Emma turns FIVE!

Emma turned FIVE in January!!  She has been waiting for this day since she turned 4, haha.  She was SO excited for the big day to arrive.  In fact, as soon as we had finished opening presents on Christmas morning she asked how many more days until her birthday.  This is a big deal in her little life.  We tried to make it a wonderful day for her.

She requested yellow pancakes in the shape of a girl and the number 5.

As her birthday fell on a Friday,  the kids had their usual art class.  Then I took the kids to grab donuts for a treat.  Emma also had music class on her birthday, so we brought along cupcakes to share with the class.  She brought cupcakes to share with her preschool class the day before.

As one of her birthday gifts we bought the family tickets to "Disney on Ice" which was a princess theme this year.  She went with Greg around her 3rd birthday and was SO EXCITED to be going again.

We met Greg at his office and then rode the light rail into the US Airways Arena.  Both kids LOVED riding the train!!

Emma was allowed to choose one item at the show for a gift and she chose the fake Rapunzel hair.  How lovely.

The whole family enjoyed the show!  It was super fun and really well done.  Totally worth the money!
Emma had a wonderful birthday indeed.  We only do friend birthday parties on "even year" birthdays, so she was able to spend lots of time with family, which at 5 is just fine with her.  Phew!

Dearest Emma,

Happy Birthday my darling and spunky little friend.  You are Mommy's little pal and I am so proud of the little lady that you are becoming.  We certainly have our challenges because you have Mommy's independent nature and stubborn disposition, but for the most part you are a true joy.  I frequently tell people that you are a delight to raise 95% of the time, and then we have some difficult moments about 5% of the time.  I feel so grateful that I get to be your Mom and see the wonderful person that you will become one day.  You are totally social in nature and constantly beg to have friends over for play dates.  You regularly schedule these yourself and then tell me about them later.  You are never as happy as when you have friends over to play.  You can be a bit bossy with your friends, so I sometimes have to intervene and remind you that you are not the boss of them. :)  You can generally change your attitude pretty quickly and come up with an amiable option for all parties involved.  You love to use "big words" and sometimes don't really know the right context in which to use them.  It is so endearing.  You are quite the little reader and love reading to me from a variety of books.  Some of my favorite moments with you are when you ask me to read to you on the couch or snuggled up in your bed.  You seem to enjoy this time as well.  You are VERY musical and are always singing and dancing around the house.  You can make up songs about any topic and frequently come up with solutions to your problems in song.  You LOVE playing the violin and actually ask me to practice every day.  You are so excited to learn how to hold your bow and actually play real songs.  It is so fun to see your excitement.  You are captivating to so many people around you because you talk like your 15 in your little 5-year-old body.  You absolutely ADORE your Dad.  He is always first place in your book.  You follow him around every second when he is home.  You BEG him to play toys with you the second he walks in the door from work.  And one of your favorite activities is going to work with him on Saturdays when he has a little bit of work to do.  You enjoy this time together, the free lemonade, and watching movies/playing the IPAD.  Dad always says that you do fantastic and that the office people really love chatting with you.  You are disappointed that he is moving to a "short building" soon and will not have the great view that his Central Phoenix office has.  You have become OBSESSED with Disneyland.  It was your dream come true to go a few weeks ago and you can not stop talking about it. Every single day something we do reminds you of Disneyland and you frequently commiserate that you wish we lived in California because you miss Disneyland "soooo much and wish we could go every day".  The other night you prayed that you might have dreams about the Disneyland rides.  You were super brave and LOVED every single ride you went on.  Dad and Mom were proud that you were such an all-star at the whole park.  You are so loving to your little brother.  VERY seldom do you two argue or fight over toys because you are so kind to give him a toy that he wants or let him play with you.  He worships the ground you walk on, and I hope that this relationship never changes.  He loves to kiss you and hug you goodnight and you are so kind.  You always say how grateful you are that we have a cute little bubbers around the house and say that you are thankful that you have a brother to play with.  I am grateful too bc your relationship with him brings me immense happiness.  I love you dearly and love having you as my little friend.  I have been to 2 different Kindergarten orientations for your school next year and I have cried during both of them.  I am so excited for you to experience school and all it's JOY, but am so sad for you to be growing up and leaving the home.  I love you so much my little angel.  I Love you, Mom