Claire turns 5!

 Claire turned 5! Can you believe it?

It's starting to be bittersweet watching Claire grow up. She was a super hard toddler, so each year brought me a sigh of relief, but now that Claire has life kind of figured out, I find myself missing her sweet little moments. She sure is smart and is really good at putting me in my place.

We made a weekend out of it. Friday, Claire was ecstatic to find out I made her an appointment to get her ears pierced. Around here, when you turn 5, that's just what you get to do. So, after Dance, we promptly took her over and she climbed up in the chair like a big kid, picked out her pretty star earrings, and was the center of attention as the lady shot her earrings in and Claire didn't even flinch. She was a rockstar!

She was so brave and hasn't looked back since. She was made for those star earrings!

The next day (Saturday) was her scheduled birthday party. Claire isn't super social, so I take it upon myself to force her to be so on her birthday. She's so lucky. We planned a neighborhood party and invited just about everyone. It was awesome! 

Claire's invitation she helped design. She did a great job!

The weather continued to be beautiful all weekend long, and I was so happy! We invited way too many kids to be able to have a party in our house. We had face painting, lawn games (thanks to Greggy), a scavenger hunt, cupcakes, and presents. It was a fun party and we had a huge turnout! 

We have the cutest neighborhood girls who were so excited to paint faces for me! 

Greg leading lawn games.

He was hilarious!

Teaching the kids toilet tag.

Claire was a bit overwhelmed and found a quiet place to hide. Greg had to go find her when it was time to eat cupcakes. She recovered relatively well from the social shock after that.

Claire's friends! She was swimming in presents. We have the cutest neighborhood kiddo's!

We love Claire!!

My parents arrived a few minutes before the party ended.

After the party, Claire was so excited to eat with cousins at Pizza Pie Cafe. We love that place for birthday's because not only does the birthday girl eat free, but they bring out a free pazookie! And, it's the best pazookie Greg and I have ever tasted - no joke. But, they didn't tell us when they brought the pazookie and Claire's table ate the whole thing!! Oh well, there's always next time ... hopefully.

Claire, her pazookie, and her fancy new Elsa waterbottle.

Sunday morning was Claire's birthday, and it also happened to be our Ward's Primary Program, so that was fun! We made sure to give Claire sufficient time to open and enjoy her presents that morning.

LOL dolls

A Mama Unicorn and Babies from Grandma/Grandpa Mark

A fancy new scooter with lights!

The Primary Program is my favorite Sunday of the year! The girls both memorized their parts and did so well talking into the microphone and singing their songs.

I had to play the piano, so Greg manned the Quincey while he accompanied my parents on the bench. Afterwards, I played the piano again in Primary and Claire was a hoot to watch! We let her bring 1 toy to church and she swam the mermaid through the air the entire singing time. I was dying!

Claire's birthday dinner was just the 5 of us, which was nice. Sometimes Claire is known for saying surprisingly good prayers, and I caught the tale-end of this one. It is so cute watching her pray.

Definitely the least cute cake I've ever made, but Claire didn't care, so neither did I. It tasted good, and that's all that mattered.

Afterwards, we went for a walk around the block to try out Claire's fancy new light-up scooter. It was so much fun and she can be seen from a mile away.

Happy Birthday Claire! We love you and the beautiful little soul that you are!

- You love having Ms. Lindsay Aubree for preschool

- You love unicorns and mermaids

- You love Ms. Karen's singing class

- You love Ms. Cherie's dance class

- You are a fish and love swimming whenever you can

 - You are scary smart and quick to learn

- You say the darndest things

- Mom has yet to beat you at the Memory Game

- You love with all your heart and are the best sister!

Our family wouldn't be near as fun without you!