Our Baby is now 5 Years Old!

Elena turned 5 on Sunday, and we had quite the day planned. We filled her room with balloons, confetti streamers and such so she would wake up first thing to a party for her. She was in awe, but unfortunately one of the balloons popped and she mourned the one over the many left standing bright and full...which really touched me.

So here's my sidebar: There's a couple life lessons right there. One silly pathetic little balloon with literally over a dozen left in perfect condition was cradled in my daughter's arms, and sadly looking up at us asking to fix it. How many times have we felt like that sad balloon amongst the brilliant "perfection" that surrounds us. Yet, our Saviour sees our need and cradles us close, loving us all the more, imperfections and all, because His Perfection covers all our flaws. Praise Him! Or an example how we should be to others, while enticing to hitch our wagon to those who look like they have it all and hang with the people who "look good", we have a calling to be loving to the unlovely. And also how truly symbolic that each balloon was treated the same and of those on the floor, one "died" unexpectedly: how quickly any one of us could experience that loss, or be that loss...just like that. So thank you, Lord, for some things to think about in that little moment.

We tried singing to Elena first thing, but she stopped us, saying we had to wait until Monkey Joes...so yep, now you know the rest of the story, right?!? We headed out to Cheesecake Factory for a favorite lunch, and asked if she would like to be sung to, but she refused because "it's not time yet, Daddy!" We did have a mild breakdown because there was singing for another birthday a few booths down, so we had to explain that she was not the only one born March 14th...hehehe.

Then we headed home to pick the cake and head out to Monkey Joe's for her very first big birthday party. Between family far away and her illness a couple years ago, we've not had a party with kids until now. She's always had a great one planned by Daddy (yep - gotta cheer him on for doing that!) in years past, but this was a really fun first for her. We had a wonderful mix of family, friends from church, school and work, and had a great time spending that with everyone. Thank you all for being there and making her feel so special!