A Shower of Roses Sweet Sixteen

It was May and for us that means the start of "Birthday Season" although… it's not just birthdays, we also have an anniversary to celebrate too thrown in the middle there. 

Sunshine turned sixteen over Memorial Day Weekend. She asked for a rose themed birthday. Boy am I glad she was born in May, not February. Roses are cheap in May! Some of them were even blooming right outside in my own flower bed.

She was delighted to get to spend her day visiting with family and friends who showed up and surprised her after Mass with lunch, cupcakes and a lovely card!

She picked out this cake as the cake she wanted. Her wish was my command!

A strawberry cake with homemade buttercream frosting. The little blobs of icing at the bottom were to help hold the candles. Not the best idea. I ended up sticking them at an angle into the bottom of the cake. She was tickled pink. This was one of the easiest cakes I've ever decorated. I cut a round piece of waxed paper to cover the cake so that the roses wouldn't drip onto the frosting and put a *blob of frosting in the middle of the waxed paper to help secure the bottom layer of roses. Other than that, the roses are just stacked on top.

*Blob… not sure that's a technical term in the cake decorating world, but you know what I mean.

We hunkered down at home the rest of the day and waited out the storms by watching chick flicks and opening presents! I bought this wrapping paper out of frustration when I couldn't find a single rose themed paper, but I ended up loving it! Tiny little dried roses decorated the tops. 

 My big kids love to make cards for each other. Some are sweet, some are funny, all are beloved.

But eventually...

Miss Cupcake announced, "It's time for cake!!!"

Totally ready for cake!

 Happy Birthday to our darling girl! 

You are beautiful inside and out.

See Me Homeschool {blog hop & link-up}

I kind of feel like I should call this "See Them Homeschool" because my homeschooled aged kids are all of the age and temperament that they can go about their day and accomplish their tasks without my direct interaction. Since I'm the last to post in this group, maybe what I'm really offering you mamas-of-all-those-little-ones is a little glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. Please know that all your hard work is doing so much good. Someday, your kids will be doing their work on their own too, taking charge of their education and really embracing it as their own challenge (that is… if that's what you want them to do). You're helping create good habits now while they are young. Our days didn't always look like this… these days are the fruit of hard work and effort along with a healthy dose of discipline and a generous amount of fun. Hang in there. It's worth it!

I took these pictures last Thursday (February 19th) which I realized, after the fact, is the busiest day online for my high school kids. They each take two online classes and three of them are on Thursday. The Professor is taking Latin and Literature. Sunshine is taking Grammar and Composition. It was also the day before BigBoy's monthly book club so I was busy preparing for that when I wasn't tending to Cupcake's needs. As you take a peek at our day, please bear in mind, my kids are:

The Professor: 17 years old, high school junior

Sunshine: 15 years old, high school freshman

Rain: 14 years old, 8th grade

BigBoy: 10 years old, 5th grade

Cupcake: 3 years old with a mind of her own

Now the purpose of this project was to provide you with a photo essay of our homeschool days. (You can read my very wordy essay in the How I Homeschool Series here.) I will try to stick to that but a caption or two might break through my wordless resolve. Sorry. And, just as an aside, I am posting pictures of my older kids with their express permission. Privacy and respect is very important to teenagers and their preferences always come first.

Most days, by the time I come out from the shower or from taking care of/snuggling with Cupcake, my big kids have already had breakfast and are hitting the showers themselves or getting in a little exercise.

She can do it all by herself!

The hardest part of my day… keeping Cupcake busy!

In the meantime…

Lunch time!

(I get Cupcake's and mine. They get their own.)

The Professor emerges from his study desk in our bedroom for a well earned lunch and some personal reading time. Husband and I stay in touch via Gmail chat almost every day. During lunch, I like to check in with him. After lunch it's back to work checking math, practicing the piano, starting a new literature book (horsing around)… even Cupcake gets a little time to work on some phonics on the big computer. {Darn it… no more talking now.}

Exploding toilet… not a typical homeschooling activity. 

The end of the day included my teens making dinner together. Home Economics, Baby! It totally made up for the regurgitating toilet that everyone swears they didn't jinx.

Nicknames…

So, the whole *Cutesy Nickname debate came to a head in my house this past weekend when I decided to sit down with my big kids and ask them what they thought. Cuz' you know... at 16, 14 and 13… they are allowed and encouraged to have their own say and express their own thoughts.

Most everyone, including the almost 10 year old, were totally fine with their nicknames and even liked them. When offered the option to use their real name or a fake name that sounds like a real name or even their confirmation name, they all declined. Anyone who knows my oldest son, knows that "The Professor" really is who he is. It's far from "cutesy"… it's reality. The boy studies weather maps, has his own weather radio, reads Latin for fun, has a map of Middle Earth on his bedroom wall and has read every book in our house at least twice, I'm sure.

My youngest son stated that he was quite proud to be called Bigboy since he sincerely hopes to someday be taller than his 5'11" older brother. He thinks being the biggest baby I birthed (weighing in at 8lbs. 9oz.) is proof of that inevitability. I think he's well on his way. Sunshine's life, like any teenage girl, is not always "sunshine and roses" but she tries to have a sunny disposition and can usually be placated with chocolate and yarn when the hormones get tough. See?---------->

Shortcake is the only one who said that she feels like maybe she's outgrown that name. (Truth be told, she was the one I struggled with the most when first coming up with nicknames.) She still likes it because of the spunky quality she thinks it imbues, but she'd like to change her name to something that suits her personality a little more now and one that compliments "Sunshine" too. Those two are as close as twins, I tell you (even though they can be as different as night and day)!

So from here on, "Shortcake" will be called "Rain". Personally, I love it! Sunshine and Rain. If you know my two girls at all, you know that Sunshine really is a beam of sunshine and light. And Rain, well, she likes things a little mysterious and broody… just like a cold rainy day.

So, to anyone who feels insulted or unwelcome here because I haven't shared their real names with you personally, please feel free to email me and I will let you know their real names. I don't have a problem with them being known. I just have a problem with them being always and forever tied to this blog. 

To those of you who are "change resistant" and think that it's just gonna be too hard to make the switch, I'm sorry, but this is one of those times when I have to go with my child's wishes.

To the people who are still uber-concerned about safety and privacy... I get it. Those of us who can't help but be plagued by all the "what ifs" regarding our children's safety and security would love to be able to just let that go, but it's so ingrained; it's part of who we are. It's kind of the way God made us. (I'm betting most of you are oldest children too, am I right?) And if you aren't that kind of person, but you are doing it because of your spouse's wishes, then God bless you! What a wonderful sign of respect.

To the people who said that using real names meant they were more careful about the things that they shared about their children, good for you! I see nothing wrong with anyone using their child's real name. It's simply a matter of preference. Even though I use nicknames, I always ask my children if it's OK to post what I post. I'm very considerate of their wishes. My older three regularly read my blog and have even started commenting sometimes so I really have to give them fair consideration. We all have our reasons for doing what we do.

To the people who just can't bring themselves to type these "cutesy names" in a comment box, feel free to refer to my children by their ages. Or "your daughter" or "your son". I'm smart enough to figure out who you are talking about. ;)

*If you are using cutesy in your head and it sounds more like an insult than just an adjective, you might want to reevaluate that. What you consider "cutesy" might be something she's conceded to out of love for someone else and that should be commended. It also tends to build a box around someone and label them. I hate to be put in a box. Cutesy is in the eye of the beholder and what you might consider gooey or saccharine sweet might be something your fellow blogging Catholic mama loves. It's all good, right?

Sunshine's Test Knitting Update

Here is an update on Sunshine's progress. She's test knitting a friend's pattern and hoping that this will be her first completed sweater that will become a part of Cupcake's wardrobe this year! She had one rough spot but she was able to work that out with Katherine. She's feeling more confident now but still sees some areas where she'd like to work on her technique should she try to make this pattern again. It's really been a learning experience for her in so many ways and I'm thrilled that she's had the chance to do it alongside such a gentle teacher and friend like Katherine. It's also been quite a learning experience for me. I may not know how to knit but I'm learning the vocabulary!

Sew Successful!

My girls, along with another sweet friend, are taking a couple of sewing classes. I'm really hoping they learn the proper way to sew, then they can teach me! I learned to sew for the theater with lots of shortcuts and jimmy-rigging. It's served me well when I've needed it, but I wish I knew more about proper sewing techniques.

Anyway, their first project was a pillowcase with a little accent color at the opening. They picked out their colors and everything. Sunshine's had a vintagey vibe while Shortcake's was more fantastical. Aren't they adorable? The pillow cases, too!

 

Don't just watch this...

Watch this and learn...

This Youtube video is just a snippet of the more in depth stories you can find on the Dove Real Beauty Sketches website. Watch this for yourself. Watch this for your daughters. Watch this with your daughters. Talk about what these women focused on so negatively (moles, wrinkles, freckles) that nobody else even saw. They were their own worst critics as women tend to be whether that's talking about physical features, intelligence, speaking ability or craft skills. Talk about what the strangers saw that had more to do with personality and their soul than physical features (sparkle in their eyes, friendliness, openness).

Then...

Watch this with your sons. Teach them that it's their job to help the women in their lives see the beauty they can't see. Teach them that the first way to help a young women focus on who she is and not how she looks is by focusing on who she is and not how she looks. Teach them to look for the sparkle in a woman's eye, her friendship, her faith.

 

Sunshine's Sky Scarf

I meant to post this back in June... oh well.

I saw this Sky Scarf idea on Pinterest (thanks Miss Kelly!) and showed it to Sunshine. She fell in love with it. Can I just say, as a homeschooling mom (although not a knitter), I love the idea of conceptual knitting. She's kind of grooving on it too and thinking of projects she can create along the same lines.

So, after looking at the instructions, she decided to come up with her own color scheme and wants to alter the width a little. It's going to be a long process but she's excited. The knitting began yesterday and Sunshine has given me permission to blog her progress. Since she is using worsted weight and not fingering or lace weight, a year's worth might make it too long so Sunshine reserves the right to finish off the scarf when she feels it's a good length. Might be 6 months, might be 9, we'll see how it goes. I think she'd like to see the change from summer to fall and then winter primarily although spring would give her more stormy skies to notate.. We decided that 10am was a good time for her to make a daily observance, of course reserving the right to change her observation should the weather change drastically during the day. I told her not to treat it like a science project but to allow for artistic license. I think she's going to find the patience the hardest to accomplish. She's usually anxious to start a project and get it on it's way enjoying seeing the progress she makes. This project progresses slowly but I think a few months will be enough to see something lovely emerging.

Here are her sky designations...

Clear blue:

Clear blue with clouds:

Light blue:

Light blue with clouds:

Foggy or snow:

Cloudy / overcast / light rain:

Dark clouds / heavy rain / thunderstorm:

Glasses

Her daddy has already said he'll beat any boys 
who make passes at his girl in her glasses!

They are mostly just for reading so she can take them on and off but she likes them so we'll all get used to seeing her in them, I guess. Right now, it's a big change. Is it just me or did she just turn into a teenager in those things? She's only eleven!!! Sigh.