seven?!?!

Dearest Rachel,

 

How in the world did this happen?  How did you manage to turn seven in the blink of an eye?  They say time flies, but never have the years flown as fast as these last seven with you have.  You're getting SO tall, with long legs like your Mommy (so finding pants to fit your tiny waist and long legs is already proving to be difficult--I'm so sorry to pass this incredibly frustrating trait on to you!). 

This year as you've adjusted to being in school all day, you've learned a lot about working hard, trying your best, trying new things without being so scared or getting quite so frustrated, asking for help when you need it, and many other valuable skills you'll need as you go through life.  You're reading well and working on learning your math facts more quickly.   You love to go to school and I'm so thankful that you enjoy it so much.

You love to draw, paint, color, and create.  Your imagination continues to amaze me, and you love to role play all sort of imaginary scenarios, both by yourself and with your sister.  You don't dress up quite as much as you have throughout the rest of your life, but you still love it, and more days than not I find you at some point in a dress up outfit.  Playing outside is a favorite of yours, and you pretend all sort of things out in our back yard, usually involving princesses, fairies, or other magical things.  There is almost always dancing, as it's one of your very favorite things to do.  One of these days we'll get you some dance lessons....I keep working on it!

You say that when you grow up you want to be an illustrator.  For your birthday today we're giving you drawing lessons!  I hope you love it and learn a lot.

Your birthday party was this weekend.  We were a little worried that we would have to cancel it, since you came home from school on Thursday feeling sick to your stomach, and ended up missing school on Friday with the stomach flu.  But Friday night you started acting a little more like the Rachel we know, and by Saturday you were almost back to normal, so we went ahead with your party.  You had a great time with your cousins.

You wanted a Brave birthday party with a cake that looked like a target (since Merida loves archery), so that's what I made you.  You wanted party games, so we played a version of pin the tail on the donkey with a target.  You played the game dressed as Merida and had a great time--you even won the game!

We love you so much, sweet girl, and Daddy and I absolutely love being your parents.  You fill our lives with so much joy and excitement.

Happy Birthday, dear Rachel!

Love, Mommy

(On the day of your party we also went to Build a Bear Workshop because you had gotten some birthday coupons from there and you wanted to use them.  With your coupons you got your bear, Ella, who you got last year on your birthday, a Daisy Girl Scout outfit...pictured above.)