Daisy is SIX!!

Our little girl is six!

How is it that when our kids are just one day older than they were the day before it feels like so much more time has passed??  

Daisy woke up on her birthday extra early and walked out to see all the decorations I had put up the night before in the dining room and in her bedroom.  She was beaming.  She kept putting her hands on top of her head and standing up really straight and saying, "Mom, I am totally taller now that I am six, than I was when I was five."  I can barely handle that much cuteness!!! She was so excited to go to school and be taller...I did try to gently explain to her that while she does grow a bit taller every day, that she might not have grown that much taller since yesterday.  She seemed to accept that explanation and we moved on to presents and her special birthday breakfast of chocolate chip waffles with strawberries and whip cream.  I don't think she liked it very much because she hardly touched it.  This girl cracks me up.  

It is often said that our kids shouldn't be our friends because we are supposed to be their parent first.  Well, while I agree with that to an extent and I do want my daughter to respect my authority, I also believe that we are laying the foundation for our friendship each and every day.  I want to be friends with my daughter when she is an adult and the only way I see that happening is if she knows that I see her as a friend now as well.  I'm not sure if I am making any sense but, that is the best way I can explain it.   I love planting seeds in our friendship garden by going on dates with my daughter and chatting with her at night about all the odd and random things that float through her brain.  I love taking her with me and involving her in the things that are important to me so that she will learn that she is also important to me.  

Anyways, I'm very grateful that God gave us Daisy.  She is not a perfect kiddo by any means but, she is an awesome kiddo.  She has a beautiful, kind and big, heart.  She is an amazing big sister to Bruin and she has been a joy to parent.  Exhausting (wink)...but, an absolute joy.

And by the way, I adore this picture of my big girl. 

Daisy has grown up so much over the past year.  It's probably a mixture of a lot of things but, definitely the big contributors were her promotion to big sister and her first year in public school.

Right before my eyes Daisy has transformed from the princess and tea party obsessed little girl to the older but, still very little girl who wants to be a teacher, an artist or a decorator and she is obsessed with Transformers right now...WHAaaaa? lol  Works for me.  I love them too.  

 She spends much of her time collecting office supplies and stapling pieces of paper together so that she can create books.  She is a girl after her Momma's own heart for sure.  

She often tells me where decorations or furniture should be moved or what colors I should paint the walls in the different rooms in our house.  She definitely has an eye for design! 

She recently started an art wall gallery in her room.  It was all her idea.  She just taped one of her drawings to her wall one day and now she has probably over 15 drawings taped to the wall and they are really impressive drawings!  I love that she is creating her own space in her room and that she is enjoying her room so much.  She also has a CD player in her room and I passed on a bunch of my Christian music CD's.  I actually have most the CD's from my teen years still to this day so it is a treat to share them with Daisy.  She loves listening to Mandisa's Overcomer album and Brit Nicole's Gold album.  She also got a Veggie Tales sound track recently from Lulu and she listened to it over and over again for days.  It blesses my heart so much to hear my daughter belting out worship songs while she hangs in her room.   

She loves playing games on our tablet.  At this present moment her favorite games are Shopkins and Pet Buddies.  I would say that Pet Buddies is her favorite game of all time and it is a game that I would have loved as a little girl.  You get to buy clothes and furniture and decorate rooms and dress your pets.  It's basically like a really souped up version of the paper dolls that I played with as a little girl.  This kid is so lucky! lol

Her favorite shows are the Rescue Bots, Transformers cartoon, Miles (on Disney),  Inspector Gadget the cartoon,  Wiggles with Bruin...(I think she has a kindergarten crush on Anthony and Sam because she told me that she wants to have two boys so that she can name them by the same names!  I think it's adorable:).  She also watches plenty of all of the Disney cartoons like Sophia, Doc etc. because we have the ap. on the tablet.

Joey and I enjoy watching Fixer Upper together and Daisy has taken notice of this.   We only watch it after she goes to bed but, we talk about it a lot.  A few days ago she asked if she could watch Fixer Upper on the Tablet.  I think she was curious about all the fuss we make over it.  She sat through 20 minutes of it and I could tell that she was a bit bored but, she was so determined to watch something that her Mom and Dad watch because she wanted to be able to talk about the show with us.  Isn't it amazing how much kids want to be so much like their mom and dad...for a brief while.  I am glad that Fixer Upper is a fun and harmless show and I thought it was the cutest thing that she wanted to watch it.  She hasn't asked to watch it again since though...hahaha. 

I am thinking about starting a series like Little House on the Praire with Daisy sometime soon.  She has never watched much of anything other than cartoons up to this point in her life and while she doesn't seem to mind just watching Disney cartoons, I think something like LHOTP could be something that might intrigue her and teach her about what life used to be like.  Plus, I love that the family has strong faith.   Those types of shows are practically non-existent now days.  I also watched Little House on the Prairie as a kiddo.  I've been waiting for the day that I could watch it with one of my own kiddos...how am I this old?? oye.  

Daisy's favorite colors are pink, purple, aqua, gold and red.   She said she likes red because it is a Christmas color and that makes it pretty....she has never liked red until this year.  But, I would definitely say that she is still very much a pink girl overall.  Having a girly girl like Daisy has been so much fun.  I have gotten such a wonderful dose of dress up, sparkles, dolls, princesses and sweetness.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

We signed her up for tennis lessons a little over a month ago and she is loving it so far.  It seems like a perfect sport for her personality so I hope we can keep up with it.  I told her that I would sign up for a class as well so that I can learn the basics and then we can practice together!   She asked if she could go to my practices and cheer for me.  I was tempted to say no because I wasn't sure if she was supposed to go with me but, then I realized what do I care.  My kid wants to cheer for me, heck yes she can join.  So, if tennis eventually becomes a family activity that would be so fun!  Even Bruin has taken an early interest in the rackets and balls.  Who knows...maybe he will want to take lessons and then he and his sister can play together in a few more years.  We have been trying to go to the tennis courts as a family once a week in the evening.  It's been so fun to get some energy out together and Daisy has already improved dramatically since she started two months ago.  It's amazing how quickly kids pick up on something!  

Sidenote: Bruin was in between tears at this moment.  He was mad that we tied his balloon to his hand and he was just plain fussy...definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  This was a picture session fail in every way.  Daisy's balloon slipped 30 feet up into a tree shortly after this sweet picture was taken and she was completely heart broken.  She couldn't stop crying and then it started to rain....what the heck.  Still I am always so grateful if we are able to catch even a couple of decent pics and we did.  At least this picture looks like they are both happy to be there...Daisy of course always glows on camera:). hehe.  Love our babies!

Daisy will wrap up kindergarten in about 2 months and will start first grade immediately after since she is in year round school.  And if you are wondering...yes, I LOVE year round school.  I grew up in traditional school with the 3 month Summer and more often than not, while I enjoyed being out of school...I was SO bored.  3 months is too long of a break but, that is totally my opinion.  Plus, I love having several shorter breaks throughout the year.  This allows us to plan seasonal activities or vacations that we can do together as a family.  

It blows me away that she will be in first grade already.  Why oh why does time move so fast???  She learned SO SO much this past year in Kinder.  She started the year not knowing how to read and not really having much interest in letters or spelling.  Now she can read most level one, easy reader books and she has drastically improved her spelling.  She is also doing addition and subtraction math problems!  I am in awe of how quickly she picks up on things and how excited she is about learning.  It's so fun to see all the papers that she brings home from school because each week I can see her progression and improvement.  I'm proud of this girl.  I will say that I think the length of a school day for a five year old is ridiculous.  Just being honest.  When I was a wee one we only had a half day for Kindergarten.  Daisy is so fried by the time she gets home from school.  Hyper but, fried.  She gets more hyper as she gets more tired.  Does anyone else have a kiddo like that?  I also must complain about the fact that kids get so much less recess time now than they used to.  Oy.  That being said, I really try hard to not put as much emphasis on homework or studying when Daisy is home because I see how badly she needs to decompress from all of the learning.  Of course I care very much about turning in assignments and encouraging Daisy to learn but, I strive to give Daisy some relief when she is home.  Balance....so hard to figure out. 

She is very much a night owl and has literally been that way since she was born.  She would be happy to stay up until midnight every night if I let her...but, I never do. Poor girl.  Life is rough.  ;) I try to get Daisy to bed at night by 8 and now that she is a little older I got her a reading light and I let her read books (which she is really beginning to enjoy!) or chat with her dolls for another 30-60 minutes.  She does not wind down easily and never has but, once she is out, she is out and she sleeps like a rock.  She never remembers getting up to go to the bathroom nor does she remember the times she has fallen out of bed in the middle of the night and hit her head on her step stool.....  Very solid sleeper.  Lucky girl.  

She generally wakes up around 7 these days.  Sigh.  Before Bruin was born, Daisy would sleep in until 9.  I miss those days SO SO SO much.  I've come to realize that Daisy doesn't like to miss out on anything and I think that she hears Bruin get up at 6:30 and her little mind just kicks in to high gear.  "Brother's up, so I'm getting up!" lol

Daisy is a fairly picky eater but, she has become a bit better about at least trying things.  She hates most all vegetables but, I can get her to eat steamed and seasoned broccoli and cut and peeled cucumbers with Italian dressing on them once in a blue moon.  She doesn't like anything spicy.  Her favorite dinner, hands down, is sushi.  So, I can't really complain.  As long as she likes sushi...we'll be aok. LOL.   She also likes sandwiches without crust but, I have been working very hard to help her kick this bad habit.   She loves tacos and rice.  Tonight we ate a taco salad casserole and she kept saying, "yum, yum, yum, this is so delicious Mom!"  I was grinning ear to ear.  Most rewarding meal I've ever prepared:).  She also enjoys small variety of fruit such as strawberries, watermelon, canned mandarin oranges and sometimes sliced apples and applesauce.  She loves to make fruit smoothies with me.  She also loves crackers, chips and carbs.  She is a carb kid.  She also loves candy.  I would say that she likes candy more than baked treats.  More often than not she will eat the frosting off a donut and leave the rest.  Or eat the frosting off of the cake but, leave the rest.  She loves chocolate and has recently started enjoying minty things like York Peppermint patties and mint chocolate chip ice cream.  She is also a big, BIG fan of popcorn.  We had root beer floats to celebrate her birthday.  She seems to like things like that.

She doesn't care a whole lot about what she wears each day.  She would rather I pick it out for her most of the time.  I would like her to take more of an interest in what she wears but, on the other hand it has been fun to be able to pick out outfits for a little girl for so long.  She does somewhat, prefer skirts and dresses these days.  Evidently, one of her friends at school wears a lot of dresses and Daisy definitely takes note of what her friends wear.  It's almost like she goes through little phases of caring for a few days and then not caring for a month. lol.  The other night she put on a dress, her white heals, a necklace and sweater and she walked out of her room to show it off for me and Daddy.  I adore those moments.  The moments when I get to see my little girl enjoying being a little girl.

Daisy is quite petite and lean.  She is only wearing a size 10.5 shoe and has been for over a year! I think we are finally almost an 11...almost.  She still fits in most 5/6 tops and bottoms.  Most size 6 pants are still way too long for her.  But, she is definitely a six in leggings and pajamas.  She isn't very tall at this point which surprises me only because Joey and I aren't short.  I'm wondering if she might be like her Dad and have a growth spurt much later on.  Who knows.  We don't talk about her height but, she must notice that other kids seem a bit taller because she has commented on it from time to time.  She has no idea how lucky she is.  I would have loved to be a good 2-4 inches shorter!  lol.  

Daisy's favorite toy is shopkins.  She loves collecting the little pieces and we also have two shopkins games.  She loves playing the "go shopping", Shopkins game which is basically go fish.

She asked me to decorate the house with shopkins party supplies for her sixth birthday.   I got a few things online and I decorated the dining room while she was at school on her birthday.  She was completely elated when she walked in the door after school with her friend and saw all of the decorations.  It was priceless.  Daisy is so fun to spoil because she is so thankful for every little thing.  Makes it such a treat to love on her.  HAHA.

 We decided not to have a party this year which felt SO SO SO wonderful.  Instead, we had two of her friend's that all know each other, over for a simple play date and pizza.  I can't tell you how thrilled I was to nix a party this year.  I have officially burned myself out on parties and I would be happy to never have another one!! hahaha.  I feel bad saying that but, whew.  They are a lot of work.  Anyways, I will try and do whatever my kids want but, nonetheless it is a treat to do something so simple this year.  Daisy also mentioned that she would love to go to the great wolf lodge next year for her birthday and you know what...I would do that over a party any day so yeah!

Daisy is So great with Bruin.  She is truly the most patient and gentle sister I have ever seen.  She just wants to play with him all the time and she is literally counting down the days until he is old enough to engage her a little bit more, throw the ball back to her etc.  She doesn't like when Bruin cries and she does everything she can to calm him down and cheer him up.  He is so stinking lucky to have a big sis like her.  She gives him loads of hugs and kisses and though he probably doesn't want that I know deep down he knows that she adores him.  I love that Daisy seems so much more complete with a sibling.  She is never lonely when he is around.  It really is the sweetest thing.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Bruin screams bloody murder a lot every day and it is usually because he wants everything that Daisy has.  His fussiness has always driven me crazy but, that is life with more than one kiddo.  lol.

Can you just take a moment to be as annoyed as I was that the ONLY direction this balloon wanted to go was.....arg....the wrong way.  I am not exaggerating..95% of the pictures are like this.  Thankfully, I got like 2 good ones with the stupid balloon behaving...before it ran away into the tree.  Good riddance.  ;)

Daisy has taken an interest in art lately.  She loves to go in her room and doodle in her notebooks with markers and crayons.  She is quite creative!  A few nights ago she drew a really detailed giraffe and she also created several bubble letters for the first time.  I was really impressed that she taught herself how to draw bubble letters.  She looked at a three dimensional letter D book that she had sitting on her desk and she drew it how she felt she saw it.  I love that! She also loves to write notes and messages.  It's so fun to watch her discover new passions.  She is a very creative kiddo.

We got her a desk for her birthday per her request.  Daddy set it up while she was at school (thank you hubby because I would never be able to pull something like that off!) and she came home to it.  I also got her a bunch of pens, highlighters and notepads.  She was THRILLED.  Like she squealed SO loud with delight and ran around hugging us and saying :thank you, thank you over and over." Totally warmed our Mom and Dad hearts.  She has been hanging out in there a little bit every night since her birthday.
  

I love going on Mommy-daughter dates with Daisy.  We get out about once a month now on average.  I wish it was more often but, that is the best we can do at this point.  We usually do something simple like get a shake at Sonic, go roller skating, or we go window shopping together.  It really doesn't matter what we do.  I love hanging out with Daisy.  She is so fun to be around and we have such great conversations and laughs when the two of us get a little quality time in.  Quality time is definitely Daisy's love language.  I can tell when she is needing it and that is usually when I make the date happen.  This past weekend we walked around in Michaels for an hour together.  I let her lead the way and look at whatever she wanted.  I also let her pick out a journal book cut into the shape of a D.  It was so fun to see what caught her eye and to listen to her explain how she would decorate with the different things she liked.   I'm very grateful for the daughter and friend that God has given me in Daisy.  She is such a gift.

Daisy and Daddy have been having a lot of fun playing Wii sports together lately.  For a while they played Zelda until they beat it and then I suggested that they play something that allowed Daisy to be a bit more active and that led to Wii sports.  It seems that video games will be one of there things and I am glad that they have something special that they like to do together.  They also love to be wild together, wrestle and goof off.   More often than not Daddy brings the crazy out of Daisy.  LOL.  I'm also glad that she has a fun and wild Daddy because that is so not me and I'm glad someone else can give her that energy!  Tonight they worked on a Palace Pets lego set that Daisy got for her birthday from a friend and now as I am typing Daisy is reading a book to Daddy in bed.  I'm thankful that Joey makes an effort to engage our kids when he has the time.  I know he is also planting priceless seeds in his daughter's heart.  Her first boyfriend/love...is her Daddy.