Fourteen and Fabulous!

Our no longer "Little E" turned 14 this year! FOURTEEN! 

I decided to write her blog post first because according to Eliza, her birthday comes first. You see, she was born about 10:30am and Hazel wasn't born until 12:30pm, so her birthday is obviously first. Hazel disagrees haha! 

Either way, we were so excited to celebrate Eliza and Hazel's birthdays. While packing I found the banner I made the year they had a Fancy Nancy birthday party. They've grown a bit since then... 

In fact, this has been a year of tremendous growth for Eliza. She's grown taller (by at least 6 inches), stronger (hello aerial silks), and wiser. Eliza tackled her most challenging school year yet and did a fantastic job! 

She's always been confident and unapologetically herself, but I love how this year she's embraced that confidence even more. While so many of her and Hazel's social, spiritual, and academic circles overlap, Eliza's been charting her own path, and we love it! She's comfortable in her own skin and it shows in how she presents herself each day. 

Eliza has also grown stronger and more resilient this year. We've loved seeing her face hard things with courage and a positive attitude. 

The news of the move was hard on everyone. But she's repeatedly looked for the bright spots and worked SO hard helping us prepare. Now that we're here, she's gone out of her way to be friendly and outgoing. She told me that at the home school program this week she walked in on a small group of kids just sitting in the gym without talking before school started. Rather than sit down and keep to herself, she loudly walked in and said, "Well you're all sure quiet in here!" and started making friends. 

She tackled quite a few new skills this year and worked really hard. She just finished her first year of private violin lessons. She's come SO far! In fact, she was able to get into the upper level orchestra at the home school assistance program here in Iowa. It will be a challenge for her, but she will do great. (While I don't have any pictures of her playing, I do have this ridiculous movie. Hazel was helping Eliza film herself playing for her end of year Vanguard presentation. Michael and I were gone somewhere, and they were getting tired and slap happy. Hazel took all the blooper shots and created this. They are SO fun together when they're not getting on each other's nerves.)

Eliza's enjoyed quite a few new experiences this year including her first year of choir, her first choir tour, her first plane ride, and her first FSY. She chose to attend ASL FSY and LOVED it! She made some great friends and had fun with old friends. (Then immediately got in the moving truck to start driving to Iowa. Whew! Talk about a bit of a rough transition, but she handled it with grace.)

At home, Eliza is a fun big sister. She's not always the most nurturing with the little boys, but when there is serious fun happening, you can bet Eliza was involved. Here she is making mustaches and beards for Lionel and Walter just like in the book. 

She fills our home with beautiful music, order, strong opinions, a deep love of chickens, and many great lessons given in quiet moments.

We love you Eliza! We are SO proud of your strong sense of self, your positive attitude, your helping hands, your care of creatures, and the fun you bring into our home. Happy Birthday!