Happy 8th Birthday Kaytlynn

So its 7 in the morning...I went to bed at about 1 last night and I finally gave up sleeping well and got up. The thing that I am thinking of is time. I remember things taking so long when I was a child...it seemed like forever before the next Christmas, Easter, Birthday, school year. As I got older things seemed to move at a much more pleasing pace and then 8 years ago I gave birth to Kaytlynn and now, it seems to me, all I do is wish for time to go backwards or at least stand still so that I can enjoy the things in my life for just a little longer. Its not that I don't like who Kaytlynn is...its the exact opposite. Its that she is absolutely perfect and I don't want that moment to slip away.

Some things about Kaytlynn this year...
1. It was our first year to homeschool...and thank goodness she loves it! She is in love with Five in a Row and math is her favorite subject (although math is not her strongest subject...by far).
2. One of her favorite things to do is spend time with her cousins Jacob, Emily, and Gracie, her Nana and Papa, her Grandma and Grandpa and Buddy and Nancy. She is a people person...and I think she always will be.
3. She absolutely loves the song Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers...she was evidently born too late, just like her momma.
4. She still loves all of the Barbie movies...Rapunzel, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Mariposa, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The 3 Musketeers, etc. but she is starting to like other stuff too.
5. She loves dressing her barbies up and having fashion shows...
6. She loves to paint, or do just about any craft.
7. Her favorite snack is a packet of fruit snacks. Each night the girls can choose a small snack if they have had a good day and have eaten well. Their choices can be some halloween/Easter candy, ice cream, Popsicle, cookie, chips, etc. 9 times out of 10...she chooses a nasty gummy fruit snack!
8. Her favorite color is blue. Her color choice used to change from time to time, but blue has been her favorite this whole year. It might be the one she sticks with.
9. She is the bubbliest little girl I know...seriously. She can find ways to be happy pretty much all the time. She didn't get that from me, but I wish she did! She is hopelessly optimistic and I hope it stays that way.
10. She is one of the most spiritual children I have ever met...She is constantly reminding ME to pray when I'm nervous or scared or someone is sick. She loves church...her favorite thing to read is a book of small Bible stories...and not a day goes by that she doesn't speak of how wonderful and mighty God is and ask a question or 2 about Him.
11. One of her favorite things to do is listen to the music on my I-pod and dance around the living room to it with her sister.
12. She loves people...she is always concerned with people and wants them to be happy. A friend recently came over and she offered them a coke. They accepted. She went to go make the coke and when she presented it to Anne, she said..."just let me know when you need more coke, because I'm your coke getting girl". That is soooo her. She is definitely our Miss Congeniality!
13. This has been the year that she has become a big kid. I don't know how to say it other than that. She just doesn't look like a little girl anymore. You can now see glimpses of what she will look like when she gets older...her frame has changed, her face has matured a little...and sadly...her play has changed quite a bit...certain things are for "little kids" now.
14. She is wild about Webkinz, playing on the computer, and she recently received a hula hoop...and she is becoming quite the expert.
15. She loves gymnastics. She is flexible just like me...pulling her legs this way and that way with complete ease and enjoyment! She also doesn't have a lot of fear...which makes me a bit nervous :-)
16. She has gone from hating to read to in not being so bad. She LOVES being read to though. Peter Rabbit is still her favorite story. But Madeline runs a close second. She has also become quite fond of A-Z mysteries by Ron Roy and The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. She likes non-fiction books more than fiction. She is a factoid!
17. She is my little crier! Not when she gets hurt though...she completely sucks it up and moves on with injuries...its usually when she is sad at a circumstance for someone else or better yet, she will cry tears of joy for herself or other people. She walked into the living room the other day and she was crying. When I asked her why, she told me she was watching Dumbo and he finally got to see his mom. I comforted her, and later she was crying remembering how they made fun of him. It was a perfect example of how tender her heart can be! If we go visit family, she cries for a good hour in the car after we leave. Its not a boo-hoo cry...and she tries to stop, but her eyes are filled with water and she's very quiet as she thinks of those she loves that she will miss.

I hope that she continues down the path she is taking, because I can't imagine her becoming a better human being that I could be more proud of. She truly is an amazing person to me and it boggles my mind that I have been so blessed to have her. I hope God gives me the chance to live a long life with her to see just who she turns out to be!