Polka Dot Party

Because her godparents had been on vacation on her birthday, we had Riley's party on Thursday, June 20th. Grandpa and Grandma Suchland, Mark, Troy and Lori and kids came over. We had Papa John's pizza for dinner. After the kids played and presents were opened, it was time for cake and ice cream. Riley was excited for everyone to see the surprise hidden inside her cake-polka dots to match her party dress!

It's ALL About ME!

Riley's 6th Birthday fell on a Monday. I took the day off work to celebrate with her. Originally, the plan was to go to the water park at Kings Island. The forecast called for scattered thunderstorms so we had to improvise. Riley started the day with a surprise birthday breakfast of strawberry shortcake. We lit a candle a sang happy birthday to her. The next surprise was a birthday balloon bouquet. Then, it was off to Wal-Mart. She was set on buying a Merida wig to go with the dress and shoes that Grandma Sarah had given her for her birthday. After lunch, we took a chance with the weather and hit the Tipp City swimming pool. The threat of thunderstorms kept the crowds away. We were literally the only people in the pool when we first arrived. I made a joke that I had rented the pool out for Riley's birthday. The sun came out and the weather got warm for 2+ hours. It was a great afternoon. When the rain started to move in, we were ready to head home. When Steve got home from work, he made Riley's favorite meal-shrimp scampi. We ended the day with ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and another round of the birthday song. I enjoyed spending a sweet day with the sweetest girl I know!

 

Ears Pierced

We took Riley to the Fairfield Commons Mall on the evening of Saturday, June 8th.  Riley loves to eat Chinese at the mall food court.  She says it is her second favorite restaraunt right after Red Lobster.  Ha!  We had dinner.  I have to agree with Riley.  The food at that one particular place is pretty good. 

After dinner, Riley couldn't wait any longer.  She was ready to accomplish what we had come to the mall for in the first place.  We had decided to let Riley get her ears pierced as a part of her 6th birthday present, and she was SO EXCITED.  Once she got into the chair at Claires, I could tell she was a little nervous.  She was very brave though.  She told me later that if she didn't do it, she was afraid I wouldn't take her back until she was at least 10.  Ha!  She did great.  She said afterwards that it hurt, but she never cried.  She was all better within a few minutes.  Once she got a glimpse of her earings in the mirror, I big smile came over her face.  She liked loved them.

Riley's Recital

Riley ended her ballet and tap class with a recital on Saturday, May 11th.  The theme of the recital was "It's a Zoo in Here".  Riley's class was elephants.  Riley wasn't too excited about being an elephant until she got a peek of the costumes a couple of weeks ago.  Once she saw the sparkled leotard, she was sold.  She was definitely the cutest elephant I have ever seen. 

 

Riley completely enjoyed ballet this year.  She looked forward to class every Monday evening.  I thought for sure she would want to do it again next year.  Instead, she says she wants to try gymnastics next year and beauty pageants the year after that.  Ha!  One thing I will never be is a pageant mom.  Gymnastics I can support though.  At least she won't be expecting me to teach her how to do a cartwheel.

All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Riley started kindergarten on August 31, 2012. She is in the afternoon kindergarten class at Murlin Heights, and Mrs. Caldwell is her teacher. Riley had her kindergarten screening a couple of days before starting class. She got all 100 percents on the assessment. When her teacher asked what she wanted to learn in kindergarten, Riley said she wanted to learn how to talk to the animals and the birds. Ha!


Riley in her classroom at Open House

Riley and Mrs. Caldwell



  

FIVE

Today was Riley's 5th birthday. Since we had her party last weekend, we let Riley pick what she wanted to do for her birthday. She wanted to go swimming, so we all headed off to the Troy Aquatic Center. Riley (and everyone else) had a great time. Her courage continued today. She went down a tunnel water slide, and then she went down it over and over and over again.  Happy Birthday to the most amazing little girl I know. I got awful lucky the day God picked me to be your mom.

"Fake Birthday"

Because a lot of the Suchland family (Mark, Troy and Lori, Jace, and Cory) will be on vacation on Riley's birthday, we planned to have her party a week early this year. Riley understood that her party wasn't on her real birthday, so she began to call the day her "Fake Birthday". After her having her party at Cottonwood Campground last year, Riley was eager to do the same thing again this year. It was a beautiful day with highs in the upper seventies and a nice breeze.  Grandpa and Grandma Suchland, Mark, Troy and Lori and kids, Tom and Rene, Cory and Jace were all there.

 As soon as we hit the campground, the boys went off to fish for a while. When they returned, Riley opened her presents, and we had cake and ice cream. Riley got some great gifts (a princess scooter, a cardboard play house to color, a Lego and Friends set, a doodle penguin, a diary and much more). One of the gifts she was most excited about was a hula hoop given to her by her Uncle Jace. Riley had been asking for a hula hoop for her birthday for weeks. This year, Riley wanted a cake with all the Disney Princesses on it. She asked for it to be pink on the outside (icing) and pink and purple inside.
After presents and cake, we took a walk around the campground and ended up at the park. Riley ended her "Fake Birthday" by going down a tunnel slide for the first time. Seeing her little cousin Jenna go down with no problems, got her to give it a try. Once she got to the top, it still took a lot of convincing to get her to go down. Finally, big cousin Jadyn got her to go with her. After she did it once, she wanted to do it over and over again. My little girl is growing up!

                            

 

                                      

Preschool Graduate

Riley graduated from preschool at Creative Learning Center on May 17th. Preschool was the best thing for her. She went from crying the first few weeks of school to being excited to go to see all her friends. Between us working hard at home and all she learned at preschool, she can recognize, write and knows the sounds of all her letters. She can write many simple words and knows how to sound out words she doesn't yet know how to spell.

She is one smart cookie, and I couldn't be more proud of her. I cannot believe she will be starting Kindergarten this Fall. I asked her recently if she wanted to stay in preschool another year instead of going to Kindergarten. Her answer, "No. I want to go to Kindergarten, so I can hurry and get this school stuff over with." Slow down baby girl. You may be ready to move on, but your Mom still wishes she could keep you this age forever.

It's Electrifying!

Little Sister

Being a little sister to three big brothers has its perks-three boys that adore you and for the most part don't mind waiting on you hand and foot. Kinda hard to complain about that. However, Riley earns that perk. It is no secret that Riley hates sports. Baseball to her is especially boring. The games are long and often hot. With both Trent and Reed playing baseball this year, we spent a lot of time at the ball park. In one seven day period, Riley was at seven baseball games. Notice, I didn't say that she watched seven baseball games. I am not sure if she even watched a total of one inning the entire season! Riley usually found other things to occupy her time-climbing on the bleachers, picking flowers, eating a snack, taking a walk,.. When Reed lost his tournament game to end the season, Riley said, "Yes! Now I don't have to sit out there and be bored any more." I told her brothers that they will feel the same way when she starts ballet.