Our Sweet Kaylee

Kaylee celebrated her 8th birthday today. She is getting so big and grown up. We are so proud of her! Kaylee is very mature and responsible for her age. She is a rule follower and enjoys quoting the rules to her brother and sister. We often joke that she is 8 going on 30. Recently when asked what she wanted for Christmas she said a "nook". I don't know of too many 8 year olds requesting nooks for Christmas, but maybe I'm wrong? Kaylee enjoys reading. She recently discovered Nancy Drew books and is hooked. Kaylee loves school, especially math, art and choir. She says she wants to be an art teacher when she gets bigger. 

Kaylee continues to make friends easily and is everyone's friend. She is very outgoing and confident. In September, she tried out for the school play "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". She got cast as one of the baby angels and as part of the Sunday School class. She was later given the name Naomi and one line to memorize. I don't think she could be more excited about being in the play. She LOVES it and is completely in her element. When asked whether she liked soccer or drama more, she enthusiastically answered drama. The big performance is December 13-15th, so she has been busy practicing since she was cast. We are excited to see the final product! 

In addition to drama, some of her other interests include:

• Sports- She continues to enjoy playing soccer, especially as the goalie. She is also gearing up for basketball this winter, as is Kianna.  
• Swimming- She is a fish in the water.
• Crafts- Grandma Becki just taught her how to crochet and she just purchased a kit to learn how to knit.
• Playing games- She likes both board games and video games. 
• Star Wars- The kids are all hooked on "The Clone Wars" DVDs and Trevor loves it! She even enjoys Lego Star Wars. 
• Listening to her radio- She loves listening to her "Adventures in Odyssey" CDs and audiobooks.
• Her favorite foods include: Penne pasta, black olives, macaroni and cheese, cream cheese and green olive sandwiches, peanut butter, Moose Tracks Ice Cream, and anything sweet as long as it isn't a sucker and doesn't have caramel in it.

To celebrate her birthday, Kaylee opened her gifts first thing this morning. She got some new clothes, a new game for her DS (Lego Star Wars III), a leotard for her American Girl doll, a desk, and an iPod. She had no idea she was getting an iPod so was super excited. She immediately downloaded "The Secret Garden" audiobook and listened to 11 chapters. In the evening, we drove to Toledo and had a nice dinner at The Olive Garden. We spent the rest of the evening at Chuck-E-Cheese. We had a fun time celebrating as a family. It is hard to believe that our baby girl is 8 years old. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. We love you Kaylee Rebecca Cook!!!!