I made a mermaid cake for grandparents to eat on her actual birthday which landed on a Thursday. I already had a dome shaped cake pan, so I was glad to be able to use it again, (when she turned four I bought the pan for a princess cake). Luckily we already had the mermaid barbie too!
This cake was actually pretty simple. I had a lot of fun making it this year!September 2nd is her actual birthday which landed on a Thursday this year. That day she opened her present from Mom and Dad first thing in the morning and ate breakfast on our "you are special" plate. (I always ate on a similar plate growing up and it was a fun tradition. I came across one at walmart and had to get it). After school we took her out to dinner. She chose Applebees and ordered chicken strips and fries (her favorite). Afterwards we headed back home to have cake and ice cream with the grandparents. She was very lucky this year and got some accessories to go with her American Girl doll, a beautiful picture of ballet dancers for her bedroom, and some new clothes for school.
Friday we were able to score some free tickets to see Pirates of Pensance at Hale center theater. Kate had been asking us to take her to see a play, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. We also took Kirk since he is obsessed with pirates. The play was very well done. Kirk loved watching the pirates, and Kate enjoyed the Victorian ladies dressed up in their beautiful gowns and umbrellas. It had just enough comedy to keep the kid's attention. Then Saturday was the long awaited mermaid birthday party. Kate has been planning this since Kirk had his Birthday back in March. She really wanted a swim party and I thought a luau would be a logical and easy theme for a swim party. She vetoed that idea. She really wanted to do a mermaid dress up party. I knew that this idea would be alot of work for me, but she could not be swayed. So I ended up making 10 mermaid costumes. They really were not hard at all, but when you have to do it ten times, it does become time consuming. Luckily I started back in June. I found the fabric for super cheap, and also found some Luau decorations on line for 75% off. They had these really cute flower head bands that worked as mermaid flower crowns. We did the party in the back yard by our deck. It was perfect because right now we have a big pile of sand back there. We are in the process of making a sand box beneath out deck. It looked like a beach. I made a fish sea mural on our deck out of butcher paper. I also decided to hire a company who does character appearances for birthday parties. Ariel came to the party, and entertained the kids for the first part. We took pictures with her in front of our waterfall.
(Here's a picture with all of the girls, sorry Jennie, I didn't realize Izzy was in the back. I'll e-mail you an individual shot I got. Kirk just made my day when he said "you look pretty in that picture mommy", I'm thinking it's because of the hair. Friday we were able to score some free tickets to see Pirates of Pensance at Hale center theater. Kate had been asking us to take her to see a play, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. We also took Kirk since he is obsessed with pirates. The play was very well done. Kirk loved watching the pirates, and Kate enjoyed the Victorian ladies dressed up in their beautiful gowns and umbrellas. It had just enough comedy to keep the kid's attention. Then Saturday was the long awaited mermaid birthday party. Kate has been planning this since Kirk had his Birthday back in March. She really wanted a swim party and I thought a luau would be a logical and easy theme for a swim party. She vetoed that idea. She really wanted to do a mermaid dress up party. I knew that this idea would be alot of work for me, but she could not be swayed. So I ended up making 10 mermaid costumes. They really were not hard at all, but when you have to do it ten times, it does become time consuming. Luckily I started back in June. I found the fabric for super cheap, and also found some Luau decorations on line for 75% off. They had these really cute flower head bands that worked as mermaid flower crowns. We did the party in the back yard by our deck. It was perfect because right now we have a big pile of sand back there. We are in the process of making a sand box beneath out deck. It looked like a beach. I made a fish sea mural on our deck out of butcher paper. I also decided to hire a company who does character appearances for birthday parties. Ariel came to the party, and entertained the kids for the first part. We took pictures with her in front of our waterfall.
I thought Kate would be a little more excited about it, but she was being very shy. She didn't want to sit by her, and didn't really look at her alot of the time.. It was kind of expensive so I was hoping Kate would have been a little more excited about it. She probably was inside, she just doesn't show her emotions alot. I would still totally recommend them. The girl did an amazing job, her costume was beautiful, and she sang, and told the girls her little mermaid story. Most of the girls loved it! Then we had cup cakes, opened gifts and went swimming in Kate's grandparents pool. It was convenient since our home is right behind theirs. The girls just walked right back.
It was a wonderful day for her, but I do think it's time to just start doing birthday's every other year now. I'm glad I did this one for her since this is probably the last year she'll enjoy dressing up, and all of the little girl stuff. She is growing up so fast now, that I feel like I need to really savor the next couple of years before she becomes a tween. Not that the tween stage is bad, I'm just trying to savor every stage she goes through. I hope that as she grows, we can become really good friends.
It was a wonderful day for her, but I do think it's time to just start doing birthday's every other year now. I'm glad I did this one for her since this is probably the last year she'll enjoy dressing up, and all of the little girl stuff. She is growing up so fast now, that I feel like I need to really savor the next couple of years before she becomes a tween. Not that the tween stage is bad, I'm just trying to savor every stage she goes through. I hope that as she grows, we can become really good friends. 
Well two weeks ago Kate started Kindergarten. I know I know two weeks is forever ago, and I'm such a slacker. But this was a big milestone in her life. She enjoys her class. There are a few boys in our neighborhood that are in her class with her. We have decided to try the new french immersion program at her elementary school. This is definitely something I really mulled over. I didn't like the idea of her getting behind in her other subjects just to learn french. But after reading alot about the program I decided that in the long run after she's completed all of her elementary grades she'll be better off. Kate only let me take one picture of her. The first day was only an hour long, and then they do kindergarten testing the rest of the week, so it was a little anticlimactic for Kate. She was expecting a little more from her first week of school. 
Well we have many firsts coming for Kate. She will be going off to her first day of school in one week, and today she announced that her tooth was loose. I figured it would come out in a few days, but it was more like a few minutes. It popped right out, she pulled it out herself
! She was so excited. She just kept telling everyone how excited she was to loose her first tooth. I was pretty excited too, and I wanted to make this moment special so I made her a little tooth box with a pillow so her tooth wouldn't get lost. Of course the tooth fairy came tonight, I'll be excited to see her reaction in the morning.
I was asking Dan what I should do with the tooth, he suggested that we throw it away so she wouldn't see it and suspect that we were the tooth fairy. I sat and stared at this tooth for a minute, and realized that I couldn't just throw it away. I actually started crying. This was her baby tooth. It might have been the very first one. I still remember the night I discovered that she had broke her first tooth. We were sitting in her rocking chair, and she was fussing. I rubbed her bottom gums, and there it was, her darling little baby tooth. She wasw such a darling baby. I can't dispose of something that was part of her. So I've tucked the tooth away in a safe place, but I really don't know what to do with it. I can't hold onto it forever, but I won't throw it away either. If anyone has an idea of what to do with tiny little baby teeth please let me know. Having a box full of old teeth sounds kinda yucky to me. I was trying to think of some cute way of storing it. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I'm entering a new phase of life. Now that Kate's about to start school, and she's growing into such a beautiful little girl. It's strange how they go from being a little baby bouncing on your knee, to a school grade child loosing their teeth! I swear she's not old enough to be loosing her teeth yet. If I'm crying over her loosing a tooth, I don't even want to see me taking her to her first day of Kindergarten. It's like taking this big step into a whole new chapter of her life. She's no longer going to be here at home with me being my little helper. She's so much help with Benjamin, and she's incredibly patient with Kirk. I love her so much. She truly is such a special little girl.
This photo isn't very crisp, but you can't beat the smile! 
This is one I snapped of Kate. Still not as focused as I'd like, I can't believe how hard it is to keep a steady hand, I think in low light with a higher ISO setting you almost need a tripod or something. Anyways if anyone has some tips to get a more crisp focused portrait let me know. It looks fine when it's mini like this, but It's really out of focus when it's full sized on my computer monitor. I love the expression in this one, She was not very happy about me doing a photo shoot on her. My kids are getting pretty fed up with getting their pictures taken. I think the wedding a couple of weeks ago ruined them. They never want to pose for another picture again. 
