January 6, 2015 - Noelle turns SIX!

So, Noelle turned 6 two months ago!  It was a really fun and much-anticipated celebration for all of us.  On her actual birthday, I had a staff meeting at church, so the kids played with Miss Linda and the kids in Ladies' Bible Class child care before we took Miss Noelle to McAlister's for lunch.  She was pretty stoked to finally be six!  

We planned to have our main celebration a few days later, but we did let the birthday girl open one gift on her actual day.  She opened this cute little doll hair kit from the Burchams. 

Noelle's birthday dinner request was tomato soup, special cheese & crackers, and then Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls with chocolate chips for dessert.  

Here she is stirring the dough for the cinnamon rolls - 

 

Happy!

I could hardly stand waiting a few more days for our main celebration!  Noelle had wanted an American Girl doll for a few months, and we decided that she was ready for one.  She'd hoped for an AG doll for Christmas and we'd reminded her that she still had a birthday coming.  By the time of her birthday, she'd given up hope for a doll since none of the gifts she'd seen looked like doll boxes.  The morning of our birthday celebration, I told Noelle she could open her gifts once she was dressed and ready for the day.  We'd given her a special "birthday girl" outfit to wear for our Dallas adventure to a "fancy hotel".  When she opened Kit, she realized that they were wearing matching clothes!  So fun!!!  She also got a special doll brush from Lucy, the Kit book from Isaiah, and various doll clothes and accessories from the rest of the fam.  She quickly packed her matching suitcases and was ready for our Dallas adventure!  

We had dessert reservations at the AG store (which she didn't even know existed!), which we nearly missed.  Somehow our GPS system had be re-set by little hands to "avoid highways", which we didn't realize.  So our trip took about an hour longer than expected as we got off the highway near Dallas and wandered through small roads.  Eventually, the store was in sight and we grabbed lunch at a nearby taco spot.  There, we told Noelle that, before going to the fancy hotel, we were going to go to the AG Store and have a fancy dessert!  

Oh my goodness.  It was SO fun!  Part of the sweetness was that it was 100% unexpected and magical for Noelle.  She had no idea that a place like this existed.  She and Lucy loved getting their dolls set up in little chairs with their own little cups and saucers!

Noelle ordered a chocolate fondue plate and we sang happy birthday.

Lucy got a darling little flower pot pudding dessert.

And how did Isaiah do at the AG store?  Well, this huge milkshake was certainly a plus!

One of the fun perks of homeschooling is that you can take a trip on a Thurs/Friday in January when all of the stores are empty!  We were practically the only people there, which made wandering around and admiring the dolls and accessories so much fun.  The pic above was our last moment in the store.  I didn't want it to end!  

On to the fancy hotel!  

The main events at the fancy hotel were swimming (brrr!), the glass elevators, eating out, and sleeping in a hotel!  

Oh, and wearing matching jammies and making a little bed for Kit on the hotel ottoman.

The next morning, we swam again and were glad the pool was warmer.  We had a nice hotel breakfast and hit the road with a quick stop at Ikea on the way.  

What a gift this precious Noelle Avra Tallon is to us!  This year, we have watched her grow up in so many ways.  She's clever, funny, chatty, tender-hearted, stubborn, shy (but gregarious when she's comfortable), smart, willing to try new things, and her smile lights up a room.  She loves to lead and direct other people.  She is often very tender with Lucy (though she's good at arguing w/ her, too!).  She's anxious to read and gets frustrated when it's not as quick as she'd like it to be.  She loves to help me in the kitchen.  She takes pride in making things look pretty (her bed, hair, outfits, dresser top).  She loves to draw pictures and write notes to people - almost all of her art is FOR someone.  She is a super confident swimmer.  She is astute to God's work in the world and prayes really thoughtful prayers.  She loves her family, ballet dancing, and she most definitely LOVES Kit.