BIRTHDAY GIRL

Happy Birthday Mckenzie!!!

Yes.I'm a couple weeks late posting this. But I know no one is surprised by that. :) But still I just wanted to wish this little girl a Happy Birthday. Can't believe she is 4!! Four seems so much older than three. But she is soo happy to be 4 now and tells everyone she sees. And everything new or different that she does is because "that's what 4 year olds do, right mom?" She definitely prides herself on being a big girl now.

Things I love about Mckenzie:

• The first thing she does when she wakes up every morning is make her bed. Amazing. I never have to ask. I don't even know if I taught her this. But she's good at it.

• She is also very good at cleaning up. If I ask her to clean up her toys, she'll generally do a really good job. Occasionally it takes a little persuasion, but more often she just does it and is happy about it.
• She will go to great lengths to make others smile and be happy.
• She LOVES Brinley. Loves, loves, loves.
  
• We have great conversations. She really THINKS about things and is actually pretty deep at times.
  
• She wears her heart on her sleeve. I have never had to wonder what she is thinking. Even before she could talk, she found a way to express herself. Good or bad..I love knowing whats on her mind.
  
• She is very sweet and loving. She is good at giving us hugs MULTIPLE times during the day, followed by a sweet "I love you" that melts your heart.
• She is very decisive and determined. She knows what she wants and WILL get it. This is probably my biggest challenge. Even though its a little hard to deal with now..I think its a good quality to have. :)
  
• She is very thoughtful. Loves to write us notes. She'll leave them on our bed for us if we are not home when she goes to bed.
• She's just excited about life. She has a smile that's bigger than life. I love how excited she gets about little things.
  

Mckenzie's favorite things (as of today--its changing all the time these days):
Parks (this one is contant), the color blue, singing, pretending there is a barn under our kitchen table, building forts and tents, playing make believe, reading the scriptures,(I probably have to categorize that as her favorite book right now too...she loves to read Book of Mormon stories), watching "Little Bear", all her cousins, water (baths, showers, swimming, playing in the sink,etc), preschool, writing and practicing her letters (she calls this doing her "work"), cooking, riding on things that move (powerwheels, bikes, swings), making others smile.

For her birthday we did a little Chef's party. It turned out to be a pretty good time. I was bit nervous that it would turn into complete chaos, but I think we kept things pretty well under control. All the kids got their own little chef hats and aprons and made their own pizzas, chocolate covered pretzels, fruit kabobs, trail mix, and cupcakes. I think everyone had a pretty good time.







This is one thing I will miss about age 3...

Goodbye Princess....
Recently, Mckenzie declared that she is NOT a princess anymore. She is just a kid. Just Kenzie. (her words) And though, I myself, am definitely not the princess type either, I did love watching how excited she got about all the princess stuff and how happy she was pretending to be a princess.
Happy Birthday again Mckenzie!! We love you! Can't wait to see what the next year brings!!