11!

Dear Nora,

We kicked off our summer with such a special weekend of celebration for your eleventh birthday! You wanted to have a Wicked themed party at home and it was a smashing success. One of your friends said it was the best birthday party she'd ever been to! Our house was full of 10 darling tween girls, alongside Luke, Daddy, me, Honey and Grandpa. You helped quite a bit with the planning and preparations! We played Bingo, Pin the broom on the witch, and a Witch hat ring toss game. We had the Wicked Sing-a-long playing so you girls would burst into song throughout the party. :) You girls also made pink, green, and white bead and rubber band bracelets and pink and green paper loop chains. For snacks, you wanted cheetos, red strawberries and green grapes, to be followed by chocolate chip cookies and Blue Bell vanilla ice cream. You were absolutely thrilled with how the decorations and celebration came together! On your birthday, the next day, we had chocolate chip banana oatmeal cups for breakfast, opened more presents, then went to lunch at Tacos 4 Life. Luke had a swim meet later in the day, but you requested to skip since it was your birthday, so you stayed home and enjoyed some extra time while Honey and Grandpa were visiting.

At 11 years old,

You are simply delightful! Everybody loves Nora. Your teachers and friends have the best things to say about you, and we agree with all of them. In addition to being Student Ambassador at school this past year, you also received straight A's and the Music Award for your class. 

You have started to enjoy some roller coasters! I took you and Luke to Carowinds on Memorial Day and basically told you that you needed to ride Snoopy's Racing Railway, and that I would reward you with Bruster's ice cream. You were shaking and crying next to me as the ride started and I wondered if I'd made a mistake. Once the ride started, you went from screaming and crying to screaming, smiling, and laughing in the blip of an eye, telling me, "I like it!" That was just the start... now you've ridden two other roller coasters with Luke and are having so much fun doing it!

You love to spend time at your desk, next to your window, reading, drawing, coloring, crafting, playing, and even talking to Abril through the window. This started during the winter snow storms we had earlier this year. You'll write messages to each other on whiteboards or stick notecards up on the window to communicate. You often ask me to text Ms. Mariana to see if Abril can come to the window.

You sometimes ask to wear mascara or lip gloss and I will let you for special occasions, like your birthday, Easter, a cheer showcase, awards day at school, etc. You've asked when you can start shaving your legs, but I'm trying to push that one off as long as possible, telling you that once you start, you will never stop, and it's a lot to keep up with!

You often fix your own hair. Your preference is usually to wear it down, but other times you will do some detailed braids, like 3 small braids in one pony tail holder, or make bubble braids. You and your friend Vivian would often make plans to match your outfits and hair styles for school. You also like to put your soft curlers in and sleep on it to have wavy hair the next morning.

You've now played 6 seasons of softball. You show a lot of natural talent and have enjoyed it through these years, but we've noticed you getting less enjoyment out of it over the past season. You're going to participate in a volleyball camp in July and we are praying about whether you might play volleyball or softball in the fall. You are also good at and interested in cheer. It will be neat to see what the Lord has in store for you in this area.

You are still so generous. Last night we went to a Ghost Peppers baseball game. Throughout the course of the game, you, Daddy, and Luke each got to walk away with a baseball to take home. I jokingly said I was the only one who didn't get a baseball. A few moments later, you turned to me with your ball in hand and asked me if I wanted yours. Of course I told you that you could keep it, but it melted my heart.

You are thrilled to be going to your first baby shower with me this summer. We are throwing one for Haley, our young adults pastor. When you heard me telling Honey about it in the car, you immediately piped up and asked me if you could come, then when we got home, started painting a bunch of pictures for decorations. You are going to help me make fruit skewers and we are going to make a gluten free bundt cake as well.

You've decided you like salads. The four of us had lunch at Bad Daddy's about a month ago and you surprised me by ordering a salad instead of burger! You were also delighted to make us a fruit salad on my birthday. I told you we could go to some fancy salad restaurants together now that you enjoy this, because I certainly love a good salad, too!

We are so incredibly proud of you, Nora, and love you with all our hearts!

Love,

Mommy