Saturday, July 16, 2011

and just like that.... she's five

















my little bee is so funny. she has already convinced a few people that she turned six two days ago. when her grammy said "well layla, you have already been telling everyone that your five... now you will actually be five." layla said "well, i'm just going to have to tell them i'm six then." hmmmm. 
it was a wonderful birthday. we did a few things different this time and i am so glad we did. years past we always had birthday cake after dinner and opened presents after birthday cake... which would result in a late night opening frenzy and then off to bed. which i finally realized is no fun. can you imagine waiting all day to open your gifts... opening them all at once... and then going to bed??? nope. not i.
the night before her birthday we read humphrey's birthday, a very sweet book. in the book, humphrey opened his gifts first thing in the morning... and that got me thinking. so, when she woke up the next morning i let her open one gift. then a few hours later i let her open another one. we continued to do that all day. it was so much better. because that  way she enjoyed the one gift she opened for a long time instead of just jumping right to the next and she got to open presents all throughout the day instead of one quick frenzy. she helped me make her birthday cake too (which we still ate after dinner). that has been a tradition we've had for many years now and i love it. another new idea that i got from the book the creative family (wonderful book) is to go around the table when your having the cake and everyone says one thing that they love about the birthday person. we actually forgot to do this the night of her birthday because it was very late when we had the cake so, to make up for forgetting, i'm going to share five things i love about her right here.

five things i love about my oldest daughter

  •  i love the way she keeps special things under her pillow
  •  i love that her excuse for having papers and colored pencils everywhere is "but i'm an artist"
  •  i love how she can sit in her room for hours looking at books and making up stories
  •  i love the way she calls her younger sisters "honey"
  •  and i love her courage

there are many, many things i love about my daughter and i will share more in due time.
happy birthday sweet bee, i'll love you forever.

side note: after i make a couple more crowns (for eislee and maiko) i will share a tutorial in case anyone is interested.

5 comments:

  1. That is a great idea for opening presents!! I think I will take that one :). Tell her we said happy birthday!! Oh and her cake is so cute!!

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  2. Oh Jenny....my nieces and nephews are so lucky to have such an amazingly loving, creative, special mother. Bee is such a special girl and I LOVE seeing your photos and updates of the family.

    Oh, and Matt is pretty darn lucky also! Love you sister!

    Rebecca

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  3. amanda- yes, use it! happy to share :) can't wait to see you guys again!

    rebecca- thank you so much :) that means a lot coming from you! love you.

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  4. I am crying reading this... You are so sweet and loving! I love you so much!! What a great Mommy!

    Kathi

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  5. thanks kathi :) love you too :)

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