Wordless Wednesday - BWCA 2010

Eva's Birthday - Friend Party

Geez! I'm only four months behind on posting for Eva's birthday. What can I say, I've been spending my time on more important endeavors than the Internet.


So, May 4th marked Eva's 5th birthday, and as it turned out, we celebrated hard core for a good two weeks. She has two friends at church who have birthdays very close to hers. When the girls were born, our families were together in the same small group. Since that time, we haven't seen as much of these families as we'd like, but of course we stay in touch. One of the moms had the brilliant idea to do a combined birthday party since the girls would all be inviting a lot of the same guests from church. We loved the idea of combining our time, energy, and money to make a fun party! We ended up having 16 girls total. The theme was "princess" or "crowns" or something similar. It was a blast! Here are a few pictures-

(Eva, Taylor, Gracie)

The girls made "magic" wands consisting of shiny wrapping paper, bamboo skewers, tag board, glitter, markers, curling ribbon, sequins, and more. They were really snazzy! And really messy :).

(Ashley, Emmi, Eva, Briana, Elayna)

Jenna made cupcakes for each girl with a crown and their name on it. They were really cute!

You can also see Jenna's handiwork on the girls' faces below. Cake decorator and face painter extraordinaire! The birthday girls blew out their candles.
It was a beautiful April morning, so all the girls spread out on the deck for their princess lunch.

Jess and Jenna were the royal servants, catering crown-shaped PBJ sandwiches, cheese, strawberries, "princess punch", cupcakes, and ice cream. Apparently I just loitered around snapping pictures ;).After everybody went home, we posed a few pictures of the birthday girls together. The composition of this shot matches a Wal Mart portrait (don't scoff now!) we had taken of the girls when Eva was a mere 5 weeks old. I tried to scan it into the computer, but alas it is lost in the disorganized bowels of my hard drive.

***goofy girls***
***happy birthday girls***

test.

Kindergarten, here I come!

I cannot believe that we're already at this stage of life! Eva headed off to RDLS, a Spanish immersion school yesterday.

Leaving the house early in the morning (7:25, to be exact), she seemed totally calm, confident, and happy. We prayed together at breakfast, which really helped me to calm down. Nonetheless, I gave her the fiercest, tightest, longest good-bye hug ever! I was continually surprised all day when the tears would flow... I just missed her so much! I seemed to have absolutely no control over the thoughts racing around in my head, not the least of which being, "I knew we should've homeschooled!"

Picking Eva up at the bus stop was probably the highlight of my day. The first words out of her mouth were, "I LOVE school!" It was bittersweet to hear her say that. .. glad that she had a happy day... sad that she is content being away... can't believe those first five years with her flew by so fast. Even as I type this, my eyes are flooding with tears. Whew!

Since her entire school day is in Spanish and she doesn't yet speak the language, Eric and I were full of questions about her comprehension, frustrations, confusion, etc. Turns out, it didn't bother her a bit to not understand the teacher, and she could give us lots of details about the day and what she was supposed to do without having exact words. From my own Spanish teaching background, I knew this would be true, especially for someone as young as Eva. She remembered the words to some of the songs they sang ("Buenos dias, Buenos dias, Como estas?...). She also knew practically every detail about two discipline situations (the kids names, infractions, consequences). I think her biggest anxiety before going to school was the thought of getting in trouble at school!

Highlights of her day? After telling me that she loved school, her next words were, "And I already made a best friend. Two actually!" Samantha is her current classroom best friend, and Mari is her bus best friend. How awesome kids are at making friends!

Eva had a "God sighting" from her first day at school too. She told me, "Mom, God helped me today!" She explained, "I went to the bathroom, and after I was done I couldn't unlock the door. So, I prayed two times. Then I could open the door!" I imagine my panicked little kindergartner facing the rest of her day locked in the girls bathroom, and I am sure she cried out to God with urgency. Her voice was really ecstatic as she reported God's care for her, and I am so thankful to know that her seedling faith is still growing, even away from our constant guidance.

Oh, what an adventure kindergarten feels like!

In Hope's World

Eva and Hope are engaged in a game of pretend. They have fused their Little People-Polly Pocket-wooden blocks worlds into one creative little city. On Eva's side of town, Polly Pockets live in elaborate homes on stilts. These are Chinese people and they live by the sea, I'm told. They drive convertibles and their towering homes are amazingly symmetrical.

On the opposite side of town, Hope has constructed a lovely Little People cave dwelling. The Little People live partly protected from the terrors of the outside world by camping pads propped up to create a fort. And the best part of Hope's world??? She describes, "My house stinks 'cause tormadoes* are pooping in the toilet." Never a dull moment in Hope's imagination!

Then, when the tormadoes* get off the pot to make their terrorizing trip through town, Hope cries out, "Anybody on the ground! There's a tormado!"


*Hopespeak for "tornadoes"