Soccer Games, Goodbyes, and Hellos

We loaded up the kids and got right to our first soccer game of the season.

Last year, Firstborn played goalie, but this year, they put her in the field.

I love watching them play! Lost voice? Who cares?! My girls are playing! We tied 1-1 with Twinkle assisting a friend for the goal.

And then the day we had dreaded for so long came. Sweet friends and bittersweet goodbyes.

Interesting how the Lord would have this all occur in the same day. It seemed we needed to be reminded of His special love for us. And so we Right after we drove out to the airport to pick up my Uncle G and Aunt P. I was their flower girl 34 years ago.

Sweet 16

Well, I am feeling a little bittersweet about this one! My oldest turned Sweet 16 this week. It was a big one in my mind, for just two days later, she would board a plane for this first time, not with her Papa holding her passport, but with it in her own hand.

Firstborn hit her milestone right smack dab in a very busy week. I had come down with a cold, turned into a bad sinus infection. So, I came home from work and crawled in bed. Sweet second sister baked her a giant chocolate chip cookie. Then, CC came home and asked how he could help. I told him she wanted Singapore Chicken Rice for her birthday. He had to pour paste, water, and rice in the rice cooker, then lay chicken strips across the top. Oh, and then click on. He was mighty proud he'd made birthday dinner and asked everyone at the table, "So, whadya think?!" It was yummy! We put this little sign on her locker that morning to surprise her.

And then the very next day, the girls had their first soccer game, followed by a painful goodbye to friends they've known for the last 9 years, followed by a run to the airport to pick up Uncle G and Aunt P, visiting us in Turkey for the first time. So, it was a day of highs and lows!

 And as of now, my Sweet 16 is safely in Wales, having the time of her life, serving the Welsh people, striving to show them Jesus! I am so proud of her!

Purity Weekend with Twinkle Toes

Twinkle Toes and I found a free weekend recently to get away for an overnight together and go through the Passport to Purity curriculum. Bless her. She had just recovered from a virus and still had an awful cough, but we had it on the calendar, and she still very much wanted to go. We left on a Friday afternoon and began with lunch. She ordered a Turkish chicken kebab. It was beautiful!

I ordered a Mediterranean salad with roasted peppers, eggplant, and feta cheese.

The highlight for Twinkle, of course, was the thick potato slice. She would eat potatoes everyday if I fed them to her!

We had a nice time in the hamam together, then out for a small pizza. We worked through the cd's and had great talks. It is such a special time and so good to have open conversation about it. She, of course, has strong convictions, and this weekend assured her of her Papa's and my support in her decisions.

Breakfast at this hotel was international...so we got bacon and waffles!

I will have to save the Saturday night dad date post for later, as those pictures are on CC's phone.

I am so blessed to be this beautiful girl's mama!

Favorite Winter Ball Pictures

These were a few of my favorites...

Firstborn's friend.

Twinkle Toes.

My darling seventh grade students!! I Love Them!!!

Twinkle Toes! 

Firstborn with her beautiful African friends. (They make Firstborn look short!)

Lots of group dances.

Lots of fun.

Lots of love.

And Then Papa Got Dressed For the Prom

I don't think we went to the Winter Ball for Firstborn's first time in seventh grade. But then a couple of years later, Papa had two girls at the ball, and we went. This year, he had three there, and there was no way he was staying home. After we got them all out the door, their purse clutches snapped tight and reminders to not walk home alone still ringing in their ears, he donned his new t-shirt to wear to the prom.

He had just gotten it from my brother, and we decided this would be the perfect night to show it off.

They loved his joke and let him have fun!

Firstborn panicked when she realized he had worn a t-shirt with his bow tie.

And then she read the words!

Miss Middler had the best photo of the night!

But they love their Papa and even accepted his request for the first dance.

After he'd shown off his t-shirt and danced with his girls, we called it a night and let them have a fun time without their dad/principal being there.
And, by the way, several other dads are placing orders for a t-shirt of their own!

Before the Clock Strikes Midnight

Oasis hosts a Winter Ball for all students in grades 7-12. That meant, we had three beauties ready to attend this year!

Miss Middler got to go for the first time. She was given this sweet dress by M (the gal I've told you nannied for Big Ben, and now teaches for us!). We thought she looked DARLING...our sweet 7th grader!

I really wish I had taken a picture of it, but our new ESL teacher, Miss N, has beautiful, long hair. Two of my girls quickly pegged her as someone they wanted to ask to do their hair for the ball. She did a great job.

Twinkle Toes picked her dress out on Amazon...just a simple infinity dress, less than $40, ordered from a lady in Singapore. It can be tied 50 different ways. After watching countless youtube videos, with the door locked, and many giggles and pressing the pause button, we finally got it tied like she wanted. Her little cousin L tied it up right away for her last summer when it first arrived. If only I'd had L with me!

She has Aunt T to do her hair. She wanted a French Braid down to one side, with lots of "messy" curls falling out. Thank you, God, for moms like T. I'd be putting in pig tails, I guess.

Firstborn found an amazing deal on Amazon for this lace dress. It was made and mailed from China. I measured her and suggested we go up a size, just to be safe. After all...China. Whew, it fit like a glove, I was right. After she tried it on about 3-4 times, we found a hidden zipper. That helped!

It was originally strapless, so I added a couple of simple ribbon straps to get us dress code compliance.

Here are my beauties. They are all so different, and all lovely. I thought their very different selection of dresses reflected on their tastes.

We are losing this sweet Ecuadorian friend in the Spring, so she came over to get ready at our house for one last Winter Ball.

And one thing I learned from all this fingernail painting, hair roller sharing, bobby pin searching, dress zipper-upping, hairspray squirting, lipgloss applying is that girls are a lot of fun, but I hope they don't all get married the same day!