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Madelyn Claire

I'm just going to go crawl into a corner right now.

I cannot believe what a beautiful, strong, independent girl you are becoming.

You make us proud every day.

You are sweet and silly.

You are determined and strong headed.

We are so proud of you and how hard you work to be a good sister and friend.

Ophelia adores you and I know you do her.

You have so many friends at school and I can see why.

You are still super picky with your food, but luckily we can get you to try one bite of anything we give you. There is a 99% chance you'll say you don't like it, but at least you try.

You are learning safety rules and independence in a new way with all the running around you do with your friends in the neighborhood. Sometimes I have to remind you that you are only 6. Although you seem to be going on 10. You want to do it all and see it all and I am proud of you for being so brave in all that you do.

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Making Friends

To be a kid again. At least that's what I claim out loud. No adult responsibilities. It would be wonderful! Right?

Then again to watch Madelyn start Kindergarten and now move on to 1st grade I see and I am reminded how hard it can really be to be a kid.

Many 1st days of school to get through.

Trying to make friends.

Learning literally EVERTHING- from how to be a good citizen and human being to math and reading and writing.

To say I am so proud of Madelyn and all she does on a daily basis is an understatement.

Just the other day she came home from school and whispered in my ear:

Madelyn- mommy, guess what, I made a new friend today(all the smiles).

Me- Really!? You did? Where? Is your new friend in your class? Did you make friends at lunch or on the playground? (trying not to hound her with 20 questions- pretty much everyone likes her. She's hard not to like, so this isn't surprising to make a new friend. It's just she seems to have this fear within her to come out of her shell in front of others or even just talk to others)

Anyways- back to the cuteness of our conversation.

Madelyn- she's in my station in class. She asked me if I wanted to be her friend and I said yes(beaming).

Me- I am so proud of you! (Biggest hug)

Seems like such a small thing. But things like this are so big to her and mean a lot.

If only in our adult life we could make friends just by simply asking.

1st Grade- Here she comes

 Off to 1st grade with this one.

Seriously.

How does time do that to you?

She is one of the youngest in her class, but I know she is going to do great things this year!

She is super excited to have her BFF, Aryssa, in her class again and a few others that were in her class last year.

Favorite Backpack every by the way- It is Swiss Army brand. The print is super cute- I don't care for the character backpacks and thankfully Madelyn did not care and loved what I picked out for her.

I wanted this backpack for her in Kindergarten, but didn't want to spend that much at the time- I think it was around $30. Well, thanks to Target sales I was able to snag this backpack for about $7 after school started and they went on a huge clearance. Thanks Target!