the birthday bike

All year I've heard stories from Addison about the birthday bike. I've seen the birthday bike sitting in the hallway of the school, but I've never seen it in action.

We were sitting there eating lunch and this bell starts ringing. All the kids rush out and line up in the hallway. Michael and I had no clue what was going on. The kids know the drill. It was time for the birthday bike ride. We watched as Addison went up and down the hallway, kids from all the classrooms cheering her on. That is the director of the school giving her the ride. I love how they make it all about Addison. 

Now I know the significance of the birthday bike. I wonder if I can get a ride on my birthday.

the last celebration

When we got home from school there was a surprise for the girls. A new swing for their swing set. We spent some time trying it out.

I asked Addison what she wanted for her birthday dinner. I told her we could go out or bring something home. She asked for her favorite pasta. That would be a frozen Bertolli meal with bow tie pasta, spinach, and chicken. Sounds good to me. Afterwards we sang Happy Birthday one more time and then her and Morgan shared the special cupcake.

By this point she was overloaded on sugar and done with pictures. It was all about the silly faces.

The next morning she woke up with a birthday hangover. She was cranky and tired. It was all worth it though. I think she had the best 5th birthday ever!

april 17th

Tuesday morning could not come soon enough for this little girl. We had a countdown chain hanging in her room and with the last ring hanging the night before she went to bed knowing she would be 5 in the morning. The next morning I went in to wake her up and it was like she had turned into a teenager. She wanted to snuggle, but had no desire to get out of bed.

With all the excitement, Morgan couldn't help but think she was entitled to presents too. Addison was a sweet sister and let her help open some of them.

Keeping with tradition, Michael and I decorated the playroom the night before. This is the aftermath of the present opening.

Addison's teachers do a great job of making each kid feel special on their birthday. They get a birthday hat, a prize from the birthday box and a ride in the birthday bike. We decided to have Chick-fil-a lunch and cookie cake for the entire class.

They were sweet enough to let Morgan come over to the class for all the festivities. This was great until we had to leave. She was really clingy and cried for awhile, but I heard that she slept good during nap.

Publix made the biggest cookie cake I've ever seen. It was a little bigger than I had ordered which worked out great since all of the kids were thrilled to see a cookie that big.

My big five year old. I love that she was so happy.

the birthday party

This year I wanted to do something a little different. I thought about it for weeks and couldn't come up with a thing. Then Groupon gave me an idea. Some time ago I purchased a mommy & me pottery session to use on a rainy day. All that came back to me and I thought, I wonder if they do birthday parties. And they do. Addison chose a hand mirror with a princess crown to paint.

She wanted all Hello Kitty decorations. Plates, cups, napkins, birthday banner. She picked out the birthday ribbon that she is wearing. I surprised her with a Hello Kitty cake. She still gets a little shy when we sing Happy Birthday to her. I think it is one of the cutest things ever.

More shyness and making a wish.

After the party we went home and opened presents. She even let Morgan help.

For weeks she's been talking about this mermaid that swims all on her own. My mom was nice enough to fulfill her wish. Avery is used often and the girls love to teach her to swim just like they were taught. It cracks me up.

Addison had a great time with her friends. She still had 3 more days until her birthday and couldn't wait. It was so fun to see her so excited about a birthday. This weekend I get to pick up all the pottery and deliver it to the kids at school. I can't wait to see how everything turned out. I know they will be fabulous.

happy birthday addison

Today she is 5. She awoke to balloons and streamers hanging in the playroom and a pile of presents for opening.

Five years ago today I was snuggling this new baby in my arms. This morning when I woke her up she wanted to snuggle the same way. Happy Birthday Addison. I love you as big as the sky and as big as the ocean.

the last hunt

After church we had one more egg hunt at my mom's house before Easter dinner. Right after I took this picture of Addison finding the egg she tripped over a tree root and fell right on her face. The rest of the hunt looked like this. Find an egg, check my boo boo. There was some blood so I get it.

Morgan took her egg hunting very seriously.

My mom helped the kids go through the eggs. Again, money instead of candy. That's my kind of egg. Somehow the neighbors dog ended up joining the hunt. He was a hit though. Especially with M.

Cousins in the hammock. Addison and Morgan just love M. They love to give her hugs and kisses. Sometimes too many. All of them loved swinging. The weather was perfect for just being outside.

There was just something so special about this Easter. The girls loved all of the activites and Addison really understood what Easter was all about. We spent a lot of time reading and talking about the story of Jesus.

We made it back to our house just in time to have dinner in the front yard.

Look at those smiles. I love spending time with my family and seeing how much they truly enjoy the time we spend together. It really doesn't get much better than that. I hope everyone had a Happy Easter with the ones you love.

easter best

Sunday morning we went to church at the little old church I grew up going to. The congregation is small and older, so they love when all the kids show up. The girls do really well in church. They listen and pay attention, as much as you can when you're 2 & 4. Towards the end they start to get a little antsy. This is Morgan hanging on the pew. In our small church it is totally acceptable to take your phone out and snap a picture.

After the service we headed outside for the Easter egg hunt. There was no way I was letting the day go by without a family picture. We're all dressed up and happen to be looking at the camera with smiles on our faces.

The girls had a lot of fun at the egg hunt. There were actually some older kids there so when they were done we hid some of the eggs again so our three could find a few more.

Morgan finding some eggs and probably getting a few bug bites. My brother helped M find eggs, but most of the time she was just interested in the dirt.

She found one.

Sister helping each other out.

Easter dresses and new shoes. Luckily we had no arguments about wardrobe changes that morning.

Me and my sweet girls. I was just so excited that they wanted to take a picture with me.

Lucky for me the church puts money in the eggs. I'm still rationing out Halloween and Valentine candy so the last thing I needed was more candy. I did bribe them for a couple of pictures so they did get to indulge when we got back to my mom's house.