Sakes Alive, Looks Who's Five!

 

Sarah turned five last Thursday, but it seemed as though the celebration lasted all week.  She started getting cards and gifts in the mail on Monday.  The M*ltese hand puppet that Big Sister Rachel sent was a big hit.

 

 

Thursday morning, she was awake at 5:40 but willingly stayed in bed until 6:00 at Mom's request.  She then wanted to be carried downstairs so that she could keep her eyes closed and be surprised (I talked her into walking down and closing her eyes once there).

 

 

  

She'd been saying for weeks that she wanted a piano and a guitar for her birthday, and she was thrilled with the electronic keyboard we got her.  We weren't so thrilled to discover that it came with a microphone (how did I miss that???).  Just try to convince a five-year-old that you don't have to yell into a mic.  :)

We had our weekly M*sic Together class that morning, and afterward, we joined another mom and grandma and their kids blueberry picking.  Sarah had a ball joking around with (to the point of pestering) the women and keeping tabs on the younger kids.

 

 

After lunch and quiet time, Grammy stopped by, and Sarah opened more presents (after lining them up on the couch).

Dad made stir-fry for dinner, and we had cupcakes for dessert.  Then she got to open her special gift from China.  This year, it was her chop, a special carved stone stamp that has her American and Chinese names engraved on it.  It's customary for kids in China to receive a chop when they start school, so I figured this was the year to give it to her.  She was fascinated by it.

 

There was a lull in the festivities on Friday, which provided an opportunity for some quality keyboard time.  A trip to the post office brought another gift -- a K*wi Crate from Emily, Omar, and Sophia.

Then Saturday, it was time to party with her family (as only Sarah can say it: three distinct syllables, emphasis on the first).  She requested lasagna for dinner and that the cake be chocolate but offered no input on how it should be decorated.  She loves rainbows, and I figured M&Ms were an easy way to make one.  Wrong.  Your standard bag has only five of the seven colors, and I knew my rainbow expert would miss blue and violet, so I set about searching for them, with no luck.  Fortunately, my mom took a bus trip to Boston a few days before the party and found a limited edition bag of special colors that included aqua and purple.  Sarah was obviously satisfied with the result.

 

There were more presents after dinner, including a toy guitar and Lego storage case from Grammy, some classic books from the H*ntleys, and a check from Uncle George and Auntie Chelsey.  After some play time with balloons, it was finally time to say goodnight.  She crawled into bed one happy five-year-old.