Elsa's Birthday Review, Part 2: Pierced Ears

Elsa has been wanting to get her ears pierced for a while now, but we decided to wait until her birthday and make an occasion of it.

Before:

 

During:

 

After:

 

**Sparkles**

   

 Coming tomorrow: Part 3: Elsa learns to ride a bike!

Elsa's Birthday Review, Part 1: Gifts and Donuts

The Birthday Morning...
   

We may have gone a bit overboard...but hey, we're making up for lost time!

  

 

 Coming tomorrow: Part 2: Elsa gets her ears pierced!

It's Elsa's Birthday!

It is Elsa's birthday! Her first birthday! Well - not really her 1st birthday - but her first birthday. What I mean is, this is the first time in her life that she has known it's her birthday; that it has been acknowledged; that it has been celebrated.

You know us Sorenson's, we are big into birthdays. So we are going above and beyond today. Indeed, we have a day packed full of fun, food, and surprises ahead!

~Seven~

 

Come back tomorrow for a re-cap of all the birthday fun!! 

I can't wait!

Swoops & Loops

On Sunday mornings I play piano for the Primary organization at church. The past few months, we have ditched Elisabeth's wheelchair and opted to bring along her bean bag instead. It works out perfectly. Just like at home, I place it alongside the piano and nestle her in (see this post).

This morning, as I was playing piano, I glanced down and noticed my name embroidered on the corner of the quilt she was snuggled up with. I have been using that quilt a lot lately, but completely forgot my name was sewn on! My mother helped me make that blanket when I was young (a preteen maybe?) and I love seeing it being used by my own child this many years later.

I might add that I am pretty sure that's the only thing I have ever sewn...and it turned out pretty darn good, I'd say!

 

I love that my name starts with the letter L. 

L's are so much fun to write with their swoops and loops!

 

#outforthecount

Come back to The Far Side tomorrow - it is going to be an EXCITING day!!

Serious Stuff

  

I tried and tried and tried to wake Elisabeth up when I got to her classroom after school. I brushed my finger across her cheeks and whispered her name for several minutes. Didn't work. Then I figured the cool spring wind would wake her when we exited the school. 

Nope. 

Still out cold. 

Half-day kindergarten is serious stuff.

Small and Simple Things + Lisa's Finishing School Part 8

This past weekend the girls and I went and saw a ballet production of Hansel and Gretel. Oh, how I loved it! I think ballet is one of the most beautiful art forms. When the girls were young I enrolled them in ballet - in fact, they did ballet for years and years. I had high hopes of having a prima ballerina in this house, but alas, it just wasn't meant to be. But maybe Elsa??

***

Enrichment for Elisabeth

As I have pondered ways to enrich Elisabeth's life I remembered back to when she was a new baby. At that time we had just come to know of her vision impairment and I decided to fill her little world with music; to paint pictures in her mind through notes rather than visual art. Every day I would lay her on a blanket next to the piano and play for her. Somewhere along the way I got distracted from our little ritual (life does that sometimes) and it became somewhat forgotten.

So this week I've returned to our old tradition. Instead of a blanket, I take her beanbag into the parlor and the nestle her into it. Then I play piano and sing to my angelic little girl. It's a small thing, a simple thing, but by small and simple things are great things brought to pass...

   

Music in the Parlor

Enrichment for Elisabeth: Part 1

It's Confirmed, She Can Run

So...we adopted an Ethiopian. And Ethiopian's are known to be amazing runners. Well, let me tell you, Elsa is no exception. The elementary school just held its annual jog-a-thon and Elsa Lelise (who is in kindergarten, mind you) ran more laps than any other child!

The only time she slowed down was when she found her best friend crying because she couldn't find anyone else in their class. Elsa wrapped her arm around her and walked an entire lap alongside her, just like that. It pretty much melted my heart. Elsa is the most compassionate person I have ever met. And for that reason I am blessed to have her in my life; compassion is something I have always struggled with and Elsa sets a great example for me.

And I best give a shout out to Lex and Lorelai, jog-a-thon veterans:

Good job, girls!

Easter Review: Part II

I'll tell you what, one of the best parts of adopting a child from a far off land has been watching her reactions to holidays. First there was Thanksgiving...and then Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day. Leading up to Easter we started teaching Elsa about its significance as well as fun traditions like baskets, bunnies, and dyed eggs. Needless to say, she thought Easter was absolutely fabulous!

Elsa, dyeing Easter Eggs with her sisters for the very first time:

As is tradition, the children woke up to find small
chocolate eggs hidden all over the house, like so:

   

 And then...they were off on a hunt!:

 

"The Easter Bunny must be very big."

-Elsa

Easter 2014

Presenting...

 ~Elisabeth Elva~

 

 ~Elsa Lelise~

 

 ~Lorelai Leigh~

 

 ~Alexandra Louise~

 

 ~Sisters~

    

A blessed Easter day.

(Still to come...dyeing Easter eggs + an egg hunt!)