Maggie & cousin Georgia at Muddy Run, July 2023
To go back to August, we got to have a very fun pool party for her birthday. We don’t do parties every year since there are so many kids in the family. We try to do a party for “big” birthdays: 1, 5, 10, 13, and 16. It just so happens we have three big birthdays this year, and Maggie’s party kicked off our celebration of life.
Maggie is the toddler whisperer. Whenever there’s a preschool age kiddo you can usually find her there. Sometimes I think Hans thinks Maggie is his mom and he would choose her over me.
Sadly it was shockingly and unseasonably cold for her pool party but that didn’t stop the kids from swimming. We rented the pool for 2 hours and it was the easiest birthday party I’ve ever hosted. Probably because it didn’t matter how messy I left my house. I made all of Maggie’s requested desserts. Actually, she and Abbey made the one everyone liked the best (and the two of them happened to win 1st place in a baked French toast competition at church recently).
Maggie continues to enjoy art. She won two second place ribbons at the Lampeter fair this year for her drawings as well as a first place for a hand sewn doll.
She has taken on a tremendous role in our family this year. With five younger siblings, including a brother who is totally obsessed with her and a newborn sister, she has many duties at home. She has her school work to attend to, but also babysits for me several times per week as our other kiddos have many appointments and Heidi has ballet weekly on Tuesday mornings.
I wanted to encourage Maggie to try a new sport or some activity to get her with her peers and making friends. She is uninterested in sports, but as I mentioned, loves art. I remembered a Christian woman in the southern end posting on a homeschool page about an art class with a Christ-centered approach. I knew I was late in asking but wanted to reach out to see if she had space for this school year or if I should wait. It seemed God ordained that she had one space remaining in her Art 101 class of all girls and that if Maggie wanted to join she needed to the next week or it would be too far into the year for her to catch up. It also “happened” to be the only day consistently open on my calendar. So we went for it. Yes, it has made my schedule busier for the rest of the year: however, I recognize what I’m asking of her everyday is a lot for a 13-year-old. Her two older sisters are quite jealous that they didn’t get an art class when they were homeschooled and helping me, but the truth is I hadn’t thought of it. I wish I had as an alternative to participating in a sport.
(How Maggie can often be found)
A recent painting.
We love you Maggie! I’m so proud of you and extremely grateful for all you do for me so uncomplainingly. I’m impressed with your growth of character already this year. You’re such a special part of our family and I’m thankful you were born.
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