My eldest daughter needed some new jeans, so we went to our favorite clothing store and bought two pairs.  She didn't want to wear them, though, because "they might get mixed up with my brother's jeans."  Meaning: they don't look fancy-girly enough.

So, we sorted through my boxes of ribbon.

She picked out some fancy buttons.

I sewed her pretty ribbons.

Then I figured out how to use the button hole setting on my sewing machine.

Viola!  She now has some jeans that are fancy enough to suit her, and hopefully durable enough for her bike-riding and mud puddle adventures.

And I enjoyed the whole process.

Fat Baby

I have a fat baby.

He's so rolly polly.

I love his double chin, his pudgy belly, and his squishy cheeks.

I love him!

He's so much fun.

I wish I could accurately put my thoughts into words.  I can write pages and still am not able to express what goes through my brain.

There is so much I don't know.  There is so much I don't understand.  Instead of growing wiser with my years, I feel like I am realizing more and more how finite I am and how little I understand.

But that's okay, because the world is supposed to end tomorrow.  At least I think it was tomorrow...

Flashback

I was thinking back to when I only had one kid

 and how boring my life must have been compared to what it is now.

I'm so thankful for all of my kids and the excitement they add to my life!

Dance

My daughter started dance lessons two years ago, and she was so painfully shy that she clung to me during class.  It took weeks for her to be able to practice with the kids in her class. She loved learning to dance, especially ballet, and would come home and practice by herself, so I knew she was learning.  She just hated to participate during class and was very nervous around the other kids.

This year, she started out the same way.  She was excited about dance class and wanted to go, but it still took a while for her to really participate with the other kids.  By the end of the year, though, she was doing well.   She was excited about the recital and love-love-loved her new dance outfit!  At the recital, she danced on the stage with her class in front of lots of people and enjoyed it!

She has come so far in the last two years.

She has gone from painfully shy to enjoying others. 

She has the courage to dance when people are watching!