Yesterday we celebrated Tapestry’s 13th birthday!
We started the day with our traditional birthday donut stack. Like her mommy, Tapestry prefers salty over sweet though. She chose a ham, egg and cheese croissant for herself.
After breakfast we gave Tapestry gifts including a makeup kit, a hand lettering book and pens, a new Bible, a ring with her birthstone and a few other things. I had “Beautiful Tapestry” inscribed on the inside of Tapestry’s ring. We told her we wanted her to have it as a reminder of how much we love her and how much God loves her no matter what choices she makes in life. She loved the meaningful gift.
After gifts, we read Tapestry what each of us had written in her journal. Then, she started her hand lettering book and practiced making pretty letters.
After that, I did Tapestry’s make up for her and taught her how to apply it herself. She was so excited about getting her first real makeup. She had a hard time letting me do the eyeliner, and she was shocked at how much older it made her look. She said she probably would not wear the eyeliner regularly quite yet. Mommy’s great with that choice! Haha.
For lunch I took Tapestry, Cherish and Liberty to Panera Bread. That is one of Tapestry’s favorite places to eat. She got a bread bowl with creamy tomato soup.
Then, I took them to the mall for a little shopping. I told Tapestry I’d buy her an outfit, and I told all three they could use their own money to shop as well. Tapestry picked a cute outfit for me to get her. All three bought some soaps, lotions and sprays from Bath and Body Works and purses from Icing. We do not do a lot of this kind of thing being a big family. They had the time of their lives! And Tapestry definitely looks like a teenager in her new jeans!
After shopping, we went to get manicures and pedicures. I wanted to give Tapestry the full teenage girl experience for her 13th birthday. We do some extra special stuff for the 13th birthday for all our kids.
Tapestry got purple with flowers, Cherish got teal with a chevron design, Liberty got sparky mauve with flowers and I got teal with an Aztec design.
To end the day, we took the whole family to the cinema to see Raya and the Last Dragon. Everyone got popcorn, candy and a soda. We had not been to a cinema in a long time and were super impressed with the comfortable reclining chairs!
Tapestry said she had the best birthday ever. She thanked us several times for giving her such a great 13th birthday celebration.
Happy 13th birthday, Tapestry Noel! 💕 You are officially a teenager! You are my beautiful, mature first-born daughter. You are thoughtful, caring and empathetic. You can’t stand for one of your little sisters to feel left out, even when one may just not be old enough to do what you are doing. You find a way to make anyone and everyone feel included. You love teaching your little sisters. You teach them how to draw, ride bikes and do all sorts of things, and you enjoy assisting in their schooling. You love hanging out with Cherish and Liberty, and you have quite the sisterhood bond with them. You are a good and loyal friend to them and others. You are a good friend to your brothers as well. You are extremely creative, especially in story writing and telling. You are a great artist and musician. I personally love that you are a girl drummer – that’s just cool. 😎 You are a great side kick – always close by my side for chores, gift-wrapping, organizing, teaching, helping, encouraging and all sorts of things. Your name probably gets called most next to mine because you help, nurture and love. I know being the oldest girl in a big family cannot always be easy, but you live out that role in such a graceful way. I am thankful for every shoe you’ve strapped (Thank God we learned to go with Velcro! 🤣), piece of laundry you’ve folded, beginning reader you’ve listened to, sandwich you’ve made, blanket you’ve put on a little sister and sibling conflict you’ve helped work through. Though I have always tried to keep you from feeling you have too much responsibility, you would not have it any other way. You have let me know again and again that you want to help and be a part of it all. The older you’ve gotten, the more you and I have bonded not only as mother and daughter, but as friends also. I love having conversations with you. We talk about deep things and funny ones, God things and navigating through hardships of life. I so love who you are, Tapestry! You add beauty to my life and to lives all around you. Thank you for being you! I love you more than you could ever possibly know! 💗
