The Gift of Music

This year we oldest three have the privilege of being in the Christian
Heritage Youth Chorale. It's been so much fun to practice our various
parts, and even the younger kids are getting in on it. Betsy Bea plugs
her ears every time the sopranos get way up there and claims that she can
do all the parts like "bass, alto, melody..." The songs chosen for this
year are quite beautiful, and all the work is worth the experience of
standing up there with 300 or so other "youth" praising God in song. I'm
very excited for next weekend and to see how my favorite songs turn out!
We'll be singing arrangements of "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Crown Him with Many
Crowns", "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go", and "Little David, Play On
Your Harp". : )

My Birthday

            I started celebrating my birthday the whole week before by being excited by all the secrets being kept from me, practicing thinking that I was my new age, and smashing Oreos on my birthday eve.

            No, smashing Oreos isn't my yearly tradition (though it should be one), I was actually making homemade ice cream. I made a big and yummy mess, and even had the privilege of snitching some Oreos. : ) This whole time Mom was making a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and various siblings were shut in a bedroom working on a pet plan.

            It was a very excited me that went to bed that night wondering, and hoping, and praying over being the next age—a big landmark for me. As all nights do, that one came to an end, and it was very fortunately the morning.

            When I got up Dad was making pancakes. They weren't just any pancakes—these were Dad's pancakes. The melt-in-your-mouth-buttery-thin-and-soft kind. Add more butter and some maple syrup and you have the ultimate birthday breakfast.

            This birthday was different from all the others in that it fell on science co-op day. Mom and Dad asked me if I wanted to go through with it, and I'm surely glad I did. It was a beautiful day for going hiking, and the fact that we took good friends along made it even better. On that hike I fell twice, almost fell another half dozen times, indulged in pleasant conversation, and heard more songbirds than I ever have at one time. Two birds in particular seemed to be having a conversation; and it was very interesting to try to pinpoint where their chirps were coming from.

            After lunch and more good conversation, our family celebrated my birthday with cake and ice cream. (Just between you and me—that Oreo ice cream was the best part of the day.)

            Gifts came next. The little girls showered me with pictures and lovely wishes. Betsy Bea even gave me a book she had typed on the computer complete with an author's picture. The cover had a picture she drew of us holding hands with a heart between us. I couldn't read the writing because it was in kindergartener code, but I have my guesses that it was the story of us.

            The eppy-guys (that is the code word for all of us siblings) gifted me with an awesome, really bright flashlight (necessity in this land of power outages) and glycerin soap to melt and mold to my heart's content. The aunts sent me birthday money for books and whatever other happy things I can think of. I have It's Not [That] Complicated and A Man Called Peter coming in the mail!!! I also bought a beautiful red journal to add to my stash, mint green yarn, and a wonderful, wonderful song.

            Dad and Mom absolutely spoiled me with Breezy Brookshire's Family Treasure Coloring Book (It's so well done and adorable!), Large Family Logistics ('bout as interesting as a novel!), and fabric and a pattern for the ultimate denim skirt. This may sound like extremely practical things, but they are very enjoyable all the same. I'm excited about getting to sewing. : )

            After I had torn open all the wonderful packages, Aimee and Anna surprised me with that wonderful surprise they had been preparing all the day before. Aimee handed me a small, adorably wrapped package with a gold number one on it. It was the beginning of a scavenger hunt looking for seventeen-and-one-to-grown-on of these packages. Each one was wrapped so cutely in a Shabby Chic sort of way (Mom dubbed Anna and Aimee "Martha" and "Stewart"), and it was so fun looking for them! The hardest ones to     find were the ones in the most obvious places (like on top of the thermostat at my eye level), and my on-looking siblings were in stitches. (BTW- the contents were Kit-Kats… Mmm…)

            Aimee and I had started watching Fireproof the night before, so we finished it between the party and dinner. I love that movie!!!

            Mommy blessed me with the gift of homemade pizza with fresh tomatoes for dinner. I could tell she was really tired, but she made this yummy dinner for me anyway. Daddy offered his own gift in the form of a prayer that God would bless me and give me a servant's heart.

            Altogether, it was a wonderful birthday filled with blessings and joy. I can't wait to see what God brings me this year!

Things to Read

Noble Novels

Noble Novels is a creative, Christian community of young people trying to sharpen their writing skills while sharing stories with each other. You can find three short stories of mine (as well as many written by others) at this blog. Also be sure to check out my little sister's contest winning story and find out how you can join as an author!

http://noblenovels.weebly.com/kates-stories.html

His Farmgirl Photography

My good friend is the author of this blog, and she gave me and my sisters the privilege of helping out with this post. We all came up with some pretty great ideas that I would encourage you to check out. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments!

http://hisfarmgirl.blogspot.com/2014/03/20-ideas-on-how-to-make-your-sibling.html#comment-form

Coloring Together

Usually, I draw a picture for the little girls and make copies so they can each color; but now Betsy Bea has taken to drawing pictures for me. (She can even make copies of it on the printer.) Today while we were coloring together, she pointed to a little circle on the front of the Mom's dress. "You see that ball? It means that she is pregnant." I remarked on how many flowers she had drawn on the little girl's dress. "Yeah," she said, "I drew it extra cute so you would want a copy." : )

Narnia Is Waking Up

I know that Narnia is waking up. Every morning there are new leaves, new buds, and new birds soaring high in the sky and gracing the world with their songs. In the middle of the sturdy firs that stayed green all year long, a fruit tree is bursting into fragile, pink blossoms that will stay only until the fruit comes. Yellow stars are coming alive in the grass and swaying softly in the cool breeze that is blowing winter far away. The tall, white trunks that lean together to form an arch over a silent road are beginning to show small, bright green leaves. The Narnians are awake once more stirring from their long rest and ready to dance long into the night or laugh together over a good joke. Still, there are signs of the winter that was—here and there a tree still stands like a skeleton waiting for new life to be breathed into its still form. Maybe tomorrow will be its chance.

Happy Spring!

The Shortest Highschooler Strikes Again

So today Betsy Bea sat in on my algebra lecture. It's hard to believe,
but she was able to answer a yes or no question right! She had to leave
during the exercises, but I wonder (if she had been able to tear her mind
from the hint buddy) if she could've answered some more. : )

The Never Ending List

Once upon a time there were us. All seven of us. A long and happy list. Ever since I could remember I had raced through it in my mind when a new baby was born and tried to get used to the new name being at the end of it. After a while, it belonged there and we lived on: happily.

When the seventh was born, I was nine and starting to be aware that being an older sister was very neat. Painting, scrapbooking, and all the other activities Mom had planned for when she was born were very fun too. And then she got older, and learned to walk and talk. When she was about one and a half years old, we all wondered if it was time to revise the list again. This time God decided to wait until I was almost twelve.

This year was one of the biggest in my life when I discovered I was going to go live in the Promised Land flowing with trees and rain. I had only read about those in books, and I was sure every moment would be glorious. We spied out the Promised Land and returned to wandering in the wilderness only long enough to get ready to move.

Then Mommy and Daddy told us that there was another baby coming and the happy list would get longer. We lived a glorious and adventuresome summer in the Sunday school rooms of the local church. That winter after the biggest snow in years the eighth was born. Daddy and Mommy brought her home in her carseat, and we all admired her. I ran through the list again until the name fit.

This time, I was old enough to hold the baby standing up. I learned to help her go to sleep, took photos of her, and learned how to dress her gently. I learned to change diapers and not be too grossed out.

When she was a year old she was learning how to walk and another year had begun. I dressed her in the cutest dresses of my own choice, did her hair in pigtails when there was finally enough of it, and carried her around on my hip.

The years passed, and we became the best of friends. When she needed water she would ask me first, we rode together in the van on road trips, and I taught her finger games and rhymes.

Now, though she is beginning to be a bigger little girl, we are still friends. We play dollhouse together, mix yummy things to eat, and thumbs-up our favorite songs. I am very grateful that God has blessed me with another sister and best friend. The list keeps going on with a brother-in-law and two glorious nephews added. I can't wait to see who God adds next.