The Birthday Girl

Today, my little girl turned 9! I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. Here she is enjoying her crumb cake for breakfast before heading off for a day of skiing. (I'm sure she was just thrilled with the Dora plate.)And the best part about the day of skiing, was her brand new "girl" skis. (Picked out by Shawn.) She has always wanted "girl" skis (definitely with a little pink.) She has gotten tired of skiing on Jonas' hand-me down "boy" skis for the past 6 years, I guess.
And a bunch of supplies for playing school.
2 student desks at $1.00 each

2 student chairs at $.50 each

1 overhead projector at $1.00

The joy of finally being able to play school "properly".... priceless.
Just look at those attentive students. Samantha is always looking for willing participants for her to teach.
(And at $3.oo total, I don't feel bad sending the desks and chairs on to the DI when the playing school obsession passes. The overhead projector I plan to keep. I may even pick up a couple of spares.)

Samantha at 9:

She loves to sing and to dance and to perform in anyway. She always has a song in her head - which she often shares with us (much to Jonas' dismay.) She is able to pick out songs by ear on the harp or piano. (Not a talent she got from me - that's for sure.) She can be very dramatic about everything, and is "on stage" a lot of the time. She has a great sense of humor and makes us laugh all the time. (See previous post about frozen underwear.) She can be extremely helpful with the younger kids and is a good big sister.

If she decides to do something she will make it happen and there is no stopping her (but only if it is her idea.) I have been very proud of some of the choices she has been making this year (such as pointing out some things that should have been marked wrong on her schoolwork that weren't.) She does very well in school. She is becoming a very good athlete - especially skiing, swimming and biking, and loves ballet. She wants to be involved in everything and will work hard to learn something new if she decides to. Currently she wants to be a chemist but her father thinks she should be an attorney because she can negotiate just about anything. She is turning into a beautiful young girl. I love her long hair (but don't especially love brushing it out.) We could do without her "shark" teeth, but we do kind of miss her bulldog cheeks. All in all she is a lot of fun to have around (even though the two of us butt heads - A LOT) and I feel blessed to be her mom.

Photo by Amelia (as many of my best photos are.)