oldest daughter starts middle school - say what?

Well I have been off the grid lately (for about 2 weeks, I had to have last minute fun with the girls before school started, get 3 girls ready to start school, and then get caught up on everything I had put off - sorry! I am back!)

Well my oldest daughter Kaylee started Middle school last week - ahhh!!!! I don't know how this happened. I honestly don't. It seems like it was just yesterday that Hubby and me marveled at this amazing creature that God had brought into this earth and were scared to death that we were responsible for raising this precious bundle of joy. Well I guess a lot has happened in the last 11 years, the problem is that I still feel very young. So let's stay in the land of denial. Ok. Now that we have all agreed on this. Kaylee went to school, and came home with a homework assignment for moi'. Yes, you heard right I have homework. I am to write about my precious oldest daughter (did I mention that she started middle school) ok with just a little bit of attitude. So I thought that would be a perfect blog back. So thank you for indulging me.

Kaylee is my oldest daughter of 3 girls. Kaylee is at times a classic first born, she is a perfectionist, an over achiever (we shall see if this trend continues thru adolescence), organized, responsible, and believe it or not after all those down to earth qualities she is a dancer, a good creative writer, and an amazing cook.

Kaylee loves to cook, and to try new food. Kaylee and I recently watched the movie Julie/Julia she was fascinated about cooking schools, and Julia Child's having a cooking show. It is funny to try to describe how Big Julia Child's really was to someone who is growing up with the food network, and such stars as Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, and other fab. chefs that are household names.

Kaylee is a typical (I think) tween- her friends are becoming a much more important part of her life. Kaylee can text at amazing speed, she has a facebook page. Kaylee loves middle school life. The variety of kids in each class is fun, and she loves having an assortment of different teachers who all teach in different ways with different personalities.

Our family stresses the importance of education. Kaylee so far has pushed herself to succeed, Kaylee's personality seems to be challenged by competition. I would go as far as to say she thrives in competitive setting to challenge herself. I however do worry that at times she is to hard on herself. I think at times this is a side effect of her being such a perfectionist. I remember when she was in kindergarten I had to buy 2 boxes of valentine's day card so that she could perfectly center her name, and the receiver's name on each card. (I really did try to tell her "it's ok, it does not have to be perfect" but laid back is not a word I would use to describe this amazing girl)

Kaylee can usually tell you who sang any song that she is familiar with. Kaylee also is one of the youngest in her grade, her birthday is August 17th. So Kaylee turns what age everybody else is the week school starts. (some kids we have found are 2 years older than Kaylee if they had a growth year) Kaylee is somewhat short or tiny for her age. My mother is 5 feet, and Kaylee takes after her in a lot of ways. However my father is 6'3" and her sisters take after him. So Kaylee and our 3rd grade daughter are almost the same size.

I think she is a wonderful girl! I love being around her, and hearing her views of life. I am so excited to see her grow and mature in wisdom and beauty this year. Kaylee is our first born, so in a lot of ways we are learning how to be parents with her. So far she does not seem worse for wear. However we are probably more strict, and less lenient than some of her friends parents. However a lot of her friends are the baby in their family and she is our oldest, and we are still learning.

I hope you enjoy having Kaylee in your class this year! I also hope this has helped you get to know her, or at least understand how we see our daughter.