This morning, Keree woke up super excited at 4:30am, yep you read that right, 4:30am because number one, her Uncle was home for the weekend and secondly, it was her Birthday party. We didn't know exactly what to expect because we had won her party over the Summer from a Martial Arts dojo. Basically the only thing we had to provide was the drinks and cake but of course we always go a little overboard. Because of the Dojo's schedule, we couldn't have it on her birthday weekend (her birthday is the 28th) because they had a competition. After loading the cars, our first stop was Cheerleading. I had really hoped Keree would nap for a short time on the way there since she had been up so early. She feel asleep for about 10 min but that was it. When we arrived, Keree was ready to cheer. Her Uncle enjoyed watching her and she really loved that he was there just for her. After the game was over, they passed out their stars. Keree was awarded her effort star today. We stopped for a quick lunch before heading over to the Dojo. We got there early but there was no use in heading home before we were allowed to set up. We started setting up at 230p, the Instructors were super helpful and very accommodating. They only had one table, so I was thankful that we had brought ours. After moving the tables to the nicer wall, we placed the table clothes on the tables. The table clothes were white with little pink and red hearts which we got on 90% valentine clearance. We then set up the Rapunzel tower we made with Keree as Rapunzel. On each side of it was the Cupcake cakes. In front of the cakes were 3 little bowls that housed the decorated kisses and a single bowl of spring colored tootsie rolls. On the left end of the table was some Vietnamese coconut cookies (in the bear jar), they are sort of like meringue. On the right end of the table was the basket of decorated water bottles, there was additional decorated water bottles in a box below the table and as it got depleted in the basket, we added more. In the front of the basket was two cupcake boxes, in the boxes were single servings of crystal light and Hawaiian punch to be mixed into the water. On the second table we set out all the gift bags for the guests and the Thank you candy bars. We were so pleased with ourselves when we finished with time to spare. We had planned on taking pictures of Keree by the table, with us, etc. But that plan was spoiled when guests started to arrive almost 25 minutes early. As guests arrived, the Instructors played games with the kids until we gave them the go ahead to begin the Instruction in Karate and Ju-Jitsu (which was about 15 minutes after the party start time). It was amazing to watch the focus and excitement on all the kids faces. They learned 6 key words (please, thank you, your welcome, yes sir, excuse me and I can't remember the last one). They then taught them the ready stance, which was to stand with their hands in a fist by their sides. They then showed them how to place their feet and hands to do a front punch. Finally, they taught them how to correctly high kick. It was so adorable watching all the kids try and to perform the tasks. A few of the kids that are high strung, we were amazed at their complete focus and concentration. After the instruction, we gathered almost all the kids over for a group photo. We were only missing one because he is super shy and the other little girl who is super shy is actually starting to run off in the picture. Otherwise I don't think it's too bad of a picture, most of the kids are looking and some are actually smiling. After the group picture, they gathered the kids around and sang Happy Birthday to Keree. Then as in tradition of their dojo, the Head Instructor walked into a back room and returned with a Samurai sword. He explained that Keree was going to get to cut her cake with the sword. Keree's eyes got super big because this sword was a good foot taller than her. The Head Instructor helped her hold the sword and they slowly made a cut into the cake. I love the pictures of her cutting because she has such determination and concentration. After cake cutting, luckily I had some extra help (thank you G) as we passed out the cupcakes, drinks and drink flavors. I was a little surprised by the parents lack of helping their children carry their cupcakes or mix up their drinks, so again the Instructors stepped in to help. While the children were finishing up their cupcakes, we let Keree start opening her presents. Usually the kids spend at least a 1/2 hr or more eating but they worked up quite an appetite because I swear they all inhaled their cupcakes in less than 5 minutes. Keree actually opened up her presents quite quickly also. She got a wide range of presents mostly Disney Princess related, I was a little shocked that she got nothing Tangled/Rapunzel related. She also got Monster High dolls, Squinkies and Zoobles. Once the presents were open, it was time to play games. The first game to play was spoon balls, basically you place a ball on a spoon and hope it doesn't fall off. Anytime their ball fell off the spoon, they had to start back at the beginning of the race. Keree did so well and she made it completely around the room at a pretty fast pace never once losing her ball off her spoon. After everyone made it around the room and claimed their prize (a piece of candy). It was time for Simon Says. They played 4 rounds of Simons Says and Keree never made it past the 4th or 5th Simon Says command. The final game they played was Duck, Duck, Goose. Some of the younger players weren't sure how to play so anytime they saw someone start running, they started running too. It was hilarious to say the least. After they were done playing, it was time for Keree to say Thank You and then we passed out the treat bags and candy bars. Keree gave most of her friends good-bye hugs, which are always sweet. After we packed up everything, it was then time to head out to eat with my Step-Mom P and her Mom S. We decided to go to O'Charley's because we knew their menu was reasonable and of course they have good bread. I know my Step-Mom wasn't too thrilled because we had my Mom join us but I really don't care. We ordered our food and then just enjoyed visiting together. Keree spent the majority of her time drawing in the menu activity book but after awhile she got hungry. She looked at us and goes "where's are food?". Usually she gets shrimp because she loves it but she surprised me this time by wanting chicken strips. Then after we were finished with dinner, they brought out a slice of turtle pie for Keree's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to her and then she took a huge bite. She then passed it around and let everyone take one bite but she wasn't going to share any more than a bite. Once we were finished, we headed to our cars. My Step-Mom P didn't bring in Keree's presents, so we stood out in the windy cold and she opened them in the parking lot. Keree was excited because she got a Rapunzel lantern that lights up and plays music, which is fitting since all Rapunzel wants to do is see the mysterious lights on her birthday. My Step-Mom also gave Keree money to buy tickets to a baseball game. The sad thing, is she thought we could buy 3 or 4 tickets and instead, it will barely cover a child's ticket. We finally headed home and even though Keree was tired she didn't go to bed until almost 930p.
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