Hannah is 5 today!

Goodness Gracious! When did you grow up so fast? You've been SOOOO excited for this day. Somehow you think turning 5 makes you older, more priviledged, more capable. And you are exactly right! Oh Hannah, I love you so much. When you came to me 5 years ago, you scared me half to death. Your birth was nothing like I imagined it would be, but in the end, you were perfect and your dad and I fell madly in love with you. I still remember bringing you home from the hospital.  I sat in the back of the car with you because you were crying and we couldn't bare to hear you cry. Bringing you into our humble little apartment and showing you your room.....oh everything was such a thrill for us! Have I mentioned to you that you were like my little doll and I loved changing you and putting those adorable little clothes on you. Watching you grow, learn, play, sing, dance, make new friends, being an example to your younger brother and sister has been a treasure to us Hannah. You are smart, and beautiful, and happy, and witty. You are a very good little girl. So happy birthday sweet Hannah. You are loved more than you will ever really know.
                                                   Love,  Mom

Now, onto the birthday party! Hannah picked out everything for her party. She chose to have a "fairy" party and made her own list of friends to invite. The girls had so much fun and for November 6th, lets just say being outside was mighty nice. :o)

 As each "fairy" arrived, they were found flying, running, and screaming with anticipation for the festivities to begin!

We started the party off with "Pin the wand on the Fairy"
(compliments of Aaron's handiwork)

Each black spot represents where the girls placed the wand.

After the fairy fun, we were off on a scavenger hunt. Two teams, 10 things to find, winner takes all. Well, winner gets bragging rights.

Did I mention the nice weather? It was unbelievable! So fun to see 8 little girls running with these wings and asking our great neighbors to participate in the fun.

Hannah's team won

(Aaron may or may not have cheated.....no, he deffinately cheated! When the item to get says stickers, you can't go to your own house for them. Cheater right? )

Once the games were done, Hannah got to open all of her gifts. Such a lucky girl to have so many friends. She loved all of her presents.

The one thing Hannah has really wanted to learn how to do is ride a bike. We were so excited to see her reaction when Aaron brought out her first bike.

We think she was happy!

Aaron and I stayed up past midnight the night before getting everything ready for her party. That alone is a true act of love, as those of you who know me know that I am NOT a night owl. But, the cake had to be frosted, room decorated, and the fairy colored. Thank you Aaron for helping me with it all!

Hard to believe that what took us hours to get ready, looked like this in just seconds.

My favorite part of the party was when we gave each girl a balloon to write their own wish on, took them outside and let them go. The girls loved it!

I'm so grateful that my children are surrounded by such great kids. As long as we live here, they will never lack good friends.

Top to bottom: 

Reagen, Sophia, Aubrey, Sydnee, Nathan, Rylyn

Abigail,  McKenzie, Hannah, Grace, Chadley



Thanks to everyone, family and friends, who helped make this a very special birthday for Hannah.

Some things to remember about Hannah at this age:

 - Your hair grows like a weed. Last year, we chopped it off at this exact time and look how long it is already?

 - You wait till the very last second to go to the bathroom. It drives me crazy!

 - You are extremely sensitive. Honestly, you can bring on those tears at the drop of a hat. It's pretty impressive really.

 - Your daddy tells you all the time that you are the most beautiful little girl in the world, and now we are a little concerned that you are conceited. We are working on humility with you. :o)

- Because you love the praise from your daddy, when I get you ready for church, you always march right into wherever your father is and ask, "how do I look" because you know he's going to say, "Oh, my Hannah is so beautiful".

 - You love art. Love to color, paint, play with play dough, do crafts and we think you are quite good at it.

 - You are learning to play the piano, and although practicing isn't your favorite, you love to play a new song for anyone who comes over.

 - We are reading more mature books, like Heidi, and you've surprised me at how much you enjoy it even though it's really long (like it took us over a week to read the whole thing) and not as many pictures.

 - You make your own bed everyday and get dressed each morning by yourself before you come down to eat breakfast. Amazing!