I'm the mother of a 12 year old

My Hannahgirl turned 12 this month and it was a bittersweet birthday for me (followed 3 days later by my last birthday in the 30's). I was a bit verklempt over the entire situation and the chocolate cake and ice cream didn't help. But still, I pressed on, as mothers are wont to do, even when they just want to spend the week hiding under the covers in observance and consume large amounts of carbs and sugar. It's a high calling, this motherhood deal.

So anyhow, that all aside, I have so much to be grateful for in my 12 year old gem of a daughter. I don't typically like to brag about my kids (seeing as I am so humble and all and did I just hear your eyes rolling?), but I'm going to anyway.

Hannah has always had such a tender heart and very steady emotions. So steady sometimes that I wonder if she was switched at birth, but since I didn't let her out of my sight and outfitted her with a personal alarm system immediately after she was sucked out of my body, I know that can't be so. She is sweet, kind, helpful, maternal, smart, dedicated, hard working, self effacing, shy, and loving. She rarely complains, and her greatest flaw is probably trying to mother her brother and replace me. Sometimes that's wonderful, sometimes it's not. And I tell her so. She's very confused about the whole thing now as a result. I'm involuntarily dismantling her angelic nature as she gets older, I am sure of it, and my desperate plea to God is that she makes it through puberty despite her mother. I'm not joking, so no more laughing.

For her unofficial official entry into young ladyhood or elderly childhood (anything but tweenhood or worse, teenhood), we went to the county fair. What better way to look forward to adulthood than by riding on circular swings, driving a bumper car and eating fried foods and sugary concoctions? I sure can't think of anything, so that's what we did!

I would like it noted that I spent waaaaaaaaaaaay too much time trying to upload all the following photos and then rearrange them in the right order! It looks promising that my next blog entry will be about the 74 ways in which blogger is so messed up and is purposely trying to waste the time of unsuspecting bloggers everywhere. And how I may need to start some sort of a petition for blogger to provide for a sane and logical blogging experience. Because it's the kind of hero I am!

Here's the birthday girl with her siblings in front of the entrance.

We drove to the foothills for the full "country fair" experience, and it did not disappoint!

Now, I would like to note that this ride took 4 tickets. In other words, the operators of said ride did not miss the opportunity to take advantage of poor, helpless parents whose 3-5 year old children begged to ride on it. Even when all it did was go in a circle for 32 seconds.

I promise I'll try to stop whining for future photo captions.

My lovely elderly child, Hannahgirl.

My sweet Emma!

Emma refused to drive her own bumper car.

I think after her harrowing experience with her older sister behind the electrically charged wheel, she decided next time she'd just opt out of the bumper car scene entirely.

This is the only ride I went on during our time there.

And I will not post the pic of me coming down because, remember, I am vain.

And I'm OK with that.

One of the several times the kids took flight down the slide.

Hannah trying her hand at lasooing. Or roping. Whatever you call it.

Enjoying our pizza.

The menu said it was pepperoni, but I think they added 1/2 a cup of oil as a second topping in honor of fair fare.

Sunday afternoon, when she opened gifts and cake.

This was a lovely wrap skirt from Grandma S. and Aunt K. It's soooo Hannah!

Awww.

Boxed chocolate cake with homemade frosting.

It was nummy!

Happy 12th Birthday Hannah!!!