Berkley's Birthday Festivities

For Berkley's birthday this year we just did a low key family dinner (since I was 9 months pregnant and didn't want to take on any more than that.)  I wrote on my chalkboard to "decorate" and when Berkley saw it she said, "I might cry!  It's so fancy!"  This girl is easy to please. 

She got to pick out some princess decorations for her special dinner and she planned the whole menu.  Ribs, grilled cheese sandwiches, rainbow jello, baked beans, fruit salad, koolaid, etc.  She even called all of our family members to invite them and give them food assignments. 

 She got spoiled with lots of fun presents. 

Berkley requested an Ariel cake and Rylee delivered!  The detail on this cake was seriously amazing and Berkley loved it!

On her actual birthday she got to bring treats to preschool.  She chose every detail (chocolate cupcakes, pink frosting, sprinkles) and helped me with every step. 

When she woke up, Zack had made her a special birthday breakfast (including sprinkles on her waffle.) 

She got to open one present in the morning because she really wanted to wear her high heels to preschool that day.   (She'd been looking forward to having these shoes for a long time.)

We opened presents as a family in the evening.  She had been asking for this big, stuffed, purple unicorn every time we went to Smith's for the past few months.  I went to get it about a week before her birthday and it was gone.  So I got the closest thing I could find and she was happy with it. 

Zack recorded some of the present opening.  My favorite parts are Berkley saying the unicorn has no eyes, Peyton saying the pink monkey smells like paint, and Berkley saying she walks like that because she's a woman. 

She chose to go to Arctic Circle for dinner because they have free ice cream and a play area. 

Berkley At Age 5

Berkley turned 5 on January 21st. 

Just before her birthday (on the 12th) she lost her first tooth.  It had been loose for a while but she had been babying it.  Peyton hit her in the mouth with a DVD case and loosened it right up.  It was barely hanging on so she reluctantly allowed me to try to pull it out while we were skyping with Zack.  As soon as I had a finger behind it, she threw her head back in fear and the tooth went flying.  It took us a while to find it and she was pretty traumitized.  After receiving a $2 bill from the tooth fairy I think her attitude about the whole experience improved. 

Her reading skills are really taking off.  I credit her online preschool, Upstart.  Here's a video of her reading one of the stories in the beginning of January. 

She is such a fun girl.  She loves to sing, dance, and dress up.  She loves to learn and is a rule follower.  She's also a rule enforcer to her younger sister and acts like the Mom sometimes.  She can be very helpful when she wants to be. Here are some pictures I took on her birthday.  (She begged me to buy those high heels months ago.  I told her she could have them for her birthday and she hasn't stopped talking about them!  She was so excited to finally wear them today.)

And here's her birthday interview.  This is her third year answering these same questions on her birthday. 

Preschool

Berkley started her second year of preschool in September.  She loves it.  I thought it would be easier this time around but I still cried after I dropped her off.  I blame pregnancy hormones.  Here are some pictures on her first day.  She said she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. 

Here's her self-portrait.  She went through a small phase that she drew blue eyes on herself to be like me. 

 This wasn't from preschool but it's pretty adorable.  Berkley is on the left and Jesus is on the right. 

Their first field trip was to the park to feed ducks.  I love this picture of the Morby/Stoddard girls all holding hands.  Soon there will be two more!

Berkley and Dani are in the back making silly faces. 

We went to the fire station the beginning of October. 

This was probably the girls' favorite part.  Peyton waited for all the preschool kids to go.  When it was her turn she wouldn't let go and then she cried when she had to stop. 

Here's the fire truck song Berkley learned at school.  (Or maybe made up, I'm not sure.)

Also in October every paper in our house looked like this.  She loves practicing her letters.  In addition to normal preschool this year she's been doing an online preschool through the state called upstart.  It goes at her pace and I think it's really great.  Her reading skills have been improving so fast!

After one month of preschool she had memorized the alphabet backwards thanks to Miss Kimi.  She was the first in her class to have it memorized. 

Videos

It's been a really long time since I posted our random videos so I have quite a few from the past year-ish that haven't fit into other posts. 

Starting November 2013, Berkley singing the new primary song she learned.  

December 2013, the girls had a blast with the perfection game they got for Christmas (even if they didn't quite play according to the rules.)

January 2014, we had a little party at the Merrill's where we played a fun dancing game.  My parents really busted out their moves (which is normal for my Mom but not for my Dad.)

The kids had to play too.  Peyton was really into it. 

March 2014, some typical singing at the lunch table. 

Another primary song. 

May 2014, singing the Mother's Day song that the primary sang in church (but throwing in a couple surprises.) 

June 2014, dance party in the kitchen. 

September 2014, playing in the rain. 

The Little Dancer

Berkley started a dance class in January.  She took two 8-week courses, ending with a recital in May.  Here she is before her first class. She was really excited. 

 Her BFF Dani was in the class too.  They had a lot of fun together. 

Berkley liked to watch herself in the mirror.  It was a little distracting sometimes.

At the end of class they would dance to the teacher and get a hand stamp.  Here's one of Berkley's dances. 

Here's the whole little class the practice before the recital.  One Mom clearly forgot we were taking pictures that day...

Her class did two little dances at the recital.  The first was to a song from Tangled.

The second was a fun Dinosaur song.

 Post-recital ice cream treat. 

Preschool Program

Berkley's year of preschool ended in May.  Here she is on the last day of school.

Her school put on a fun little program where they sang and danced.

I told Berkley to sing loud but I definitely didn't expect the consequence of that request.  Instead of trying to explain, watch for yourself.

She literally screamed every song at the top of her lungs.  It was pretty hilarious.  The ending of this one is especially good.

 I took a few more of the screaming videos but I'll spare you.  The only song she didn't scream is this one, and that's because she was doing a raindrop dance.  She took the part very seriously.

Then they had a little "advancement" ceremony.  Here's Berkley recieving her medal.

And here's her class picture.