Friday, April 29, 2011

Happy Number 7!!

My "little" girl is turning 7 next week so we had a party tonight to celebrate! She chose to have a "movie" night here in the theater room at our apartment complex. We figured we needed to take advantage of some of the amenities we have here while we can.

She invited lots of her new friends here in California and all of them came, including her 1st grade teacher! We ended up with 21 kids and lots of parents!!! We had pizza, chocolate popcorn, salad, strawberries (fresh from the field today!), candy, and cupcakes! The kids watched "Despicable Me", but in all honesty they only lasted for about 30 minutes of the movie.

They then entertained themselves by doing shadow puppets on the movie screen and playing "ring around the rosies". Each time they would try to sing louder and jump to "fall down" harder! It was REALLY loud!!
Ryan's friends gave her so many wonderful gifts. She says her favorite was the "Squeakies", I'm still not sure what they are!

We then sang happy birthday and had cupcakes, which were super yummy if I do say so myself!!! It was such a fun night and I really appreciated all the wonderful friends that came to celebrate Ryan. This is the complete opposite of when we moved here and she was so lonely and crying to go home. Now I watch her with all her sweet friends and know it's going to be so hard when it's time to leave. That is something I'm not looking forward too. What a fun night!!!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

1st Grade!

My very "big" little girl had her 1st grade program tonight. I have been watching Ryan so much lately and realizing what a "big" girl she is becoming. Her performance was so sweet and fun to watch. The program was called "How Does Your Garden Grow?" They sang the cutest songs and did the cutest actions. She really enjoyed preparing for this and learning all her songs. She was so proud of herself and I couldn't have been prouder.
I have seen Ryan make such amazing progress this year both emotionally and academically. Her teacher, Miss Paddock, has been such a great influence on her. I am so very greatful that Ryan has had the opportunities she has had this year!