Eva's 5th Birthday Party

Our sweet girl turned FIVE years old back in September and we celebrated big! I made her a 6 LAYER cake that Ryan and I stayed up late into the night throwing sprinkles all over. PS Throwing sprinkles onto a cake is one of the most fun feelings ever.

Birthday presents! She got some fun gifts, we are so grateful for our generous friends and family.

 When I asked Eva what she wanted for her birthday, her one request was a rainbow pinata. I decided to be crafty (and frugal, because let's face it, it was just going to get smashed), and made my own but sewing crepe paper (super easy!), and hot gluing it to re purposed cardboard from cereal boxes.

 Party favors! She made each friend their own rainbow bracelet.

 Living room decor. This took a while to hang on the ceiling but I loved how it turned out and we left it up for a few weeks.

Play room decor: a rainbow of paper plates from Dollar Tree plus crepe paper.

Eva and her crew. She got to pick a few friends from school plus a couple from church. These are her people, y'all. She LOVES this group of friends. It's so cool to watch her actually develop her own friendships.

{A note on party invites...I am not posting this on Facebook, because I don't want any one to feel left out. Our house is not huge. We love lots of people, and wish we could invited everybody, but we couldn't. Hopefully there is nobody reading this that feels left out. We really just had to limit the guest list due to space and party funds.}

Sister cheesing it up with her girl friends!

Eva's other special request was outdoor party games. Mama delivered. Parachute? Check.

Egg race? Check.

Bean bag toss? Check.

Smash the heck out of the pinata? Check. Those kids went at it but in the end it was Mama's turn to smash it enough to break the candy free.

Getting her cake on in the playroom with her friends.

One more party shot with the littles included.

That same night we had our family over for Birthday Party 2.0. Sadly the photos on my real camera got lost so this is all I have.

One of her gifts was a karaoke microphone so the kids sang their hearts out.

"Letting it go" with Mallory! Thanks to everyone who celebrated Eva. She loves you so much!

5 years old

Dear Eva Kate,
Tomorrow you will turn FIVE years old! I keep thinking that I should feel that the time has gone by so quickly, but from my perspective it actually hasn't. In the most wonderful way, I can look back and think about your first five years and see how each year you have been growing up and turning into the kid you are now. It is the most unique experience to be a mom who gets to see all the seasons of her child's life in one continual glimpse. In my heart you are still that little toddler, yet you are also this five year old ready to become your own person. Eva, you are passionate. Some days you give me gray hairs and drive me to chocolate. Daddy says it's because you and I are so alike. I am, however, so extremely grateful that I have gotten to be at home with you every day for the past five years. I've gotten to live through the hard and see the ways God is shaping you. 

You are kind. Your heart has so much compassion towards any one who is hurt or sick or sad. A few weeks ago you made a bag to give to someone in need, full of snacks and toiletries, and Daddy and I gave it to a man we past by, even though you weren't in the car with us. We called you right away and you were so genuinely happy to have made a bag that somebody needed, and so interested to hear about the man you helped.

You are a friend. I love your great big social heart. You love your preschool friends, your church friends, anybody random we meet anywhere. And then there is your best friend...Jensen. Oh goodness do you love him. Of course you have normal kid moments, but your love and concern for his safety and happiness shines through. 

You are smart. You are learning to read and about all sorts of cool math and science things. You are also an expert negotiator. You are perseptive about people and situations, always listening and chiming in from the back seat.

You are funny. Sister, you are your Daddy's girl. You know how to make us laugh. 

You have big feelings. Sometimes this makes life with you more challenging, but I never want you to change the way you feel things. Maybe just your reactions :) But truly Eva, your feelings are a blessing, because they make you sensitive to the world around you. Your feelings are part of what makes you such a good friend. I believe God has some sort of wonderful plan for you where he can use the big aspects of your personality to help others. I can't wait to see what that is!

You are a little diva. For your birthday Daddy and I are surprising you with a ballet and tap class. I know that you will love it. You love to sing and dance to Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Ashley Gatta Albums, and even Rent (yes, we are those parents that let our child sing along to Rent). You are so dramatic and expressive. I guess that comes from me, but I promise that I never led you to be this way, you figured it out all on your own! The other day you asked me when you would be old enough to be in a play...so maybe there is a bright stage in your future.

Eva, there is so much more I could write. I think I'll end with my greatest prayer for you. Love the Lord with all your heart. If one day you are looking back at all my letters to you, know that I love Jesus and I want you to love Jesus too. We never want you to be perfect, just to know that you are perfectly loved. You put the crazy fun in our lives. Daddy and I love you so much and are so proud of you.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, Eva Kate!!!!!

love, Mama

Eva's First Day of Pre-K

Today was Eva's first day at Pre-K. We had been waiting for this day for weeks, especially since "big kids" started last week, so today she was full of excitement. She came bouncing in our room this morning shouting "School! School! School!"

Her first real back pack! She picked the super unique Frozen themed one :) It is sparkly and has a matching lunch box. This year she gets to go 9am - 2pm, two days a week. She thinks she is pretty hot stuff going to school two full days a week. Yesterday she was so happy getting her backpack all ready with her blanket for rest time, and she kept getting her lunch box out of the fridge and admiring all the food. She even practiced opening her food containers so she wouldn't need help from her teacher.

I am really looking forward to getting into a good routine. I know she is social and smart and will do great. I thought about her all day long, but only in happy ways. 

Jensen is the only one who may be a little sad that sister is gone all day. I am looking forward to special time with just my little man, but I know he will miss having his playmate around. 

Once we got inside we put her backpack in her cubby and she got straight down to business. She has lots of friends in her class from last year so she sat down by her friend and was good to go. I went to say goodbye and she just kinda gave me a side hug like, "See ya later Mom."

She said she had fun and that her favorite part of the day was PE. She also said that at rest time the teacher had to tell her and a few other girls to stop talking, "a few times." I can't wait to see all that she learns this year!

Four and a half.

Eva Kate, you are 4 1/2 years old! Well you've been 4 1/2 for a while....so what's new with you?

First, you are loving school. We do home school two days a week and then you go to your preschool one day a week. You love it! You love your friends, your teacher, and all the parts of your day. The other day at school you were given the "Honesty" character award, and we were so proud of you! It has been so cool seeing your little friendships develop over the past 6 months. The other day I asked you about your friends and you kept naming so many kids that you like to play with. You are so social, just like you've always been. You call all of your closest friends your "sisters" and "brothers." You know all your letter sounds and have started reading just a tiny bit. You rock at rhyming words and putting word sounds together! You can count by 1's to about 55 (although you ALWAYS forget 15) and you've learned to count by 10's to 100 which you think is so cool.

You are the best sister to Jensen. You like to make sure he has his blanket and you help keep him safe. Watching the two of you play together is one of the best things in the world. You are also your daddy's little girl. You keep him on his toes by asking him to play tag or hide and seek or have dance parties every afternoon the second he walks in the door.

Favorite conversation with you:
Eva: When am I going to get my powers?
Me: What powers?
Eva: Magical powers. Like Elsa.
Me: I don't know. I can't just give you magical powers.
Eva: It's okay, I can pray about it. God can do anything.
*** I was CRACKING up. At least you get that in the big picture, God CAN do anything. I love your heart.

You enjoy spending lots of weekends with your grandparents. You like to walk the dogs with Baba, go to Northpark with Mamy, and feed the ducks or go on wagon rides with Nana and Papa.


Favorite conversation with you:
Eva: When am I going to get my powers?
Me: What powers?
Eva: Magical powers. Like Elsa.
Me: I don't know. I can't just give you magical powers.
Eva: It's okay, I can pray about it. God can do anything.
*** I was CRACKING up. At least you get that in the big picture, God CAN do anything. I love your heart.

You enjoy spending lots of weekends with your grandparents. You like to walk the dogs with Baba, go to Northpark with Mamy, and feed the ducks or go on wagon rides with Nana and Papa.

Your favorite things to do at home are to paint, draw with markers, play games as a family, get iPad time, do puzzles, play Barbies, play pretend kitchen/restaurant and ride your bike.  

Every night at bedtime we read books, and then you want me or Daddy to tell you a story from our life and sing you a song. Sometimes I am so exhausted by this point, but I need to cherish that you are asking us to share more of who we are with you. I want to use this time to really tell you stories that are important from my life.

I love you the perfect way you are, Eva Kate.
love, Mama

Eva Goes to Preschool

Here is to the most random back to school photo you will get this year....Eva started preschool! Yep on February 3rd..because that's how we do things over here. Ha, so we had thought about starting her in preschool in January and I looked into it back in December, but we just weren't sure. Then throughout January things unfolded and we decided that this would be a great time for her to start preschool. Learning wise, she is doing great and just started building words and reading a few words. What we most wanted out of preschool was more playtime with kids and for us to get healthy time apart from each other, because it is possible we sometimes need that :) This is her first time to go away from home to school and we have been so excited since we signed her up. She already had a tiny Sofia lunch box and cute bag to carry, so we got her a matching Sofia thermos cup and a new "back to school" outfit! Ah! This is where my Mama love shines! I was super enthusiastic for her to start this new journey! I packed her snack for the day in her lunch box yesterday, complete with a Frozen graham crackers that are only for school days, and I even ironed her outfit :) Y'all. I have maybe ironed kid clothes 3 times ever, and I for sure won't do it again, but that's how excited I was for her. She did mention once yesterday, "I'm a tiny bit scared," but I think she was mostly good since it was the same place we did VBS last summer and she remembers having a great time there.

At her cubby! It even has her name on it!

We counted down the days on our calendar and this morning she came bouncing into her room saying, "Mama, mama! I get to start preschool today!" We had a good breakfast and then made it to school a bit early to take a photo. I am so happy because one of her good friends, Emily, is in her class, along with another friend, Anthony, that we used to do gymnastics with so she already knew some kids. We prayed for her on our way to school. We walked her in altogether. I was soooo happy when the teacher said, "The first thing we always do is wash our hands!" Yes! One of my biggest hangups on preschool was that she might get sick more. Yes, I know that kids need good exposure to germs and that they eventually get sick now or later. But still. I hate germs. So I was very glad to see that the teacher encouraged good hand washing.

Finally it was time to say goodbye. Just a quick hug and kiss and she was off to play at centers! No tears from anybody. I did have one emotional moment, but it was more a feeling of pride as we sent her off than sadness. All morning long I would look at the clock and think about what she was doing at that time...I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see her. My prayer for her is that she would love learning, be kind and generous, be a leader, and make lots of friends.

I arrived to pick her up a few minutes early and got to sit in the warm car and watch her play and run around on the play ground. She was in such a good mood! We got her things and walked out with her friend. I didn't want to bombard her with "How was your day???? Tell me everything!!!" so I played it cool and waited until she started to chatter which didn't take long. She said her favorite part of the day was chapel and she told me the story of Jesus telling the disciples, "Let the children come to me." She talked about the letter Q, and doing crab walks at PE, and playing dress up. She really likes her teacher and told me that snack time is at 10AM, just like at home. She told me that they made Valentine's Day cards for children who are in the hospital, but that she doesn't have to go to the hospital because another grown up will take them ;) I loved seeing her so filled with joy.

We will still do home school on Mondays and Tuesdays, working mostly on math, literacy, and science. Then she will go to preschool on Wednesday where she gets play centers, Bible, PE, some literacy and math, art, and recess. We also have our Moms Connect group on Thursdays where she is in a class and gets to play, do crafts, and have Bible time. I'm also so happy to get special time with Jensen. I love one on one time with my precious baby...who is turning ONE in two days...but that's another blog post.

I will wrap up this sappy mom post with a photo of another first Eva enjoyed 10 days ago that I never blogged about....

Her first hair cut! I had never even trimmed those baby blonde locks. How did this baby girl grow up so fast?

Eva's 4th Birth-DAY

Two weeks ago this crazy kid officially became a four year old. I just remembered that I never actually blogged about it and was debating if I should...when I went back through my phone to look at photos there was so much I had already forgotten! My mama brain is basically mush. So here is the official coverage of Eva's big FOUR day.

We woke up in the morning at headed out for some donuts. Eva said she really just wanted donut holes so that is what the birthday girl got. And what is a donut party without your four best Barbie friends? Barbie-Malin, Barbie- Bijou, Barbie "Barbie", and Anna all joined us for the chocolaty goodness. {Kristoff got to come along too, but according to Eva he had "poor behavior" so he had to wait in the car. Silly 4 year olds.}

Back at home it was time for her presents from me and Ryan. The day I wrapped these I hid them under our dresser, thinking that would be a perfect hiding spot. I kid you not, she found them within 15 seconds of coming in our room later that day, and she wasn't even on the look out for them. She just happened to lie on the floor, look over and say, "Oh! Are those my birthday presents?" I can't believe she had enough self control to wait until her birthday morning to open them! 

Her first RC car! Last year some friends passed on a life size Barbie jeep that Eva can drive around in so this year Barbie got her own jeep to match.

That day we went to the pool. I think this will probably be our last official pool day. We went again a week later but the water was too cold and only Eva got in. I wish I had a good video of my four year old swimming, she has gotten so good! 

When I went to let her out from her "rest" time it took me a minute to realize she was actually asleep under that big pile of dress up clothes. 'Cause everybody knows that beds are sooooo for three year olds. 

For dinner that evening we took the birthday girl to the Rainforrest Cafe. This was our first time eating there and we had so much fun! I had heard from lots of people not to expect a gourmet feast, so I went in just for the experience and really enjoyed it. We sat in the tiger section and Eva loved seeing all the animals move and talk. It was a perfect little kid birthday spot!

Not the greatest picture but I just love the goofy look on her face. Nobody ever knows what to do when they are singing Happy Birthday. 

After dinner we stopped by and got out free carousel ride! Did you know they offer that at Grapevine Mills? You are supposed to join some club but I just mentioned it was her birthday and the lady told me she got a free ride. Thanks, carousel company! 

The next morning we had the awful four year old checkup where they get four shots. So sad but she was very brave. We also found out that Eva weights 29 lbs....and Jensen weights 22lbs. Ha! 

If you need this sassy girl, you can usually find her dressed up like a princess, playing with her Barbies these days. She is really into playing make believe and I love it! We enjoyed treating her like a princess for her special day!

Barbie Birthday Party

This past Sunday we had Eva's 4th birthday party. She decided that she wanted a Barbie party! We enjoyed a special time with family and a few neighborhood pals. I wish I had taken more photos but I did get a few good ones :) 

Party cupcakes! I was going to make a fabulous Barbie cake but this ended up being way easier and just as delicious!

 Our dessert bar! Vanilla cupcakes with raspberry glaze, sugar cookies with lots of sprinkles, and brownies!

The awesome thing about a Barbie party was that I was able to resuse most of the decor I had bought for her first birthday. It had all been neatly stored in a box in the attic, bet my husband is glad now that I kept it all!

The lighting in this area always photographs really oddly....you  can see her birthday banner in the back and the table decor but it wouldn't focus in on it. Lots of pink, polka dots, Barbie and glitter!

Her four year old portrait, some pretty flowers (actually mine from Ryan!) and. some girly decor.

The birthday girl with her handsome Daddy! She is an absolute Daddy's girl.

 Me with my beautiful party girl.

Ready to open presents!

Ha! Once a kid has used a party horn they never forget what to do! 

Eva got lots of Barbie things......

 .....and lots of dress up clothes! She has her choice of princess dresses now!

This was her first party to get to invite a few friends. We've gotten to know some sweet neighborhood girls so we were excited to celebrate with them, along with all of her cousins.

 Making her birthday wish!

After desserts it was time to play outside! 

We set out all the fun backyard and water toys we own and just let them go for it.

With Nana and Papa

The birthday girl and Jensen with Dede, Uncle Peter, Mamy, Baba, and Grandpa Hank.

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate! Eva loved her party and has spent tons of time playing with her new gifts!