She's four.

I love this kid.

I know everyone says this. Heck, I've said it like a thousand times already... this week, but I can't believe how quickly four years have flown by. There are moments that I look, or listen, to Katherine and think "Seriously?! When did you grow up?" I know this is only the beginning and I have MUCH more of this in store over the years.

Last week we kicked off what turned into a week of celebrating Katherine's 4th birthday.  It started on her birthday (the 11th).  She had a super cool t-shirt that made the announcement of her big accomplishment (and ours... after all we've kept her alive and healthy for four years :))! 

This greeting customized with Smilebox

After our morning photo shoot on the steps we headed out to school as a family. She and one of her classmates share their birthday so we split up the celebrations for the day.  We took morning snack and he had afternoon snack. Given it was the morning we went with munchkins for the big event. 

It was complete with Happy Birthday tunes from her friends and teachers in addition to the normal morning snack treats.  She was asked to be the "snack helper" which is a coveted "job" in the class. She set out cups for her friends. And she got TWO donuts!!! A chocolate and a jelly. (Super awesome!) 

This photo collage personalized with Smilebox

She requested spaghetti and meatballs for her birthday dinner so we'd started that before we left for school that morning. After school she came home to a pretty festive party at home. Aunt Nikki came over to join us for dinner. Then our neighbors, and friends, came over to join us for some piñata slaying, singing, presents and cake!

Create a collage

I'll admit that the piñata again foiled me. I thought this year I'd figured it out after last year's debacle. Turns out that not all piñatas come filled with candy (lesson learned and remedied early in the day), the strings are likely to break before any of the piñata is loosened, Daddy ripping the piñata open with his hands (or razor knife) is still the only way to get the candy out. *sigh* This might be the last year for the whole piñata thing.

The start of the piñata fun: Strawberry Shortcake Piñata 2012

Presents were a hit on Monday and continued through the week. She had presents to open every night as more kept arriving daily for her. One of the things she asked for for her birthday was a "vanity just like mommy's"... Fortunately I used common sense and didn't go overboard on the whole thing. I found a Melissa and Doug make it yourself vanity that she and I did one evening. Note, it was also "dress like a movie star" day at school so she was dressed up as Princess Aurora (AKA Sleeping Beauty).

Free collage created with Smilebox

On Friday my sister Jacki arrived in NC for the weekend. Friday night we had another round of birthday cake celebrating and singing (A Princess Belle cake this time) and pizza on the porch... followed by, you guessed it... more presents. :)

Saturday was her big birthday party with her classmates.  This is the first year we've done a class party. Gone are the days, it seems, when parties are at home with your friends over. Katherine had a Chef party at a place called Lil Chef. She had so much fun cooking up some dinner with her friends. They made 4-cheese macaroni and cheese, Strawberry Shortcake Sweetie Pies and had some cupcakes for dessert. They made chef hats, played, read a Pinkalicious story and sang a song about going on a bear hunt. And of course... we came home with (more) presents.

This is a video of Katherine's friends singing happy birthday to her, with apparently some words that she asked be inserted into her song. :)
Happy Birthday... EAT MORE CHOCOLATE...

Lil Chef takes photos at the parties and posts them for parents to look at later. This is our party...
Lil Chef Photos (Take by Lil Chef)

Slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Before the party, we managed to squeeze in a little fun courtesy of a hose and some balloons. Water balloon fights are SOOOO much fun. Although the time it takes to fill the balloons is inordinately longer than it takes to smash them against your opponent. Why is that?!

Another collage by Smilebox

It was a great week. Each day I love her more and am in awe of her. She exasperates me, pushes my buttons, makes me laugh hysterically, can make my heart melt, stun me with how smart & perceptive she is and take my breath away with her cuteness... I'm so grateful for my little girl.

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate K's 4th birthday! It was certainly a week of fun!

xo
Darlene, Stephen and KK