My Sabrina will be a senior this coming fall, and I still can't get over it. She was always the little girl with the huge blue eyes and the wispy, strawberry hair that wouldn't stay in place… she was the buck-toothed toddler bc of her love of thumb-sucking, the too-tall middle-schooler who had a -2 sized waist (and could never shop in the popular 'tween stores the way her friends did bc everything was too big on her)… she was a balm to my soul, and her lisp when she spoke made my life that much more enjoyable.

I'll never forget how she would come home from preschool and I'd have a little conversation with her…

Me: "How was school, sweet girl?"

Little Sabrina: "Good!"

Me: "What did you have for a snack?"

Little Sabrina: "Duht and wuhmth."

Me: "Umm…. what?"

Little Sabrina: "Duht and wuhmth, Mom!"

Upon explanation, I realized this was a snack made of crushed Oreos and gummy worms, placed in a plastic cup with a spoon.

Dirt and Worms. 

Another time, she ran up behind me and threw her arms around my waist, as high as she could reach…

Little Sabrina: "Hey Mom, geth [guess] what I'm doing?"

Me: "Hmmm…. are you giving me a hug?"

Little Sabrina: (giggling) "Nope! I'm thmellin' you butt-cwack!"

I'll leave you to translate that one.

Oh, at the fun my family has had at Sabrina's expense… she has been – and continues to be – a delight. (Okay, I don't exactly speak for her sisters.) She's outgrown the lisp, can now fit into the popular 'tween stores' clothing (although she doesn't care to shop there any more), and prefers sniffing perfumes to butt cwacks. (Thank you, Lord.)

She's now my Big Sabrina, and since she'll be a big senior this year, it was time to get her photos done.

When I first posted a practice photo of her, some of you asked if we were responsible for taking our own senior pictures. The answer is no, we don't have to take our own; there are plenty of studios around here to take senior portraits – and I plan on getting her yearbook photo done at one of them. But Sabrina decided she wanted to pay me a huge compliment by asking me to do them myself. I was honored! Flattered! My goodness, what teenager wants their mom to do their photo shoot?

So we headed out for some practice photos, to see if I could really do it and to see if what I came up with would be satisfactory to her. (I gave her the option of getting a professional studio to do them in case it didn't work out, and promised her my feelings would not be hurt in the least.)

It was a really fun day, and we traveled all over the city to find interesting places to shoot. She was very patient with me, and for that I'm grateful. Photography is certainly a mighty huge subject to learn, and I've got a long way to go.

Here are some of the photos we took that day… and of all the lovely things I remember about my Little Sabrina, there's one thing about Big Sabrina that I'll never forget: she is never without chewing gum (or chipped blue nail polish). Of course, I didn't realize this until I looked at all the photos on the computer monitor. Aaargh!

This one was out of focus, but I still loved her expression…

When the weather isn't so muggy out (which causes my camera lens to fog up horribly), we're going to head back out for the real thing. (I've also been making Breanna help me practice as well, bc Sophie and the dogs run the other way when they see me holding my camera.)

If you're still reading this far down, I'd like to thank you so much for bearing with me while I gush about my girl. As the middle child, she's usually the one who has to float along with what others want to do, and sometimes feels a little forgotten in the chaos. I'm proud of the young woman she's becoming, and that all that chaos has made her the calm in the eye of the tornado.

Either that, or she's still got gummy worms stuck in her teeth and can't speak to argue with the rest of us.

Check back tomorrow to see who won the Giveaway in the previous post. There's still time to enter!

I realize I just posted photos of my niece yesterday, but I had some more from our day at the pool that I wanted to share with you. She is just so stinking cute, I could eat her up! (And Sophie, if you're reading this, I could eat you up too – you know you're my sweet pea!)

Neenee loved Sophie's goggles, so Sophie dug around in her bottomless swim bag and pulled out a pair for her…

Suddenly, a whole new world opened up for Natalie, and she was no longer afraid to put her face in the water. She loved the idea of goggles so much, she dug around in Sophie's bag for yet another pair. These weren't such a good fit…

So she dug and donned another pair…

…And was very pleased with herself.  But soon it turned into an obsession, and she started scrounging in other children's swim bags for them. Eventually, Mike distracted her long enough to teach her the Hook 'em Horns sign (which will come in handy when she's older, since she is a Texan, after all)…

Soon it was time to switch goggles again and head back out to the outdoor pool, where she showed Uncle Mike how she could put her face under water. Uncle Mike was very proud of her, and gave her a high-five…

Meanwhile, my Sophie was swimming by herself, quite content with the one pair of goggles Neenee wasn't allowed to try on. 😉

After all, she had to share her Best Buddy for 2 days…a girl's gotta keep something for herself!

There’s something about her Uncle Mike that my niece Natalie just adores. He’s always been very soft-spoken with her, and has a very gentle way about him when it comes to little people.

At the pool, Mike worries what parents think when their children flock to him like he’s some sort of Pied Piper. After all, their children seemingly fall in love with this adult stranger who has no problem behaving as if he’s one of them. They’ll splash him and he’ll splash back, they’ll show him their water toys and he’ll pretend they’re the coolest things he’s ever seen, and eventually they all start to climb onto him, begging for dolphin rides or pretend monster battles… and at that point, the fun must calm down. Unfortunately, it’s the kind of world we live in.

Natalie is no different in her fascination with Mike, except for the fact that this man, who is adored by every child he meets, isn’t just a stranger to her. He’s her uncle. And Sophie was gracious enough to share him with her, just for a moment (but with some possessive apprehension, of course) at my parents’ house during our 4th of July visit…

She’s back home in Texas now, no doubt charming her Uncle Paul, who is completely besotted with her. Natalie is like that: she’s adored by every grown-up she meets.

Except for when she wants to have real monster battles. 😉

When Sabrina was in Germany, she became quite the FIFA fan, donning the glorious Deutschland colors and cheering the team on with her German family. Since Mike is also an avid "football" fan, she brought him an official jersey as a souvenir, and included her sisters in the World Cup action as well.

As soon as the jerseys were on their new owners, a transformation took place, and suddenly our back yard became Federation of Fußball's best kept secret…

When Brea was little and was on a soccer team, she used to spend the entire game doing cartwheels. Therefore, I marvel at her athletic prowess.

And if this doesn't give you heebie-jeebies goosebumps, you need to pay the doctor a visit…

(One of Mike's dreams has always been to design the World Cup uniforms.)

(And Sophie thinks all athletes should make sure their press-on nails are in place before every game.)

And the crowd goes wild, as the ball is passed to the player-with-no-number, Mike Stewart!

By the way, when Bean was shopping for an official jersey for her dad, she couldn't seem to find any with the player numbers or names on them, which is what she was searching for. After all, isn't that what we Americans do when we choose our favorite athlete's name and number? Turns out the Europeans find it tacky to wear a professional athlete's team member information on their clothing, which came as quite a surprise to Sabrina – and the rest of us! I can imagine the look on her German sister Julia's face when Sabrina announced that all the jerseys were oddly blank!

Sabrina, you're a sweet girl for bringing back such cool souvenirs for your family. (I got some amazing ones myself – including a set of cookie cutters in the shapes of ampelmann, which I found to be the most unique, fun gift I've ever received!)

Maybe next time you could bring your dad back some cleats or something.

Welcome home, sweet girl!