We celebrated Mother’s Day and Elizabeth’s birthday yesterday! As the last kid to have a birthday every spring, she’s often accused of being older than she actually is so that I can rattle off odd or even numbers for their ages, but because she’s so mature for her age, it’s never really a stretch.
She’s still our liquid sunshine, my right-hand woman, the nurturing big sister who steps in to kiss a boo-boo or read a book when Mommy is otherwise occupied. Elizabeth is intensely aware of people’s feelings, and she still can’t stand movies or books where people are bullied or suffer injustice. She is friends with everyone. Even the crotchety old men on our culdesac who hate all the other children love Elizabeth and will gladly chat with her while washing their cars or cleaning out their garages. She has a strong sense of compassion and is the first child to try to comfort a sibling or parent who is having a bad day. She’s taken on additional kitchen cleaning responsibilities this spring and is doing a great job! She still loves to dance and read. Current favorites include the Five Little Peppers series, The Princess and the Goblin, Little Women, and the Little House books (again). She told me her flashlight battery is pretty low from reading The Long Winter in bed after light’s out. I would scold her except that I distinctly recall reading my copy of The Long Winter under the covers by flashlight when I was her age. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
For her birthday, she really wanted to have a roller blade party with the other Pepperdine homeschoolers, the Daughritys, who have been gone in Florence all year and just got back to town. We were overjoyed to hear that the Fishers would be back for the month of May, too, so on Monday all the Pepperdine homeschoolers, past and present, gathered for lunch (sandwiches and fruit), cake (making a roller skate cake is hard!), and playtime! Everyone roller bladed, then the girls painted their nails. They had a great time.
