Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Elizabeth's a Teenager!

Time to catch up on this blog of mine! 
We had another big birthday around here--we are now the parents of a teenager! It was a pretty quiet celebration. It was hard to pin her down even on gifts that she wanted this year but we did our best.
Of course, she got a gift card to buy books--what she really wants. :)
The sad thing about getting behind on blogging is that I don't remember a lot of things, including what else she got for her birthday. I also forgot somehow to get a picture of her cake but she did decorate it herself and I stole these screenshots from the video of her blowing out her candles:
She loves to decorate cakes!

Elizabeth's 13th year was a big one for her! She started her first year of junior high with a pretty challenging load--lots of honors classes. It was tough for her, especially her accelerated math class, but she is doing great. She's had some health struggles, too, with some increased migraines and asthma issues and we're still figuring out how to help her manage those better. She took art her first semester and had fun making a self-portrait. They were on display in the district office:
(Hers is third from the right on the top row)
She had a big rollercoaster project for her math class. They had to design a rollercoaster according to certain specifications and send a ball bearing through it. This involved a lot of group meetings with her friends Medha and :
Here's their finished project. They did an ancient Egyptian theme.
Then, at the end of the school year, their class got to go to Great America. Elizabeth loved that. She really loves going on scary rides, the scarier the better. They don't phase her one bit!

Elizabeth started rock-climbing more regularly this past year since we got her, Natalie and Joe memberships. It hasn't been easy to be consistent but we're hoping she'll join the rec climbing league so she can perfect her skills. She is really good! She did a season of swim team and didn't love it. It was tough competition in her age group but by the end of the season, she was doing a lot better. She had some bad migraines, especially with sitting in the sun on meet days (and reading, as she often does, so she doesn't notice it coming on). Anyway, she finished out the season and we told her she didn't have to do it again. She also took golf through the junior high intramural program. She didn't love that either although Joe thinks she could be really good at golf if she wanted to be. She has a good swing. We're still figuring out how to make sure she gets enough exercise regularly, since she doesn't love sports. 

She's still in piano and has progressed a lot. She is playing much harder songs which she loves to play as fast as she possibly can. She doesn't like to play things slowly. :) It is impressive, though. She has been earning a lot of money babysitting and is a great one (from everything I hear). She has also grown about 6 inches in less than a year! As of writing this, she is JUST about to pass me up. We'll see if she keeps on growing or if she's almost done. 

She still has a passion for reading. She loves reading so much she spends pretty much every lunch period in the library. I wish she would eat and socialize more but it doesn't seem to bother her much. She even took on the unabridged version of Les Miserables recently! She reads a lot. :) She still loves arts and crafts, too. She can crochet really nice-looking things, now. Her stitches are really even and it's fun to see her make things. She loves board games, too, and can hold her own in monopoly against Joe. :)

We sure love our Lizzie! Our family life is so much better with her in it. 

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