Birthday Time with Aunt D

Since Danila was still in town on Hannah's actual birthday, Danila took her out for a special breakfast -- pancakes at Bob Evans (Hannah's favorite).  Then, Danila painted her (and Lauren's) toenails - what a great aunt!

 Off for their special morning together

It takes great love to paint microscopic children's toenails....

Hannah's 5th Birthday Party

We celebrated Hannah's 5th birthday this year with a Doc McStuffins themed party.  Doc is Hannah's favorite TV character and she loves signing the song when it is on tv (and even when it isn't).  For those of you not versed in current preschooler TV shows, Doc McStuffins is a doctor for her stuffed animals (and her mom on the show is a pediatrician).  Her best friends are Lamby, Stuffy (the dragon), Chilly (a snowman), and Hallie (her hippo nurse).  Since Doc is a relatively new show, we didn't have much in the way of decorations other than the cake, and I found some printables online, so we played "Put the Band-Aid on Stuffy" and I gave each of the kids a band aid and we had our own version of pin the tail on the donkey!  (But I think I could have just given out the bandaids and it would have had the same effect - preschoolers love bandaids.) 

At the ripe age of five, Hannah is 44 3/4 inches tall - VERY TALL.  She's also still very thin, and is on the cusp of breaking the 40 pound mark.  Hannah absolutely loves attending preschool and is one of the most independent kids I know.  She also has a true heart of gold and is one of the most compassionate and caring preschoolers around - she has actually forgone a treat so Lauren wouldn't feel bad when Lauren wasn't getting a treat because she got in trouble.  Hannah loves everyone she meets and also loves to talk.

 Babysitter Lisa did (another) great cake for us this year

 Why is it that kids love to play in the dog cage?!?!

 Blowing out the candles

 I think this is where Curtis told Hannah that she had to give him all of the cake.....

 Lauren (like her sister) prefers the icing to the cake.

They are just like their father -- me, I prefer the cake to the icing....

 Can you guess which ones were wrapped by Danila???

 

 Opening presents

Sheri got really creative and made a "big book of boo-boos" just like Doc McStuffins has for Hannah to use!  It goes great with the doctor coat that Lauren confiscated....

Despite the look on her face, Hannah's favorite gift was the Littlest Pet Shop from Aunt D and Uncle Josh - she had that thing out of the box and set up (including the "hundreds" of tiny pieces) in minutes!

Book Lovers

It seems like I have a lot of pictures of my kids surrounded by piles of books.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Gavin's 4th Birthday Party

We went over to Rachel & Ryan's to celebrate Gavin's birthday with both the Woolley and Ely families.  Since Gavin and his cousin, Olivia, both have birthdays in December, the family decided to have one party after Christmas so they could celebrate together.  Rachel and her sister-in-law, Sarah, planned an astronaut-themed party and Rachel even found astronaut PJ's for all of the kids to wear to the party.  My girls loved them and were certainly excited about wearing them!

 

 Sarah letting the kids into the basement

(which had been decorated with stars and a moon & a "spaceship")

 Rachel read the kids a story in the "spaceship"

 Lauren

 The kids enjoyed their pizza dinner

 The whole gang singing

 Gavin & Olivia got special jumpsuits since it was their birthday

 Olivia Ely

 Rachel got a pinata for the kids

 Gavin

 Hannah

 Lauren

 After one round with the nerf bat, we realized that something a little stronger was going to be needed to break the pinata - a broom handle was option number two

 Olivia

 Gavin

 Hannah tried stabbing it

 Olivia tried to ram it...

 Finally, Jon & Kevin broke it open

 That is a lot of candy on the floor for only 6 kids....

Collecting their spoils

Happy Birthday to Me

We absolutely have the best cleaning lady in the world.  She came and cleaned and left me a box of cupcakes for my birthday.... so the girls and I enjoyed them together while Jon was off playing basketball.  How in the world did I get to be a 35-year-old mother of two????