happy birthday katie!

Katie is now 5!! She is now up to 9 favorite colors and has stated that she will no longer be distracted by her brothers at swimming lessons. Because, you know, she's FIVE!

We had a bunch of friends come over for a ladybug mania party. With a number of siblings included, the number of kids quickly escalated. It was a little insane, but a lot of fun. I was glad that Mag helped her choose a non-princess theme - not that we avoided it entirely. It was even more fun to have Mag and Summer out for the party.

We had a ladybug cake; everybody made ladybugs to play 'pin the ladybug on the flower; we played 'find the ladybugs with ladybugs hidden around the room; and there were ladybug cookies in the favor bags and for treats at preschool. And did I mention the ladybug confetti? It's possible we took the theme a little far, but it was a lot of fun.

Some of the things Katie loved: new dress-up of Belle - (idea courtesy of Katharine's Halloween costume a few years ago),

a second ladybug cake at Oma's house,

a rainbow skirt and sparkly shirt from Aunt Julie that she wears at LEAST once a week,

pink roller skates from the Reeses - Max is also a fan,

and a ladybug tea set from Oma and Opa that EVERYBODY loves to play with.

A great birthday weekend for a great girl! We're so glad to have her in our family.