A Magical Day

7.
My little girl is 7. I have been nervous about this birthday. She had been talking about turning 7 since the day she turned 6 and all the exciting things that were going to happen on the day she turned 7. Castles, princesses, fairies, costumes, whistles, hats...her list was extensive.

She doesn't usually ask for very much, but 7 seemed to be the magic number. She wanted her friends from the islands, her friends from the Carolinas, her cousins from the west coast and of course, her little friends from here. She had talked throughout the year of the pogo stick, stroller, dolls and indeed, baby sister, that were sure to arrive on her 7th birthday.

There wasn't going to be that gorgeous stroller at FAO Schwartz that she looks at with dreamy eyes every time we visit the store and wonders aloud whether she might have it for her 7th birthday. There wasn't going to be the majority of those 7 year old dreams. It wasn't going to happen.

I decided that that was okay. It wasn't - isn't about - the biggest best birthday bash, but about letting her know how special she is and having a little bit of fun in the mix. So, we had a birthday adventure.

She is a little Jr. Nancy Drew in training. She loves clues, exploring and solving riddles. So, after her morning wake up call, complete with 7 flowers, one for each year of her life and tea in her special tea set. We started our day with little clues (passages from her favorite books) that once solved directed her to our next little moment.

It went a little something like this:

She found her first clue with tales of Alice in Wonderland neatly tucked in the door of our brownstone. Off we went to Alice's Tea Cup for tea and a surprise, her little friend, Isabella.



After tea and story time with Gramsy, we skipped our way over to the park with wings to help the little happy girls along the way.





Our ride through the park brought us to the water's edge where the next clue had the girls jumping with excitement.


The girls rowed for a total of a minute before returning the oars to Matt to navigate us from bridges to fountains to quiet corners of Central Park.

Graceanna sang songs with her little friend, pointed out critters swimming in the water and laughed... a lot.


She and Isabella fluttered through the park laughing and singing and stopping to ask a musician if they could play his harp with him.

Another clue awaited them and they could hardly contain their joy. It was off to American Girl Store to window shop with their dolls and get ribbons put in Josephina and Violet's hair. Josephina and Violet are their beloved little dolls.

Surrounded by crowds of beautiful dolls the girls floated from doll to doll, outfit to outfit, just happy with their dolls' new ribbons.

With the last clue in hand, the girls sang all the way to Le Carrousel in Bryant Park.



With brightly colored tokens squeezed tightly in hand they road nearly every beautiful animal on the carrousel. Laughing and singing, never to the music of the carrousel. But to me, it was perfect harmony.


There a few special little friends joined Graceanna to sing happy birthday at a little table near the carrousel.


With the carrousel music in the background, cupcakes were devoured and children's laughter harmonized with its storybook tunes.



The sun was just beginning to set, the busy day's traffic seem to be slowing down, the lights around the park were glowing and the carrousel's little lights twinkled as it continued to turn, filled with happy little children.




An evening concert of stringed instruments brought a modest gathering of listeners around the nearby fountain and welcomed in the beautiful evening.

And there among it all was my happy little girl.

"Mom, this is magical!" she announced while fluttering back from dipping her feet in the fountain.

It kind of was. Nothing expensive, extravagant. No FAO Schwarz luxury doll stroller or big bash with lots of guests and packages. Just a perfect, magical little day. And that was more than okay.

Long after the sun had set and we said goodbye to our little friends, our car traveled quietly over the Brooklyn Bridge heading for our little corner of the city. A sleepy smiling little girl with her doll tucked under arm and her butterfly wings held between still fingers, softly said, "Mom, this was the best birthday day ever... thank you for the adventure..."




Happy Birthday to my wonderful daughter whose heart is as beautiful as her sweet smile and who melts mine daily. I love you more than carrousels and cupcakes, more than ice cream cones and daffodils, more than well, you know the rest!

What Have I Been Doing Lately?

It has been a sad two weeks since my last post. Here is a problem I have discovered I have. I write blog entries all day in my head and then come to the end of the day and they have disappeared or I have half completed posts hanging out in my edit/publish box. I am getting my act together one week at a time. So, the plan is to get back to this blog....on a daily basis.

Here is another reason I have been absent lately. I started another blog. Right. I know. I am not even hanging out her on a regular basis. What business do I have opening another blank space in the blogosphere? Well, stay with me. It is an "organize me in 1 year" challenge. Taking one week at a time and completing a list of challenges in a book my friend and I happened upon at the same time (but not together). We both purchased the book and it gathered a smidge of dust waiting for this revelation. So revelation happened and Mel and I created a blog following the book. It's simple. Every new we tackle that week's challenges and blog about it. The book is great. Organize Now is written by Jennifer Ford Berry. It gives 52 weeks of step by step challenges to get your life in order from your mind to the farthest reaches of your life including that corner of the house you don't go anymore, because it is just that embarrassing that you blush when it is just you in the room. I actually make a guttural sigh when I walk by the forbidden spot in my house. I am making it right now just thinking about it.




So, here it is. Our website. You can also learn more about the book and buy it if you would like. We would love to have your support - comments, encouragement and becoming a follower. This next week, we are inviting our blog friends to join us on Fridays for the Clutter Challenge. I will post more about it lately, but my sweet girl just rolled out of bed and I have breakfast and a day to get to.

Just the Other Day...

It was just the other day....well, at least it seems like it was just the day...that I started college. It was actually 19 years ago. It was also that first year in college that my littlest sister was born. She was a surprise - a beautiful, wonderful surprise that connected our family together.

It was just the other day it seems that that little girl clung to my wedding gown and cried for me not to leave. I remember getting in the car to leave and her standing outside it amongst cheering family and friends with giant tears rolling down her face and crying, "Don't leave!"

It was just the other day it seems that my little sister spent her first time away from Mom and Dad with her big sister and new big brother. We were looking forward to my 4 year old little sister's holiday with us preparing our little newlywed apartment with a cozy tent and child fun corner. We took her to our school where we worked, visited the zoo, and smiled with pride when people would tell us our daughter looked just like us! It would be the first of many yearly holidays with us.

It was just the other day it seems that a very young 6 year old came to camp where her sisters and brothers worked. She was the staff kid, adored and spoiled by her siblings who were all very in love with their little sister.

It was just the other day it seems that a sweet little almost 13 year old traveled with us to China to bring home our own little girl. She turned 13 on that trip and became the official "Auntie". Sharing that moment of becoming a mom with her there was very special.

It was just the other day it seems that she started high school and came to live with us. A very young freshman of 13 bravely took on her new surroundings even though she was a little (a lot) nervous. I remember that first night when all the students greeted one another and the staff. My eyes were on my own little sister watching her, hoping for her...anxious to see her find self confidence and find a connection with this place that all her sisters had attended and where I now taught. I wanted to see her make her own path and have this incredible experience.


It was just the other day that I stood at the front of the academy gym dressed in my faculty robes - something I had done some many times. But this time I stood there fighting back tears watching my little sister walk down the aisle. This little sister who had indeed found her self confidence and her own path. Pride and a whole heap of emotions filled me as I turned her tassel. My little sister...a passionate girl who has always fiercely protected her own identity...being a free spirit, loyal friend, kind heart, nutcase, worrier, devoted sister and daughter, and whole lot of other things. She stood there looking a lot like our sister Sara but being uniquely herself, too.


I just wanted to keep hugging her and hold on to that moment a bit longer.



It was just the other day...just last Sunday, actually...that I rode with my sister to her new college. I was half listening as she gave me a tour on our drive to her new dormitory where we were to unload her things and move her in to her new life....All sorts of images were floating around in my mind.






This was a whole new place and a whole new life. There were no siblings that had cleared the way for her here. This wasn't a school where she knew anyone. This was nowhere near anything she had ever experienced before.

I knew in her usual way she would act as if it was just a thing to do and all would be fine, but that underneath there would be a few uncertainties and fears.


That's part of what I really love about my little sister. Nervous or not, challenging or not, uncertain, uncomfortable, unanything...she still goes forward even when she is a little scared.



As the weekend came to a close I watched my little sister walking alongside my little girl....they seemed to almost be skipping along. It reminded me of a day... just the other day it seems... that I walked along showing off my little sister on my college campus. Just the other day.

A Lazy Summer Moment

Treasured Friends

Gracie and her little friend Emma have a special friendship...one that reminds me a lot of their moms....

Oh my friend, Laura. She is one wonderful girl. There are those people that you are always meaning to see but never seem to make the visit.

Laura is one of my very dearest friends. From long ago during camp days when we spent all-nighters in the office working on I don't even remember what to the long summer camp days Laura was that person that kept me in check.

She was the girls' director and I, the program director. She encouraged me, laugh at me and with me, and supported me when things were very difficult.

Laura and Nathaniel (the avid photographers)

But, she wasn't just my friend, she was my brother's friend. She encouraged him, laughed with him and at him, and always wanted the best for him. That meant a lot to me then and it still means a lot to me now. Nathaniel would be so glad to know that we are still close and we still share in eachother's lives.

Laura and Nathaniel

So, when you see a treasured friend like Laura and time doesn't seem to have really ever passed except that it really really has, you soak it all in.

When we worked at camp we were young and our children were the little campers that came each week. Much has happened since those camp days. There have been losses, joys and sorrows, celebrations, new careers, homes and adventures....and motherhood. Watching Laura as a mom is pretty incredible. She is all the things I loved most about her...and more.


Surrounded by her beautiful little girls I enjoyed every moment, just grateful to be with her.

Sweet Little Emma (Laura's oldest daughter and Graciebug's little friend)

And what do I love? I love that my little girl and her little girl adore each other.



And I think that no matter the years that pass they too will always pick up right where they left off.


And that makes me smile.