10th Birthday (part 2)

 Well, what would a 10 year old girl wish to do on the morning of her birthday? How about open her presents in her jammies?  

Beth Marie always wants to wake up to her presents on the morning of her birthday... She doesn't want to know how many presents she'll have, or even what kind of wrapping paper... She wants it all to be a surprise on her birthday morning. (Must take after her daddy.  Her Mommy can't stand surprises...) 

 Somebody else was also excited to open presents.  Gretchen had her nose in every one sniffing for something good.  She knows good things come in presents.  She didn't have any presents of her own (because it wasn't her birthday) but we did hide treats in a couple of the presents. Opening her Hayden doll (can you tell it was her favorite present?) 

(no acting, of course...) We then went to Rochester for a light lunch, and to pick up her birthday cake: 

(a chocolate carrot cake from Daube's . . .  They are the best. cake. ever.)

The cake was deposited at home, and then we ventured up to the Twin Cities for the day.

Beth wanted to visit the James J. Hill house. 

We enjoy touring mansions together, and Mike and I had visited this one without her.  (It's not unusual for Mike and I to see something and then visit a second time with Beth.)

After a leisurely tour of the grounds, we went to Mall of America for supper and shopping before heading home for cake.

Happy 10th year Beth Marie!  Your birthday is behind you, but I pray that you have a wonderful year ahead.  I love living life with you.  You are a precious companion.  It's so amazing to watch you grow--you're becoming such a beautiful young lady.  I am so thankful for the privilege of being your Mom.  I pray that our God will protect you, and preserve you, and guard your heart for Himself...I pray that you will see His goodness in all things, and that your heart will overflow with joy and gratitude...and I pray that you will allow His Spirit to teach you, and that you will walk in truth.  I love you Boo!

10th Birthday (part 1)

 And, along with 10 year pictures comes... The 10th Birthday!  

How is it possible that it was 10 years ago already when our little girl was born? Our only child . . . our miracle . . . Beth Marie. (Unless God intends to do another miracle--which could happen--but that seems less than likely as the years go by)  So, what are 10th birthdays like with an only child? Well... This year, her birthday fell on a Saturday...so we considered taking a trip.  But that didn't work out... So Daddy took Friday off anyway and we just had a special weekend as a family close to home.  We began by visiting the Northwoods Orchard just a few miles from home. And if you're wondering how tall Beth is this year, here's a photo to answer your question:  

 And her Daddy? 

 Cheater! Well, there was lots to see at the Northwoods Orchard... There were some hay bales to conquer: 

 There were some sweet bunnies to pet... 

 

And some goofy goats to feed:

And some pigs who wanted us to feed them...

(their pen was locked, but they kept running over and grunting toward their food bin...we were sorry to disappoint them...)

And there were some pretty amusing chickens, too...

All of which made us wish for a farm.  :-)

There were also 2 corn mazes...

...a 10 minute one, and an hour long one. 

We elected to do the 10 minute maze...and I think we pretty much dominated it...

But it was fun.  :-)

Then we went inside for fresh apple donuts.

Sorry...no pictures.

10 year pictures...

 I've been asked a few times if we did 10 year pictures, and if I planned to post them... And indeed I did plan to post them... And so here they are--a little later than I had planned...  

    (she looks so grown up in this one!  . . . . . . . . . .  and she looks like a little girl in this one)

     

 

Movin' on Up!

 The other day, we went for a ride in our van... Somebody didn't know where we were going. And when we arrived at our destination... somebody was very contentedly reading a book in the back seat and was completely oblivious to where we were. This greatly pleased her daddy who loves surprises. We picked up a little something for our little somebody that made her very... VERY... happy. 

Can you tell? She had outgrown her first bike, and was sorta hoping maybe we'd get her a new bike for her birthday. But her birthday is in October... So, we thought we'd make her wish come true while she still had some good riding weather. (And when she wasn't expecting it.)  

 

Welcome to the family "Eva". 

Rochesterfest Parade!

 Our friends at Words Players theatre were kind enough to invite Beth Marie to join them in the Rochesterfest Parade this evening... She was passing out candy, literature and kazoos to advertise their summer productions, "Much Ado About Nothing" and "The Music Man". 

 She made an adorable "band member"...  

Here she is with our sweet friend Kathy:

Look at the happiness on that little face...  She was so honored to have a part in the parade.  :-) And I was a proud Mommy. Can you blame me?  I'm pretty sure she was the cutest little band member in the parade...  ;-)  

Homemaker in training

It's so much fun when you have a little girl, and you see her begin to beautify little places with her own personal touches. We had some strong storms approaching the area awhile back, and Beth rushed out in the yard to rescue the last of our spring blooms and she arranged them in the kitchen for me: 

My Dad built her a playhouse a couple of years ago, and while it's always been very special to her, this year I've seen her begin to truly appreciate being able to "make it home".  It's her own space, and I really don't give her any rules or boundaries.  She's free to create and display anything she wants in that space.  She can make as big of a mess as she wants as long as she cleans it up when she's done...and the cleanup is all part of the fun.

She sweeps her floors and drags a bucket of soapy water out to wash her dishes.  I love seeing her rugs "hanging out" on the swingset. 

She makes her way around the yard finding various "greens" to cook with...

Care for salad?



 Most of the decorations in her playhouse are things that I didn't need/want that she's scavenged from around my house: 

Occasionally, she'll invite us over for supper or tea. We're always warmly welcomed: 

If it's chilly outside, there will be a fire in the stove:

 I really like what she's done with the place.  :-) 



When this playhouse arrived in our yard, I really hoped it would be put to good use--especially since it dominates the view from our back windows!  But I can see now that it will not be wasted on Beth Marie.  She loves to have her own little place to entertain friends and have the freedom to develop her own style of homemaking and hospitality.  In the years to come, I can see this little place becoming her own quiet retreat where she and her friends will get away together. 

I'm thinking this loft will hear lots of secrets... 

Hmm.  Scary thought!

There are some perks to being a homeschooler...

 

Like playing on the swingset in your jammies.  :-)

 I asked Beth to put the dog outside yesterday morning, and I found her here... 

 

Not a bad way to start the day...

 And it was a good thing, because the rain arrived before she got in the door and stuck around the rest of the day. I love this little girl! She's at such a crazy stage in life because one minute she's having a grown-up conversation with you and you almost forget she's a kid...and the next...she's on the swingset in her jammies.  And sometimes, she's having an adult conversation with you while she's climbing on the playground equipment... She's still silly, and sweet... and she still needs her Mommy. But there are reminders every day that she's growing up fast--and so I want to cherish this time while it lasts...cause the days fly by all too quickly... I only have one little girl.   Tell me she'll always need her Mommy...  

Phase I set to go...

Our little person was in the Orthodontist's chair again today: 

We got to see the results of all of the x-rays, pictures, measurements and molds that they took at the last appointment.

This is the plaster mold that they made of her teeth to represent her bite "before treatment":



Here are the computer-generated measurements of her jaws superimposed over her profile image:

The funny looking rainbow-colored plastic pieces are expanders like the one Beth will soon have.  She got to choose her color today.  She chose clear with sparkles.  I think she has good taste.  :-)

So, her expander has been ordered, and she will have another appointment on May 3rd to have it put in.  They've explained to her that it will take a little time to learn to talk without a lisp, and she was quite concerned whether she'd be able to talk normally by May 5th because that is Bethany's wedding.  They thought she'd probably do fine as long as she made a point to "practice talking" as much as possible.  Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem... 

Orthodontist visit

 We kicked off spring break at the Orthodontist again today where Beth was fitted for her new expander. 

After a series of pictures and x-rays in the room next door, they proceeded to place this device on her face:

You should have seen her Daddy's expression when he came home and she told him all about this strange thing that went in her ears and on her nose and in her mouth...  He looked at me and was like, "They really had to measure her nose?"  Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what this contraption was doing, but it looked just as strange in person as I'm sure it did in Mike's imagination... It looked like a chemistry lab in the room: 

They made impressions of her teeth with this strange pink goop that solidified in like 28 seconds...

And made a suction noise when they took it out.  :-) 

 This whole process is new to us.  Beth had a great time.  She has another appointment in a couple weeks when she'll come home with an expander which she'll wear for the next 9 months or so.  She's actually looking forward to it.   We'll see if her enthusiasm continues once she's worn it for a few weeks...