Kate's birthday was June 1 so we had a fun family celebration for her at our house on that day. However, we waited until this past weekend to celebrate with Aubrey for their joint birthday party. We had it at the Tom Muehlenbeck Center like last year on Saturday, June 22. We reserved the outdoor pool for both of our friends and family. It was so nice! Especially, since we had it there last year and we knew what to expect. Now that Kate is five she really understands birthdays and could not wait for her birthday party!
Then, last Sunday Kate got to open some more presents from the Tate family as we celebrated Kate, Aubrey and my Dad for a late Father's Day celebration. Kate has now lost two more teeth! She lost a bottom tooth on June 21 and another bottom tooth on June 26. That is her fourth tooth to lose on the bottom and she has lost two on the top. We know it is just a matter of time before her two front teeth come through. Then her smile is really going to look different! Our little five year old is changing all the time and growing up way too fast!
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| Here Kate is on her actual birthday. Daddy took Kate and Carly out to choose a donut. Look at the donut Kate chose, yummy! |
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| Kate really wanted to open a present after breakfast so, why not? It was her birthday, right? She only opened up the couple of presents that we had bought her. Yeah, a new Barbie! Kate just recently got into Barbies. She was carrying an old barbie every where and wanted to sleep with it every night. I thought it was time for a new one. She had shown me that she wanted this ballerina barbie, so that was one of her gifts from us. She was so excited! |
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| We had a fun and relaxing day. We did not get out because Claire had hand, foot and mouth disease which is very contagious and was making her pretty miserable. However, it was still a great day! Kate got many calls from family members and she helped me make her chocolate birthday cake. Then, the girls took an early bath before dinner and Kate opened up another present. |
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| An American Girl movie called "McKenna" about a gymnast. We thought both girls would enjoy it since they like gymnastics. Sure enough, they both liked it! |
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| We ordered pizza for her birthday and watched the movie while eating it. Kate also got another present of a ladybug land with live larvae, however it had not come in the mail yet. |
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| Cake time! Happy Birthday sweet girl! What a special birthday as a family. |
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| Now jump to last weekend. Mom Mom and Dad Dad came in for the day to spend time with the grandkids before the party. Mom Mom bought some yarn and beginning sewing tools for Kate and Carly to learn to sew. It kept them busy for a long time. Such treasured memories. Thanks Mom Mom! |
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| Kate was working hard! |
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| Dad Dad opening his Father's Day card with Claire. Claire is pulling herself up to standing position now and loves to be a part of everything. So sweet! |
The birthday party was from 6:30-8:30 pm. Kamara and I just sent out an Evite this year, which was nice. We had animal crackers and water along with cake for food. Everybody grabbed the animal crackers on their way home from swimming, so I am glad we bought them! We had dive rings as party favors for every child that came to the party. It was fun watching all the kids using them in the pool. Just like last year we waited to open presents till we got home so that everybody could enjoy the pool for the whole time. Last year I was pregnant so I did not get to do the big slides, but this year Kamara and I went down the slides a couple of times. It was so fun! I had not been on a water slide in ages. I forgot how much I enjoyed that! Kate and Aubrey have been in swim class together this month along with Ryleigh and Carly. They have really improved on their swimming skills! This year Kate was tall enough to walk around the whole pool because it was under 4 feet. It was great! She still was not big enough for the slides, but maybe next year. Carly will stick her head under the water for quite some time! So proud of our little swimmers. It was a really nice birthday party and everybody seemed to be having a good time. I am so glad it worked out for us to do the birthday party together again this year.
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| Here is the picture that we used for the Evite. |
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| Robin and Tara hanging out while their kiddos swim. |
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| We ordered a sheet cake and a cupcake cake to accomodate everybody. |
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| Here is the cupcake cake. |
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| Sweet birthday girls in their matching swimsuits. |
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| Getting ready to blow out candles! |
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| Unfortunately, we could not keep the candles lit, so Zack let Kate and Aubrey each blow out one candle right after he lit them up. They didn't seem to mind. |
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| Passing out cake! |
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| Waiting patiently. |
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| Carly has blue cake face! |
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| One of Kate's dear friends from preschool and church, Kyla Thompson. |
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| A glimpse at the pool. |
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| Here is another one. |
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| Maddie, Carly and Hailey |
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| Aunt Jennifer held Claire almost the whole time at the party. I was so thankful! Claire actually did great! She usually goes to bed around 7:00 pm, so I was not sure how she was going to do. |
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| Aubrey's gift table |
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| Kate's gift table |
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| Ellee going down the slide in the toddler pool |
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| Sweet Ellee! |
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| Some more of Kate's friends from school and church from left to right: Bethany, Sarah, Maddie and Jane. |
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| Dad and Mom holding Hannah. |
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| Carly getting all wet! |
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| Having a great time! |
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| We got home around 9:00 pm and Kate really wanted to open up her presents since she did not get to open any of them at the party. All the girls were happy, including Claire so we let her open up all her presents. They did not get in bed till almost 10:00 pm! It was such a special day though and it was worth it! |
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| At Nana and Papa's house the next day. |
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| It was fun letting Kate and Aubrey open up a couple more presents. |
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| Claire had fun playing with the cousins. Laci is always such a good babysitter! |
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| This rarely happens! Kate almost never falls asleep in the car now! However, she was exhausted after her birthday weekend and crashed on the way home from Grapevine. I love it! What a great way to end her wonderful weekend. Happy Birthday Kate. We love you so much! Your smile lights up a room now just like it did when you were a baby. We love your desire to please others. We love how you interact with your sisters and little kids. We love how you love to do different artwork and make creations. I cannot wait to see how God uses your gifts in the future! May the Spirit be ever so strong with you. We are blessed to have you as a daughter and we are so proud of you! |
