Seven.

Every year on their birthdays, Jeff and I write each child a letter in their scrapbooks.  This is Makenna's.  To learn more about why we do this, click here.  

Dear Makenna.

This letter is a little over a month late.  Your seventh birthday is one that the adults in the family will always remember.  Just a couple weeks prior to your birthday, an F3 tornado destroyed our home.  A day we will never forget.
It would be easy to fill this letter with how it felt to be your mom during everything that has happened since that day.  But that happened just 2 weeks before your birthday.  You had an entire year of greatness leading up to that day that cannot be overlooked.  That day and the couple weeks that followed were lifechanging, but you will read no shortage of stories and information on that in the years to come.  Today, we are going to celebrate the everyday greatness of you.

Seven years old.  Grade 2.  I'm starting to wonder where the time has went.  You tell me on a daily basis how much you love to read.  Everything from comic books to novels, you soak it all up.  This year the two of us enjoyed reading books that we could follow up by watching the movies together.  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wizard of Oz, Anne of Green Gables, James and the Giant Peach...I've really enjoyed introducing you to such classics.

Over the past year you have come a long way in your swimming lessons.  You are so happy in the water and its been great to see how well you have come along.  You partook in dance classes, Girls Groups and even children's yoga at the YMCA.  We enjoyed ice skating as a family on Sunday afternoons and you improved and gained confidence with each week.  This past summer you played Rally Cap again and were named  Baseball Canada's Rally Cap Player of the Week in July, which scored you some cool swag from Baseball Ontario, swag specifically for female ball players.  You also played in the Jr Rookie league and were one of only two girls on the team.  You did well, and played phenomenally in the year end tournament.  We were so proud of you.  You still have no interest in learning to ride a bike or a scooter but love to draw, write, cook and bake.  You mastered cracking eggs and reading recipes this last year and I love having you help out in the kitchen.  You are such a helpful girl, such a good girl, in every way.  You are really starting to grow up.  You have a core group of girlfriends that you have become closer to over the past year and I have enjoyed watching these friendships develop as I reflect on my own childhood friendships.  You can spend hours playing on your own, lost in a world of Barbies and Littlest Pet Shops.  You are always crafting, always creating and I am happy to provide you with a room full of materials in which to do so.
Boys are starting to creep into the picture, just a bit, as you divulged your first of many crushes to me over this past year.  I worked hard to take you seriously, hide my smiles and control your ridiculously over protective father...a balance that will get more delicate as the years go on I am sure.

As we look forward to what the next year has in store...there's a lot on the horizon.  We will be building a new house and moving forward from what has been a landmark time in your life...one you will not fully understand for years to come.  You are already looking forward to your eighth birthday and the moment when you will not need to ride in a booster seat anymore.  I am looking forward to the next year and all that it holds in store for you.  This year, along with swimming you have taken on competitive cheerleading and will enjoy and benefit from a whole new experience.  I always admire your confidence and self assurance and hope these are traits you always have in the tumultuous years ahead.

This year is going to be a busy, eventful one for you, and for all of us.  But if there's anything the last month has taught your dad and I, it's that family is all that truly matters, and as long as we have our family, we can get through anything. The road may get bumpy, but we will always be here to guide you and do our best to keep you safe.  I love you, and am so very proud of who you are, and who you are becoming.

Love you to the moon and back,
Mom.