Now Gwen is Six, as Clever as Clever. I Think She'll Be Six Now Forever and Ever.

Today is July 19th, Gwen's birthday. That means the end of the busy birthday season for this family. Three months off for everyone to get rested up for the grand finale--MY birthday, and then we can ease into the ease of the holiday season. HA.

Gwen requested a Dairy Queen ice cream cake because she's a very smart girl. No mess for me, and everyone enjoys the "dirt" layer of a DQ cake.

Gwen had her favorite neighbor girl over to enjoy the festivities. This 12-year old neighbor gal plays with my little kids all day long. She's amazing. And has the best hair.

Beck may be a little young to dive into an ice cream cake. He shifted back and forth between squeals of delight and shrieks of horror at the cold temp, but ultimately made the sacrifices necessary to consume an entire piece.

Dan made the customary candy bar poster, complete with the first clue to the scavenger hunt leading to Gwen's presents.

The last clue led her to the basement, behind our old trampoline box, where she discovered her gift stash.

Gwen requested jewelry and a jewelry box, and we were able to come up with some stuff she liked.

This jewelry box plays the theme from "Swan Lake" every time you open it, whether that's at 2 p.m. or 6 a.m., which we discovered and re-discovered throughout the week.

As if her room wasn't already exploding with pink and purple and every little trinket she will never throw away, let's add a PURPLE UNICORN bedspread to the mix!

Atop of Gwen is the paper dog that June made for her since they still have a meanie mom with a no-pet policy.

After presents, we settled in for a movie, during which I heard our sweet neighbor girl explain to my girls that there were no TVs when Dan and I were kids. I think my inability to get my hair colored during Covid has added about 982347 years to my face or something.

A few words about Gwen. Gwen has a range of emotions that she expresses freely. She is my biggest helper and my most stubborn fighter. She is quick to pick up on things, but more importantly she likes to work at what she's learning. She plays the piano very well for a 5 year old, and she sings all day long (but only in octaves that dogs would appreciate. SOOO HIGH!). She loves school and people and NOT cleaning, though she's a great cleaner. She makes up words all of the time. I have been called a "rooty dooty mooty" many times. Do you punish a kid for words that don't really have a meaning but are said in a harsh tone? She's basically outsmarted the system there.

She's always up for fun, and she laughs a lot. I love Gwen.

In other news, remember the bird's nest we found under our deck? Well that nest was officially "one-upped" this week, as we found a wasp's nest on the front of our house. It's like a regular ol' nature center around here.

Somewhere in Dan's unwritten husband job description exists the clause that he takes care of all habitats of insects with stingers, so he worked on that this week.

Also in Dan's job description: He's the cutter of the apples in this house. I cut apples up for the kids fairly often, but I just hack at it with impatience. Dan's apple slicing is an art form, so everyone begs him to cut their apples. This is one he brought to me this week. See the message?

I'm the luckiest.

The End.