Amazing Race

DADDY:

We've started a new tradition: Every Monday night we watch the Amazing Race TV show together. It's been a lot of fun watching you learn a little bit about the different areas around the world and see the consequences of things the teams learn while playing. Tonight we get to watch your first season finale of a TV show. You're really excited.

Proud Papa

Hey Sarah,

I'm just so proud of the girl you are becoming. You are so smart and beautiful. You are such a patient and loving big sister. You amaze me!

Daddy

Hug From Guffaw

Uncle Steve:

 

I was at your house a couple weeks ago and you gave me a hug when I got there.  An hour or so later I got a phone call from Guffaw, and before he hung up he said to give you a hug for him. 

 

Me (opening my arms):  "Guffaw said to give you a hug for him."

You:  "Do I really have to?  I already gave you a hug."

Me:  "Yeah, but that one was for me.  You don't have to if you don't want but Guffaw said to give you one for him." 

You:  "Ok, fine."  (hugs me)   "And that one's for G-momo and Auntie Amber too."

Looking for hidden words

Guffaw:
 
Almost every time we are together we play some sort of game.  We began when you were an infant,
saying your alphabet with a word associated with each letter as I carried you to and from the "ABC Park"
(your nickname for Mile Square Park).  I especially liked when we got to "L" since you would say "love" and 
give me a hug.  Many of our games are word play.  Among the games we play are:

• the "opposites" game, where I say a word and you say its opposite,
• the "rhyming" game where I would say a word and then we would come up with as many words as we could that rhymed with that word,
• "I spy," where you would see something and I would try to guess what you saw,
• "I see," where we would identify things we saw, avoiding saying we saw the same thing twice, and
• the "homonym" game where I would say a word and you would come up with a word that sounded the same but had a different meaning.

Last week, I was driving you to kindergarten and we came up with a new one.  We were talking and a word came up that had another word in it. 
I commented on that fact and that other words also have words hidden in them.  I said that it could be a fun
game if I were to write some words down and let you look for the hidden words in them.  You thought that
sounded like fun so I started writing some down as we walked to school.  I left them on your desk at our house and
you did your first hidden words search, which is shown below.  You are pretty clever, especially for a five-year old with
barely more than two months of kindergarten!

 

Kindergarten

You started kindergarten!

You were so ready!

One thing you knew you needed to learn was how to write your name with a capital "S" and lower case "arah."  We did not tell you that you needed to fix how you wrote your name, this was something you apparently had as a personal goal.

Your first day of school you started trying your name:

Within your first week of school, you met your goal:

 You even started writing it smaller:

  

5th-Birthday Memories

5th-Birthday Blessing

You enjoy learning so much. We are amazed at how observant you are of the world around you. You are learning to read. You think of great ways to solve problems and get done what you want to get done. You are starting kindergarten and we are excited to discover more about your personality and watch you learn new things.

You are so beautiful. You love to dress up like a princess but even when you're just wearing regular-day play clothes, you are radiantly beautiful.  Like your name means, you are God's princess.

May you grow to have a deep understanding of the love and grace of Jesus Christ and what His sacrifice means to you and may this knowledge spur you to fall madly in love with God throughout all the days of your life.  

Your father and mother are proud of the girl you have become and are thrilled for the woman you are becoming. You are our daughter, and we love you. With you we are well-pleased.

Big Sister

DADDY:

Your little sister still hasn't figured out how to turn doorknobs. And some nights, you like to leave your bed and come snuggle with Mommy and Daddy. The part I find cute is how you purposefully leave your little sister's bedroom door cracked open just a hair so if she wakes up while you're not in the room, she'll be able to wander out of her room and not have to stand there crying at the door. You are filled with so much love for you sister, and I can't wait to see how you handle another little sister.

Reading the Bible

DADDY: Today was the first time you read an entire Bible story by yourself.

Your favorites as you turn 5 years old

DADDY:

This morning when you woke up, you wanted to snuggle with me on the couch. Which ... is ... just about one of my favorite things to do and I will always say yes because someday you aren't going to ask me anymore.

So I started asking you what your favorites were. It was a lot of fun.

YOUR FAVORITE:

color = yellow

breakfast = fruit, toast, and the white part of a hard-boiled egg

lunch = macaroni and chees

dinner = spaghetti

toy = Barbie's and Barbie house (Mommy just finished painting the house with you and you just bought your Barbie car for $2 of your own $$$)

Anakin

Mommy:

Anakin is your imaginary husband.  I discussed that Anakin goes to the dark side and that wouldn't be a good choice in a husband.  You said your Anakin doesn't turn to the dark side.

You have quite the imagination.  I love you honey . . . although I am slightly worried that your picker is a little broken.   You have been fond of Prince Humperdink, Darth Vadar, Anakin, and Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.  I'm praying for your choices in guys. :-)

Girl on Fire

Daddy: At 4 1/2 years old, your favorite song is "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys.

Peter Pan! - Sarah’s First Musical

Guffaw:
 
On January 27, 2013, G-Momo and Guffaw took you to see your first Broadway-style musical, Peter Pan, starring Cathy Rigby. We saw the play at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.
 
Part of the fun of going to see a play at the theater is dressing up and you got into it. You wore your "Chinese dress," which is a beautiful pink kimono, and your new shiny gold shoes. You had your hair braided and wore a matching pink bracelet and your "wedding ring." (You told us you recently married your teddy bear, Han Solo.) You borrowed the ring from G-Momo after your wedding ceremony. You like the ring, although it is a little big, because it looks like the engagement ring your Auntie Amber just received from Justin. You were literally quite eye-catching. Guffaw enjoyed watching and hearing people "Oooh" and "Aww" at the beautiful girl walking with him into the theater.
 
On the way to the theater G-Momo and I were trying to figure out where to eat before the play. G-Momo was driving and Guffaw was looking at the navigational system on his phone trying to figure out where the Pantages' parking lot was. Our ticket said the parking lot was on the southeast corner of Hollywood and Argyle. Guffaw is not very good with directions and asked G-Momo if we were going north. G-Momo knew that was not correct but thought we were going south when you came to the rescue, saying we were going west. You then pointed out that "the car tells which way we are going" and, in fact, G-Momo's rear-view mirror was showing a "W" indicating we were going west.
 
Having parked, with your help, we went to a nearby fast food restaurant for a quick meal before the play. While we waited for your food, you showed a stranger at another table your wedding ring. You ordered a kid's meal fried chicken dinner. You removed the skin because you said you were "eating healthy."
 
As we walked from the restaurant to the Pantages, we saw some stars on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame." We pointed out the stars for Robert Goulet, who you knew as "Wheezy" from Toy Story, and Johnny Cash. We told you your mommy sat on Johnny Cash's lap once when she was filming a T.V. show with him.
 
The Pantages theater's ornate ceiling impressed you. You told us "This is my first time in such a fancy building." You were very well behaved and enjoyed the play. At the intermission you did let G-Momo in on the fact that Peter and Wendy were not really flying because you saw they had strings on them.
 
Afterwards on the drive home, you told us you "have a plan." You told G-Momo and me that sometime you are going to have your friends, their parents and us over to your house and then you and your friends will perform the play for the grownups. G-Momo and I can hardly wait!