Tess' 6th Birthday

We had the pleasure of celebrating Tess' 6th birthday this weekend.  She's been so excited and looking forward to it.  We are going to have a friend birthday party after Christmas, but she was no less excited for the "real" event.  I made her a cake, and Nana & Papa came over for a movie outing to see "Frozen," which was a lot of fun.  She has been nervous about movie theaters for a while, but I think she is over it now.  "I can't wait to see it again, Mom.  I just love it on the big screen!"

 She got a beautiful Christmas dress and snowman book from her Nana & Papa, some fun "Tess" doll clothes from Dipsy & Papa, and a new Cinderella doll and styling "throne" from Mom, Dad & Drew.

Our 2013 Christmas card photo.

She undertook with great seriousness the important task of designing her own birthday crown.

Morley wore one too.

This little bug is growing up so much.  I got to sit in on her dance class last week.  She takes it seriously and does such a good job.  Other parents were commenting how well she performed.  Her teacher talks a lot about holding their heads high and having "long necks."  Periodically through the class, Tess would stroke her neck in an elongating motion.  At the end of class she commented how tired her neck gets during class.  She tries so hard to please.

And a little ballet footage.  Her "bunny hops" in first position are pretty good!

Of course she still spends much of her free time drawing.  Here's a few pieces from the past months:

This is a French Christmas card.  They are about to enjoy a Buche de Noel.  She was not pleased with the perspective in this picture; that it makes it look like their legs are too long.

Of course, she's very excited about Christmas around the corner. She was very pleased with gingerbread house they made at school, which did turn out super cute.

Tess has taken it on herself to indoctrinate Drew on all important Christmas matters.  Here are two books she "wrote" for him.  Her writing has improved greatly since she started school.  She's more willing to "stretch" words out on her own and she's less concerned about "perfect" spelling.  She's writing more as a result.

The first book on "Making Christmas Cookies" has become a bedtime favorite for Drew.

(This is supposed to be an "interactive" page for the reader.  Meaning, the reader is supposed to take the initiative to color in the book to decorate the cookies.)

(gotta love the elbows)

(She loves this page.  She reads it:  "And wait until it is Zero, Zero, Zero (meaning the timer) and then BEEEEEP!"  Drew always mentions that it's time for a potty break when he hears the timer--side effect of my potty training technique.)

The second book is an intro to Christmas for Drew:

(Morley is coloring on her craft table--a recent elf pose.)

She's a remarkable and special girl.  How much we love her and the sparkle she adds to our lives!