Anika's 5th Birthday

Anika is turning 5 this coming Tuesday so we had a little girls' birthday party for her today.  She was so excited to have her own birthday party after seeing Kade having his with the boys.  She loved all the decorations we were putting up, the table we did, the goody bags we made for the girls, just such a little girl.  Since 4 of her girl cousins live close by right now we invited them, nana and 2 friends (sisters) from our church.  Ani doesn't know too many girls her age from church because most of the kids her age are boys so this worked out great.  We played a little nail polish game, made crowns and eatable necklaces.  The girls and our 2 boys were so excited the whole time that they just went from one thing to the next and they couldn't wait to do the next thing, so that was funny to watch.  After we were all done they also couldn't wait to play outside and they were playing princesses in the woods since they were all wearing their crowns.  Ehren just started to make a path for the kids in the woods this weekend and our kids just love the little trail he made so far.  So they were in there for quite a while.  It was a pretty lively and exciting party to say the least.  I think it was great and so fun to create memories like that for the kids.  Anika has been wanting real fish for a while and since dad said no to that (and I was only glad) I at least had to make a fish birthday cake for her.  I think it's not on her mind much anymore though and she wasn't sad at all she couldn't get the fish so that's good.  I am really happy that Ani's teacher has goldfish in their preschool classroom and she loves watching them there, so at least she gets them there.  By the time bedtime came tonight, all 3 kids were so ready to crash and so am I. :)

It is just hard to believe that our little Anika is growing up so fast and is 5 already.  She is becoming her own person and it is so interesting to watch her develop into a precious unique little girl.  I love that she is such a girl and loves all the girly things.  Her and Kason are such great buddies when it's just the 2 of them and I love watching them when they sit on the bed or couch together, Anika reading a book after book to Kason.  Or they will play mom and dad, trains, dolls and just seem to be so close.  I was trying to remember from my childhood if I ever did that with my brother Erik who I was the closest to.  All I remember from early years are the fights and chasing and our oldest brother Marcel who had to intervene and be in charge of us a lot (which reminds me a lot of how our Kade is) so I love seeing Ani and Kason getting along so well for the most part.  Ani loves taking care of him, she is just so natural at it which I don't think she gets from me. :)  She is also very independent, very much unlike Kade.  She could care less that she was leaving me behind when getting on the bus to her preschool.  On one hand it is sad to see she doesn't need me as much anymore but on the other hand I'm glad because I know she loves it and can't get enough of social interaction.  It is so different from how Kade was his first year of school, just shy and homesick, which he still gets like sometimes.  But our Ani is a little social butterfly, she feels best surrounded by kids and most of all she loves school and everything about school.  She's just such a blessing to us and brings so much to our little family.  I love my little girl and am so thankful that God let me have her in the midst of our 2 boys.  I just pray we can always be close, even through those tough teenage years.

yeah, lots of sweets but after all, it is for girls. :)