My Sweet 6 year old!

6 years ago, I was blessed with the title of Mommy.  My life changed forever and I couldn't have predicted how much I would love this little girl!  I am so proud of the person you are.  You are full of spunk, spirit and sweetness.  You are an out-of-the-box thinker and love creating things, figuring out how things work, and are very self-motiviated.  You have learned to love your sleep (if only we could get your brother on this same page:) and as a result, mornings can be a challenge to get you up and out the door.  You LOVE learning and learned how to read this summer.  You are quite the writer and write as well already as some of the kids I teach. You love Kindergarten and made new friends instantly. You adore playing outside with the neighborhood kids and are a natural athlete.  You can smash a softball that Daddy pitches to you, can run faster than most of the neighborhood boys, and are constantly tumbling in the house (and off the furniture).  You are still our healthy eater and love fruit more than anything.  You still ask when we are going to go back to Disney (and Daddy and I can't wait to surprise you in a few weeks with a trip)! 

I am so blessed to be your Mommy and am excited to see what this next year has in store for you!  I love you sweet girl!

                                                   Excited for her party at Buckeye Bounce!

 The kids had a ball!

Foam pit fun!

Hangin' with her party peeps!

And then we headed back home for some fun with the cousins....

and some Twister, of course!  Right hand on blue!

and throw in a sleepover to cap off the perfect night!

Modeling their home-made headbands they made!

Cousin love!

Happy Birthday to our little rock star! (She picked out her own theme this year, and it was definitely fitting)!

My little Kindergartener

Even titling this post makes me want to shed a little tear.  How is my baby old enough to venture off to Kindergarten? How is it possible that my tiny girl will ride a big school bus to and from school each day? How can it be that I am no longer her biggest influence in life?  I know she's ready for all of this, but her Momma is still struggling with reality. 

Today marked her very first day of Kindergarten.  We went to open house yesterday and met her teacher, Mr. Landon.  He is a perfect fit for Mackenzie.  She especially loves that all of her neighborhood friend's have had him and now she does.  We had heard raving reviews all Summer about him and had our fingers crossed. Daddy especially loves that he is a Buckeye ANDBrown's fanatic! 

Although last night & this morning she was quite nervous, she did great!  Since it was my first day of school too, I made special arrangements with my wonderful principal and was able to leave my meeting to take her to schoool.  Nana accompanied Mommy, Daddy and Caleb as we set off to take our sweet Kenzie to school.  She walked right into school and within 5 minutes had already asked a little girl in her class if she would play with her outside if they got to go out to recess.  I was so proud of her to initiate conversation! When we left, she gave us a quick kiss and to my surprise didn't mind us leaving.  I couldn't have asked for a better 1st day!

Heading to school for her big day! (Thank you Nana for filling the photographer role).

Walking hand in hand with brother to school.

Waiting for the school bell to ring!

Trying to catch a glimpse of what's in store. :)

Excited to show off her new school to Nana!

Anxiously walking down to her classroom...

waiting for her turn to enter the classroom...

Being greeted by sweet Mr. Landon!  She was all smiles from this point on.

...and right after Mackenzie took her picture, Caleb started sobbing.  I asked him why he was crying and he said "I want to take a picture with that guy."  So....here ya have it. 

                                                    Finding her name tag and table.

Reading books with her new friends (and Caleb, who minutes later threw a fit when the little boy whose seat that really belonged to arrived.  We're pretty sure Caleb thought that he too was going to be joining Kenzie for Kindergarten:).

One last picture with Mom and Dad before we left.  When I left, I told her that Nana would pick her up in the carpool line soon and she replied "I don't want her to pick me up soon, I want to stay here a long time."  Melt my heart!

Can't wait to see what this year has in store for you!  We are so proud of you sweet girl!