I think we have a young woman in the house!

Bittersweet today!  Lily thought in April she may have gotten her period, but today she was more certain that she had gotten it this morning.  We double-checked and yes it's real!  So bittersweet! I guess that explains why she was so moody within the last few days!  We will be celebrating her journey into womanhood this weekend!  She wants to go out to eat Chinese buffet:)

So proud of this girl!

Lily is such an awesome young lady.  Yesterday she got her report card and as always she knocked it out of the park.  However, the thing that impresses me even more than her academic prowess is her learning behaviors which show a maturity beyond her years!  Also, I was very excited to read one of the comments written by her Spanish teacher which stated that she shows an excellent aptitude for the language! So proud!

Flute

I forgot to mention that Lily started flute lessons this week with one of my co-workers Mrs. Grapes.  I am very excited for her!

This girl is double one's

Can't believe this girl is eleven!!!!  Make time stop!

Building Confidence

As a parent, it is our natural instinct to want to protect our children, especially when they are crying out in grief, anxiety, or sadness.  But I am learning an important lesson.  If we try to protect our children from every negative emotion we are also depriving them of the opportunity to build confidence in their abilities!

For example, Lily finally did a swim meet yesterday, after a full season practice.  She was supposed to do another one earlier in the season, but she panicked and refused to do it!  So with the help of her coach, she said she would try again.  Yesterday was the MSC B Championships and Lily signed up to participate at the urging of her coach!

She was very anxious.  Especially when she learned that she would have to wait with her team separate from us.  She spent a good part of the morning working herself up and crying.  Of course, my natural instinct was to just bag it.  Why fight the battle.  But I heard this little voice saying to me, that she needed to do this for herself.  And so we went.

She had a spectacular meet.  She did the backstroke and the breaststroke.  She shaved over 10 seconds off her backstroke time and came in 1st place in her heat. She shaved over 18 seconds off her breaststroke and came in 2nd place in her heat.  You could tell she was SO proud of herself!!!!  A real confidence builder!  Score for everyone!

I am so glad we made her go!  It was a good lesson for all!

February Blur

February has been one big blur!  Unfortunately, Olav's sister, Lily's Tante Britt died expectantly.  So we had nearly 3 weeks without Daddy!  During Daddy's absence, both Lily and Ashton had the stomach bug two times!  Poor things!

Lily did not make the honors chorus, but we are super proud of her for trying.  She is the understudy in case one of the two girls can't fulfill their commitment.

Lily continues to well in school showing progress in all areas!  The area I am most proud of is all her learning behaviors!  She is mature beyond her years!  Such an amazing young lady!

Lily is a voracious reader!  She can down an entire book in just a few sittings!  She also loves to write historical fiction!  While Daddy was gone she was working on a book taking place in the 1930's with westward expansion!

Lily continues to be an old soul.  She is all about fairness, justice, and righteousness!  She has strong convictions about what is right and just.  Unfortunately, she is learning the hard way that life is full of unfairness.

She also has a strong mothering soul.  Sometimes she can mother to death! We constantly remind her she doesn't have to "be the mama".  I am sure her little brother can attest, however she is an amazing babysitter, for sure to be the richest teen on the block!

So proud!

So proud of our Lily bean!  Last week or so she had mentioned that she wanted to try out for the 5th grade honors chorus!  This is huge for her!  She rarely does anything that stretches her outside her comfort zone when it comes to her talents, so her daddy and I were super proud to hear that she decided to try for it!  However, yesterday she was having second thoughts because she was feeling "forced" to do it by us.  Of course, we were not forcing her, but we were very excited when she mentioned she was going to try!  Well, today she came home and announced that not only did she try out, but she also tried out solo as opposed to the comfort of a partner!  We of course told her we were so proud of her regardless if she makes it or not (they only pick 2 students in 5th grade), but I won't lie if I secretly hope she makes it.  She does have quite a nice voice and it would be so great if she would be rewarded for taking this step of faith!  I guess we'll see!