The Birthday Girl

In and amongst moving and taking down Christmas decorations and trying to stay warm and shoveling ALOT of snow, a little girl in this house turned six years old.

We began the day with an extra-early, yummy breakfast of waffles. Aaralyn had asked me the night before if I was going to have a surprise for her in the morning - she remembered last year's banner and balloons that we always put up for birthdays. Even though she was expecting it, she still loved the attention!!

Of course, the waffles had to wait as she ripped open the presents from us.

She then decided that there wasn't enough anticipation, so she started opening her presents with her eyes closed. That is such an Aaralyn thing to do and we pretty much had to move everything out of the way.

The girls headed off to school, and at the end of the day, Ephraim and I brought some cupcakes to share with her school friends.

For dinner, she choose pizza and then we finished the day off with some very special 6-year old birthday cake and a stellar rendition of 'happy birthday' (and then Ephraim and Eden sang it over and over and over again after the cake was done).

Next on the agenda is her birthday party. She is choosing to have a rainbow balloon party this year, and I came across this great idea for balloon invitations, and decided to create my own.

And just yesterday, we put them all together and Aaralyn is handing them out at school today. Next Saturday is the big day, and we are really looking forward to having some balloon party fun!!

So it seems that, just under my nose, my little girl is growing up. Before I know it, she is going to be 16...crazy how quickly time seems to be flying.

This is the face of a beautiful girl. The face of a girl who feels things so strongly. Who can’t sit still if her life depended on it. Who laughs and laughs and laughs until her stomach aches. This is the face of a girl who cares deeply for the people around her. Who will give up what she wants for someone who wants it more. Who is creative beyond measure. And this is the face of a girl who is totally and completely loved by everyone around her. You are an amazing person, Aaralyn and we love, love, love you!!