14 Years Old!

My daughter has been a teenager for a full year, and she's about to start high school! She wears the same size shoes as I do, but I still am a couple of inches taller than her. She still enjoys playing with Barbie dolls, listening to Adventures in Odyssey, reading, wearing earrings that feature different animals, listening to Christian contemporary music, spending time with friends, swimming, ice skating, spending time with cousins, skiing, watching shows on the iPad, and being in dramatic productions. She hasn't been playing any instruments, but she is planning to resume singing in a youth chorale in September. If it were up to her, we'd own far more pets. We currently own two guinea pigs and a dog, and that's more than enough for me. At the moment she's thinking she might like to study Animal Sciences, Marine Biology, or something along those lines when she's in college. She'll be receiving report cards for the first time in her life this next school year. All of her friends are from church. Her closest friends are also on the Bible quizzing team. I had no intention of signing her up for the drama class at the homeschool co-op next year because tech week was pretty much torture for me, but I did because she really wanted to be in their production again next year. If you needed evidence that I love her very much, the fact that I signed her up for it again could be exhibit A! She doesn't wear eyeglasses, and unlike her two brothers hasn't had any orthodontic work done in her mouth. Wearing a watch is still very important to her. She almost always has nail polish on her fingernails and toenails, but she doesn't wear make-up yet. She has been doing Duolingo every day for about a year. She often opts to skip eating breakfast, and she would love it if she could have a salad every single day at lunch or dinner. The majority of the time she has a grilled Swiss cheese sandwich for lunch. 

We started her birthday celebrations early because we needed to schedule it when Faith was at her mom's house. On June 3, Jill and Faith came over to our house for lunch after Bible quizzing practice. Faith stayed until 5pm. Jill stayed until 9:15 the next morning. The girls and I had chicken wraps and fruit pizza for dinner. Nadia also started receiving some of her birthday presents earlier than usual. We bought her an interactive Hermoine wand at Universal Studios on May 24 and gave her the iPhone that had belonged to Paul's mom on June 15. She has been eagerly anticipating owning her own cell phone! I had previously been inclined to wait until she was sixteen to give her a phone, but it seems most kids don't even have to wait until they are fourteen to have their own phone. We bought her a turtle phone case for the phone. I have no idea how my mother-in-law managed to keep her screen intact without a case! We haven't decided when we will actually get her a phone number. For now, she's only able to use apps when she has wi-fi. Today she received some books and a For King and Country sweatshirt from her parents, a bag of Sun Chips from Oliver, a book from Ian, a book from Rachel, and a book, lamp, and pair of earrings from Grandpa and Gubba. Pop Pop is taking her shopping for a new desk chair tomorrow afternoon. Several months ago after she purchased a loft bed, we moved a desk from our bedroom into her bedroom which is the reason a chair and lamp were on her wish list this year in addition to earrings and books.

I've tried to make this week special for our birthday girl. On Monday we drove to Bonanza to have dinner after Nadia and Ian's theatre camp rehearsal was over, but it turned out they were closed for a company picnic. We will try again this coming Monday. On Tuesday I used a coupon for a free hot chocolate from Dunkin for her. I had planned to get stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut today, but that's what we ended up getting on Monday once we found out Bonanza was closed. We only get pizza from Pizza Hut once a year. Today I will treat the kids to frozen yogurt at Sweet Frog, and Wednesday morning they had donuts from Dunkin. Paul's dad is coming up to our house tomorrow, and Nadia has requested that I make baked ziti and a cheesecake for dinner tomorrow. I also bought her ham and cheese hot pockets on Monday afternoon, so her lunches have been special this week. 

Nadia and Ian were on the winning team in the B division

Bible quizzing teams plus their three coaches