Fourteen...and a Freshman!

Over the weekend, Olivia turned 14. FOURTEEN!!! When did I get old enough to have a daughter that old?

We celebrated with a low-key party at home with some of her best friends.

Her church leader came and decorated her room while we were out, it was so fun to come home to the surprise!

She's pretty much past the point of us being able to surprise her with gifts, so we took her shopping on her birthday. She scored a cute new purse, and a few outfits for the new school year.

The day after her birthday was her first day of school. She went from a K-8 school with a total of 275 students into a freshman class of twice that amount. We walked around the campus the night before school started locating all her classes in the various buildings and figuring out how she was going to get from one end of the campus to the other in her 6 minute passing period!

All over campus, there was chalk graffiti by this year's Senior class. Jack decided to leave his mark right outside Olivia's Spanish classroom door!

Last week, Olivia decided to try out for the high school golf team, and she made it onto the team. Two practices and two matches a week through mid-October means I am in desperate need of a chauffeur to help with driving duties. But she sure is happy, and it's a great way to ease into high school!

A custom bag and cute uniform are part of the package!

Olivia is growing into a beautiful, accomplished young woman. She is driven, self-motivated, and hard working. I don't have to nag her (often), she knows what she needs to do and gets it done. She is super creative and kind and pretty much an all-around perfect kid.

First day of high school

Everybody says that once kids hit high school, you blink and it's over. It is bittersweet to watch Olivia growing up. It is super fun to watch her developing her talents and really becoming her own person. But we can also feel her starting to slip away from us...which I guess, is exactly how it should be.