Thurs. Feb. 6, 2014 - Riley is 5!!!!!!!!

 Micaela helped me make cupcakes for the first of Riley's birthday celebrations

 Playing "Joust" with Daddy

 We went to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time; Riley loved all the games

 Micaela liked to ride in cars...

 ...and on the little carousel

 Sisters cruising

 I went snowshoeing with a few girlfriends

 Yes! Its my birthday!!!

 She was excited about her first lunchbox

 Riley asked for an alarm clock for her birthday so she could get up by herself like a big girl

Of course she needed a new nightstand for her clock

 We sang "Happy Birthday" 

 Blowing out the candles

 So proud that she got them all out

YAY! I got styrofoam for my birthday!

 Loving her Wonderheart bear

Mommy, Riley and our Care Bears

 Her friend from California, Selina, made her a rainbow tutu for her rainbow Care Bear birthday party

Her preschool teacher, Mrs. Patterson, made Riley a special crown

Then the entire class sang "Happy birthday to you"

 Anna invited us over to decorate cupcakes

 Celebrating

Happy birthday to our 5-year-old!

Its hard to believe our little Riley is 5 years old! We kicked off her birthday week at Chuck E. Cheese. The girls had a great time with all the games and rides. Riley is already asking when we can go back again. She's been opening presents all week and was thrilled to receive her big-girl alarm clock.

Riley's school had parent-teacher conferences Wed.-Fri. so her class celebration was on Tuesday. I volunteered in the room so I could watch her on her day. Riley got to wear a crown and had special duties. We brought rainbow fruit skewers (strawberries, cantaloup, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries and blackberries) and chocolate teddy grahams, her favorites. Even though she can be shy, she enjoyed the extra attention.

Unfortunately her actual birthday wasn't a lot of fun. Daddy had to travel for work and I had planned some fun activities for the girls and I. That was derailed when Micaela woke up with the stomach flu. So the birthday girl watched TV most of the day while I was preoccupied with a sick toddler and lots of laundry. Luckily she had received some new DVDs for her birthday and doesn't get to watch a lot of TV so she was pretty happy to spend the day in her PJ's watching shows. 

We are just so proud of our little Riley. She is a vibrant, imaginative little girl who loves to laugh with her friends. She is a sweet big sister who likes to take care of Micaela and is very good about playing with and including her. And Riley is a loving daughter who is concerned about our feelings and makes us happy every day.