Gwen Turns 5

Oh my. Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem possible that this little girl is already 5. It seems like yesterday when I stood in a hospital room and watched her being born. Hard to imagine that she'll be starting kindergarten in the fall.

We planned a small family celebration at our place, and you know, it's not a party until there are hats!

One of Gwen's favorite meals is pizza - and that certainly made things easy for me! I ordered in some pizzas, made rootbeer floats, and had some chips and it just doesn't get any better than that. I made the cake. When I was a little girl, I had a little figurine with a lamb that always sat atop my cake which was white with white coconut icing. My mom bought this figurine to use for Kera's cakes, but I can only remember one or two years where I used it. I decided to bring it out of storage and use it for Gwen. I'm not much of a baker, but it turned out pretty cute I thought.

For some reason, known only to Gwen, she wasn't too keen on blowing the candles out. But, after a rough start, she finally made an attempt. Then it was on to the best part...the presents! She enjoyed the cards and loved ripping into the gifts.

If you've been following Kera's blog, you know that Gwen is really into bird watching. She has a little guide book where she looks up the different kinds of birds that come to her feeders and birdbath. We got her some binoculars so she could check them out from afar.

One of the best gifts Gwen received was a beautiful aquamarine (Gwen's birthstone) that my Dad faceted and set. He's been looking for a good piece of rough to facet for her for quite some time. It was worth the wait. The stone is absolutely gorgeous.

And of course, there's just one in every crowd isn't there.