Mierae Turns Five

We were playing outside the other night (in this GORGEOUS, dry, Ohio weather!), and as I looked at Mierae, thinking about how she's going to Kindergarten this year, I wondered where there last five years went. My oldest child couldn't possibly be old enough to go to school! But I am so excited for what is ahead of her, and I LOVE to watch her grow and learn. I can't say the magic worked overnight when she turned five (with the hard time I've had with her the last two months), but things have definitely gotten better, and I'm learning to love and appreciate Mierae more and more.

For a few days leading up to her actual birthday, we tried to help Mierae go to bed better by letting her open one birthday gift the next morning if she went to bed well that night. It worked pretty well for a couple of nights, and it was fun to see how excited she was to open her gifts and then have all day to play with them.




On her actual birthday, I was teaching lessons most of the day, but Eric made the day fun. He baked her special blueberry muffins for breakfast.


Then he took the kids to the play place at the grocery store and the park, and they ran errands for her birthday party. In the afternoon, Mierae opened the rest of her gifts. This year she got Barbies, Barbie movies, books, and new school clothes and pjs.



(Jolie got her pjs for her birthday in April, so they were finally able to match. I love that I can get Valentine's pjs on clearance and they still work any time of year for little girls!)

Then we headed out for a birthday dinner at Sonic. Mierae LOVES that place. It was fun to see how excited she was to go.



Tuesday morning was her party with her friends. Mierae had requested a 5-layer tiered chocolate cake with pink frosting and pink and purple sprinkles. I had every intention of fulfilling her wish, but when the kids wouldn't go to bed, AGAIN, the night before the party, Mierae finally consented to cupcakes, as long as they were chocolate, with pink icing, and sprinkles. :) Mierae decorated them herself.


We have a lot of neighbor friends where we live, and the guest list ended up being pretty long, even with all the friends from Church who couldn't make it. I think we had 14 kids packed into our little townhome.

We played a quick water relay game outside, just waiting for it to rain on us, and then came in to play the Disney Scene It game while eating snacks. After that we made friendship bracelets with beads and stretchy string. We were glad the boys were as into it as the girls! Then it was time for cake, ice cream, and gifts. (Here's Mierae's I'm-embarrassed-to-be-the-center-of-attention smile. :) But don't let it fool you--she loved being in the spotlight!)




Of course the time just slipped away from us, and parents came to pick up their kids before we knew it. But, it was a fun time, and Mierae felt really special. She loves her friends!

The next day we went to Target for Mierae to use a gift card she'd received from some friends. We can spend hours on the toy aisles at Target, just pushing buttons, admiring, trying out, and of course, asking for, toys. It was fun to give Mierae the exercise of having a budget as she browsed the selection and tried to choose what she'd like best. She ended up with just the thing I thought she'd want: a Barbie Merliah mermaid doll. She graciously allowed Jolie to play with the Barbie Merliah surfer doll she had received as a gift the day before, and it was nice to see them finally getting along while playing with new toys!

Eric met up with us at the store, and we went out to eat at Johnny Rocket's and then headed to Coldstone for Mierae's birthday ice cream. The girls enjoyed lying in the sun on the granite slabs outside of Coldstone.



The next afternoon I took the kids to the mall for Mierae to get her free cookie cake slice and play at the spaceship playland. Then a few days later we made sure to go to Culver's to get Mierae's birthday frozen custard, right after swimming with our friends at our old apartment's pool. The day after that went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. (We have never gone out to eat so often, ever!) This restaurant trip worked out perfectly for all of us: Mierae had a free kid's meal for her birthday, and I got a $25 gift card from my dentist for bringing in Jolie as a new patient in the spring. Awesome! It was fun to try someplace new, and it was wonderful to be able to let the kids run around at the mall playland just around the corner from the restaurant.


Mierae, we love you! We hope you felt special on your birthday this year with so many friends, grandparents, and family members remembering and showing love for you.