I love this picture of Brooklyn and Abbie. Brooklyn painted a beautiful flower, and Abbie did a great job on her butterfly. She and Hannah Kate both share a love of painting and all things artsy. I'm sure they get that from their MawMaw. Hannah Kate certainly doesn't get it from me!
And here's my favorite little artist painting her butterfly. After she finished, she wanted to write an "H" on the bottom of her canvas. She painted an uppercase H and a lower case H.
Hannah Kate was so excited that the twins from her dance class were able to come to her party. Izzy painted a beautiful butterfly, too.
Here is Mason and his baseball and bat. Again, did I mention I can't even draw stick people? So you just have to use your imagination a bit when it comes to this bat and ball. Mason did a great job with what he was given!
Our sweet friends, the Slayton's, also came. We haven't seen them in awhile, and Mason and Hannah Kate were both excited to see Anna, David, James, Abby and Joshua again. They all created some wonderful masterpieces to take home.
And the food . . . this would be where several of my pinterest projects just didn't turn out like the picture! We had sandwiches that I cut in the shape of flowers, several dips and chips, chocolate covered pretzel rods, rice krispies treats, chocolate bark and cupcakes.
Using popsicle sticks and melted colored chocolates, I made these paintbrush rice krispie treats.
And this was our paint splatter bark. I did a very thin layer of dark chocolate with a thicker layer of white chocolate over the top. Then Hannah Kate put sprinkles on top to resemble paint splatter. It may not look like paint splatter, but they sure were yummy!
And the chocolate covered pretzel rods . . . well, those were supposed to be pretzel paintbrushes. After I dipped them in chocolate, I attempted to dip the tips in melted pink chocolates to look like the end of a paintbrush that had been dipped in pink paint (the pinterest picture of this was the cutest thing ever!), but when I dipped them in the pink chocolates, it was still warm, and it melted the brown chocolate, thus causing quite a pinky brown smeared mess. Instead of working with it to fix it, I just gave up and served the chocolate covered pretzel rods as they were. And they were good!
I let Hannah Kate choose her cake (hoping she would go for a cookie cake, but, of course, she didn't), and she wanted cupcakes. I wasn't surprised. So we made those to serve at the party.
We sang Happy Birthday, and she blew out her five candles.
And then it was time to open gifts. Hannah Kate LOVES opening presents. And since she has a December birthday, she has to wait all year to open presents and then gets everything at once.
Sophie and Izzy (the twins) were so excited for Hannah Kate to open their gift. And I don't blame them! What five year old doesn't want a Barbie rockstar doll?!
Hannah Kate received lots of new art supplies, including pencils, markers, sticker books, coloring books, activity pads and art tablets. I'm so glad because our crayon and marker boxes were looking shabby. She has alread spent hours in her new coloring books and sticker books.
And, I have no idea where this came from . . . a commercial, I guess . . . but Hannah Kate had at the top (yes, the number one item) of her birthday list a Winx doll. I had no idea what that was, but it seems to be a cross between Barbie and Tinkerbell. MawMaw had to go to several different stores to even find the right Winx doll (apparantly they have four different Winx chics). Hannah Kate was very excited when she saw this.
Pop and Mimi sent several presents from Georgia. These were a big surprise to Hannah Kate.
Hannah Kate was so excited when she opened her gift to find a Bitty Baby. For those of you "not in the know," this is the American Girl baby doll. And since this baby does not come with a name, I encouraged Hannah Kate to pick a name for her. She, of course, named her doll Lily.
And here they are. Lily has been to church with us, shopping with us . . . she sleeps with Hannah Kate, she uses Ellie's bouncer and bumbo seat . . . Lily is spoiled rotten!
I also got Hannah Kate something that was not on her list, something that she hadn't asked for. She has a very vivid imagination and loves to pretend. She still plays with her Fisher Price doll house ALL THE TIME. She's had it since her first birthday, and I really wanted to get her a "big girl" doll house. So I did. I also bought her the family to go with it. The family is absolutely perfect! It came with Daddy, Mommy, brother, big sister, baby sister, grandma and grandpa. I wanted to have the doll house assembled before her party, but that didn't happen. So I just wrapped the box. I also wrapped the family and made her open them first. She was excited to see the little dolls because she just loves dolls of all sizes, but it wasn't until Mason blurted out that the big box must be a doll house that she realized what she was getting. Even at that, she had no idea.
And that has been Hannah Kate's 5th birthday.
Dearest Hannah Kate,
You are five years old today! I still remember the very moment you were born, the very first time the nurse placed you in my arms, the very first time I heard your cry. You are MY GIRL.
You are so very smart! You can count to probably 1,000 at least. You love to write your letters and know how to spell several words. You really want to learn how to read so maybe we'll work on that after the holidays. You love love LOVE baby dolls, your doll house, coloring and drawing, playing with your kitchen, DANCING, pink, going to Bible study and church, swimming and cooking. You are always asking me what I'm going to cook or bake, and you slide the chair around so you can help me stir and pour. Your favorite thing to bake is cupcakes. Your favorite food is spaghetti and meatballs. You eat most anything, but that's what you ask for the most. Your favorite color is pink, but you like purple, too. You are an early riser and a night owl. You are very particular about what you wear and how you want your hair each day. You love to wear my lip gloss and my fancy lotions.
You keep me on my toes. I never know what you are going to say, and you come up with some doozies sometimes. You make me laugh harder than I've ever laughed. One of my most favorite memories is, "Done changing. Oopsie! Forgot!" Only you, me and Abbie know what that means. You love to dance, and you dance everywhere! You love music, and you love to sing while we're driving. But if you know I'm listening, you stop singing. But I'm always listening!
You became a big sister this year, and what an awesome big sister you are! You love Ellie so much, and you can hardly wait for her to be a big girl so she can really play with you. You like to help bathe her and pick out her clothes each day. You like to pick out her diaper. I know that you and Ellie are going to be the best of friends. You love Mason, too. And it makes this Mama so happy that you play together so well.
You have a tender heart, but you are also a little spit fire sometimes. Your heart is so big for Jesus right now, and I absolutely love listening to your bedtime prayers each night. I absolutely CAN NOT WAIT to see what the Lord is going to do in your life and what He is going to accomplish through you. He has great things for you, little girl. Love Him. Love Him with your everything.
I love you so much, Hannah Kate! You wear me out sometimes, but I mean that in the bestest of ways, and I wouldn't have it any other way! You make my life so much fun. I love playing with you and pretending with you. I love reading to you. I love braiding your hair, even when you want two French braids, and it takes 30 minutes, and Ellie is screaming! I love cooking along side you. I love our days together. You are one of my sweetest blessings!
With love,
Mama
