Grace's 5th Birthday

Well, last week was a short blog, so get ready for A LOT of pictures! 

On Sunday, Grace came home from church with tons of birthday gifts: a temple picture, tootsie rolls, a candy bar, etc. I had been sick for the past few days, and that evening Grace threw up. Great.

On Monday, we got the bad news that our new van needs thousands of dollars worth of repairs. I cried until I heard about Derek totaling the car he just bought with his last cent. We all have our problems. I did laundry, the girls colored and had a tea party, I read them books, and we went grocery shopping. In the evening, Grace made a restaurant sign for the dinner we finally ate when Paul got home at 7:30. He taught FHE while we ate, then put the girls straight to bed. His schedule is rough. We played gin rummy that night, our new favorite game.

On Tuesday, I went to the doctor. I have been really weak and stuff lately, and they said I have low blood sugar and low iron. I have to eat more fiber and protein. When we got home, the girls had a tickle party, and I painted their nails. In the afternoon, we went to the library. The power locks went out in our car. Just what we need. Paul's Tongans went home early, so he came home, read to the girls, and bathed them while I made dinner. Then we had a family house cleaning party. 

 After the girls went to bed, Paul and I started the preps for Grace's birthday party. I wrapped gifts while Paul put up decorations.

 He had a hard time getting the balloons to do what he wanted.

 I made a red velvet cake, and frosted it with pink cream cheese frosting. Then Paul decorated it.

 Princess, or Statue of Liberty? You decide.

 The girls woke up early the next day. Grace was SO excited to see all the decorations and presents!

 She got all dolled up for her big day.

 Alice wanted in on the curtsy action.

 Sweet Grace waiting patiently to be served.

 We had peanut butter pancakes with bananas and syrup for breakfast. Paul told the girls all about the history of Independence Day while we ate.

 I wore purple, per Grace's request. At 5 months pregnant, I have gained 7 pounds, and I'm starting to show.

 We let Grace open a few gifts so we could have a fashion show. Grandma Terisa sent her a ton of clothes from Target.

 Grace liked her "Strawberry Shortcake dress" from Grandma Flake. She got quite a bit of clothes this birthday. After a while, whenever she'd open a gift and it was clothes, she'd say, "Dang! More clothes!" We looked at Grace's baby book together. Time flies.

The Dilsavers came around 11 or so. We let the kids play with princess dress-up stuff and hair stuff while the adults visited.

 Uncle Ben carried Alice and Cheyenne out to the cars.

 We went to McDonald's for lunch.  A Mighty Kids Meal is just right to split between our two girls, and Grace loves the play place there. Cheyenne may have gotten stuck in the slide once or twice.

 Grace opened a gift of mini M&M's when we got home. The girls ate them with their tea party.

 Cheyenne and Alice went down for their naps, and we let Grace open some "no babies allowed" gifts. She loved her pizza playdoh set from Grandma Flake.

 Paul helped her put it together.

 Then I ripped out a million paper dolls from the Dilsavers. She loves them! Grace played while the adults discussed the reunion, and Ben tried to fix the car locks while Paul mowed the lawn.

 Ben wasn't successful unfortunately, but it was nice of him to try. He also taught Paul how to use a multimeter. Ben, I think this is why your daughter tries to stick things into outlets. 

 We had fun playing in the basement for a while. Ben taught Cheyenne and Alice about gears.

 Grace played dress-up.

 Alice was interested in Ben's lincoln log creation.

 Grace checked my ears for infection.

 Paul introduced the girls to legos.

 Grace used her magic wand to turn people into whatever they wanted to be.

The karate gear came out, and a few punches were even thrown, but it didn't last long. Cheyenne and Alice were both traumatized by it all and wouldn't stop crying until it was over.

 Then back upstairs for more gifts: princess bubbles and sidewalk chalk.

 The girls each had their own princess bubble wand.

 Two pregos.

 Cheyenne, Alice, and their sidewalk chalk.

 Grace tracing the victim.

 It got really hot really fast, so we came back inside. Alice and Uncle Ben chillaxin'.

 I helped the girls make their small pizza.

 Alice is quite the chef, and Cheyenne is definitely interested too.

 Grace opened another gift while the pizza was cooking: a wooden/velcro pizza set. How appropriate.

 Her final gift was a fairy with a dragon. She loved it and never wanted to let it go, much to the dismay of the other two girls.

 We set the girls up at the tea table for pizza and watermelon. Thanks to the Dilsavers for the sides!

 And thanks to Greg for the pizza dough recipe. It was SO delicious. (No thanks to Ben for the spicy olives that no one else liked.)

 Then we had the birthday cake. We sang, then Grace said, "I wish Cheyenne will stop stealing my stuff", and blew out the candles. (It must not have worked, since she wished the same thing the next day with her other cake!)

 Then we set up the kiddie pool out back.

 The squirt guns were also brought out.

 Cheyenne doesn't like water much, but she liked walking around with a gun.

 Sweeties!

 Paul got hot and decided to join the girls in the pool.

 The girls got cold and wanted their pajamas on. Favorite aunt? Alice, Ashley, and Grace.

 Then the firecrackers came out. We just had poppers and sparklers. Grace with a sparkler at a safe distance.

 Me too.

 Then the men supervised the kids playing out back while Ashley and I visited. It was a nice temperature by then, but the kids were getting sleepy. The Dilsavers left after a really fun day together. We put our girls to bed, put the house back together, and watched the fireworks from the back yard. We went to bed worn out.

Thursday was Grace's real birthday. She kept talking about how different she is now that she's five. I French braided her hair for the occasion. Then we got all ready, and drove an hour south to Elk Ridge in the rain.

 Alice took a while to warm up to Grandma Lu, Grandpa Jim, and their house.

 Then the snacks came out. Grandma Lu wasn't lying when she said we could snack all day - we did!

 Grace was excited to see her princess birthday cake, and all the jewelry and birthday crowns!

 Aunt Dayna brought Lili and Creighton, and the party began. The cake was as light as air, with real strawberry filling.

 And more gifts! Clothes, hair stuff, dress-up skirts, etc. Grace loved it all!

 Alice and Grandpa Jim were starting to get tired. Alice took a nap after the gifts.

 Grace and Lili played with Dayna's ipad.

 Grandpa Jim didn't last much longer.

 Grace loved the ipad, but that doesn't mean we're getting one. I took a nap after that.

 When Alice and I woke up, Grace was happily playing Go Fish with Grandma Lu and Grandpa Jim. They had already played Candy Land.

 Then she relaxed with a movie on the kindle fire.

 Alice liked reading books with Grandma Lu.

 But she eventually succumbed to the kindle fire.

The adults played some gin rummy, then packed up some leftovers, and we said our goodbyes. It was a nice day of low stress and change of scenery. Thanks a lot! When we got home, Paul was there! We ate leftovers and caught up with each other, then skyped Mom/Dad Gabe and started getting the girls ready for bed. Grace was very melancholy with the end of the parties and the end of her birthday. Poor kid. Paul put in some work time that evening, and we read Dad's personal history of 2006 - the year we got married!

On Friday, we spent the morning getting ready, doing laundry, and cleaning house. Alice was a sweetie pie after her bath.

 Grace wore a dress/jewelry from Grandma Lu, and leggings from Dayna.

 The girls played with baby dolls. During Alice's nap that afternoon, Grace and I played pizza playdoh. We got the final quote for our van that just the essentials will be around $2000, and it'll take about 3 working days. Wow.

 Grace watched Barbie Nutcracker, then the girls were inspired. They put on swimsuits, and Grace's new dress-up skirts from Dayna and Lili. Their poor brother! When Paul got home that evening, we ate dinner. He and I stayed up late talking about the reunion.

 On Saturday, Grace woke up early, so we set her up with a movie while the rest of us slept in until 8:30! The we looked through Grace's old 3T clothes to find Alice a BYU shirt for the Poulsen family picture. I think the whole ensemble goes together well.

 We also found Grace's old jean jacket.

 The jean hat completed the outfit!

Grace wore a new skirt from Grandma Terisa, new shirt from Grandma Flake, and new necklace from Grandma Lu. Super cute!

Then we ran errands, including to the mall to find shirts for the Flake family picture. We may have run into Justin Beiber while I was on the phone with Heather.

We had a relaxing afternoon going though the girls' old clothes. We found a few things a boy could wear, but we ordered some stuff from an online Carter's sale too, just to feel like we had a start on boy clothes. I made Filipino lumpia for dinner. Grace called them Filipino tamales. We watched a movie as a family, and the girls went to bed. Then Paul and I had a date cooking together, playing cards, and watching our very last episode of Fact or Faked.

Today, Grace wore her Strawberry Shortcake dress, and gave a talk in primary. People were shocked. They couldn't stop talking about her reading ability, speaking ability, poise, and lack of fear. I hope Paul and I do that well when we speak in church in 2 weeks!