5 Years Old

chloe turned 5 on the 15th. she had requested a princess party but i suggested a horse-themed party. (every girl in our neighborhood has a princess party.) i knocked on someone"s door who had a pony in their pasture and asked them if they would give rides. it was a hit. all the girls loved it. and nobody got kicked or bucked off. we had 13 girls, counting stella. so there were a lot of presents. each time she unwrapped one she would say, "awesome!" "i love it!" until she opened a bratt doll. she gave me this look like, "uh-oh, what are we going to do about this?" i told her it was ok and to say thank you. chloe knows that i don't like bratt dolls. she has seen them in the store and asked for them. when i told her she couldn't have one. ever. she wanted to know why. i told her they were slutty. "what's that mean?" "um, it means they wear too much make up and dress immodestly." well, the bratt doll she received is named cloe, and fortunately, doesn't have a lot of make up or provocative clothes. so i let her keep it. dan made the cake. it was awesome. i had bought some horses to decorate it with-- the expensive ones. but when it came time to put them on they were no where to be found. the kids had already eaten their ice cream and were chanting for cake. not really. but they were anxious. so we ended up with a foal that is bigger than the adult horse and a square stream flowing out of...astroturf? it was tasty though.

chloe has grown up a lot in the past year. she learned to ride a bike. she has friends and likes to play with them (and try to control them) every day. she is a helpful and sometimes pesky older sister. we've introduced grounding. she has discovered the internet. and disney channel via the internet. she's transitioning from princess to hanna montana and highschool musical. she is even learning to read.

we think she is a beautiful, smart, goofy, talented girl. we love her and glad she's ours.