Ember turns 10!!
DOUBLE DIGITS! It feels like a big deal - it IS a big deal! Our baby girl is growing up and time doesn't let us forget it. We have so many fond memories of the first 10 years with our Ember and pray to God that we get many more decades together.
At the age of 10, Ember is 52 inches tall and weighs right about 60 lbs. She still has her own room and the color scheme is still light pink and gold. We have made a few small changes this year such as a larger desk and mirror for her to brush and do her hair in the morning and some fairy lights with some clips to hold pictures hanging above her desk. Ember still needs a little more time than the boys to unwind at night and enjoys reading, doing homework or working on a project for a little while before falling asleep. She continues to call her Daddy up to her room each night to "touch her fingers" and she still sleeps with Silky bear and her other stuffed animals. She falls asleep to music still as well and her favorite song for us to sing to her at bedtime right now is Amazing Grace.
Ember continues to be our social butterfly. She is always excited and ready to go to school or any other social gathering or event. She is almost always confident in these types of situations and is willing to be a leader when one is needed. Ember loves to be silly and laugh with her family and friends. She is still very imaginative and is always coming up with a new game for her and her brothers to play - which sometimes goes well and sometimes does not. Ember works hard at the tasks set before her and wants to do a good job at whatever she puts her hand to. She will usually do extra work if that is an option. She hardly complains about doing her chores or school work and just does it. She still is a good money saver and does not spend her money too often.
Ember has many favorite things. She loves all things having to do with school and learning and friends. She loves all parts of school but says that chapel is her favorite. She loves to read and continues to fly through books. She loves to play soccer and practice gymnastic skills. She has also started practicing and playing some volleyball at recess at school and with us in the yard. Ember loves to sing and has a beautiful voice for a 10 year old. She memorized all the verses of Amazing Grace this last year. Another one of Ember's favorite things is trips. She still loves Mexico and any theme park trips. She has been really enjoying our camping trips as well. Ember loves to do activities such as ice skating, high ropes adventure courses, swimming and bowling. She is pretty fearless and did a zipline into water and a swing that drops you from way up high this past summer. She is still a great eater. Here are a few of her current favorites: oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly tortilla, jalapeno garlic olives, assorted raw veggies, sweet potato chips, apple, grapes, pizza and a butternut squash soup from her kids cookbook.
As Ember is getting older, I am noticing that she is less into playing with toys. She does have one toy that she still plays with daily and that is her Tamagotchi that she bought with her own money this past summer. She loves taking care of her digital pet and sending gifts to her friend that also has the same toy. Ember still enjoys crafts and projects such as her latch kit and diamond dots. She has really been enjoying the Art Hub for Kids step by step drawing videos on YouTube and she is doing really good at those. She still really likes being outside and doing physical activities such as riding her bike, rollerblading, practicing soccer or volleyball, and doing her skip it or jump rope. She really enjoys playing school with the boys as Grandma keeps donating items to her classroom. She enjoys playing sports or taking care/playing with her tiger pet on the Xbox Kinnect. Ember also enjoys doing her own hair or trying new hairstyles on someone else. She also paints her nails more often on her own and got this water bead foot spa with some of her birthday money that she has fun with.
Ember still struggles when something does not come to her easily or when she feels behind or rushed. Sometimes these things cause her to become emotional which only makes the situation worse. She struggles with showing grace and patience towards her brothers when they are interfering with what she is trying to do. And she is still working on responding appropriately to each situation - small responses for small situations and bigger responses for bigger situations. She also is alot like her mommy in that she likes control over her environment and gets frustrated at times when things don't go as planned or expected.
It is so fun to watch Ember grow and learn in all areas of life. Physically, she has continued to improve at soccer and it paid off in her scoring at least one goal almost every game during the summer season. She can now do a back bend into a walkover pretty consistently. She is getting the bump pass down in volleyball and has gotten pretty proficient at roller blading this past year. In the realm of academics, an employee from the school told me that a test the 4th graders took this year showed that Ember was borderline gifted in her intelligence. She continues to read above her grade level with understanding. She is learning 3 digit by 3 digit multiplication in math and learned the alphabet in sign language by heart on her own. She is also doing really well at her spelling tests which she hasn't had previous years. Emotional growth and maturity is probably the hardest for Ember, but she continues to make progress. There are good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks - but her heart is in a good place and she wants to grow in this area. She attempts to be able to control her emotions better and she desires to let some things simply roll off her back. She is slowly understanding more and more that everyone isn't out to make her life hard and that sometimes she just needs to assume the best of others. She is also learning that you cannot please everyone in life so it is a far better aim to try and please the Lord in all that we say, think, and do. Spiritually, Ember continually wants to learn more about God and please him in the way that she lives. She is memorizing large chunks of Scripture each month at school and, as I stated earlier, says that chapel is the best part of the week for her. Ember has been taking notes during the sermons at church on Sundays. She has also enjoyed going to a 4th - 6th midweek event at our church every other week where they are memorizing scripture, learning catechism answers, and hearing the word of God taught. She continues to bring up truths about God to those around her and I pray that God continues to light that fire for him in her heart.
Writing these blog posts out each year reminds me how God has created Ember uniquely and specially many years ago and much of who he made her to be hasn't changed. But I am also reminded each year of just how much growth and maturity happens. Ember is still the same girl we brought home from the hospital 10 years ago in so many ways. But then, she has also learned and grown in so many areas that she is very different with each passing year. We are so proud of who she is and thankful to get to be her parents. We thank God for 10 years with our beautiful daughter. We love you, Ember!
BIRTHDAY ACTIVITIES:
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