She's 6!!!

Mel, our spunky, sassy, energetic, and compassionate middle child is 6 today!

 It's hard to believe that 6 years have gone by this fast.  She loves to laugh and tell joke after joke after joke.  She definitely has her dad's sense of humor!

 She can go from happy to upset in one second flat and for those of you who have witnessed that, you know what I'm talking about.  She may have developed this trait from me;)

 She loves to dress up and "look nice" which means that she loves to shop!

Happy Birthday, sweet Mel!  You are definitely one-of-a-kind!  I hope you have the best birthday yet!

Preschool Graduation and Second Grade Awards....

Thursday was Mel's last day of Preschool and graduation was Thursday night.  She was just a little excited.  We had to go to B's awards program in the afternoon and as soon as we got home she was ready to put on her "beautiful dress" and even requested that I curl her hair. (the awards program was over at 3:00 and her graduation was at 6:00!)  I didn't know how well her hair would hold the curls because it is stick straight, but they did manage to stay in through the graduation.  I made her pose for a few pix before.  It was pretty windy outside so I held my breath and hoped that the crazy wind didn't make the curls fall.

 Jump!  All her idea and the perfect graduation photo op if you ask me!

 Again, these poses were all her idea and they had to be taken by this tree, so the lighting wasn't exactly in my favor...

 Graduation time!

 She had one awesome group of classmates!

 Legs crossed!  Such a little lady!

 The Pledge of Allegiance...

 Song time...

 As shy as this girl was at the beginning of the school year, I am amazed at how much she has changed in a year!  She sang every word and even did the motions!

 Now on to Kindergarten, which I'm sure she will love, but she already misses her teachers!

 Now for Miss B who is moving on to third grade.  The end of the school year is always pretty emotional for her...and me too.  I have a hard time grasping the fact that another year has passed and she always has a hard time leaving her teachers.  We have been blessed with great teachers every year so far!

 This girl, unlike her sister, doesn't like to get all "fancy" so most days this is how she is dressed, but that's okay.  Each kid deserves to be unique!

Now on to summer fun!

Mel's Fifth Birthday...

Doesn't she look another year older?

On Thursday we had our own little birthday celebration.  She got to take cookies and goody bags to school to share with her friends.  Then that night we celebrated with cupcakes and presents. 

You can never just blow the candles out once.  You have to do it at least two times! 

Present time.... 

Her very own red 4-wheeler helmet complete with flames! 

Jo thought the box was more fun than all the presents... 

We couldn't leave out Miss B... 

Friday night was the big birthday party.  Not as big as they used to be.  We used to invite everyone we knew it seemed.  While I do miss the big parties, it's a lot of work so it was nice to downsize.  Grandparents, Aunt Lauren and a friend of Mel's choice who happened to be her cousin, Taylor were there to help her celebrate. 

Someone thought they were a little too cool to have their picture taken.  And so it begins. 

The cake made by my very talented cousin.  Mel had specific instructions on what she wanted the unicorn to look like.  Very specific. 

She got a little embarrassed during "Happy Birthday"...  

The queen of funny faces... 

More presents... 

They ended the evening by playing Just Dance.  I think it wore them out because they slept really well!