Ellie's birthday

I'm a bit late in posting this, but Ellie recently celebrated a birthday.  She turned 12. It was an extra special celebration because my dad and brother happened to be visiting from Colorado too.  Annnnd Caleb was able to come up.  

This age is fun because she is still silly and uninhibited about that, and yet can be more serious and responsible as well.  

Her birthday was on a Sunday, which makes celebrating a bit more complicated since our church activities take up a big chunk of the day.  We decided to celebrate on Saturday (but left the actual gifts and birthday dinner for her actual day.)

Originally she wanted to go to the Seattle Aquarium, but the city of Seattle has TONS of street construction currently. We decided that hours in the car sitting in traffic was not going to be fun for anyone so we made a plan B.  It was a bit of a "progressive event".  A visit to the local pet store to check out all the fish, turtles, snakes, geckos, love birds, bunnies, ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, and chicks was fun. 

After that, we went to the Reptile Zoo.  This is one of Ellie's favorite places to go.  Give her all the snakes!  It happened to be feeding time for many which made it interesting.  😱

I have to say that she was so excited for this birthday.  She literally had a count down going for at least a month or longer.  

Not all the gift shots were good ones, but I did catch a few.

Fun chicken socks brought big smiles.

This particular cross stitch was given to her by her Grammy in Connecticut.  It was made by her great great grandmother.  How neat is that? It's perfect for my chicken-loving girl. 

you might recall from a few posts back (no, maybe you don't remember since my blogging is so sporadic 😜) that Ellie is taking up luging.  In order to skate or luge at Maryhill a full-face helmet is required.  

We are all about safety. 

My brother even gave her luge a try.  He ALWAYS adds fun to everything. 

Her choice of birthday dinner was hamburgers, potato chips, and watermelon.
Ellie isn't big on cake or pie.  Banana splits are her jam.  Bananas, vanilla ice cream, homemade hot fudge sauce and whip.  (I'll put the recipe for the hot fudge below for you.)

It was a fun day, but not so much for what we did, but who we did it with. (Of course, for Ellie it was both!)  I appreciate that the older boys try their best to be here.

We don't often have extended family to celebrate with us.  That really made it special for Ellie.

She is such a joy and her unique personality is beginning to really emerge.  She's imaginative and loves to draw and write stories.  With Hannah's accident and her having to take the "side lines" while recovering, I see Ellie stepping up to do more.  She has such a happy heart to serve.  I think sometimes they just need the opportunity to see themselves as an important and integral part of the "team". 

My biggest prayer for her in this next year of life is that she would draw closer to the Lord and make that her own personal priority.  That her faith would be her own and not just what's taught in our home.

 - Carol

. . . . . . .

Hot Fudge Sauce
4 oz. or about 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk.  (I used 1 can coconut cream from Trader Joe's.)

Melt the chocolate chips and butter together on low heat.  Add the canned milk and stir until  combined and thickened. 

Mary

Before I get started, I feel like I need to say that I am not in a season of life that affords me much blogging time.  It's not affording me much photography time either.  While I am mindful of composition and lighting when I shoot, these photos were mostly for record keeping.  

. . . . . . .

So this happened recently. 

Mary is so funny.  She was given these silly, glass-less glasses when she was staying with my friend, when Hannah was in Harborview.  She wears them everyday!

Ellie made up the letter board.  Funny how she thinks of Mary as her baby too.

 I am so blessed by the sibling bonds in our family.
// also, first thing in the morning photos are...well, tolerated at best.😉//

This girl has some serious turtle love.  Her giggles and smiles with each gift just melted my heart.

When asked what kind of cake she would like, she replied, "A turtle cake!".
"What kind of cake is a turtle cake?"
"Chocolate cake with green frosting and turtles on top."

Gluten free boxed mix from King Arthur Flour.  It was really good.

Spring birthday activities are sometimes weather dependent in Washington.  She was hoping for a zoo day, but we'll do that when the weather is better and the animals will be happy to be out in the warm sunshine.  (and the people too.)  Instead we took a trip to the library and checked out LOTS and LOTS of books. (Thankful that even the youngest ones are understanding of the need to be flexible and also of the healing season for Hannah.) BUT,  both Sarah and Grammy Maria were here staying with us and were able to be here for her birthday. 😊

If you asked me to describe Mary, what comes first to mind is that she is marked by a tender heart and joyful countenance.  She's also imaginative and has crazy names for all her stuffed animals.
She makes us smile and brightens up any room. 

Just like the first child brings the joys of the "firsts", the last one brings nostalgia of the "lasts".  I am really savoring these little years. 

- Carol

The last of the single digits

Ok is it just me or did February come and go just so fast?!   

We celebrated Abbie on the 23rd.  She turned 9.  Her last year of the single digits.  This year we had a quiet celebration at home, though that wasn't quite the original plan.  We had several inches of snow on the ground and really cold temperatures which made our road a bit challenging for those without four wheel drive...so we chose to postpone having a friend come over.  Good thing my children are each others' best friend. 

Of course, the morning went as it traditionally does with gift opening before the "workers" must leave. 

The worst part about snow on your birthday...not being able to ride your new skateboard of course.
(Neat story about that sticker - I'll explain at the end of this post.)

I never schedule school on the kids' birthdays, because, well that's a perk of homeschooling! 
The night before when we were decorating Abbie's birthday chair, Hannah mentioned that she thought Abbie needed special birthday doughnuts for breakfast.  She made an easy/baked version.  (Pretty great for just six weeks post accident!)

And...bacon is the best accompaniment to doughnuts.

 

 She is another of our pecan pie lovers who prefers it over cake. 

Sadly, the very next day Abbie came down with the bad head cold that Mary had.  😞

A few days with a fever and generally just not feeling well, but thankfully it was mostly gone, aside from a lingering cough, by the following week when we had a new party date.

This is Abbie's sweet friend, Alexa.

These two are such good friends.  Green-shirt kids unite.

Jessica is one of Ellie's favorite friends.

Jessica's birthday is just a few days apart from Abbie's so we celebrated both girls.

Abbie is a tender heart and sensitive and emotional. She thinks a lot.  We've had lots of talks of a spiritual nature lately.  😊

Some current favorites are
the color yellow.  She tells me that violet is a close second.
horses
drawing
skateboarding
hamburgers
strawberry ice cream
wearing fingernail polish.

I'm looking forward to seeing how she grows this year. 

. . . . . . .

The "That Skate Fairy" sticker on the bottom of Abbie's new skateboard was created by Sarah.  She made it to sell as a way to raise funds for all of Hannah's medical bills from the accident.  Eric and I were both so touched that she did that.  I know it was her way of being able to help while she couldn't be up here with us.


- Carol

15

Sometimes I think he is older than 15.  Maybe it's his sense of style and fashion, maybe his wit and humor or maybe it's because he towers over me, or maybe it's all of it. 

A birthday surprise - we all woke up to a couple of inches of snow.

This year we didn't really have specific plans for the day.  Honestly, we all were just hoping and praying that Hannah would be home from the hospital. (Yay!  She is!) 
About mid-morning I mentioned to Dan how it would be fun to head to our favorite coffee shop to hang out for a bit and play games together.  He whole-heartily agreed.  We grabbed Spot It and Snappy Dressers and all headed out in the rental car.

This shop serves specialty coffee and has such a great vibe.  Daniel chose a dirty chai.  (Chai latte with shots of espresso.)  Hannah chose a pour-over, I had an almond milk latte, and Ellie, Abbie, and Mary Anne enjoyed hot chocolate. 

Spot It is a fun game and Abbie is so good at it!  Plan to be creamed if you play against her.

Are you familiar with the game?  It's a simple card game where every card has something in common with another card.  The person that finds the commonality calls it out and collects the card.  The person with the most cards win.  Simple enough, but not so easy.   Snappy Dressers is just like it, but with animals dressed in hipster fashion.

Narrative is always packed because... great coffee and great vibe.  This was the only table available, yet it was perfect for our party of 6 with room to play. 

Everyone is our family prefers pie over birthday cake.  Dan requested pecan pie.  I made one whole pie and one just for him in a heart dish for his Valentine birthday.

Regular candles are hard to put into pecan pie.  Since I didn't have the right numbers (1-5) Matthew thought that since 7 + 6 + 2 = 15 that that was a perfect solution.  Dan's humor is so similar to Matt's that he totally thought it was great.

I really enjoy these teenage years.  Conversations are deeper and thoughtful.  Humor is silly, but not stupid (mostly - ha.) But what has impressed me most over this last year is his deepening spiritual walk.  Priorities have shifted and convictions have become his own.

I see maturity.  Then I have a thought and realize he is my youngest son who is 15!  He's the last of my boys and not little anymore.  (Duh, he hasn't been little in a while, but you know - it's a mom moment.)  Sometimes growing up is bitter-sweet with moms - at least this mom.

He's my outgoing, people loving, tender-hearted Valentine boy and that hasn't changed!

~ Carol

Ridiculuously amazing

I'm behind in posting about Hannah's recent birthday.  I've had thoughts about what to write at times when I've not had the opportunity to write them down.  Then, of course, when I do get the chance to sit and write here, I can't recall "the perfect" thing I had said in my head.  😧

Anyway...

Just as the card reads... she truly is.

 In a blink Hannah is now 19.    

She requested cinnamon rolls for her birthday breakfast.  That's not so out of the ordinary, but she also requested that SHE make them.  It felt so weird to me to not be making breakfast for the girl of honor, but how could I deny her request on her special day?
She made them gluten and dairy free and they were a-mazing!  (As always!)

For a couple of weeks I had been asking her what she wanted to do on her birthday.  Her college quarter had ended so she was free from the stress of finals.  All she wanted to do was skate.  Thankfully, the Lord provided a sunny day.

She discovered longboard dancing and loves it.  She regularly headed to the skate park before or after her classes to put in an hour or two of practice.  It has become her preferred work/out and way to de-stress.

The fairy wings began with our first trip to Maryhill, but currently they make me think of a butterfly. Over the years, (and especially most recently) I've had the chance to witness this girl unfold into a beautiful young woman with character qualities to be equally admired.  She sets her mind to accomplish challenges with determination, perseverance, and self control.  She is witty with a fun sense of  humor and a smile that is contagious.  She is kind and tender-hearted.  She has really great relationships with each of her siblings.

I know that God used the health trials she has experienced (which now have simply been diagnosed as IBS because all other things have been ruled out.) to allow her to be at peace with seeing her limits, extending grace to herself (and now others through empathy) and growing in a deeper faith in God. 

In spite of all the health challenges, Year 18 was full of high points. She got her driver's license, graduated from high school, began college with a declared major of photography, and traveled to California and the East Coast just to name a few. 

Now we look expectantly for the blessings the new year of life will bring.  All I can say is that I am so privileged to call her my daughter and am grateful for the days we get to spend together.  She adds a beautiful facet to our family.

And just for fun I'll share a few of her current favorite things...

Sparkles

Doc Marten's

Longboarding

Art and photography

Wearing dresses

Specialty black coffee

Playing the piano and ukulele

- Carol