I just want to stay 5” I asked if she was a little nervous about getting older and she nodded. I explained that 5 was fabulous and 6 would be spectacular! We have been talking recently about what Ally might want to be when she grows up – and so I reminded her that in order to be a paleontologist or a veterinarian or a teacher and a mom she would need to grow up.

She smiled, cuddled in close with her special things in bed and told me “I decided, I want to be a mom and a teacher” I smiled, hugged her and asked “like mama” and she said yes. I reminded her that both of her grandmas were also teachers and moms.

Gosh what a special daughter.

Silly at the park

On the way home from school one day last week we stopped at the park and Ally was super silly shaking her hat off her head while on the swing.

She is so much fun!

Our Week

Ally was thrilled to receive a birthday gift from Lauren – it cam all the way from Hawaii! It was a Hawaiian outfit for Dolly, some stcikers, a glittery postcard and this really adorable picture

Later in the week it snowed!!! Can you tell how excited Ally is by the snow?

She also had a fever – she looked peaked to me after school and when we got home I checked her out and she had a fever. We cuddled up on the couch and watched a movie. She had a “stay home day” the next day with Becky.

She seems to have a touch of a bug but otherwise ok.

Party Prep

So its no secret I like to plan for a party, so we have been hard at work on party decorations and things for Ally’s 6th birthday party next Saturday.

It is a flower theme so we’ve been making huge tissue paper flowers – even bigger than Ally’s head! This is a plain one, but I figured out how to make curved and spiky leaves. Very cool!

One night when all three of us were working on the flowers. Ally said “I hear a great sound” and I said what do you hear and her reply “I hear a happy family”. Melt – I seriously think my heart melted at her words.

We made chocolate lollipops for the “goody bags”

And stamped the goody bags with a flower stamp. Ally worked on painting a large flower banner to hang over our couch.

There is still more work to do and its fun fun fun.

Now if only Ally would stop worrying about how a birthday means getting a shot. Little does she know I made an appointment for Becky to take her on their day off Monday, so that at her 6 year physical she won’t have to get a shot. Becky is already strategizing ways to make it happen without getting peed on. It her her turn though since it has happened to me the last 3 years!

Day of the Dead

Our local natural history museum has a wonderful Day of the Dead celebration. We went last year with Ally’s friend Erik. This year we met up with some of our Guatemala Girl friends.

We have been talking about the Day of the Dead since this summer when our cat Bryce died. Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Latin American countries, mainly Mexico that honors our ancestors. The idea is that the dead rise up and visit on November 1 (the day after Halloween). So you have a party to greet them and leave notes for them to let them know you miss them and are thinking about them.

It was a beautiful sunny day and Ally was thrilled to be going to the event and seeing her friends.

Beautiful flags greeted us as we walked in.

Ally went right away to the altar and wrote a message to Bryce and put it in the basket. She remembered last year that I wrote a note to my Grandma Mimi and we talked about remembering family, friends and pets who have died. Becky and I arrived a bit earlier than our friends so Ally would have the opportunity to do this.

When Rosa arrived we made tissue paper flowers and the girls got their faces painted with Day of the Dead themed pictures.

They colored masks.

decorated sugar skulls and fancy hats

We met up with Gabi and Alice and the girls all made a noise-maker/rattle.

Rosa’s mom Julie look so silly with the hat, the rattle and t he mask all on her at once!

The four girls; Gabi, Alice, Ally & Rosa. We missed Roxie.

When we were done inside the museum Ally asked “to go to the special place” I had no idea what she meant, but she remembered the museum courtyard we had a picnic at with Erik last year. So we all went there and the girls climbed a tree, ran around and played for bit before we all went home.

Such a fun day!