D'arcy turned eleven in late August.
She is the kind of girl who wants more. More adventures. More knowledge. More great food. More people. She's hungry for life, and I know from personal experience the road ahead will include learning to savor, to be content, to be intentional, and to rest. I'm excited to see her walk and find balance.
Sometime this year, we decided we would take her to Kings Island for her birthday. Stephen and I haven't been since before she was born, but now D'arcy is tall enough and brave enough to ride most of the roller coasters. My head didn't handle it well, but D'arcy had a great time riding everything she was tall enough for with Stephen and her Aunt Connie.
D'arcy spent a good part of this past year learning to solve her Rubix Cube. These days, that means watching a bunch of Youtube videos to learn the algorithms, and then practicing, practicing, practicing to get faster. She would carry around a paper to record her times. At the end of last school year, she and her friend, Aria, entered the school talent show to show off their rubix cube skillz.
A ten dollar toy kept her busy for an entire year. I was wracking my brain for what I could buy her that would entertain and challenge her in a similar way. I decided on a Ukulele. She is already playing the piano and trumpet. I thought the Ukulele would be easy and fun and put her Youtube searching and watching skills to good use.
When the opportunity presents itself, either at our community yard sale of block party, she has started busking. She'll play Louis Louis on her trumpet hoping someone will drop a dollar into her case. This year, she can add to her repertoire.
D'arcy also spent the last year....
jumping on her trampoline.
growing a bunch of tomato saplings with her fifth grade teacher, and selling them at their year end picnic.
party planning with her friend Mike. They started a for profit party planning business for all those top priority parties. The one party they planned had a guacamole contest with a pretty snazzy trophy, a homemade pinata, and bobbing for blueberries (which was pretty disgusting).
During the summer, she woke up many a day and made her own french toast or omelette. She would cook up a couple pieces of bacon, and grab some basil and tomatoes from our garden to throw in her eggs. Our other kids are eating cold english muffins.
D'arcy, Maggie, and Penelope share a room. Unlike other older sibling tyrants I've encountered, she doesn't bug her sister to turn the light off. Instead, she turns it off herself long before the official "lights out" call and yells at her sisters if the complain or try to turn them back on. I figured out that she needed the room dark so she could watch Netflix on her iTouch screen. She hates turning up that screen brightness because it really kills her battery life.
Tonight, I just walked by their room and heard her telling her sister, "Don't ever say I don't love you or I don't like you. I love you very much. Just because I'm telling you you're annoying doesn't mean I don't love you."
She started sixth grade this year. She told me a couple times she was nervous about all the homework she will have. But, really, it was a feigned nervousness. I believe it was more of an excitement to take on a new challenge.
Year twelve, she's ready for you.
She is the kind of girl who wants more. More adventures. More knowledge. More great food. More people. She's hungry for life, and I know from personal experience the road ahead will include learning to savor, to be content, to be intentional, and to rest. I'm excited to see her walk and find balance.
Sometime this year, we decided we would take her to Kings Island for her birthday. Stephen and I haven't been since before she was born, but now D'arcy is tall enough and brave enough to ride most of the roller coasters. My head didn't handle it well, but D'arcy had a great time riding everything she was tall enough for with Stephen and her Aunt Connie.
D'arcy spent a good part of this past year learning to solve her Rubix Cube. These days, that means watching a bunch of Youtube videos to learn the algorithms, and then practicing, practicing, practicing to get faster. She would carry around a paper to record her times. At the end of last school year, she and her friend, Aria, entered the school talent show to show off their rubix cube skillz.
A ten dollar toy kept her busy for an entire year. I was wracking my brain for what I could buy her that would entertain and challenge her in a similar way. I decided on a Ukulele. She is already playing the piano and trumpet. I thought the Ukulele would be easy and fun and put her Youtube searching and watching skills to good use.
When the opportunity presents itself, either at our community yard sale of block party, she has started busking. She'll play Louis Louis on her trumpet hoping someone will drop a dollar into her case. This year, she can add to her repertoire.
D'arcy also spent the last year....
jumping on her trampoline.
growing a bunch of tomato saplings with her fifth grade teacher, and selling them at their year end picnic.
party planning with her friend Mike. They started a for profit party planning business for all those top priority parties. The one party they planned had a guacamole contest with a pretty snazzy trophy, a homemade pinata, and bobbing for blueberries (which was pretty disgusting).
During the summer, she woke up many a day and made her own french toast or omelette. She would cook up a couple pieces of bacon, and grab some basil and tomatoes from our garden to throw in her eggs. Our other kids are eating cold english muffins.
D'arcy, Maggie, and Penelope share a room. Unlike other older sibling tyrants I've encountered, she doesn't bug her sister to turn the light off. Instead, she turns it off herself long before the official "lights out" call and yells at her sisters if the complain or try to turn them back on. I figured out that she needed the room dark so she could watch Netflix on her iTouch screen. She hates turning up that screen brightness because it really kills her battery life.
Tonight, I just walked by their room and heard her telling her sister, "Don't ever say I don't love you or I don't like you. I love you very much. Just because I'm telling you you're annoying doesn't mean I don't love you."
She started sixth grade this year. She told me a couple times she was nervous about all the homework she will have. But, really, it was a feigned nervousness. I believe it was more of an excitement to take on a new challenge.
Year twelve, she's ready for you.
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