Sarah: Age 4

Sarah is 4 years old! She has grown up so much this year. I can't believe how much she has changed. Some time in the last year she turned from a toddler into a pre-schooler. She sprung up about 5 inches this year. She is such a big girl now. She is smart, silly, loving, and imaginative. Sarah is a strong-willed little lady who keeps us on our toes, and we love her like crazy. Here is a little bit about Sarah at age 4:

• Loves playing with her stuffed animals. My Little Ponies are a favorite right now, as well as other horses.
• Doctor is her favorite game. Our house is full of sick stuffed animals, and we do lots of checkups.
• Her favorite TV show is My Little Pony (the ones from the early 2000's. The older ones are "scary", and she hasn't watched the new ones.)
• Some of her favorite books are Pete the Cat, Ponyella, Llama Llama, and her Disney storybooks.
• Her favorite place to go is Grandma's house.
• Her best friends are Lucy Snow, Ryan Tackett, Jacob Hoyt, and her cousins.
• Sarah has an amazing imagination. She has invented her own language (which sounds rather like Finnish) and has words for all kinds of things. She is always drawing me a new animal and telling me all about it. 
• Life is basically a musical at our house. Sarah sings and dances all day, usually either to a primary song or a song of her own invention. Often her songs start as a primary song and end up with words in "Sarah-ese". 
• One of her favorite moments of every day is when Daddy tells her a bedtime story. (Sometimes Mommy gets the honor, but Daddy is better.) The stories usually feature Baby Bat, Lassie, or the 3 Bears and their exciting adventures.

Sarah wanted to have a princess party at Grandma's house with her cousins. Sarah, Anne, and Will helped Grandma make the cupcakes and put on the frosting and way too many sprinkles. I think they had way more fun frosting the cupcakes than eating them.

 According to Sarah, that is Prince Phillip's horse, Samson, next to Aurora's "Make it Pink" lemonade

 First, we played Jasmine's game: Musical Flying Carpets (like musical chairs, but with "carpets")

 Next we built a castle for Belle

 Next was True Love's Kiss, in which we passed an apple around, and whoever was holding it when the music stopped had to fall into a magical sleep. We awoke them with a chocolate kiss. Sarah did a convincing Snow White impression. 

 Anne's magical sleep was much less impressive.

 For dinner, we made crown pizzas with pepperoni jewels. (Sarah's was only cheese because she doesn't like "macaroni" on her pizza.)

 Grandma took Anne and Will to the dollar store to pick out several gifts for Sarah. She loved opening all of the little things.

 Two wands!

Her big gift from Grandma was a veterinarian kit. Our little doctor loved it!

Sarah and Anne spent half an hour quietly coloring these posters together. A dollar well spent!

 Blowing out the candles

Her party was a couple of days before her birthday, and Daddy wasn't there. Daddy got home from Florida the night before her birthday, and we were all excited to be back together for her special day. She started the day with a chocolate donut for breakfast. It was a Sunday, so we went to church and she was thrilled to be sung to in Primary. For dinner, she requested shrimp and noodles, so we had shrimp yakisoba. 

 For dessert, we had chocolate filled crepes, or "skinny pancakes" as Sarah calls them.

From us, she got a Pooh board game, Bob books, sea shells from Florida, and a card saying she was getting her very own aquarium with real fish! It was a great birthday.