Miranda turns 4!

I have a couple updates but I think I will start with Miranda.  My little girl turned 4 this last week!  She is getting so big.  The Coeur d’Alene school district accommodated her by having a “flex day” on her birthday so the older kids were out of school!  Kaydra made pancakes for breakfast and then Miranda did her very most favorite thing – she took a bath! :)  Then we did her hair and got her all dressed up for her special day with a new petti skirt.   She was so happy – and beautiful I might add!

When I asked Miranda what she wanted to eat for her birthday, she said pizza.  We had some things to do in town that day and we decided to have lunch at Pizza Hut to celebrate. 

Timberlyn was happy to be there too!

Then we were able to stop and see little Bridger Bryce FitzSimmons!  Kelly and Sara had a little boy on Valentine’s day.  He was all snuggled up and sleeping in his car seat and they were getting ready, so we didn’t disturb him, but the kids thought he was pretty cute – and tiny!  He made Timberlyn look so BIG in her car seat.   Congratulations to them!

After our stop at Kelly and Sara’s we hurried home to make a cake for Miranda.  I whipped up the batter and was about to call Miranda to come lick the bowl when Kanyon came in from the garage saying that Miranda was locked in the car!  She had been there since we got home – about 20 minutes!  She was crying and SO SAD!  What a way to spend your special day!  Sorry Mandy!

We got her out, gave her some love, and then she licked the bowl – cake batter can solve a lot of problems :)  I made a lemon flavored cream cheese frosting and we put it and some of Grandma’s homemade raspberry jam between two layers of strawberry cake.  We covered it with jam and some more frosting and ended up with a delicious cake.  Miranda helped decorate by adding her favorite – sprinkles!

We picked up the house just in time for a couple friends to show up to help us celebrate.  Miranda wanted a party with “friends AND family”  which she reminded us daily for the week before her birthday – so we invited a couple families from church that have kids her age.  

She was so excited she started blowing the candles out as soon as we sang, “Happy birthday dear Miranda”.  She couldn’t wait until the end of the song -- funny girl!  The cake was good and the company, even better.  Thank you Parkinsons and Gerens for coming on short notice! 

A few things about Miranda --

• She loves to watch “shows” and does so almost every day right after the kids leave for school.  We are grateful that she seems to have drifted away from Dora the Explorer and is quickly exhausting our DVD supply by watching every one!
• I said this already but it bears repeating – she LOVES baths and will take them everyday and even twice a day if I would let her.  If she is driving my crazy, I just ask if she would like to take a bath.
• She loves to play in the sink and will “wash” dishes for more than a hour.  Hope that one sticks with her!
• She loves nuts – especially pistachios.  Nearly every time we go to grandma and grandpa’s we can find her eating nuts.
• Her favorite phrase is “I’m hungry” and she says it about 30 times everyday.  She is always hungry – especially when she is bored!
• She loves to wrestle with her dad.  He can barely make it in the door after a 12 hour shift at work before she is saying, “Let’s wrestle!”
• She loves Kaydra and Kanyon and waits anxiously for them to get home from school.  She then proceeds to boss them as much as they will tolerate – usually much more then I would ever tolerate!
• She loves Timberlyn and is usually very sweet with her.  She tells Timberlyn that she is “so cute” and loves to try to make her laugh – most of the time she succeeds.

There are many more things about Miranda but I don’t have enough time to write them all.  She is a sweet, happy caring girl as well as an energetic, feisty, bossy hooligan and we love both sides!

Last night after a long day of work, I arrived home to find that Leonard had put the kids to bed.  While I was downstairs Miranda called and when I asked what she needed, she said “I want to give you a kiss.”  I trucked upstairs and let her kiss me on the cheek.  She said, “Oops!  I didn’t kiss you, I just sucked your face!”  I laughed and leaned in again.  She again kissed me and then said, “I did it again!  I just sucked your face!”  Once more I gave her my cheek and she kissed me.  She said, laughing, “That’s better!  I can’t believe I sucked your face twice!”  I was laughing too and told her, “Kissing is pretty much just sucking on someone’s face!” 

Love you, Miranda May!