Happy 5th Birthday, Samantha!
pamelamyers | September 23, 2014
Somehow, our little girl turned 5 years old. It seems almost impossible. She is so grown up now, she speaks so clearly, and maturely, and yet, I can still see that little baby I held in my arms so many years ago. I am so proud of the girl she has become. She is such a kind, sweet, funny, smart, inquisitive child. We couldn’t have hoped for a more wonderful kid. Yes, she still makes me crazy with her super picky eating habits, her waking up at the crack of dawn, talking to me like she’s 13, and various other things, but in the grand scheme of things, they don’t mean anything. She is here – and she is amazing. About 6 years ago, you wouldn’t have made me believe it would ever be a reality. Happy Birthday, Samantha. May this year bring you more joy than you can hold in your heart.
Here are some pictures from her party. Because I had my party outside, Sam wanted hers outside too. We did a pretty decent job decorating, if I do say so myself. Mark strung lights out her bedroom window across the lawn, and we added as many balloons and decorations as were possible. This year’s theme – Sam selected, of course – was Strawberry Shortcake, with a Barbie cake.
Do you think she likes Strawberry Shortcake because she has red hair? Yeah, I did too at first. But I don’t think so. As Sam will happily point out to everyone who comments on her gorgeous hair, “It’s ORANGE, not RED!!”
Sam begged us for a pinata this year and Mark obliged. He bought her a dinosaur, and she loved it.
It took FOREVER for that thing to break. Maddox and Sam whacked it so many times. Sam wasn’t the strongest hitter, but Maddox packs a wallop and he only managed to make the teeny tiniest crack.
Finally, I gave it a go. I mean, come on, I’m a grown up, and not a weak one, surely I can break this thing, right?
Yeah, no. Mark had to slam on it really hard to get it to break.
And it finally did, to the delight of the kiddos.
Here is Sam’s cake. It’s awfully pink, which thrilled Sam to death. If any color is her favorite after orange, it’s pink.
It was a really nice day, but boy was it windy. We couldn’t even get the candles to stay lit. We had to resort to blocking the wind just long enough for us to sing.
Once we ate cake, it was on to Sam’s favorite part – her gifts!
Grandmom and Poppy bought her a pink scooter. Exactly what she wanted!
She got a Hello Kitty mermaid from Zephyr, which was definitely on her gift list.
On to her big gift from us – the Lundy Smaland dollhouse she has been eyeing in the toy store. Every time we’d go past the store at the mall, she’d ask me if she could go it to visit “her” dollhouse.
It is a pretty cool house. The furniture is cute and it lights up!
Ta da! The house. Exactly what she wanted.
Krista and Adam bought her Zingo, which is a really fun bingo game for kids. Debbie, our neighbor, kindly played with her while we all sat and talked.
It was a really nice party for not only Sam but us. We have lived next door to our neighbors, Joe and Debbie, for so many years, but we don’t seem to ever get together. It was really nice that they joined us for Sam’s party. They are so kind to her all the time that I wanted them to enjoy her day with her. Everyone had a great time hanging out. Adam kept them entertained, I am sure, while we were busy with other things.
The festivities came to an end, but the party still looked great. I was sad it was all over and so was Sam.
Over the next few days, we had a good time playing house.
Sam couldn’t wait to get outside to try her scooter. She was very tentative at first, and had trouble steering, but she did pretty well!
Great job, Sam! Pretty soon, you’ll be a pro!
At school on Monday, we had her birthday celebration. It was different from last year since they do their party snack at snack time when the parents are gone, but I did go in and read to her class, and the kids sang Happy Birthday, which she loved. Happy, happy birthday, Sweetie!