She’s 9!

I always imagined myself as a boy mom. Just lots of boys. I love little bouncing baby boys and I am not intimidated at all by them and teaching them about girls feelings and their side of things. We are working to raise responsible young men who can do the hard work but can also cook, clean and do their own laundry. LOL. I am a girl, who is super sensitive, with a tender heart, so girls scare me a little. I found it intimidating and it took me a long time (like months after she was born) to get used to the idea of nurturing and loving and growing little girls into women, who would one day be wives and mothers. I don't know why but this seemed scary to me. But, my goodness, I'm so glad God saw it fit to guide me in being a girl mom, because it has been a true gift to me. I pray my girls and I are best friends for a very long time! They are different creatures, for sure...boys and girls. But what a blessing it is to have them both. They each bring our family their own little flare and we are so in love with each of them! Celebrating each of them, is probably one of my most favorite things to do. I just love making sure they know how special they are to us and to our family. Birthdays are really special days for this mama. It's not really gift centered so much as just them picking a "theme" and I do what I can with it to make sure they feel extra special! :) It's just something I enjoy.

We got to celebrate Ada's 9th birthday a couple weeks ago and had a blast! The girl who taught me being a girl mom wasn't so scary, after all. She's full of grace and sparkle, love and laughter. And she's such a blessing to all of us! I can't believe she's 9! Her last single digit year is well on it's way and I know it will be a fun one for her! Full of exploring new places, continuing to play piano, furthering her dancing skills and just living her own little daydream. She's a beautiful girl inside and out! <3

She requested the beach, so we spent a couple chilly February days on the coast, at Huntington Beach, doing some exploring and artsy stuff, and it was perfect!

The artsy stuff included: slime making, shell necklaces, tie dye shells, and canvas painting with shell collage. We had the best time. I put up our birthday flag, a birthday banner, made a cake and we partied all weekend off and on, in between exploring some areas close by, bike riding, and hunting for sharks teeth!

Our first try at making slime! They loved it...I have a feeling much more slime will be made.

 Hours were spent at the beach!

Salt dough necklaces with a shell they found.

 While looking for some fun beachy art projects, I found these alcohol inked shells. They turned out so beautiful and super easy to do! Fun and quick..no mess or mixing, just the alcohol inks and the blending solution.

The girls painted canvases and added shells they found for a collage.

Happy 9th Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Grandparents, aunts and uncle and parents all went in together to gift Ada with a little piano. She loves it! And I'm pretty sure we will be hearing her play a long time!