And then she was 7...

My first born, the little baby who's birth made me a mom just yesterday, turned 7. My mind has a hard time wrapping around her age. In some ways, I swear she is just a little girl, barely past the toddler stage, but then I watch her and see these amazing girl growing where my baby used to be. Hannah stuns me. She used to be my handful, my live fire cracker who kept me on my toes, but now she more resembles a careful, thoughtful, maturing girl who is regularly described by others as quiet (I know--what? never thought that would be used in the same sentence as her!) and loving.

Hannah *most of the time* demonstrates enormous patience when dealing with her sister. Abby. Their relationship is amazing to watch and I pray that it continues. Of course, Hannah has been known to say, accompanied by an eye roll, "little sisters can be SOO annoying!"Here is Hannah opening presents at her rainbow party--loved how the streamers turned out! (Thanks Pinterest!)Table, ready for happy girls! Hannah had the smile pasted on her face from the moment she woke up--so happy to be the birthday girl!

Make a wish! (She is at the age where she quickly said, "but I'm not telling you!")

Rainbow cake! Love how the colors look!

So yummy looking and tasting!! I'm continually reminded what a privilege it is to be Hannah's mom. I think I'll blink and somehow it will be another 7 years flying by. Of course, then she'll be 14 and I'll be begging for your prayers... Maybe start now. :)

Hannah starts First Grade (delayed)

Hannah started school on August 30th -- that is 11 school days ago. However, on that day it was slightly crazy, so we were not able to take any good pictures. Right before she went in the classroom I snapped these pictures on my phone, but they left me wanting more, especially after Abby's super cute photo shoot.

So, we decided to restage the first day of school.

We dressed in the same outfit and acted like it was the first day of school. I figure when she is 40, she won't care if it is day 1 or day 9 of 1st grade. Right? Or should I just now stop mentioning the fact that this happened after the fact?

I am quite pleased with the results. But a little baffled by this girl. I mean, I have a little girl named Hannah. I remember when she was born. I remember when she toddled about. I remember writing down every word she said. But this? This is not a little girl. This is a lovely young lady who thoughtfully helps out the special needs kids in her class, who likes to be her teacher's helper, who wrote just recently that "now that I am a big girl, I help out my baby sister. I read to my sister." This young lady dreams of tackling chapter books (her sights are set on Junie B. Jones) and was the fastest girl in her class when they did a running test. This young lady resembles my little girl, but definitely is not a little girl anymore. I must admit, I can't wait to see who she grows to be. We are in for a wild ride.

Flashback!!

I know I'm currently doing a series on Summer Fun, but while perusing my pictures, I realized that I neglected to post the ones from Hannah's Kindergarten play. Oops. And she was so cute!! So, here they are. Technically, it is sort of summer--at least it happened in the month of June!

They did a "Down on the Farm" play which was like a collections of little farm stories and songs. Pretty cute. But at this age, everything they do is cute.

Hannah was in the "Three Billy Goats Gruff" and played the Littlest Billy Goat. Her teacher had to work on her saying her lines loud of enough (only time she's every been too quiet?), but come crunch time, she did great! :) Meeting the Troll

The Three Billy Goats

I'm not brave enough to get this many 5-6 years old to behave and perform! Her teacher, though, was more then up to the task. On our way to 1st Grade! (Mom shakes head in disbelief)

(BTW-she has on two different outfits because this took place on two days. One was dress rehearsal for the school and the other was for parents. I went to both.)

Yea Haw!

Our school has a tradition of celebrating the start of Colorama (a rodeo/carnival weekend) with a Hoe Down. I'll be honest--I'm not a big dancer, let alone a line or square dancer, but the Hoe Down does a good job of making a fan of even a reluctant participant. (To consider-not only do I attend as a parent, but I also have the pleasure of teaching 28 2nd graders how to dance... yeah, glad my co-teacher takes the lead.)

Kevin didn't take any pictures of my students dancing to "Cotton Eyed Joe" but he did get this cute girl square dancing.

She was pretty excited that her partner was a 1st grader friend, Camryn.

Of course, she can't have all the fun. Abby joined in with her buddy Libby.

It might not look like it, but this is the chicken dance

Her first day as a 6 year old!

As Hannah kept saying, today was her "first day to do _____ as a 6 year old!" Everything, including walking from the car to the school door, was exciting! She was doubly excited because she also got do picture day on her birthday (for some reason, that made the day extra special for her. Me? I could have done without. Properly enjoy the birthday and get the girl extra cute and not be late to school for the staff picture... too much.)

For her class we brought dirt cup treats. Her teacher declared it the tastiest dirt she has ever eaten and it was hilarious to hear the students worry about whether or not it was real dirt... :) Abby was thrilled because she got to tag along and anytime she gets to go it is a red letter day!

Later on we opened up presents...Hannah appreciating the princess dress from Abby (who has now inherited Hannah's too small princess dress)Her thought right here -- "what is this little thing?" I promise, on Friday when we drive to Seattle, she'll love it (I hope...)A REAL camera! That is when a girl knows she is big!

Hannah acquires the one toy Abby has that she has always wanted--VICTORY!Our princess! (May I do a one second plug for Little Adventures play dresses? They are the best! So easy for kids to put on independently and the one Abby just inherited is 2+ years old and is stilling holding up great. LOVE THEM!)A dirt cup for at homeIf Hannah could do a facebook status update, this would be it.

Hannah's birthday always brings me back to the miracle that is my daughter. For the last few days the verse that has been bouncing around my head and heart is "For this child I prayed" from 1 Samuel 1:27. That is a quote from Hannah, mother of Samuel, praising God for her child. I continually praise God for mine.

Party Day!

While Kevin and I ran around like mad, getting things ready, I *attempted* to have the girls calm down (they woke up wired and ready to party!) by telling Hannah she had to read a story to her sister if she wanted to open presents (bad mom!). It worked--for 2 minutes. Then they were bouncing off the walls again. Here the gang is assembled and in order from youngest to oldest (birthday girl is the exception), all ready to hit the star of the show....

A lovely unicorn pinata that Abby and Hannah named Angel Face! Hannah was positive that she HAD to have a unicorn pinata. Bye Bye Angel Face!

Smiling Birthday Girl! Looking so old! PRESENTS!

She was pretty adamant that she had to have a heart shaped chocolate cake. Not sure why, but she was set on that.

Make a wish!

Friends cheering for her -- look at that smile! So happy!

Had to post this picture! Megan holds her daughter Maddie (on her left side) and Lexi (on the right side) who is a month older, but quite a bit smaller. Made me think of the million Hannah and Kennan shots that I have.... :)

The birthday was a hit and I feel like it is safe to say that Hannah is over the moon happy. Abby might be suffering from a major bout of "why did she get all the new toys!" sickness, but I'm hoping it will pass. Abby was pretty thrilled that her two favorite boys came along with their big sisters to the party.

****

In a follow up to my last post, Hannah this week opted to put her "giving" money in the school change drive for Japan, which we thought was great. We also provided her with ways to earn extra quarters to bring. She also has met her goal for a present, thanks to some birthday money! She is pretty excited that she now has enough to go shopping, but a bit discouraged that we aren't going to Spokane for awhile. Next week (the first full week of April) we will be heading to Vancouver to visit family and although Vancouver is full of toy stores, Hannah wants to go back to the one in Spokane... Time (and impatience) might change her mind.

Warren Buffett, meet Hannah

For awhile now Kevin and I have been toying with the idea of starting Hannah on an allowance. In some ways I think we are behind the curve. For awhile now I've heard of our friends starting their similarly aged children on an allowance. However, Kevin and I were just not sure how we wanted to approach it and, honestly, it is a bit of work to flesh out how to do it. Yes, we could have just given her some money every week, but we wanted to be deliberate with it and just not sure how we wanted it to work. Plus, the million dollar question--do we want Hannah to have money to spend as she wishes?!?

Well, after putting it off too long (weeks after she created her own chore list and made a sticker chart to keep track of the times did her chores), we finally started, much to her delight.

Here are the parameters we wanted to set up with the allowance--
~savings and giving needed to be built into the allowance
~she gets it regardless of whether she does her chores
~her chores are not expected behaviors, but extras (example-putting clothes in hamper is expected behavior that everyone should do, but washing up the table is an extra)
~I couldn't have her spending her money mindlessly (yes, I know she is a kid!) but would like her to be working towards something

So this is what we set up--
~every Sunday she gets $2. From that 50 cents goes into her piggy bank and 50 cents goes into her giving jar.
~the giving jar will most likely go towards The Heifer Project (buying farm animals seems pretty tangible for her) or our local food bank where she volunteers with our church every few months. We did offer to add to the jar when she memorizes her weekly Bible verse from Sunday School.
~every day she does all 3 of her chores (clear the table, wash the table, feed the cat) she puts a sticker on her chart. On Sunday she gets a quarter for each sticker.
~she is going to have a account ledger where she keeps track of the money she has to spend. I'll be honest, this is the teacher/mom part coming out. She can count money and add it together! Two math concepts at once!
~she has picked out a fun toy store in Spokane (Whiz Kids) that has several items she would like, all in the $10-$15 range. We'll take her shopping when she has saved enough.

So, we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping that this can start a positive, healthy approach to money for Hannah. I'll be the first to admit that wasn't necessarily me. I blithely referred (and refer) to my debit card as my "magic card" and my mother threatened more then once to put me on a cash only system when I first went to college (then I wised up and had my mathematically inclined buddy, Kevin, balance my checkbook. Don't ever think that guy didn't know what he was getting into!)

Here is the disclaimer--she totally blew a dollar today at the grocery store. Had to buy a pack of gum.

Tough girl

It is no secret-Hannah is our rough and tumble girl. From about age 1 to 3 she lived with a perpetual bruise on her forehead and scrapes on her knees. That is just Hannah.

Age has brought some moderation to her, she goes periods of time without band aides or lacking many bruises. She also mastered new physical skills, like our school's climbing wall.



She thrives on challenges like these. I think she's been blessed with a high pain tolerance or maybe just indifference to pain.



However, sometimes the mark of an injury is hard to hide.



Here she is, the morning after a rather significant fall on the ice before her ice skating lesson.


This mean mom didn't get the fact that she was very injured. I hugged her a bit, made sure the pupils were okay (concussion check) and sent her back out. And she went without complaint. However, later on she did note (before we really saw anything since thanks to the darkness and her winter hat) that her "skull felt thicker on this side then the other." To which Kevin blithely replied, "yeah, you've got a think skull." (FYI-I think a case could be made that this has been scientifically proven. Once she got x-rays to see if her skull was cracked. It wasn't but she has a permanent crescent frown line on her forehead...).

We were a bit shocked (and guilt stricken) when we saw how swollen it was.


Here is Hannah on Wednesday evening, about 48 hours later. Pink bruise fading, replaced by purplish, quickly turning blackish, bruise.


She thinks she needs makeup. She'd like the other eye to match.

Part of me feels like this is a significant moment in her life -- where is the page in the baby book for first black eye or sports injury? Maybe right next to the page for first trip to the ER and stitches.

- Posted using BlogPress