Sunday, September 1, 2013

Though She Be But Little, She is Fierce!

Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was posting about her birth, her first birthday, Josie at twoher 3rd birthday a year late, Josie at four, and five with some flashbacks to three. Now my baby will soon be six going on sixteen. Slow down my sweet strong soul. There is plenty of time later to be grown. With a 13, 9, and soon to be six year old in the house I can say I want them to be kids as long as they want. We have a crazy culture where we rush their growth academically and socially, yet we don't truly respect them as people and "baby" them in the worst ways possible. Cry it out and helicopter parenting is a lot of what is sold to us. I love that we shared our sleep with our kids, I nursed them until they were ready to move on (which was a different age for each of them), and I have the luxury to homeschool, public school, or private school them based on their unique needs. The hardest times in our relationships is when I try to "speed up their growth" instead of respecting where they are...when I respect them as they are, I am always amazed at their maturity.

We had Josie's party this weekend at one of her favorite places in town.
 The party at the gymnastics academy with smiles. Josie is the black and red leo in the middle.
The party group with funny faces.
 The birthday girl in the middle of the parachute.
 Parachute fun after all the running and jumping in the gym.
 Coach Ian carrying the birthday girl out to enjoy pizza and cake.
 Josie taking a piece of her favorite pizza; Mandarin orange with tofu from one of her other favorite places. Josie picked out six pizzas for her sixth birthday.
 Gluten free crust with Mandarin orange and black olives for Josie's bestie, Indi.
 Mandarin orange, vegan sausage, and sauerkraut.
 Seitan Reuben pizza (seitan, sauerkraut, and dressing) for her brother, Dema.
 Mandarin orange and tofu.
 Carmelized onion and broccoli for her brother, Parker.
Caramelized onion, broccoli, and artichoke with pesto instead of tomato sauce for her mom (who didn't get any because the guests devoured it).
Dema and Josie are best buds and after singing happy birthday, Dema came up and gave her a sweet hug and she kissed him in front of everyone to his embarrassment.
 Rob's cakes are never pretty, but they are always delicious.
Rob made two of his traditional birthday cakes (the kids ask for it every birthday) from Vive le Vegan! (Raspberry Frosted Cake with Chocolate Cream Center), but with a gluten free twist.
Josie said it was her best birthday yet. Here she is with our gift, a horse from a secondhand store. I don't have pictures of her with the gifts she received from her party guests. They were so so sweet! We asked for no presents, but she received so many thoughtful gifts from handmade cards, to gift certificates to the gymnastics academy to ballet outfits, to art supplies, to Legos, to bling, etc. Happy Birthday to my sweet baby doll ninja princess. You are so strong, passionate, loving, strong-willed, thoughtful, protective, wise, articulate, forgiving, and you have a sense of fashion that stops people in their tracks with a memory that always amazes me. I love you "infinity most no one can beat". Though you be but little, you are fierce.

No comments: