Update on Maria

I just cannot warm up today. It is in the high 50s outside, so I shouldn't be this cold. But I turned on the fireplace here beside me because I am cold deep down inside. My heart feels like it is shivering.

I haven't updated about my girlies in a long time. So here goes.

Maria is almost 9 and a half now. We have started planning her half birthday party for the end of June (fyi, her birthday is on Christmas Eve, so we do her party in the summer as a half birthday). I promised all the girls "big" parties this year with other kids and stuff, so this is huge deal for her. She is getting so big and old, caught between little girl and tween. She seems to switch back and forth on a daily basis. We are nearing the end of her first school year of piano lessons and in the last month or so she's taken off. It was like a lightbulb went off for her. "Hey, if I practice, I can play actual songs!" It was kind of funny. And the attention she's gotten about it from me, Brad, and her piano teacher only reinforces her determination. My goal oriented child. She is the kind of person you really look at and say to yourself, "she could do ANYTHING she set her mind to." She started long division in math recently, and the first day or two she was very frustrated, but true to form she refused to give up. She completed each days assignments even if they took her two hours to do, despite my pleas to let it go, give it some time, take it slow. And now she is flying through long division problems. It makes me shake my head in wonder. She is so inspirational. Now if i could just get her writing in cursive. Heh. I bought her the Beverly Cleary book, Muggie Maggie all about a third grader who doesn't want to learn cursive, but so far she just thought it was a funny story and it didn't motivate her. The funny part to me is she KNOWS cursive. I taught her cursive first. But I never forced the girls to write in it, I let them choose. She chose manuscript and sees no need to change it now.
Funny thing, she has suddenly become "uncomfortable" with boys. She used to play with boys and girls indiscriminately. In the last month or so, she doesn't seem to know what to do with boys. She either avoids them or drives them crazy chasing them and annoying them. The homeschool group has no other nine year old girls. We have several eight year old girls and several ten and eleven year old girls, but this is a hang up for her. She wants other nine year olds. There are, however, several nine year old boys. Poor kid thinks this is SO unfair.
She has always been quite the fashionista and lately she has become more experimental with her fashion statements. I love it. When I'm not cringing, that is. Oh, even then I love it. Heh. She alternates her two favorite pairs of shoes, high top black chucks and silver glitter covered ballet flats. Froo froo and tomboy is usually juxtaposed quite interestingly. The other day she had on a blue, sparkly butterfly graphic print tank top with a white shrug over it and a skort sporting several shades of blue tulle...with her chucks. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She is growing her bangs out and fusses with her hair constantly. She is such a girl...even with holes in her jeans and grass stains everywhere.


I'm tired now. I'll write about Zoe and Luci later.

Update on Zoe

Zoe, Zoe...what can I say about Zoe? A lot actually.

She is eight and a half now. Finishing up 2nd grade at the moment. Still as curious as always. Compassionate and loving. I always introduce new kids in our homeschool group to Zoe first and then ask her to make sure they meet the other kids and get included. One, because she seems to have no shyness or inhibitions really even though she is an introvert, and two, because her compassionate and loving nature is obvious to everyone and I know she will indeed make sure the new kids get included. She is so sweet it hurts.

Her reading skills have really taken off in the last few months. There is very little she can't or won't read. I love to watch her read. She still has an obsession with animals and bugs and nature in general and will spend hours with her pet rats, training them, feeding them treats, loving on them. They run into her hands and up to her shoulders when she opens the cage door and if anyone else is holding them, they will literally jump to Zoe if she is close enough. Every new leaf that opens on the tiny plants she is growing is celebrated intensely. The other day, we took George, the puppy, to the vet and while we were there an "emergency" came in. A small girl, maybe six or seven, came running in ahead of her mother, holding a limb guinea pig in her hands and crying stormily. They were ushered into an exam room and about five minutes later we heard wails of grief from the room. Poor Zoe could hardly stand it. She was curled up beside me shaking and silently crying along with the poor girl in the room. She kept murmuring, "Oh, poor thing. Poor thing. It is just like when Jesse died. It hurts so much. Poor thing." The world is full of wonder and joy for Zoe, but also full of pain.

She absolutely LOVES singing in the Rocky Mountain Children's Choir. She concentrates so hard and is so animated. She and Luci are in the entry level choir and I'm really, really hoping they move Zoe up next year. She's had a hard time with the younger kids and the more relaxed atmosphere of the entry level choir. She hates it when the kids don't pay attention and they lose practice time in chaos. Maria is in the next level, and it is a much more controlled and focused environment. I think she would really thrive there, so I'm crossing my fingers for it. She loves to perform and will jump up and sing for just about anyone if I ask her to do so.

She makes my heart swell until it feels like it might burst.