Macy the little hostess

Macy had the thought that we don't have Anna's friends over very often so she wanted to have a party for Anna and her friends. I agreed with her so we planned a party. Macy had lots of ideas for games, crafts, and activities. We had to narrow her thoughts down to a few simple things. Macy wanted to play in the sprinkler, play pin the strip of paper on the wall, color, dress up, sidewalk chalk, snacks (pretzels, goldfish), and a dance party.

We weren't able to get to all those things. The day of the party was only 63 degrees so we didn't play in the sprinklers. We forgot about pin the strip of paper on the wall but we did everything else. Macy decorated our house a few days before. She put all the winter scarves around the downstairs and a couple on the chandeliers. She put winter hats on the picture frames that are on our mantel. She also put other random things around the house and called them decorations. She invited Emma, Tatum (and her brother Miles since we couldn't leave him out), Audrey, and Anna of course.

Macy was all ready to take charge of the party until the friends and moms came. Then she got a little shy. 

When the girls got there Macy took them upstairs to get dressed up as princesses. The little girls loved this!

Princess Anna and Princess Emma

 
Princess Tatum and Princess Macy

Princess Audrey joined the group but we lost Emma.

The sidewalk chalk didn't last too long because the kids were cold.

 Tatum said she was "told" so Macy put a jacket on her.

 A few of the kids did Macys craft. She had paper, crayons, stickers, glue, and pom poms out. Kids love gluing pom poms on paper! I could have had an actual cute craft planned but I wanted it to be all of Macy's ideas.

 

I guess I did persuade Macy to have cookies for the party. It was a party after all! The girls were very helpful making the cookies and frosting. They picked out the shapes to cut the sugar cookies put the sprinkles on themselves. The kids loved the cookies! (Notice the scarf on the chandelier.)

 

Then we had the dance party. Macy loved this and the girls all had fun. Miles was dancing along too and had some great moves! Notice the puppy hanging from the light switch on the left picture. That was one of Macy's "decorations." Macy loves being in charge so it was heaven for her to have a house of little girls to boss around. She does this in such a way that the girls love following Macy around.

The party also included a few fashion shows. Macy and the kids went upstairs by themselves and dressed up in different outfits. I had to announce who was coming down the stairs and what they were  wearing. The child would walk to the end of the living room then do a spin. It was so cute. I think they did this 3 or 4 times.

The party was a great success! The girls all loved it and no one wanted to go home. Macy is such a kind sister for thinking of Anna and her friends. Ever since the party Anna loves seeing her friends and plays with them when we see them at the park. Anna is also excited to see them at nursery. We'll have to do it again sometime!

Papa's Super Fun Visit

My dad was able to come visit us just for fun! He could only stay for 3 1/2 days so we had a lot to pack in. Macy made a list of all the things she wanted to do with papa and we did them all! Each day was full of fun but not exhausting. Here is what we did:

May 20- Macy went to preschool in the morning so Anna got some one-on-one time with Papa at home. 

After school Macy wanted to go buy a pink baseball glove she saw at Dick's Sporting Goods so she could play catch with Papa. I was on board with the idea since Birkdale has a splash pad and that was one thing on Macy's list. So we bought the glove then headed to the splash pad. The girls were timid at first but eventually had fun. Papa is a big kid at heart so he had fun too. 

After the splash pad we headed home and Macy played catch with papa while I made dinner. It only lasted a few minutes. Macy got him to play some make believe game instead. 

After dinner was Macy's preschool graduation!

Thursday May 21st- Macy's last day of preschool! I cried as I drove home from dropping her off. I think I was sad my baby is growing up, I'm entering a new stage of life, and I'll never get Macy back as a little child. She is so excited about kindergarten and will be a great student which makes things a little easier. 

Sadly, this was a cold morning which made the fire house not very appealing. Both Macy and Anna did run through it once. 

Macy spent most of her time hanging out in her towel. (Macy, Caroline, Brynlee Megan)

Anna followed suit. 

Papa was so helpful and held Owen. 

After eating ice cream at preschool we headed to Macy's favorite place for lunch- McDonald's. My least favorite place to eat but it was her special day so we went. She saw a boy from preschool and was so excited about it. They barely waved at each other but she kept saying how fun it was to see Gabe at McDonald's. 

Then we headed to Macy's and Anna's other favorite place- the kids museum. We spent the rest of the afternoon there. As always the kids had a blast and it was pretty empty. 

I don't have any pictures of me here because I'm always taking them so my dad took one of me with the girls. 

The girls are so lucky to have a young and fit papa who can climb through this play structure. 

After the museum we went to Harris Tetter to pick up picnic stuff for dinner. We wanted to show my dad the White Water Center so I thought it'd be fun to have a picnic there. Well, when we got there they told us we couldn't have a picnic anywhere on the premise. We ended up eating in the car. Some picnic. 

At least the night was saved by the fun activities. The girls climbed on the rocks as usual. We then took a walk around the river and found this fun little obstacle course. The girls and papa had fun with it. Go Macy! You're almost to the top!

Friday was the last day we had with Papa. We really wanted to show him the Torrence Creek Greenway to climb on the rocks. It was a perfectly beautiful morning. The sun was shining, it was the perfect temperature so it wasn't hot or cold. The leaves were a vibrant green and we were mostly alone on the trail. 

We had so much fun playing on the rocks. 

Everyone found walking sticks for the walk back to the car. 

After our walk I fed Owen in the car so we could go to Chik-Fil-a for lunch. We did drive through so we could take it to the lake. I wanted to show my dad the lake so we went to Ramsey Creek Park. It was still beautiful!

Macy decided to bend over and put her hair into the water. The water temperature was pleasant! After the water we played at the playground a little then headed home for dinner. 

After dinner we headed to Charlotte so my dad could see the city. We ate dessert at Pikes Soda Shop. My dad and Ja got the bread pudding, I got the Toll-house pie, and the girls shared a giant piece of chocolate cake.

They had the most fun running around on a little patch of grass while we waited for Ja to get the car. Anna didn't want to leave. 

Saturday- Macy had one more thing she wanted to do with Papa and that was ride her bike on the tennis courts with him. We were able to fit that in before his flight. Anna came with me to the airport but fell asleep and didn't wake up when I dropped him off. I stopped to get gas on the way home and she woke up. She noticed he was gone as asked, "where's papa?" My heart broke. I told her he was on an airplane and she started crying, "no!!nooo!!"  I felt so bad and started crying to. I went to her in the backseat to comfort her and told her that papa said goodbye and that he loves her very much and he had so much fun with her. That calmed her down. It was so much fun to have him visit! Next time hopefully we can have more time together!

Macy's Preschool Graduation

Whoever says Preschool Graduation is a silly and unnecessary event is probably right. But they also haven't had a child graduate from preschool. I thought it was a silly and unnecessary event but I'm a believer now. My heart melted as I watched my little girl graduate. Her preschool put on a great show and it was so much fun to watch. My dad was visiting so he was able to be there to watch his oldest grandchild graduate preschool.

Here's her whole class before they got all dressed up. 

Here she is walking down the aisle. They played the typical graduation music as the kids walked to their spots.

She was so happy but didn't want to show her big smile.

The kids in her class colored in letters and each held two up as they sang a song using the alphabet that said how much they love us.

Then they sang other gospel songs.

This one is my favorite.

During the song "Let them be little" the kids all walked out and gave their moms a present. It was a picture of them holding a sign that said "Kindergarten or bust." I started to cry immediately. I couldn't believe my baby is starting kindergarten. I love my sweet Macy so much!

Here she is holding her diploma!

 

Each child came up and said something they learned that year. Macy said shapes. Then the teacher said what they want to be when they grow up- a teacher!

2015 graduates!

Here's the happy (except for Anna) family. 

Yay for Papa being there!

My sweet angel is growing up! I don't know what I'm going to do next year without her by my side to help out! The next day was her last day of preschool. I dropped her off and started bawling on the way home. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because a stage of Macy's life is over and I'll never get my little 5 year old Macy back. I'm realizing how kids are only little for such a short period of time. I 'm so so glad I have other children so I get to have more preschool days, more little voices, more silly games, more childhood joy around my house.

Look at that smile! She is thrilled to be starting kindergarten!

My big running accomplishments

This week I did a few firsts for me. First, I actually went running three times! That's always the goal but something comes up or my partner cancels so I don't feel motivated enough to go on my own.

Second, I got up early (for me) at 7 and went running by myself! I couldn't believe myself. I did this for two reasons 1) it was going to be 80 degrees by 9:30 which is when we usually run and I wanted to avoid the heat, and 2) I wanted to run without pushing a double jogging stroller. I was feeling a little discouraged because I felt like running wasn't getting any easier for me. Then my partner, Peyton, said she ran the whole 3.2 miles without her stroller and she thought I could too. I wanted to prove to myself that I could. I ran the whole 3.2 miles and felt great! I could've kept running if I had to. Pushing a stroller makes running a lot harder. I guess that's one more way my kids make me stronger.

Third, I ran the whole route without stopping WITH the stroller two days later!! I couldn't believe it! I have no shame in stopping when I feel exhausted but I didn't have too. I think the weather played a big part in this too- It was only 65 degrees. We have been running in 70-75 degree weather and those few lost degrees made running a whole lot easier. 

I was so proud of my accomplishments! Now hopefully I can repeat it all. I'm so glad to know I'm strong enough to run.