Mackayla is 7!

Mackayla had her 7th Birthday!  Her birthday was also the first day back to school after the Christmas break. We sang to her that morning with a candle in her pop-tart. I hated to send her away to school all day on her birthday, but she has a lot of fun at school, too. Her teacher does a lot of special things throughout the day for birthdays and she loved it.

That evening we had a little family party. Here is the big birthday girl and her Mom.

Her and her Dad

She wanted pancakes with homemade syrup and sausage for her birthday dinner.

Trying on a new hat.

Caitlin checking out her sister's presents.

Presents

Cinderella cupcakes

Two days later, on Saturday, she had a birthday party with a few friends and cousins. She wanted a cake with Cinderella and the coach. Jared and I worked together to put this cake together.

A wonderful Cinderella party all ready to go!

I made tea cups out of ice cream cones and cookies. We just served the ice cream in them.

Mackayla wanted to play musical chairs.

The guests got to dress Mackayla up for the ball with tissue paper and ribbons.

Here are the the party guests (except for Michelle and Brooke Henry, that showed up right after the picture). Jacob, Sophie, Lexie, Mackayla, Bradley, Rachel, and Addie.

Opening up gifts

Cake time!

Caitlin enjoying the party

Mackayla at Seven~

We can't believe how old our little girl is getting! She is becoming such a wonderful little lady. She has enjoyed the first grade so far and is doing great in school. She likes to have me drop her off at school, but loves to ride the bus home in the afternoon.  She loves to read and is getting better at it all the time. Jared and I are always amazed at how well she does with reading, spelling, and math. She is such a great big sister and such a blessing to her Mother when she is home. I love it when she is home because she helps out so much with the other kids. She's especially good at taking care of Caitlin. I can always depend on her to keep an eye on her sister, and to keep her happy and safe. She does not like going to bed, getting in the shower, or having to take the time to use the bathroom. She longs for a life where those things don't exist! Once in the shower though, she doesn't want to get out, and loves to sing and dance in there. Getting her to bed without complaining has become more common this year as we finally figured out to give her some reading time while we put the others to bed, and then she gets to have "talking time" with Jared or I. She loves to have that time to herself, and then usually goes to bed with minimal complaining. It still takes her a long time to fall asleep at night though. Usually 40 minutes to an hour before she is asleep. She loves her dance and gymnastics classes and isn't afraid to try new things, which is a wonderful trait that she didn't inherit from her mother. She is so excited to turn 8 next year and is spending this year preparing for her baptism.