Sonlight Garden

Our Sweet Girl

The day before her baby brother was born Mary Jane turned eleven. Henry had an extended stay in the nicu, I was recovering from a c-section and trying to keep this household running. I never did get to write about her birthday. I don't want to let the year pass without writing about her and about who she is right now. 

Her nickname is sweets. That is truly what she is. She smiled at me when she was a week old and has been smiling ever since. She is my right hand "man". She loves her siblings intensely and is always willing to play or help; Most of the time with a smile.
At the age of seven her first ballet teacher came up to me and told me she was very musical and was a natural when it came to rhythm and music. I have watched her blossom and grow into a beautiful ballerina. I wish I could dance like her! I am not exaggerating when I say I could watch her dance all day. It is incredible to see how God has gifted each one of my children. It is a beautiful thing to watch. Mary Jane, you are blessed, and it is a blessing and a privilege to be your mom!

Who She Is Right Now

Julia turned 13 at the beginning of this year. I don't want to let this time pass by without writing something down about who she is right now. 
I was doing a deep cleaning of her room last week and while cleaning under her bed I found notebook after notebook of stories that she had written. I piled them up in a basket and looked at them. My daughter's dreams, thoughts, creativity, written in them. God gave her the gift of expressing herself in the written word. You can tell when the wheels are turning in her head. She gets an intense, determined look on her face and she MUST write it all down. I think she is so cool! You know what else amazes me about her? She is not afraid to try new things. She is not afraid to stick up for what is right and just. She fights the good fight, even if she gets ridiculed by her peers. She also started school this past year, but not on the first day like everyone else. She started on a Monday in November. Not an easy thing to do. She was scared and I was scared for her. Although, I didn't tell her that at the time ;0). She dove right in and handled herself so well. She is so brave and I admire her. If I could be thirteen again I would want to be just like her!
God has big things planned for you girl!

Cinderella! Cinderella!

Julia started acting this year. It is her new love. I was amazed when I saw her up on stage the first time. I had no idea. She is a natural. In my humble motherly opinion. Her first performance was in a two person excerpt from the play Antigone. The second was from the play Cinderella Cinderella. Julia was Cinderella. Again, she didn't miss a beat. She is now hooked and loves being on the stage. It is so satisfying to see your child find something they are passionate about and then do what they love. On the way to her performance she was saying how nervous she was. Really nervous. I reminded her of St. Therese and how she used to perform plays in her convent. "Surely the Little Flower knows how you are feeling." I said, "Ask her to pray for you." That brought a smile to her face. She did so well. I am so proud.

my little girl

I was thinking I didn't have much to write about. Nothing to exciting to share. Just boxes...blah, blah, blah. They are still here. There are still a lot of them. Who wants to read about that?! 

Well, life happens and suddenly there is a blogortunity. (Don't you just love how you can make new words up with the word blog in it? Like, blogaversary and blogortunity. And you don't even have to worry about your spelling.)

Any way, this child went to the ER yesterday

 

This is the after picture. We just had to stop at Graeters for ice cream after because she was so brave. 

Let me tell you what happened. I was upstairs unloading boxes, of course. My little girl was jumping on the couch. (Which she shouldn't have been doing) One of her siblings, who shall remain nameless, pushed her and down she went into the table next to the couch. She landed just the right way to cut open the back of her head. We headed out to the ER and two staples later she is all better. Catherine was so brave. She did not cry in front of the doctor and nurse. She only shed a couple of tears after the nurse cleaned her wound. Her lips started to pout and she said "Mom, I'm scarwed." (her r's sound like w's) We had a nice talk over that ice cream about following rules and why rules are in place. There is something so precious about 5 year olds, especially this five year old. I am sad she was hurt, but it was so nice to spend that time alone with her. It was an afternoon I will never forget.

Little Homemakers

Tonight after dinner without being asked my almost 9 year old daughter and my 7 year old daughter. Cleared the table, put away leftovers, loaded and ran the dishwasher. Bathed the 3 and 4 yr old and put on their jammies. Changed the babies diaper and put her jammies on also. WOW. And they had fun doing it and working together. I never knew how to do this at their age. Now that is what I call a priceless, precious, education.

Now, to keep this real, I am going to tell you that this doesn't happen every night in our house. (That is probably why it was fun for them) But when it does it feels so wonderful. I am so proud of my girls!