Brooklyn's Actual 4th Birthday

The day after Brooklyn's super fun and exhausting Frozen Party was her actual birthday! (Remind me to never plan them back to back..I had nooo energy to celebrate again the next day! ha!)

But nevertheless, life went on, and we did party! Brooklyn requested Blueberry Oatmeal for breakfast, but she said I put too many blueberries in it so she didn't like it (can't win with 4 year olds apparently!)

You can tell how tired I was by the lack of pictures. Forgot to take one of our guests..oops! Grandma Murphey, Nana and Papa, Barb and Ernie and Ashley and her kids came to celebrate with sweet Brooklyn. She was spoiled with fun presents and had strawberry shortcake per her request. We love this sweet girl and totally hit the jackpot with her!

Our current Brooklyn favs:

• Love her eagerness to learn! She tells me she has homework that she needs to work on and practices her writing and "math." She is a sponge and very self-motivated. She loves school and I am constantly amazed at all she has learned there. Here I thought we were paying for socialization and she has gotten so much more than that! 
• She loves singing the ABC's backwards (learned at school), and has even taught Brynlee (just by singing it herself) to sing the ABC's. She is an amazing big sister and is always looking out for the safety of Bryn. She is also the "big sister" in that she likes to be bossy :) Much of the time they are playing, Brooke pretends Brynlee is her daughter (I guess that's b/c mom's get to be the boss?? Ha!) 
• Is starting to drop her nap it seems. I have been SO blessed that both girls have napped at the same time for, well, forever! But I guess at 4, she is getting too cool for naps. Darn it! She still naps probably 4 days a week, so it's a good slow adjustment into this new phase of life. 
• She is so curious and asks so many questions! If I don't know the answer she'll say, "It's okay, we can look it up when we get home." Already learning the power of the internet :)
• Continues to love Princesses and has successfully taught her little sister the names of all the Princesses. (proud parent moment? I can't decide, ha!)
• Loves Sunbeams and soaks up all she is taught. Every night when we read scriptures, she wants to know the title of the next chapter we will read, and if we try to start somewhere different the next night, she tells us where we should be. She memorizes the pictures and knows what we've already read. I wish I could borrow some of her brains/memory!
• Loves outside and is our nature girl! "Grandma's nature girl" as she calls herself. We went on a hike a couple weeks ago and she kept right up with everyone and walked the whole way. She got so excited to see all the flowers and was often found saying, "Look! Another buttercup!" We love her excitement and enthusiasm for life. 
• She is so very positive and optimistic! The other day, she was driving me a little crazy at bedtime (sometimes she is the world's worst {or maybe greatest} staller), and I kinda yelled at her and wasn't very nice. The next day, I apologized and said I didn't handle the situation very well and instantly she said, "That's alright. I'll give you a second chance." She is so forgiving and gives sincere compliments. 
• The other day, Curt took my ring and got down on his knees and pretended to propose to Brooklyn. Without missing a beat, she responded, "I can't marry you! I'm not tall enough!" No idea where she gets the funny things she says, but she is full of energy, spunk and so much sweet personality! So grateful for her in our lives!