A Decade with Dolly

Ksenya is 10 years old!  How did this happen?  Seems like the years have flown by and all of a sudden we are into double digits.  For her birthday this year she wanted to go to the lake.  Since Uncle Bevan (and Logan - her cousin the same age on Mom's side) was here, we decided to go the weekend before her birthday and we had a great time (although Mom had a panic when I looked over and saw her sunbathing on her towel and thought she looked way way way too old).

Ksenya still loves her American Girl doll and enjoys accessorizing and doing her hair and change her clothes.  Although she has her ears pierced she almost never changes her earrings.

She found the pair of glasses that I got when I was 10 years old and she wanted to try them on.  Everyone always says how she looks just like me (a wonderful compliment for ME), and I will admit in these snazzy glasses there is quite the resemblance.  Sidenote - why did I keep these?  Strange.

On her birthday her greatest desire was to have an art party.  There is a problem with this - every time we get art supplies we have trouble putting them away and then the little girls get them and then there are crayons in the dryer and sharpee on the piano and after Mom slips on the eighth colored pencil I throw the art supplies away.  Instead of that we decided we needed to try and make silly putty.  I was amazed at the chemical change and really enjoyed the project - as did the kids.  She was also great about sharing her birthday with her siblings.

 Daddy and Ksenya were being silly before church and I decided to snap a picture.  She may look like me but she acts a whole lot more like her Daddy I think.  She is very aware of what is right and what is fair and what is the decent thing to do and she is a GOOD girl.

She wanted a sea turtle on her birthday cake.  She is always so easy to please and we threw together this green apple sea turtle in not very long at all.  After our spaghetti and meatballs (a decade of birthday dinner tradition), we took the cake out to Grandma Horse's house to enjoy the evening there.

 This is one of Ksenya's best friends, Heidi.  We love it when she comes over to play and she is so sweet with the other kids as well.  They have a lot of fun together and Ksenya is a little worried about this year when Heidi moves to the 6th grade while Ksenya will be in 5th.  Wait a second . . . .don't they do the whole maturation  program in 5th grade?  yikes.

I have said it so many times before, but it bears mentioning again.  Ksenya is an amazing big sister.  She is patient and helpful and so very sweet.  She doesn't mind sharing everything in her life with the littler kids and she is a great helper when we have a project.  The other day we were working outside when they woke up (we usually get up and work before they are up).  She got up, got everyone dressed and their hair combed, the beds made and the house picked up and then she made us all breakfast.

I am so very thankful that Heavenly Father sent her to us, and thankful she came first.  What a wonderful girl!  I want to be like her when I grow up!