Brianna's Sixth Birthday

On Thursday, February 18th, Brianna turned six years old. Eight days before this, we had celebrated Brenson's fourth birthday, and one week before that we had celebrated Brooke and Brecklyn's first birthday. While I'm not sure I ever would have (or could have) planned for all of my kids' birthdays to be in the same month and within 15 days of each other, it does make for a very fun few weeks around here! 

On Brenson's birthday, we allowed Brianna to skip school and spend the day with the family. She tried to talk us in to letting her do this on her birthday, too, but we decided that she should go this year. 

The morning of her birthday, our spunky girl popped out of bed ready to take on the world. It was so cute and so fitting :-). As soon as she was dressed, Brianna was ready to open her gifts that we had set out the night before. 

So excited to be opening gifts!

She received a pair of safety scissors just like Brenson. I had actually told her about this gift by mistake, so she wasn't surprised when she opened them.

Brianna had been asking for a jewelry making kit, so we definitely got a smile out of her when she opened one!

She was happy to see the next piece in her Precious Moments Birthday Train.

One of Brianna's favorite things right now is a doll that Grandma N gave her for Christmas. The doll's name is Natalie, so we got her several accessories and outfits for Natalie.

And, her "big" gift was something that I had purchased from Amazon several weeks before Christmas when I found it on a great sale. It's a Barbie house that came with lots of accessories and cute things, but folds up fairly small. She said, "I didn't even ask for this, but I love it!" Haha.

It's so hard for me to believe that my first baby was going off to school as a SIX year old. Sigh.

Just after lunch that day, I loaded up the three younger kids and we went and picked up 30 cupcakes to take to Brianna's class for her birthday. Chris met us at the school around 1:00pm, and we were all able to join Brianna's class for a little celebration for her. Her class sang to her, then we passed out the cupcakes.

Bren just made himself at home and pulled up a chair right next to his sister to enjoy a cupcake, too :-).

Because of the logistics of having three younger children, I'm not able to be at the school as much as I would like. I SO cherish these moments of being able to be with her at school.

We didn't stay long, but it was wonderful to be there. I was very surprised when Brianna cried a little when we left. She thought she was going to be able to leave with us, but I wanted her to finish out the school day. In the future, I'll be sure to prepare her (or the other kids) in advance that they'll have to stay at school for the remainder of the day.

Brianna got this fun birthday hat from her teacher that she had to wear even after she got home :-).

That evening, we let Brianna choose what she wanted for dinner. I was surprised (and a little disappointed) when she chose Taco Bueno, but we told her that she could choose so Taco Bueno it was! Russ, Lisa, and Chloe Jo met us at Bueno for dinner, then joined us back at home for cake. 

Brianna's cake wasn't actually supposed to look quite like this, but the bakery used the wrong colors. I'm so glad my girl is easy to please and didn't care. She just chose a different pony (one that matched better) to put on the cake and carried on.

I'm not sure what was going on here, but it's a cute photo!

I feel like the big kids are nervous about Momma and fire, haha!

Blowing out six candles already . . . so hard to believe!

Of course, she had to lick the frosting off of the pony . . . isn't that the best part?!?

Brianna's actual birthday ended up being a pretty regular day for us, but it was such a good time to focus on our girl. 

No worries, though, Brianna didn't miss out on doing something fun for her day. She was out of school the Friday and Monday before her birthday, so we planned a fun family outing for Friday, February 12th. When we asked Brianna what she wanted to do for her birthday, her answer was to visit the Children's Discovery Zone for the day. We hadn't been since before the babies were born, so we all thought this was a great idea!

When we first got there (at about 11 that morning), it was super busy. There were several daycare and school groups there, so we were a little disappointed. However, they all cleared out between 11:30 and noon, and it was SO much better after that!

Brianna trying out hula-hooping.

She did pretty well!

We kept Bren and the babies over in the toddler area with us before the crowd cleared out. It was just the easiest way to keep track of everyone. Bren did have a good time experimenting with air flow, vacuums, and these plastic balls.

(Brecklyn)

(Brooke)

(Brooke having too much fun, haha)

The babies really enjoyed this magnetic wall and playing with the gears.

(Brecklyn, Momma)

(Daddy, Brecklyn)

(Daddy, Brooke)

Of course, Brenson loved the area where he could build.

Brianna experimenting with air flow and vacuums.

(Brooke)

(Brecklyn)

(Brecklyn)

(Brooke, Brecklyn)

My kids are drawn to anything with water, so they spent a lot of time at this exhibit. 

In this area, Brianna, Brenson, and Daddy were trying to work together as a team to stack these buckets. You can see the little boy in green in this photo. After watching for just a minute or so, he walked up and picked the bucket up with his hands and stacked it for them, lol!

This place has a massive tunnel made of packing tape that is always a big hit with our kids. This was the babies' first time being in it, and they were fans, for sure!

(Daddy and Brecklyn)

(Daddy, Brooke, Brianna, Brecklyn)

We all had to go through the tape tunnel at least once!

(Brooke, Momma, Brenson, Brianna, and Brecklyn)

(Momma and Brooke)

(Momma and Brooke)

(Momma and Brecklyn)

Another area of the Discovery Zone had an exhibit called Grossology, and it was exactly that . . . GROSS!

I told the kids to act like they were puking, haha!

So, this area was all about the gross aspects of our bodies . . . snot, poop, urine, body odor, puke, etc. The kids were fascinated. I was a bit nauseated.

I did, however, think this life-sized game of operation was pretty great!

I guess I really was unimpressed as I only took those few photos, ha!

All in all, it was a very fun day, and Brianna had a blast!

I realize that as she gets older, we may not be able to pause life and spend the day celebrating her like we did this year and have in years past. It is for that reason that I truly cherish these days, and pray that she realizes how special she is to us and to our heavenly Father. May her light always shine as brightly as it does now. 

Happy birthday, Brianna!