Hannah Turns 6: Princesses, Parties, and Pink Frosting

Hannah turned 6 last week and celebrated in grand fashion. Here's our some photos we took during the week. I haven't included many pictures from her birthday party because of issues surrounding posting pictures of other people's children. I included what I could. Enjoy!

Here's Hannah headed to school with cupcakes for her class. The school's Jog-A-Thon happend to fall on Hannah's birthday, so her class ate the cupcakes and then - went jogging! Hopefully the sugar gave them an energy burst and didn't just give them stomach aches. Hannah ran 20 laps, so I guess she was energized!

Emma was having major birthday jealousy issues that day, so she got to keep one cupcake to eat after lunch. This is a picture of her being "done" with her cupcake. She eats the frosting off the top and throws the cake away.

Here's the cake I made for Hannah's actual birthday evening. I ran out of pink icing, so I improvised with the tiny bit of purple that was left. Not my best work, but Hannah still liked it. Whew!

Blowing out her candles. She's wearing the birthday crown she got at school that day.

And for my next act - the Barbie Doll Cake. Hannah was totally fascinated and sat while I frosted the entire dress. For days she talked about how much she loved her cake.

Here's Hannah with the finished Barbie cake. This is actually one of the easier birthday cakes I've made. Easier than the princess castle cake Hannah's wanted for her birthday for the past 3 years. Hopefully she'll want this cake for a few years to come.

Emma and Hannah getting ready for Hannah's party.

We made this sign to go on our front door. Hannah liked it so much so we decided to take a picture for posterity.

I have to explain this picture. I think Hannah's noticed that people do "bunny ears" or "peace signs" for pictures. I noticed that many of her friends did that in our party pictures. However, I don't think Hannah knows that these signs are typically done with just two fingers. She's flashing three fingers here. Maybe she thought, "if two is good, three must be better!"

Blowing out the candles on cake.

According to Hannah, her birthday party was lots of fun. We made princess crowns, and played a number of games. Ryan did a great job of planning fun games that the girls loved. Their favorite was the most simple: the princess and the witch. For this game, the girls sat on the floor in a circle. One person was given a small ball - this ball represents the princess. Another person is given a larger ball representing the witch. The girls have to pass the balls around the circle with the witch trying to "chase" the princess. The girls try to keep the princess from the witch and keep the witch chasing the princess. The witch can change directions too. Anyway, judging by the amount of squealing and screaming, it was a hit.

Between my birthday, Hannah's birthday, and Easter it was a busy week. We had a pretty low-key Easter because we were all so tired. Now, we're on baby countdown. Just over 3 weeks to go!

Remember when thirty seemed so old

Once again, a song lyric comes to mind when thinking of a new post title. Thanks Alan Jackson.

I turned 30 a week or so ago and wanted to thank everyone who made my birthday so special. Thank you to all of the family and friends who contributed thoughts, memories, and pictures to the birthday book Ryan put together. I cried when I read through it which made Ryan feel that he'd accomplished his goal. Reading such kind words written by people who I respect and admire so much was the greatest feeling.

People have asked me if I'm sad to leave my 20s and to be THIRTY, as if it is very old. I don't feel sad. Rather, like Alan Jackson says in his song, "[I] won't be sad, [I]'ll be glad for all the life [I]'ve had." I have so many fun memories. I have even more memories thanks to the birthday book and the fun times I'd forgotten and many of you reminded me of. I look forward to the wonderful things my thirties have to offer.

Thanks again, everyone - you know who you are.

Gracie's Visit

During Hannah's mid-winter break, Ryan's sister Kristin and her daughter Gracie were in town from Texas. We had fun at our library's storytime and at the zoo. Here's some pics:

Hannah and Emma waiting for stories to begin. Stories were about colors, hence the crayon name tags.

Here's Gracie and Kristin at storytime.
Gracie liked the magazines - they had animals on the covers. My girls liked whatever Gracie liked. They think she's so fun.

The next day we went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. We had a big group: Gracie, Kristin, my Mom, Ryan's sister Julie and her kids Aeneas and Natalie. I'd never been there before and was so impressed! It was nice to have the zoo and aquarium in the same location for one low price!
This zoo's exhibits allow you to be much closer to the animals than our other zoo. We liked the elephants and the tiger.
And, when the animals weren't so interesting, Gracie was always entertaining.
Here we are: Aeneas, Natalie, Hannah, Me, Emma, Kristin, Gracie, and Julie. (My Mom's the photographer - thanks for all the pics, Mom!)
This statue provided some climbing opportunities.
Not to be left out, Gracie came over to be with her big cousins.