Somebody LOVES riding the bus!

I hope she didn't wear the glasses at school, but she was so excited to wear them at the bus stop. I couldn't see a good reason to say no, and I've been trying to say no less often (like when there's not really a good reason for it) so okay then. Fortunately for us, they gave us our own bus stop right outside the apartment complex that takes us 10 seconds to walk to. Such a blessing! Before they added it to the route, we had to drive to the stop, and there was nowhere for me to park the car and wait. Might as well drive to the school in that case. Except for the fact that she thinks it's about the coolest thing in the world to ride the bus. Not how I remember it, but hey, things change. Then again, this is coming from the girl wearing those green glasses in public.

One of the rare occasions on which she actually remembered to turn and wave to her mom. Sniff sniff. They really grow up too fast.

Our big 5 year-old girl!

Jell has been looking forward to turning 5 for about a year now. We've been hearing about it in relation to all sorts of things, "Maybe those pants will fit me when I'm 5," "Maybe I'll like strawberries when I turn 5," "When do I get to be 5?" "I'll be big enough to climb that fence when I'm 5," and especially, the most important - "I get to go to kindergarten when I'm 5!" The morning of her birthday, she came into our bedroom to ask if it was okay for her to get up now since it was 8 o'clock. I replied, "guess what?" "What?" "You're 5 now!" She gasped and her jaw dropped to the floor, "REALLY? I'm 5 now?" (As if we hadn't been counting down everyday for weeks!) She laughed, and turned to her sis, "Meri, guess what?! I'm 5 now!!!" So although it's a week late, and was a tad overshadowed by bed rest and wedding preparations, and lacking a friend party, here's Jelly's birthday!
And the favorite present (and it's not even too loud and obnoxious. It's pretty cute actually - the box has color-coded notes to follow to play songs like "twinkle twinkle"):Free birthday dessert at Applebee's where we celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Berne:
Happy Birthday Red! (Really can't believe she's 5 - can't believe I'm old enough to have a 5 year-old!!) We love you and the exuberance/intensity/curiosity/laughter/joy you bring to life!!

Happy Birthday Jenelle!

Okay, so I'm a bit behind - it was August Seventeenf, but it was too important to miss just because I'm a little late. Plus, it can't be too late, I mean the happy birthday sign with pink fringe is still up at our house. And anyway, a girl only turns 4 once, and she has been looking forward to this event and talking about it and planning for it for about a year now, so here it is - teddy-bear picnic party and all:

Teddy Bear Ring-around-the-rosie

The picnic - at a table, which is lame, I know, but so much easier to eat at and keep food on the plates with - and of course, the guests (I was a little overly ambitious and so we had 11 4 year-olds, including my girls)

Teddy Bear toss prep

The toss!

Fun, fun, fun! And we survived the day, which is always good. She LOVED her birthday, and has already informed me that next year, she will be turning 5. I really don't feel old enough to have a five year-old, so here's hoping this year slows down a bit so we can just enjoy 4!

Oh, and here's a shot of the lame princess castle cake I threw together for the family party the night before. For the party, the kids decorated their own cupcakes. Less work for me, and they LOVED it. True, they used a few more sprinkles than I would've ever, ever, ever, ever have used, but their greedy-little-twinkling-eyes told me not to care!

"Wicked" influences

After listening to the Wicked soundtrack, which Cooper so kindly gave to me for my birthday after I got Jell to suggest it to him :), I had this conversation with Jell:
J (sighing): Mom, I want to be popular.
M (trying hard not to laugh): Well Jell, there are more important things than being popular.
J (shocked): Like what??!
M (fumbling for the right words): Like having real, good friends, or like being a good person.
J (totally dejected): But I so want to be good at sports.

I guess I should be glad she didn't respond with some of the other things from the song like, knowing how to flirt with boys.

*Totally unrelated, but hilarious - Jell calls hand sanitizer the "hanitizer." It's really hard not to laugh whenever she asks for some "hanitizer."