Gracie is SIX!!!!

Dear Gracie-

I can’t believe you’re 6 today. You have grown and changed more in the last year than any I can remember. Starting school and being a big sister have made you seem so grown up. You are such a sweet girl, everyone loves you and you are almost always happy. You make friends in any situation but are still pretty shy around adults. I miss having you home with me during the day, you were such a great sidekick, but you LOVE school. You’ve excelled at reading and math and are very proud of your accomplishments. You are really organized (and I love it), books have to be stacked by size, pencils all going the same direction, shoes (you LOVE shoes) organized on the shelf, and outfits carefully picked out and coordinating.

You leave a trail of pencils and paper everywhere you go. After you go to bed I find pencils in the couch, pencils on the counter and occasionally, pencils in your bed….you love to draw and write stories. You’re currently writing a story about a girl named Gracie and a horse named Breezy, who fall asleep under an apple tree. It’s fun to watch you work, every time you write a new sentence you want to read us the whole story.

We still have Breezy, though you haven’t been riding her much. You’ve graduated to a more well behaved big horse and you’re riding is amazing. You keep telling me you’ll be ready for a show by the end of the season. I don’t know if you’ll be horse girl forever but I’m pretty sure you’ll always love the barn because it’s full of cats! You wanted a cat for your Birthday, we convinced you that it would be better to wait until we move to the new house to get new kittens….I have a feeling you’ll be asking for them before we have a chance to take off our shoes.

You enjoy being outside. Last summer you learned to ride your bike without training wheels and you’ve been zooming all over ever since. You really like playing soccer, both for the sport and the time giggling with other little girls (and driving coach Arnie crazy).

You’re a great middle sister. You and Maggie are such good friends. You have a good time making up dances, riding your bikes and playing in the playhouse. You love to team up with Daddy to tease her. You’re always anxious to help with Haddie, you’ve probably made nearly as many bottles this year as I have. Haddie adores you, you drag her around like a rag doll and she just giggles and wants more.

You’re still a pretty picky eater, which is funny because you really like to cook. You survive most days on carbs, fruit and milk. You eat chocolate covered raisins and mini marshmallows for a snack EVERY day after school.

For your Birthday party this year you had very definite ideas. You wanted all your friends to wear their pajamas, get their toes painted and watch a movie. You want pizza for dinner and popcorn and cupcakes for dessert. You didn’t want your friends to bring presents, I think because you hate being the center of attention. You’re going to be a great event planner someday.

SIX is going to be a good one! I hope we have lots of new adventures and tons of snuggles.

You’re a special one Gracie Tato and we’re so lucky to have you in our family.

Happy Birthday Big Girl.
I love you, Mommy