FOUR!

Four years old, one finger away from a whole handful {although behavior sometimes dictates otherwise ;)}, a step closer to independence and moving further and further away from babyhood and toddlerhood. A full fledged pre-schooler on the brink of entering the school world in the next several months. Our compassionate, spirited and sometimes surprisingly shy first born- Mackenzie.

MC loves...
-playing with friends and family. She loves being around people, although it occasionally takes her a bit to warm up and get going in places or around people she hasn't been around in awhile or at all.
-singing! Oh, the singing. I think she makes up a song for just about everything she does or hears.
-coloring, drawing, and crafting. She can sit for hours and color pictures, gluing, stamping, or sticking stickers.
-building, making patterns, stringing beads
-pretty much anything to do with princesses, the colors pink and purple, and sparkly things.
-reading books
-being a big sister and helper
-watching Disney movies and things on PBS (plus a few other "family" shows like the Voice, the Middle and Master Chef Junior)
-eating! Luckily she is still a pretty good eater when it comes to healthier options (although we have our battles here and there)- some of my favorites that she loves right now are raw green beans, sautéed broccoli and the occasional roasted brussel sprouts. (I will take it while I can!)

MC doesn't love....
-when people try to make choices for her
-when people don't want to play with her
-when some things seem too far away (time wise)
-Quesadillas or many toasted things
-getting paint, marker, etc. on her hands

At the beginning of March we got to celebrate her. The countdown seemed like an endless one to her as birthday after birthday came before hers...but, we finally got there. ;)

And, as requested, we had a Little Mermaid birthday party complete with perfect springtime weather- which led itself to outdoor play, sand art, and overall...more fun/less mess.

The spread included starfish sandwiches, sea cucumbers, crab legs {carrots}, seaweed {broccoli}, goldfish,
sea oysters, worms off the hook {gummy worms}, and of course the island {chocolate cake} and Ariel's underwater castle {white cupcakes}. 

These "sea oysters" were so easy and yummy! Nilla wafers, icing, and edible pearls
on a bed of brown sugar "sand".

A funny thing about these sandwiches- turns out trying to use a star cookie cutter to cut out PB&J
is a tad bit tricky. Starfish sandwiches in the shape of triangles had to do.

Happy 4th Birthday, beautiful one! We love you...so much!