New scriptures, Achievement days, and not even choosing between pink or purple frosting anymore. She wanted carrot cake for heavens sake. She is growing out of dress-up and make believe and growing into herself in such a beautiful way. My “little” girl thinks she is ready to give up some of the “littleness” in her.  She’s stepping through a threshold and leaving it behind for good. (sigh) I’m reminding myself that it’s just one door she’s ready to close and there are still many more to be opened. More chapters yet to be written and thankfully I am still a character with a leading role in her novel.
Today she turned 8 and for McKenna being 8 started out with a bang. An announcement that school was cancelled due to slippery ice covered roads. Such luck! Once she heard the news she crawled back under the covers and said she’d take her breakfast in bed. And so she did-”cinnamon life cereal please”. I’m guessing that she was still too busy dwelling on the “no school” announcement to put more thought into her birthday breakfast. Oh well, at least she dined in good company.

The change of plans was a gift today, to me mostly. It might have meant no school for her, but for me it was an unexpected opportunity to spend some extra time with her. Her birthday is always a day to dwell on just how exceptional she is. Its a chance to shower her with the attention she deserves everyday but doesn’t always get. Its a chance to make her feel as special as she really is and today I was grateful for the extra hours I was given to do just that.

Then when Dad finally made it home we celebrated McKenna some more because my little 8 year old is worth celebrating every minute of her birthday and every other day of the year too!  Happy Birthday McKenna-my big girl who will always seem “little” to me.

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The show must go on right?  Kyla had her dance recital this past weekend and this year her show was nearly a no go. It probably should have been a no go but after looking into her puppy dog eyes and pale little face I knew letting this show pass would have been heart breaking to her. Days earlier Kyla stayed home from school sick. She was on the mend and then recital night it snuck up on her again. Driving in costume to the recital holding a pot in your lap is usually a sign that you should tuck your little girl into bed and give her some chicken noodle soup to sip on rather than getting her ready to mambo.

I know, I know, a questionable parental decision that I took her despite the pot that was used in route. We waited in the wing apart from the other kids trying to make myself feel a little better about bringing a sick child at all. And by the way, I hope you’re not judging me for this admittedly questionable call. This is not a case of the stage mom making her daughter perform, she really wanted to. Anyway, she Mambo-ed her heart out and even stuck around to tell Santa she wants him to bring her a Nintendo DS. And this year I will vouch for her-she deserves it! She really did great!

Forgive the stage lighting.  Great for a performance, terrible for pictures.  And because I’m still trying to justify my decision, I think she mamboed the remaining bugs out of her system. She’s been feeling great ever since!  Knock on wood.

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They came home sandwiched between papers and books which is fitting because I never really expect that much from them anyway. I send my kids to school with high hopes and maybe fingers crossed that they’ll turn out but I know its a gamble after morning recess. Who knows if their bows will still be in place or whether they’ll have marker smudges across their cheeks. Again, I maintain low expectations on picture day. And then when they turn out it’s always a pleasant surprise.

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It snowed yesterday. Well, kind of. It was more of just a light dusting. Almost as though “Mother Nature” wasn’t totally ready for snow boots either. It might not have been much but it was right on time to join us for hot chocolate stirred with a candy cane, and decking the halls. Christmas CD’s are loaded in the car, festive movies are in the DVD player and thanks to a great idea from a friend all the Christmas books are wrapped and ready for a nightly ritual of Christmas favorites. (Which, by the way, is a great way to teach your kids how to wrap presents.) We are ready for my favorite holiday and for more snow too!

Another first dusting here. Avery’s palate has been lightly dusted with rice cereal. And she likes it so there will be more of that coming too. Rice cereal and snow-soon we will be shoveling both these white flakes in mouths and out of the way.

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We’ve been doing a lot of these lately.

Because every girl needs a few curls every now and again!

I could leave it at that but then you would never know that every time we do these we have tears. Someone always loses a few curlers during the night which apparently is the end of the world. Someone’s curls are always a little too crazy at first glance in the mirror. And I inevitably always hear “her’s look better than mine”. But then we “fix” it and suddenly having curls is worth a few tears. Worth it to them anyway. Glad today that one of mine has natural curls.

I’ve decided that going straight is easier than going curly.

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