Happy 12th, Ginger Dee!

Yes, I have a twelve year old daughter, and yes, that makes me feel very old. I cannot believe my little Ginger Dee is a young woman! Her two requests (besides the ear piercing, of course) were homemade potato soup in bread bowls....


.....and, a Bitty Baby. It's the baby doll from American Girl. Can I just say that it makes me very happy that my twelve year old still wanted a doll, a baby doll, for her birthday? No cell phone, no laptop, no Nintendo DS, just a doll. I love it. I love that she loves to babysit and practice her motherly role.
I love my Ginger Dee.

A trip to Claire's for Ginger's Birthday

In our family, you have to be 12 years old to get your ears pierced. I actually had mine pierced when I was 12, and also again about 10 years later, but both times they got infected and were so sensitive that I had to let them close up. As Ginger's birthday was getting closer, I considered trying again, but almost chickened out. Ginger basically forced me into it and I'm glad she did! It was a bonding experience for us. We had so much fun and I'm happy to report that three times a charm!

Our 1st Visitors the Day After Moving In!

The movers came and unloaded our truck on New Year's Eve and my sister, Brandi and her husband, Alan, arrived from Kentucky on New Year's Day. (Yes, they drove 16 hours each way to be with us for just a couple days!) Some people would think that would be hard to have company when everything is in disarray, but they're family and we were thrilled to have them here to celebrate with! We tried not to put them to work too much, except for making Brandi do all of our hair, and we enjoyed just hanging out and visiting. It was so nice to have my sister to laugh and cry with and I enjoyed getting to take Brandi to Babies 'R' Us to register for the birth of her first baby!