Emily's 3rd Birthday

Emily is three years old! "Three" is such a big number for me that I've been looking forward to it ever since she was born. To me it marked the girlhood. She is officially a little girl now, not a baby or a toddler any more. She can do so many things by herself and she is a really good helper for me in many occasions. To celebrate her birthday, we went to the zoo as her birthday tradition Saturday morning, took her birthday pictures in the afternoon, and had a butterfly tea party on Sunday afternoon. Her school had a celebration for her also. She loved everything!

Here are some pictures from the zoo. My camera was out of battery half way through the zoo. But we got most of the pictures.

Out we go to the zoo!

Emily's first horse ride. She was not sure when she got on it. But after she came down, she said she loved it!

Since Emily's class is butterfly class and she loves butterflies. We had a butterfly themed tea party with her best friends Mrs. Gayla and Ms. Mary Ellen.

We made these butterfly lanterns to hang on the lamp above the table

David made this butterfly birthday cake

We also made the butterfly picks and name cards. We used the toy teapot that Gayla bought Emily on her 2nd birthday as a flower vase. The only thing that I wish we had was the white chair back covers. Wish we still have our white fabric that we donated to church wedding closet.

Here is Emily patiently waiting for her guests

Here they came!!!

Blow them out!!

Enjoying the conversation, tea (Emily had hot apple juice) and the food

Openning the gifts

Gayla helps Emily to put on the jewelry from Aunt Amy

Emily shared her birthday gift with Andy

Emily's school had birthday celebration for her on her birthday. They sang the birthday song to her and another birthday boy and said the birthday blessing with hand motions: "May you grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. May you grow like Jesus!" during the Chapel time.

During the snack time, I brought in the butterfly fruit mosaic and some snacks with butterly picks. For the kids, it might not be a celebration without a cupcake or a donut (one little boy actually said "I want a cupcake!"). But with so much sugar they already had (from Halloween) and they are going to have (from 8 more birthdays that will follow and the holidays), I decided to rock the boat with fruit. The kids wolfed down everything. I just wished I brought more. Emily didn't seem to mind that she didn't get a cupcake or donut to eat.

I wish I had a bigger square pan or tray to make a better mosaic. I carried extra fruit in cups and they were all gone before the snack time was over

Afterwards, her teacher Mrs. Michelle asked her to pick three friends as candles to put their hands up. All other kids held hands and circled around them. Emily got to blow out the human candles one by one. That was fun! Emily loved her crown so much that she insisted wearing it during her nap. As a result, it got wet and broke. She was so disappointed that her tears just streamed down.

Emily, you are such a sweet little girl! Mommy and Daddy thank God everyday for making you and making us to be your parents. We love you very much!