Afton's 6th Birthday

Afton said goodbye to being 5 and embraced her new age with lots of excitement.  All day long on the 18th (her birth day) she kept saying, "I keep forgetting I'm not five anymore! I just was thinking, Oh wait, I'm not five.  I'M SIX!"
One of the highlights was taking a treat to her kindergarten class. She helped me make cupcakes with sprinkles and was very sure that each and every one of her classmates would think they were beautiful.  Her expectations were met and she got lots of attention and praise that day.  It's good to be a kindergartner.

Last year Afton wanted to plan every bit of her party, but this year she told me with a very serious expression that she didn't want to plan anything but have it all be a surprise to her.  As I thought about what theme we could do, I remembered a conversation we had a couple of weeks ago where we were talking about what she wanted to be when she grew up.  She said: a cowgirl, a mom, a rock star, and an artist.  All very good choices!  Now, she really doesn't have a concept of what it means to be a rock star.  We have very purposefully not introduced her to any of the child pop "stars" and it's not as if she has ever even really heard a rock song.  It's not really a child's world.  But in her mind being a rock star means wearing cute clothes, singing into a microphone and having everyone clap for you.  So we went with that!
Here's our little diva:

She invited a few friends and they all came dressed for the party:

We started with a concert where they all got an instrument or a microphone and we let them watch themselves on TV as they sang. Afton and Ben got really into it!
Then they got to pose for the cameras and strut their stuff.

  Even I got dressed up for the party.  It didn't go unnoticed.  The kids just kind of stared at me and weren't really sure what to say. Jared said I looked really scary.  Cade cried when he saw me.  So I don't think I'll be putting lots of make up and a side pony on again anytime soon.  Party poopers.

 

Ben helped me decorate her cake and we also had microphone ice cream comes to eat. It was a really fun party!

 

We sure love our Afton.  She is an amazing little girl with tons of intensity and creativity packed into a tiny little body.  Her ability to have fun is only rivaled by her ability to take charge.  She loves to ride her bike, draw and color, create art projects, read, learn, play with friends, giggle, and always be busy.  She knows what she likes and how she likes it.  Every day it is an adventure to see what clothes she'll wear and how many times she'll change her outfit. She has specific ways she likes to do her hair but doesn't like me to do it. Afton loves being a big sister. She can play for hours with Ben, and feed Cade food, and she is always thinking of ways to help me with her brothers and around the house.  She is a great cook and wants to help make most meals.  Afton can make me crazy sometimes but it is so fascinating to be around that her it makes up for the emotional roller coaster she lives on.  What an amazing girl who is growing up as fast as she possibly can (she asks almost every day to measure herself to see if she is getting taller).  It is going to be really great to see what this next year brings!