flower is 5!

here are a few things that she's done or said in the last year.
...she has had a successful year in pre-school and has just one month left! she is so excited for kindergarten.
...she just received her blue belt in Lil' Dragons karate.
...she is learning to read, and gets better each day. i'm always surprised when we drive by a sign and she just blurts out the word!
...she has a huge obsession with princesses and dressing up like a princess. all she kept asking people for her birthday was high heels. she gratefully received 5 pair!
...she likes to try to make river laugh, even when river's not having it. but she really is the most successful at it. i love listening to them in their room giggling together!
...she absolutely loves playing on the computer and really enjoys playing farkle and yoville on her 'new' netbook.
...we are now going to be more strict in her having chores. doing her chores will now earn her computer time. her chores so far are cleaning her room, putting new trash bags in the containers after dad takes the trash out and dusting.
...her favorite food, which she requests EVERYDAY, is curly noodles, aka raman noodles. even though that's her favorite, she is still an awesome kid and will eat anything we put in front of her!
...her favorite candy right now seems to be kit kats and peanut butter cups.
...her favorite ice cream is daiquiri ice
...she is becoming more independent, but is still afraid to "be alone". she actually wasn't afraid until river came along and now they are always together and share a room so it's made her hate being alone. it can get annoying. :)
...at times she acts like she is a teenager, including all the fits and threats to withdraw love. one of my least favorite stages is telling her friends, us, or her sister "you're not my friend anymore!". but i'm sure every kid goes through it.
...a couple of cute things she said at the san diego zoo: she kept telling me to look at the piny poke. it took me a minute to figure out she was talking about a porcupine. this happened again when she wanted me to see the granolas. she was talking about the koalas.
...her favorite shows right now are 'max & ruby', 'ni hao, kai-lain', 'dragon tales', 'mickey mouse club', 'tom and jerry'(this one always produces the most laughs!), and she loves to watch any type of dancing or wedding dress show with me, like 'say yes to the dress'
...her favorite movies are all three Cinderella ones, alice in wonderland, the barbie movies, the swan princess movies and princess and the frog.
...she is deathly afraid of boogers. always has been so you'll never catch her picking her nose! it's hysterical!
...she is such an amazing big sister and a huge help with river.
...she's a big help in general. she's mostly willing to help with anything.
...she really likes to help me bake.
...she's very diligent in saying her prayers each night and also recites the first four articles of faith by memory.
...since she is now 5 she will get a bi-weekly allowance. we want to start teaching her regularly and more strictly about savings, tithing and fun money, which she got a new wallet to hold.
...we also emptied out all her money banks and kg took her to the bank. she opened up her own account for savings.
...we also taught her more in depth about tithing. she has always set aside her money for tithing in a special piggy bank but has never written out the slip. she had $14.50 in there! so she will give that to the bishop on sunday and we will start doing that monthly with her after she gets her allowances.
i'm excited for this and think it's a great age for her to have some accountability and get excited to spend her own money.
she's just a pretty cool kid and we are so happy she's a part of our family.