Celebrating Kendyll

What a fun few days we've had around here! Kendyll has definitely enjoyed this birthday (just like all the others, of course), and has already told me that she can now: 1) Reach higher 2)Hug tighter and 3) Listen better---all because she is now six. :) I'm sure the list will continue as the week goes on and she keeps realizing how big she has become practically overnight! (I love the perspective that kiddos have on the magic of their birthdays!)

SUNDAY:

Sunday afternoon, Kendyll celebrated her birthday with a Cooking Party and 12 of her sweet friends. It was the CUTEST party, and the people at Kids Cooking Company did a great job of making it fun, tasty, and easy on the parents! I literally showed up with nothing but the party favors...no cake, no plates, no candles, no decorations, no work. It felt completely strange to me!

(Kendyll's cooking friends: Elisabeth, Kate, Kayla, Emily, Kendyll, Chloe, Peyton, Emma Claire, Ryan, Hollyn, Leslie, Emma, Ainsley, and Carlie.)

Here are a few fun pictures of the cooking...

One of my favorite things I want to remember about this party is Kendyll's impromptu training in hospitality. She had a group from church, a group from school, and her future ACU roomie, Hollyn (ha ha) all coming to this party. So, we talked to her before we arrived about how important it was to make everyone feel comfortable since they wouldn't all know each other. We showed her how she should welcome each guest, and then introduce them to at least a couple of girls they didn't know, so they could all play together without feeling awkward. She took this job very seriously and greeted each girl, then took them around to EVERY single child and introduced them. Here she is working her party magic:

It was precious to watch these six year olds just kind of smile at each other, not knowing what to do with the introduction. Kendyll even talked to some of them about what they had in common, which cracked me up. She would say "So and so has a little sister just like you" or "She's in gymnastics too!" It was SO cute, and really was entertaining to watch. Everyone played together wonderfully and were fast friends, of course.

Even the younger sisters seemed to have some fun and Carlie got to get in on the action!

The party girls made tea sandwiches, triple berry tarts, peanut butter hugs and kisses cookies, pink lemonade, and decorated cupcakes. Then, got to eat the fruits of their labor. :) It was very cute...and very yummy!

At the end of the party, they sang to Kendyll and got to eat their cupcakes. Kendyll ate up the attention and had fun being the birthday girl for sure.

MONDAY:

Monday was her actual birthday, and she had the day off from school. So she got to decide what the day's agenda would hold. Here's how it went:

1) After singing to her in bed, having a surprise breakfast with the family, we did gifts from her sisters and took Carlie to school. Kendyll's all-morning-long agenda was fishing with her daddy. They didn't catch anything, but had a good time. She said "the fish were just too cold today".

2) Then, it was off to the mall for lunch at the food court (her choice was Which Wich for lunch, where she ordered a toasted PBJ with chocolate milk....ummm, I could have fixed that at home! But, it was still fun.)

3)Then, she wanted to stop at the candy store, where she picked seven kinds of candy to fill her bag. When I questioned this scheduled stop saying "We still have Valentine's candy at home, Kendyll" she said "Mom, this is my special day and you said WHATEVER I wanted to do I could do." Well, okay then. :)

4) The next stop was to get her birthday present from Mom & Dad....a pink Ipod. :) I was set on getting her the generic version at Target, and I did....and it didn't work. So, Daddy won this fight, and Kendyll got "the real thing" after all. She and Mark have already downloaded many songs, stories, and even a movie, and she has carried that thing everywhere, listening to her songs through her little speakers we got. It's pretty cute. The next thing we're downloading is a whole bunch of family pictures for her. Man, she's way ahead of her mommy, who doesn't even HAVE an Ipod!

5) We picked up Carlie, and headed home to have naps for the little ones. Kendyll played with her new toys from her sisters, and worked on picking music for her Ipod. Then, we met up with Aunt Cortni, Uncle Adam, Braden, and Avery for dinner and fun at Going Bonkers, which is a huge play place we learned about from Grandma. It is actually a large enough climbing structure for parents to play along. And, Mark and Adam had hours of fun with the kids, while Cortni, Abby Kate, Avery, and I hung out and talked and played. :)

Here are the crazy climbing, jumping, sliding, running crew:

And, here's a cute picture of some of the "table-talking" crew:

It was a fun ending to a great day. Kendyll was so tired from the excitement that she slept until 9:00 this morning! I think we wore out that birthday girl. And, I think we'll all be taking naps today for sure!