Four for Five

Malia had a birthday this week and it was a big one. Five years old! When did that happen?! Although we didn’t plan it to be this way, Malia ended up having four parties to celebrate her big 5. She has been so excited that she can hardly stand it and having her birthday celebrations span an entire week has stoked the enthusiasm.

Last Saturday Kevin’s parents joined us for lunch and since I ended up with way more birthday cake than we needed, we lit some candles and had some cake. Kevin’s mom gave Malia a cute stuffed bunny. It kind of looks like a cross between a bunny and a sheep, so I’ve taken to calling it a beep.

On Sunday we celebrated at my parents’ house. Malia had a mermaid cake, of which I’m pretty proud, and she got to blow out some more candles.

Monday was her actual birthday. She shared a treat with her class at school and Nathan and I picked out some great big balloons. After school, we went to the library so she could get her very own library card. This is a tradition in our family and Malia was super excited to be able to check out her books on her very own card.

We gave Malia her presents after dinner on Monday. She got Hot Wheels, pretend tools and a princess game from her brothers. She liked them all equally which is one of the things I love about Malia. She is definitely girly and loves princesses, sparkles, and such, but she also loves cars and tools. She is very well rounded in her interests (a side effect of having three older brothers) and I think it will serve her well as she grows up. Kev and I gave her two ponies from My Little Pony (one of her favorite shows right now). The ponies were from Build-a-Bear so we piled into the car to take her over to get them stuffed.

She was so worn out by the end of the day that she went right to sleep. When Kev checked on her before we went to bed, this is what he found:

I guess she really loves those ponies!

Yesterday was Malia’s friend party. This is her first friend party and again, she was so excited she could hardly stand it. She wanted a water princess party, but as we planned, it became apparent that what she really wanted was to play in the water with her friends. So we had sprinklers, water balloons, water squirters and water balloon piñatas, which were a huge hit.

She chose mermaid cupcakes and helped me decorate them. I think they turned out lovely.

Most of the gifts she received were mermaid related and I made towel mermaid tails for the kids (and forgot to take a picture, of course). We had to do some date juggling, but both Kate (Malia's favorite cousin) and Raylee (her best friend who moved away in June) were able to be here for the party. Malia has missed Raylee and was absolutely thrilled to have her here.

After a week of partying, I’m worn out. But Malia had a very memorable birthday! And she’s already talking about her 6 party…

Wait As Long As Time

Malia’s experience gift last Christmas was tickets to see “Beauty and the Beast” at Hale Center Theatre. She has been looking forward to it all year and the wait seemed endless. (I guess for a 4-yr-old, eight months really is almost forever.) Due to the extreme goodness of Danna, one of my sisters-in-law, we got our tickets free and the day was today. My sisters, Rachael and Esther, and Rachael’s daughters, Kate and Sabrina got to see the show as well. Malia loved it and told us afterward that the part where Gaston was beating up the Beast was not her favorite part.

FYI-the girls are holding up pieces of confetti that were used in the show and gathered up by little hands afterward

Part of the excitement of the day was going out to lunch after the show. Since developing her peanut allergy in February, the number of places where Malia can safely eat out has diminished significantly so eating out has become kind of a big deal. I’ve done research and made phone calls and luckily for us, I discovered that Red Robin is great with handling allergies. Malia was thrilled to be able to eat her favorite swirly twirly pasta again.

As always, when it was time to go home, Malia was not ready to leave Kate. A show, lunch out, and her favorite cousin made today a winner in Malia’s book!

The End of an Era

Malia started kindergarten this morning. As I left my 4-year-old in her teacher’s capable hands, I realized that I’ve come to one of those turning points in my life. I’m no longer a mother with a babe in arms and toddlers underfoot. All my kids are in school and for the first time in nearly 16 years, I’ll have regular stretches of time when I’m all alone. I’m not quite sure what to do with that yet, although I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

While I may be uncertain about this new phase of my life, Malia is nothing but excited. While most of the other kids looked a bit nervous and didn’t respond to the teacher’s questions right away, Malia enthusiastically put in her two cents and was more than ready, after dashing back to give me one last hug, to begin her new adventure.

I think she’s going to love it.

Communing With Monkeys

The first birthday present Kev ever gave me was a VHS copy of "George of the Jungle" (the movie starring Brendan Frasier). No too long after that, we came across a big white stuffed monkey during our meanderings in the mall. We purchased him and immediately dubbed him George, the great white ape. Over the first years of our marriage, other monkeys joined George until we had a smallish pile of monkeys hanging around.

George and the other monkeys are still around and as toddlers, all of our kids have found George's lap a perfect spot to cozy up (although I can't find a picture of Matthew).

 Daniel-July 2002

 

Nathan-December 2004

Malia, however, is the only one who has continued to pass time with the monkeys past her toddler years. Nearly every day, she comes in to my bedroom while I'm getting ready in the morning and hangs out with the monkeys. She'll sit in their midst and just be comfy. She'll bring in the play dishes and feed them cereal or soup.  She has named several of them (the big brown one is Monkey-Arounder and the small black one is Kisser) and has appropriated several as her very own as well. She'll carry them into the living room and line them up on the couch. On this particular day, after filling every seat in the living room with monkeys, she told me we needed more monkeys.

Today she came up with a new way to commune with the monkeys. Apparently the AC was making it a bit chilly next to the vent and she decided to warm things up with a monkey blanket. Not a monkey blanket like this...

...a monkey blanket like this:

Yeah, she has a thing for monkeys.

Here We Go Again

I have a very small jaw, small enough that even after wearing a palate expander for a year, I still had to have a full set of molars pulled because there was no space for them. Unfortunately, all of my children have inherited the small jaw. All three boys have finished with the palate expander. Daniel’s braces came off a year and a half ago. Nathan got his braces on today. And the countdown to completion begins…for him at least. I still have two children who will need orthodontic work done, unless Malia totally lucks out and has inherited Kev’s teeth and jaw. He never needed braces and didn’t have any wisdom teeth. Sometimes I feel a bit bitter about that. ;-)

He's Learned to Laugh at Himself

Tonight was back to school night for Matthew. As usual, the kids had a small project ready to share with their parents. It was an acrostic poem made from the letters in their name that described things about them. Check out Matthew’s second T. It made me laugh out loud, in the middle of the class.

I’m glad he’s learned to embrace high small stature. It will make him happier than spending his whole life wishing he were taller. And I’m glad that he has embraced the humor of life as well.:-)

Leech Me

I've always wondered why in days gone by doctors sent ailing patients to the coast to recuperate. It seemed to have no reason and I just assumed it to be one of the antiquated practices we now know to be of no benefit (like bloodletting and leeches). However, I've now come to believe that they were on to something. Neither of my two asthmatic kids had any trouble the entire time we were in Seattle. But as soon as we were home, Matthew started coughing again and Daniel rode his bike to a party last night and needed his inhaler when he got home. It would appear that the moist climate and oxygen rich air at sea level is of benefit to them. And the thin, dry air we have here exacerbates respiratory conditions. Yet another perk to our time in Seattle.

A Seemingly Never Ending Supply

Laundry.

So…much…laundry.