Say, Happy Birthday Claire ...

This is how I got woke up at 5:00 am on Claire's birthday! She was so cute. She has had to wait for every other person in our family to have their day before it came back to hers again. It is all we have heard about since she turned 5! Today was the day and she lived it up.

When Claire first started telling everyone, "say happy birthday Claire!" my first reaction was to say, "Claire, shhh let people tell you on their own." Then I thought again ... why do we wait for others to wish us a happy birthday? Why not just put it out there. No reason to play games and hope that someone recognizes our special day. Just tell them, "say happy birthday TO ME!" I grew to love the pure innocence in her request.

Claire got to have a quiet day with mostly her sisters and myself. James is gone for the week and our dryer broke the day he left. Laundry can pile up quickly in our household so it was off to the laundry mat this morning. Tori and Tacia joined us and we brought along the Candy Land game to play while waiting on loads. It was honestly a wonderful time!!!! Claire got to play games, eat snacks and play with ... I mean help fold warm laundry.

After completing the mountain of laundry and returning it to the house, all the girls went out to eat Claire's favorite food ... Chinese :) While we were there Claire was sure to let the waitress know it was her birthday. Before we left she brought Claire a plate with birthday cake on a bed of ice cream surrounded with peaches and red jello! It reminded me of birthday cakes from China. She loved it!!!

We finished the day off with a Skype call to our friends the Sinder's in Texas. Claire had not seen them since they had moved and she was so very happy. It was a highlight to her day and by the time we got to dinner, this little girl was exhausted! She crashed by 7:00 pm and did not wake up until the next morning. It was a great day and I am so happy that she will still get to celebrate once daddy gets home and we have a party with all her friends!