The Big 0-5

Mady turned 5 on June 6. It's a bit hard to believe that we have a five year old already. More so when I think about the fact that I will have to send her to kindergarten every day next year. She's excited, but I'm not as ready to let her go like that! We are so thankful that God blessed us with such a sweet, patient, gentle, sensitive, and creative little girl. Mady is the best big sister we could imagine, cracks us up regularly with her grown-up phrases and sayings, melts our hearts with sweet prayers and generosity (she always wants to use the money in her piggy bank to buy presents for Drew and the rest of the family, or people in Haiti), and constantly uses her imagination to play or create something out of nothing. One of her big phrases from the past year, whenever we were going to throw something away, was, "But I can make something out of that!"
She's pretty much just the best:-)

Mady got to celebrate her birthday with friends this year. She got to have Kaylee spend the night on Wednesday (I may have bitten off more than I could chew, trying to manage Drew listening well enough to go to bed with the two girls in the room and a cranky baby, all while Kendall was at ACSD. Thanks Mom and Dad for your bedtime help!) and we went to the bakery with Grandma Jana for birthday donuts.

After donuts we walked home and started getting ready for the big party! Seven of Mady's friends came to her flamingo party and she had a blast. Again, I was so glad I had my mom, sisters-in-law, and cousin to help keep things under control!

Our flamingo-themed party decor. 

Decorating the flamingo pictures. There was a pink glitter explosion by the time we were done!

Apparently not all kids take as long as Mady does to create a picture. Thankfully we had a playroom and fun couches to entertain them after the craft was done!

Birthday lunch. PB & J, watermelon, and jello jigglers, all cut with a flamingo cookie cutter.

The birthday girl with her yummy cake made by Aunt Allison!

Present time. What generous friends she has!

Pin the beak on the flamingo. The girls found this to be hilarious, and also easier than I predicted, considering they could feel the difference between the wall and the tag board. I didn't think about that very well.

Kendall came home early from ACSD so he could spend part of Mady's birthday with her. We were thankful this worked out! We finished up the day with a trip to Sioux Center to watch Kaylee dance, followed by a trip to Culver's for supper and custard. We went to Blencoe the next day and celebrated with both sides of the family with a delicious cake made by Grandma Lisa. All in all, I think Mady would agree that turning five was a pretty spectacular time:-)