My Sweet Valentine . . . Katelyn

Katelyn, Katie, Kate, Katie-bug, Sweet Pea--Whatever you want to call her, she is our sweetheart. She is our little diva/glamour girl. She loves to play with dolls, dress-ups, make-up, and Carlee. She is a huge help to me. When I first had Carlee, Katelyn would help me take care of her all the time. I was so sad when she started school because she was so fun and such a good helper. Katelyn is very obedient and wants to do everything right. She is very sensitive and worries about pleasing everyone and following directions explicitly.

She loves her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Guevara, and comes home with stories and comments that Mrs. Guevara said at school. If she gets homework, she has to do it right then so "it won't be late". (I hope she keeps up that practice) She loves school and is a little social butterfly. The girls all want to sit by her but she is very fair to trade off where she sits and play with everyone. She wants everyone to feel included and worries if somebody is sad. She never wants to disappoint. She and Clark are the best of friends but before school started she was always willing to do what Jake wanted and is the first to hug Carlee when she gets home.

Katelyn loves to sing and dance. When I can't find her or she doesn't come when I call, she is often singing at the top of her lungs and dancing on her bed. She loves music and "performing" for us. She has been taking dance for the last 3 years and last year she was in a musical performing group where she danced and sang. She absolutely loved it. When we moved to San Antonio, Joe's brother, Charlie and his family moved here as well. We were lucky enough to be with them for four years before they moved to El Paso last summer. Katelyn has a cousin, Sarah, that is her age and they got to be in the same dance class. It was so fun to see those cute cousins dancing across the floor in their tutus and having a great time. Katelyn misses Sarah so much but loves talking about the fun memories they made while living in the same place.

Katie is also very crafty. She hardly watches TV or plays video games but is constantly writing notes and cards. Joe and I often find them on our pillows or on our desk. She even likes to doodle and add cute accents to her letters. She recently got into stamping and loves to make cards for her friends. I can't wait to start scrapbooking again so that she can help me and maybe I can finally get caught up. (Yeah, I haven't scrapbooked the whole time I've lived in San Antonio. I'm toast!) She loves to decorate and color pages. It is fun to do those things with her.

Some cute things about her:

**When she talks to people or asks them questions, her voice goes really high, soft and sweet.

**She is always willing to taste new foods. She doesn't always like them but she's brave enough to try a bite.

**She LOVES soup and pizza. When I ask the kids what they want for dinner sometimes, those are always her votes. Just after we moved here, Kate turned 2 so we took the kids and the cousins to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday. She ate 6 pieces of pizza and could care less about the games.

**She loves clothes and going shopping. She is also a shoe fanatic. (She did not get that from me, that is all her father. He has a lot more shoes than I do.)

**She loves her dad. When he comes home, the boys want to wrestle and she just wants to crawl up on his lap and snuggle. If I say no, she puts on the sweet voice and goes to Daddy. And he usually gives in.

**She likes to be outside and work in the yard. Katelyn is the one weeding and picking up garbage while the boys are sneaking in the house to play video games.

**She loves to swing.

A funny story about Katelyn happened during church. (Why do all of our funny things happen when we are supposed to be reverent?) Anyway, she was sitting between me and Clark and of course, she and Clark were being a little loud and tickling each other during the sacrament. I picked her up to move her to the other side of me but did not realize that I was sitting on the bottom edge of her long skirt. When I pulled her onto my lap, I pulled her skirt right off. She was whispering loudly what I had done and I started laughing so hard. We were trying to be inconspicuous pulling her skirt back up before the deacons got to our bench but I could not stop laughing. I was red and crying and Katelyn was giggling too. Joe kept getting mad at us until I told him what had happened. The organist, who is also Clark's piano teacher, saw us laughing so hard and I could see her questioning face and she started laughing too. After the sacrament, I had to leave and compose myself. (I always get the giggles when I'm supposed to be quiet)

Katelyn is such a sweet girl and we are so thankful for her loving personality. She is such a joy and so fun to be around. We love you, Katie-bug. Thanks for being such a "Fabulous" daughter!