TEN!!!

 It is hard for my brain and body to comprehend that my baby is TEN!  It feels like just yesterday we were newly home from China and celebrating her first Birthday.  T has grown so much in the last year.  Last spring/summer she tried horse back riding.  She graduated from 3rd grade homeschool at the top of her class.  Haha!  Truly though, she thrived in every area while at home and I really enjoyed teaching her and learning together for that season! This fall/winter she has been doing and loving gymnastics.  She started piano lessons a few weeks ago too!  Besides being a busy girl after school, she is also excelling at in person 4th grade.  4th grade is the final year of elementary school here.  Next year she will be at the middle school with M.  

She is still petite.  She is still always moving, exploring, creating, and doing.  She LOVES to read and especially make cozy cuddle places to read with the cats.  T says exactly what she means with no filter, so you always know where you stand with her!  She also loves to ski, and bike, and rollerblade, but isn't interested in playing on sports teams. She is still a great puzzler doing 1000 piece puzzles by herself and also brain teaser type puzzles with ease.

This winter we signed T up for a sleep away summer camp.  She will be at a special week where all the campers are deaf or hard of hearing.  I am so excited for her to meet other kids with BAHA's and Microtia.  It is hard to believe she is that grown up and independent, but I think she will love it.  Hopefully she won't buy her weight in candy!  

She was a little sad that she had to go to school this year for her Birthday since last year she was home and we celebrated all day.  We woke her up as soon as M headed to school so she could open presents and I could make her pancakes before school.  She decided that she wanted to bring pizza to school for lunch so I made some the night before.  Sadly, M (who was having a "not my Birthday" kind of day) ate her pizza for breakfast even though I clearly said it was hers.  Oh well, Shelly can do it all, right?!  I preheated the oven when I noticed so by the time I was home from dropping off M it was already quite warm.  We had pre-made crust so I just had to add some sauce and cheese and bake it.  We managed to get all the presents opened and the pizza made and cooled and the pancakes made and eaten before school!  Whew!

T: I love LOTS of gifts!

Since I took her on the shopping spree, many of her gifts were smaller, but she didn't care.  We were pretty focused on going quickly so we didn't take much time to take pictures of gifts.  I can't even really remember much of what she got. A LEGO set was among the favorites.

T: I loved my books, necklace, and chapstick from good friends! 

I can't remember what we did after school, but I know what we did that evening.  M  and Brandon were at youth group and we paid for a month of Peacock premium so we could watch Marry Me.  T had seen previews during each night of the Olympics and we decided that we would watch it.  Ten dollars is a lot for a movie, but it is much cozier watching at home than in a theater, and cheaper too! We also had a whole month of the service so we could watch other movies too.  It actually became two months when I forgot to cancel.  It looks like we can enjoy more movies until April 16th!

We loved Marry Me!

After youth group we had cake and more celebration.   T requested a double layer cake where the top layer is white cake and the bottom layer is a jello cake.  It worked out well and looked pretty fancy.  I forgot to make the frosting pick, but with all the sprinkles you can barely tell.  

She is ten, but still tiny.

T: I loved lighting my own candles.

We sure love her!

While we sang to her she was lighting strands of hair on fire and watching them shrivel.  Oh boy! 

Blowing them out!

One of her gifts was the canopy for her bed.  Brandon hung it up right away and she looked like quite a princess sleeping that night with her feline prince!

I think she had a great Birthday!