Katie Turned Six

Katie’s SIXTH birthday was on Thursday, April 14.  My kids get all excited about picking out their birthday meals and what they would like for their birthday cake.  Katie knew just what she wanted for her birthday breakfast, “a cinnamon roll or donut just for me and everyone else has cereal!”

The girl has a heart of gold! ;-)   To her credit though, after sharing her request on Instagram that morning it was mentioned that sometimes we all just want to feel special and having something special just for her accomplished that.

(Justin did bring home half a dozen donuts so Jason and Drew did get a little something as well – the girls were already off to school)

Katie’s upcoming birthday has weighed on my mind for months.  She was so, so excited to have her very first birthday party.  I don’t love planning parties, especially when it involves children, plus Katie really doesn’t have many close friends so the idea of putting together a list of kids to invite made me uncomfortable.  Of course there are plenty of kids from church and the neighborhood we could invite, but she doesn’t really associate with them much so it seemed weird to me.

Anyhow, while we were at Ocean Shores I was expressing my dilemma to a friend and she came up with the brilliant idea to take couple kids to open bounce at the nearby bouncy house the morning of her birthday (since she’s afternoon kindergarten) and call it good.  It was brilliant!  We invited three little kindergarten friends to join us for an hour and a half of bouncing followed by lunch and playtime at a park and then I dropped them all off just in time for kindergarten.

Turns out the Issaquah school district was on break that week so the bouncy house was much more crowded that a typical weekday morning, but the kids didn’t mind at all.  Drew had no problem jumping in and kept up with the big kids.

We had an hour to kill at the park – good thing I brought lots of snacky food for these kids.  They played hard and worked up an appetite.

Katie had no hesitation when it came to choosing her birthday dinner – chicken, carrots, and rice.  A total win for me because it cooked in the crockpot and gave me enough time to finish her birthday cake before dinner.  Abigail helped me with the decorating - Katie chose yummy layers of chocolate and strawberry cake.

(wearing her birthday crown she received at school)

The following Sunday, April 17, we had the Fletchers over to celebrate – Katie was so excited.  It was our first Sunday in our new ward and getting home at 12pm sure makes it easier to have people over.

Katie chose taquitos and mint brownies for her second birthday celebration. 

Justin took her out to Red Robin on the following Wednesday to redeem her free birthday meal.  One-on-one outings are always a special treat.

It’s been awhile since I’ve done any kid-specific posts so let’s give a little glimpse of Katie at age SIX!

• Katie is stubborn.  Which leads to some defiant moments.

• Katie is athletic.  If we’re ever at a location that has a track this girls want to run around it.  She doesn’t have much stamina, but the desire is there.  She is excited to play soccer again this fall.

• She is a great bike rider and, in my opinion, is a little too confident riding up and down the hill we live on.  She always remembers her helmet, which makes her mother very happy.

• Katie makes messes.  When it comes time to clean up her usual reply is, “I can’t!” She hasn’t quite learned how to tackle putting away her clothes, then making her bed, then putting away her shoes – she’s just looks at the whole mess and gets overwhelmed.

• We actually hear “I can’t” more often than we’d like around here.  One of our most recent battles has been with Katie turning on the shower on her own.  She would prefer us to turn the shower head to the wall and then turn on the water before she gets in.  Getting her to turn it on herself has been surprisingly difficult

• Katie and Jason are typically great playmates – most recently they play with Legos any chance they get.

• Katie can be quite bossy – with siblings, her teacher, parents.  I love and encourage her help keep Drew safe and accounted for, but she hasn’t quite mastered when she should mother and when she should not. 

• Katie has the sweetest smile and such bright beautiful green eyes!

• I’ve had several people over the years tell me she looks just like Matilda.  I’m not familiar with that movie, but they assure me that she is an adorable character.

• She wears a size 1.5 in shoes and a size 6-7 in clothing.  She’s not picky about what she wears and couldn’t care less about whether her hair is combed or not.

• When I took her in for her well child on the April 12 she measured:

            Height:  48.82” (96 percentile)

            Weight: 52 lbs (82 percentile)

• Katie is on the bus everyday nearly as long as she’s in the classroom.  She’s picked up at 11:35 (for a 12:45 start time – that’s over an hour on the bus) and then school gets out at 3:25 and she gets home 45 minutes later.  At the beginning of the school year I wouldn’t let her take anything on the bus, but as the year progressed I haven’t cared.  An hour getting to school is crazy long. Last week I got a call from her teacher letting me know that Katie and her friend had come to school covered in marker.  At first the teacher questioned whether I sent her to school that way (turns out the friend had a marker in her backpack).  First let me say my kids know we only color on paper – coloring on our bodies, walls, furniture is NOT allowed and thankfully something we haven’t had to deal with very often.  But as the teacher went on and on about how disappointed she was in them I was able to see it in a less serious light.  The girls were standing right by her and this teacher has a way of making even grown adults feel ashamed.  I met Katie at the bus stop that afternoon expected fully tatted out kids and as suspected the teacher made it sound much worse than it was.  Again, totally not okay, but it was obvious the girls had been reprimanded so severely at school that they didn’t need any further punishment at home.

• Katie sleeps great – usually in bed around 7:30 and wakes up 12 hours later. 

• Katie is a great little reader.   It’s amazing how quickly she caught on to it and is comfortably reading chapter books.

A couple questions I asked Katie:

Favorite color? pink

Favorite thing to do outside? ride my bike

What do you want to be when you grow up? doctor? teacher? teacher!

Favorite candy? tootsie roll

Favorite thing to do at school?  read

Least favorite thing at school?  math

Favorite dessert?  mint brownies

Favorite restaurant? Red Robin

Favorite food? pizza

Happy Birthday Little Miss Katie!  We sure love you!

Ocean Shores {April 7-8}

As I mentioned we didn’t have many plans going into spring break.  Justin was in Houston the first few days and we had some dental and doctor visits scheduled.  When my friend Sommer saw that we would be having 80 degree temps late that week she proposed a trip to the coast.  I moved around some appointments and we were excited to join the fun.  The kids and I left first thing Thursday morning and were the first of our group to arrive in Ocean Shores around lunch time. 

We’ve been to Ocean Shores a few times and never before have we had weather as perfect as today. We spent all afternoon enjoying the beach.

The water was cold, cold, COLD! 

   

We walked down to the beach from our hotel and had a huge area all to ourselves.  Most of the other beachgoers were parked next to the public access areas, which worked out great for us.

The ocean breeze was perfect for flying kites.

Carly loves these gaucho pants – Abigail calls them her grandma pants.

Easy enough for even Drew!

A group of horses seemed to come strutting around about every hour.  Fun to look at, but not so fun when they pooped all along our beach.

We brought lots and lots of snacks to the beach.  Drew enjoyed blowing through the veggie straws.

Abigail is at a point in her life that an important part about any outing is getting a great picture. 

Including us there were six families in our group – four of us from church and then two non-member friends of Sommer’s.  The kids all got along really well and had a great time.

We thought we had all the kids gathered for this picture, but afterward realized we were still missing a few – oops!

And the Moms of these crazy kids!

We packed it up and made the trek back up to the hotel where we ate pizza out on the grass and then let the kids play in the hotel pool until bedtime.  I offered Carly $5 to entertain Drew in the pool so I wouldn’t have to get in – money well spent!

The next morning we took our time eating the complimentary hotel breakfast and lounging around in our rooms until we were brave enough to bundle up to head down to the beach.  Going from sunny and 70’s to frigid and 50’s was quite a different experience.

Turns out it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable so we packed it up and headed to the local ice cream shop before making the drive back home.

Two days without naps and Drew waits until were 10 minutes from home (on a 2.5 hour car ride) before he falls asleep – figures!  Thankfully, we were able to let him keep sleeping in the garage while we unpacked everything.

(you may have noticed we hit up Chick-fil-A in Tacoma on the way home)

We weren’t quite ready to end our fun so Sommer invited us over to her house that night for a BBQ and to hangout.  Such a great little staycation and proof to me that I can do these sort of adventures even with five kiddos in tow.