Katherine's Sixth Birthday

Our baby girl turned six years old on September 26, and we had a blast celebrating her. 

She requested Dunkaroo pancakes for her birthday breakfast to start off her big day.  

For her big gift, we surprised her with a Barbie airplane. We even gave it to her the night before her birthday, so she could spend the next day playing with it. 

Our birthday tradition is that the birthday girl gets to choose all the meals for the day. So, for lunch we met Daddy at Braums. We brought another small gift for her to open at the restaurant. 

She asked to play on the playground across the street after lunch, and I couldn't tell her no.

That evening after her choice of dinner (macaroni and cheese), she opened the rest of her gifts. Papa came over and brought her all the things she asked for. 

Then the girls played outside while Matt and Nathan were at football practice. 

When they got home, everyone enjoyed brownies and ice cream for Katherine's birthday treat. 

The Saturday after her birthday we hosted her birthday party at our house. 

She helped me bake her cake the day before. 

This year, Katherine asked for a Bluey birthday party. Lately, as the kids have gotten older they've transitioned to smaller parties and experiences instead of big, themed things. It was fun to jump back into birthday party planning for Katherine's sixth birthday (I feel like the big party days are numbered). '

She spent hours choosing the perfect Bluey outfit for her party, and since her Daddy shares the same love of Bluey as Katherine, we had to get him a new shirt too. 

Love this girl so, so much!

For snacks for her party, she chose fruit, chips, cheese balls, puff corn, mini corn dogs, and birthday cake. We decorated with blue and orange to represent Bluey and Bingo. 

When all the guests arrived, they all watched the Pass the Parcel episode of Bluey. 

Then we all played Pass the Parcel (not Lucky's Dad's version though :))

Next, we watched the Obstacle Course episode.

And then headed outside to complete our obstacle course. 

Katherine certainly has the sweetest group of little friends. 

Finally, we came inside and watched Duck Cake and then sang to the birthday girl and ate snacks and birthday cake. 

The girl table

and the boy table. 

Katherine couldn't wait to open her presents. She went a little crazy. I think she was a little too excited. 

The best part of the party is playing with all the new toys with the birthday guests. 

I think Katherine had a very happy birthday!!

September Fun

A highlight of September was Spirit Month at co-op. The kids always enjoy a good theme day. They were especially excited about favorite book character day. I splurged and purchased a few things for them. 

Katherine's favorite book series if Elephant and Piggie, so of course she was Piggie, and it's no surprise that she convinced her brother to dress as Gerald. She took a ball as a prop because Watch Me Throw the Ball is her favorite story. 

Elisabeth was more obscure. She owns a black jacket, and it gave her the idea to dress as Lucy Goosay from the Land of Stories. I don't think anyone recognized her. 

Samuel chose Dog Man, and even though theose are not a favorite of mine, I honored his choice. 

There were so many cute costumes at co-op. We love these people. 

Nathan is enjoying his final season of flag football with Almighty Sports. His position is safety this year, and he's improved a lot. He's pulled several flags already, and always holds them up high in the air and grins when he gets one. 

Nathan also experienced a big change this month- braces! He's handled them really well so far. The doctor only put on the top braces at his first appointment. He'll add the bottom braces at his next appointment in six weeks. 

He chose red and yellow brackets for the Kansas City Chiefs.

At co-op, Paige, the elementary science teacher found a spider, so of course she captured it and pulled out the microscope (not the way I would have handled the situation), but the kids sure enjoyed looking at it. 

These three girls play so well together at co-op. Since they're only in Kindergarten they are only in a few classes (PE, music, and fun class), so they have a lot of time during the day to free play. I'm not sure what they're playing in this picture. I think it had something to do with superheroes. Also, any guesses to what Spirit Day this was??

We took advantage of a free Friday afternoon and invited Caleb and Asher over to play. I'm thankful for this friendship that has lasted so many years. They met at Liberty in Kindergarten and Second Grade and now they all homeschool. 

Love watching this girl reading on the sidelines of her brother's football game. Reading (with her eyes) for fun, has been something she has not enjoyed until lately. 

Another Saturday, another football game. Nathan is on a team with several of his buddies. It's been a great season for them so far. 

After several years of not having one, FlightSafety brought back the family picnic, and my kids were thrilled. 

The swag, the food, the games, the infltables, the snow cones, it's all their favorite. 

Samuel has worn his new hat almost daily since the picnic. 

Any picnic that serves cheetos is a great one according to Katherine. 

Free games meant lots of rounds playing and winning and playing and winning some more. 

These are pretty much the worst snow cones on the planet, but of course they all had to eat one. 

This was the highlight of the day for all the kids (except Katheirne who wasn't heavy enough to jump)

We cheered her up with some hair color. 

This girl is taking tumbling classes this Fall, and I thought she looked adorable in her new leotard. 

The last Spirit Day at CHEER was decades day. Love my two 80s girls (1880s and 1980s)!

Katherine's always the little one in our family, so she loves to take on the big kid role at co-op with the younger girls. 

She got to bring show and tell for her fun class and brought a Paris pin Nathan gave her. 

She also got to do a rain experiment. Anything with shaving cream is a win for her. With three older siblings, it's hard to do these little science things with her regularly, so I'm very grateful for Mrs. Jyl and the way she teaches and loves on my Little One. 

Nathan won an intense game of dodge ball at PE. It was one on one for the longest time, and he finally prevailed.