Rena turns 5!

So we had Rena's 5th birthday party in October. For the longest time I couldn't decide what I wanted to do for her party. My sister in law suggested a treasure hunt. That sounded like a lot of work at first but the more I thought about it the better I liked it. So that is what we did. I did a treasure hunt where everyone had to find clues to find the next clue.

The last 'clue' was a ticket for the hayride to the pumpkin patch where everyone got to pick a pumpkin to take with them.

So it was a bit of a 'redneck' hayride.

But I think everyone had fun.

Rena had decided that she wanted an all girl party. That was fine with me. It has started getting more difficult trying to decide who to invite and who not to. Rena has LOTS of friends. So a couple of the neighborhood boys had been left out of the party plans. But that didn't deter them. Once they found out it was 'girls only' they decided to take matter into their own hands.

It cracked me up! I gave them cupcakes and sent them on their merry, crossdressing way. I'm not sure some of our guests knew exactly what to think.

There was a kind of Fall/Halloween theme to the party so I made a black cat for the birthday cake. One of the guests informed me that it was brown not black. No cake for YOU!

The kids always seem to end up sitting in the foyer eating cake at every party. Too funny.

The birthday girl got a little clingy with Daddy around.

So another birthday party down. I really can't believe that she is 5. And she is such a great kid. Everyone loves her. She's smart and funny and sweet and generous. She is everything that I hoped she would be and more. I taught this age for many many years. And I had some really great kindergarteners in that time. Rena would rank #1! I love her more than words could ever express and I'm so lucky to be her Mom. Happy birthday Rena.

THE PARADE

Our preschool does a Halloween parade of sorts. The children get to dress up in their costumes and then they parade around the carpool lanes while happy parents and grandparents snap pictures. It is very cute.

RANDOM THINGS

On the nights I play tennis one of the neighborhood girls comes to watch the girls for me. She loves to have them dress up and do fashion shows for me when I get home. It is hysterical. They love it.

Riley in particular!

Now the babysitter is kinda young and shy and quiet. So it surprised me when I showed her this picture of Rachel

and she said "Well now you know how she's going to be looking at you from the time she's 12 until she's about 17."

Turns out she's funny too!

And because I'm constantly amazed at where and how this child can sleep, here you go. She's asleep with her finger stuck in her hair.

And now for the truly amazing. THIS is my side of the bed. That right. That's where I sleep. Just moments before I took this picture Riley had her arm slung over Rachel's waist. Rachel wants her space when she sleeps. She always has. So a few minutes later I ran into Rachel in the hall headed to her room. "I'm going to sleep in my woom." she said in her most groggy voice.