Alaina is 6!

My "baby" turned 6 on Friday--I cannot believe it!   She is growing up quite fast.   This has been a fun year, and I wish that I could bottle it for the future.   She has really blossomed since entering kindergarten, gaining self-confidence and making new friends.   She seems to love school.  

Some current favorites: Soccer, stuffed animals, calico critters, "flippy" sequined t-shirts, and more recently, the color pink (I am shocked by this as it was flat out rejected until now).  

Some of my favorites: her persistence and perseverance (she can focus on a tasks for such a long time given her age), and her sense of responsibility (example: each Friday at school, a "Friday Folder" is sent home that is to be returned on Monday.   Following break, we couldn't find it.   She was so worried that at 2am she came into my room crying about the fact that she might have lost it.  I promised to email the teacher--who responded the next day that she didn't send them home over break.   She never forgets library day at school either!).  

I love some of the things she says: "nother one" instead of "other".  "Chairclift" instead of "chairlift".   And when she wants to make a point she always starts with the word "anyways".   It is too funny.

We celebrated as a family on Friday night.   Her dinner choice: macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes.  A true carbohydrate festival.  

She chose ice-cream sundaes for dessert, since I made a big cake for the following day.  For her birthday present, we gave her a new bike.   She was not super excited about it, mostly because she is afraid to learn without training wheels, but it is time!

On Saturday, we had a birthday party for her at the house.   Amazingly, the forecasted rain held off, and we were able to have the majority of it outside (yes, it is nice to live in California!).   It was a unicorn-themed party, with games like 'pin the horn on the unicorn' and 'unicorn bingo' along with rainbow bank painting and fuse-bead making.   We topped it all off with cake and ice cream, as well as a piñata.   We invited all the girls in her kindergarten class, as well as our neighbors, so it was quite the party.   I think she had a blast.