Happy Birthday Lucy!!

Our darling little Luce has hit the 5 year mark. Wow. FIVE YEARS OLD. I can still remember when I was five years old.... One whole hand. Kindergarten. Halfway to 10. She is the absolute best and sweetest little girl-- we couldn't have been more blessed that morning five years ago when we welcomed Lucy to our family.

Thursday for preschool Lucy brought cupcakes for her schoolmates-- which apparently is THRILLING. As one who had a summer birthday, I never got my birthday celebrated at school, but it's a BIG deal. She got to be calendar helper, pass out papers, be sung to, and share her cupcakes with everyone. I'm glad she loves her winter birthday!

We decided that since her birthday falls on a Sunday we'd do most of our celebrating on Saturday. So she woke up to her choice of ANYTHING her little heart desired for a special birthday breakfast, and picked strawberry mini-wheats and bacon. Mmmmm!

Jon was at an overnight campout with the scouts, so Lucy had to wait ALL morning for him to get home so she could unwrap her presents. But to help take her mind off it for a bit I signed her up at Disney.com for a birthday phone call from Ariel, yes!, The ARIEL. She was pretty thrilled about it.:)

Dad finally got home so Lucy commenced setting the world record for fastest present-opening ever. She tore through 'em in true Lucy style!

She got some much needed new clothes, a new church dress, "Gnomeo and Juliet" DVD, and a couple of sets of Calico Critters animals and a playhouse for them. Pretty good haul for 5 years old!

Then the real fun began. We let her choose a few weeks ago that she could either have a birthday party with friends, or invite one friend to go to the movies and get popcorn and the whole works. She chose of course to go to the new Muppet movie with her friend Brooke Lynn and had a BLAST!

Then we did her next favorite thing which was to get Olive Garden for dinner. She was all filled up from popcorn and candy at the movies to fully enjoy her dinner, but it was still fun just the same. Yum!

Lucy chose a "Hello Kitty" cake for her birthday (which I was very grateful for-- it being oodles easier than a pig or a choo-choo), and she was pretty happy with it.

Singing Happy Birthday to Lucy!!

Blowing out ALL five candles...

Saturday night we went to Wal-Mart and let Lucy pick out a toy with the money her Grandma and Grandpa Cardon sent her, and she picked her new baby doll "Isabelle." She looks so beautiful and grown up to me on the morning of her real birthday (today) in her new church dress. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!!

Here are FIVE things we love about Lucy:
1. She is ALWAYS happy! I don't know what I'll do without her happy little voice and cheerful personality to keep me company while she's at kindergarten next year. She brings a lot of joy to our household.
2. She is smart. She errs a bit on the side of being a chatterbox, but that's only because she has so many smart things to say. She is always thinking and observing and asking me tough questions (like recently when she wanted to know how babies get inside a mommy's tummy and wasn't satisfied by my vague answers). We think she'll be a doctor because she is SO fascinated by bodies and not at all grossed out by things.
3. She LOVES Jesus. The Baptists have certainly helped her express this more freely :), but she really has such a sweet, strong testimony. Everything good or bad in life she attributes somehow to how Jesus loves us, or how He made this for us, or how He can do miracles. She constantly reminds me to be more spiritual like her.
4. She is artistic! What would I do without all of her little art projects to decorate my house with?? She is always crafting something with all kinds of wacky supplies and getting into things, but we sure get a kick out of the end result.
5. She's a GREAT friend. She's my little best friend! She's Zachy's best friend. And she's her daddy's one and only camping buddy. She has such a special spirit, and is incredibly thoughtful and loving. She's always been a great big sister, and continues to love and be kind to Zach and helpful to her mom and dad.