samantha turns 4

There's been a lot going on at our place recently, and honestly, Samantha's birthday felt a little last-minute to me. I was able to keep in perspective the fact that she's had a lot of special occasions recently - her 100 lessons reading party, her big come-home-from-the-hospital-party - so I didn't feel too guilty about it.

Instead of giving her a choice this year of her birthday cake, I chose for her - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Her love of MMClubhouse intensified during her hospital stay, where she watched episodes of that show no less than 20 times. Even Josh can recite huge chunks of the show. =)

I signed her up for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake without first considering how in the world I'd manage to do something like that...but in the end, I was satisfied with her cake result, especially in the light of the minimal amount of time I spent on it. Here's a sneak peek:

Samantha chose to celebrate her birthday by going to the Coconut Tree Playpark with our fam; it's always a good time at the Coconut Tree.
Josh helped Abby hang on for dear life during one swinging of the coconuts:
She was totally hooked from that point on:
It was hot in there and required several water breaks. Samantha especially gets overheated easily!
Once we got home from playing, she finally got to see her birthday cake:
She was excited! I was glad - and Emma was quick to point out my technical errors. (I put the door in the wrong place, had several parts missing from the slide, etc. That's scary that she can reconstruct the clubhouse in such detail!!)
For lunch, Samantha chose stir-fried cabbage, tofu, cashews and celery, and fried chicken strips. My kids love Chinese food!
It's a wonderful thing to listen to everyone sing to you!
Thanks to Aunt Kristen who planned months in advance, we had blowers...
...and party hats! And presents!
Our house helper prepared that night's Garlic Breadsticks in honor of Samantha:
Then after dinner, we went outside to play with the Giant Bubble Wand. Sorry there are no better pictures than this - abby was finding and eating trash on the ground, so the camera quickly got shelved!
We had a happy day celebrating sweet Samantha's life and spirit! At lunch as we all went around the table and reflected on special things about Samantha, I was struck by how different and unique she is. I know every child is unique, but sometimes taking a moment to reflect on it is amazing! I love so many things about her - her gentle spirit, her generosity, her humor, her love to pray, her go-with-the-flow attitude - and I'm so thankful she's here with us. We have been so blessed by her life!

Happy Birthday Samantha Kate!