My Sanctuary

Finally all done and put together.  I think I've been working on this little place of mine for almost a year now.  Its always evolving and getting much use, but I've finally got it where I want it for now.

Before:  It is actually a storage room, and who needs storage, right?? :)

After....Ta Da

My Craft Room - the place where I craft, sew, scrapbook, paint, quilt, wrap presents, put together ideas.  You name it.  I can just shut the door on the mess and feel great about it!

My Project Stand - I love this little place, to look at all the fun things I want to make when I get some spare time.

My latest creations

Mackenzie's 5th Birthday!

In the midst of starting Kindergarten and starting up the soccer season again, Mackenzie turned 5 years old!  It's hard to believe!  This year, it seemed like the birthday that would never end.  Don't get me wrong, I love her to pieces and wanted to celebrate, but dragging it out for 2 weeks just exhausted me.

First we had a celebration with all the cousins over in Utah since we were there just 2 days before her 'real' birthday.  It was fun...big bbq, swimming, and a wild cake and presents.  She actually demanded this cake when we saw it in Dairy Queen a few days before.  So we got it, but I forgot to put ice in the cooler until about 1 hr into our trip to Utah, and as you can see, the ice-cream cake didn't fair so well without ice.  Oops!

Next, her actual birthday... = presents from Mom, Dad, and Collin

What she got:  An art easel - she is so into art, its crazy

A bug catcher and net - she's obsessed with that too and has been using my tupperware bowls all summer to catch her creatures.

Princess Celeste - a giant My Little Pony from Grandma that she loves!

Her masterpiece!  This has been a wonderful present, and perfect for both of the kids!

And Finally The Party!!!

This party I stressed A LOT about.  She wanted a rainbow party, so I got looking online for ideas and got way too ambitious!  It was a ton of work, but turned out great!

The Invites

The Decor...

The Goody Bags

The Cake

We had an art kind-of party, everything centered around rainbow colors, with sand art, painting, craft bag making, and a pinata to top it all off.  It was fun and really messy!

Ready to blow out those candles!

A Little about Mackenzie at 5:

~ She has finally out-grown her obsession of the color turquoise - now she loves all the colors of the rainbow.

~ She loves to color, paint, create and craft all day.

~ She is a home-body for sure.

~ She loves to help cook, and especially to bake.

~ She still has to have her 'blankey' attached to her in the house, and along with that is her odd finger-sucking habit that seems like it is never going away.

~ She's not your girly-girl.

~ She loves all animals, all nature, loves bug catching and watching nature shows.

~ She doesn't like dolls or anything remotely close to it.

~ She loves to control and manipulate her brother.

~ She is scared, I mean petrified, of the dark.

~ She is scared of being alone.  If we are not in sight, she usually starts screaming and running frantically through the house. 

~ She loves soccer and is competitive, super fast and athletic (didn't get that from her mom, thank goodness!)

~ She is a sponge right now - loves to learn, ask lots of questions and soaks everything in.

~ She is very obedient and always wants to do what is right, even though that doesn't always happen.

~ She is quite emotionally, very tender-hearted...this can be good and bad at times.

~ She is a sweetheart, our little angel.  We are so blessed to have her in our family!

Kindergarten for Mackenzie!

Wow!  I can't believe Mackenzie is finally the age to go to Kindergarten (well just barely met the deadline by 1 day).  She is soooo ready!  She's super smart and has such a love for learning.  Only thing is that she's pretty darn shy. 

So the first day she was super excited.  We got there, went to the playground and she was scared to death to go out there in the midst of hundreds of kids running every which way.  She saw a few friends, but that didn't entice her enough to go out.  Then the bell rang and they all went running as if a tsunami was headed for the playground, all except Mackenzie and a few others who never heard the bell.  So off she went, couldn't find her backpack or classroom without my help.  Then they lined up and waved goodbye and off she went!  I was sad, but happy for her.  The night before we had went to the school and I tried to orient her with everything, and that is when I kind of lost it.  As I was trying to explain and show everything to her, I was just so concerned that she's too little to figure it all out on her own in the midst of everyone.

So at the end of the first day, she came out so shy and timid-looking, how she is in a crowd of people when she doesn't know anyone.  She liked it BUT all her friends are in another class, she didn't get to play on the playground because it was too crazy, and they sat in circle nearly the whole time!  Oh dear, this was going to be a big adjustment I guess!

Well each day got better and easier for her.  Day 2 she came out with a big smile!  Shwew! 

One week into it, and I decided I really needed her to ride the bus.  She has been dying to ride the bus, but I have been concerned of course!  But with Collin's preschool schedule it became necessary.  So Day 1 on the bus, when she got to the school, I hadn't quite showed up yet, so she stood right at where the bus dropped her off and waited for me.  When I got there, I asked her why she didn't go put her backpack away and go play, and she said she was afraid she'd get lost.  Broke my heart!  So for a week, I followed the bus over and made sure she knew what to do when she got off.  She loves to ride the bus, and lots of her friends ride it with her home.  The best thing about the bus is that it picks her up one house away and drops her off right in front of my house, just have to walk out the front door.  It's so nice!  Oh and it saves me another hour of precious time in the morning!  Can't beat that!

One last thing, last week I had her get on the bus and I guess I didn't explain to her that I wouldn't show up at the school to help her, since I'd seen that she'd gotten the hang of it without me for a few days before.  She came home and I asked her how school was.  She said, "I cried twice today."  The first time was when I didn't show up at the school as she got there off the bus, and the other was when a kid pushed her down on the playground.  Broke my heart again!  She is sooooo sensitive, so I'm sure it was very dramatic that morning.  I felt so bad, but now I am happy to say that we are good to go with Kindergarten and the fun bus ride there!

She picked this outfit because it's so colorful, but she was so hot by the time she got home that day!

All lined up after the bell

Waving Good-bye to all the crying Moms and Dads!

Day 2 - This was my pick of outfits, and I had to post how cute she looks.

Day 1 - Getting on the Bus!

Good-bye my sweet angel, and have a good day!