The Kids: Lydia

Lydia.  She's almost eleven, going on thirty.  You know the scene in the Sound of Music where the sisters are singing, "How do you solve a problem like Maria?  How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?" all while Maria is running around in the hills missing prayer time again?  Well, the sisters could have just as well have been singing about Lydia.

What our friend said about Lydia many years ago still applies:  "That Lydia, she's a dandy."  She at once delights and exasperates me.  One minute she's asking for permission to get out more paint, cut more fabric or make homemade lip balm, the next she's showing me a completed project that is so well done, I'm amazed a ten year old could produce it.

Why not turn a button picking up exercise into an art project?

One minute I'm after her about finishing the clean up of her breakfast kitchen, the next she's wrapping yet another gift she made for someone.  One minute I'm telling her to get out her math book, the next I find her sitting at the computer composing an e-mail to her great aunt describing every detail of  her latest art project or bee hive problem.  One minute I'm reminding her to practice piano, the next she's keeping the little boys occupied for me while I'm finishing up a phonics lesson with Jude.  One minute I'm impatiently telling her to get into the van because "we are late!" the next I find her fully engrossed in The Hobbit.

That Lydia, she's a dandy.  And it's exhausting to be her mother.

Right now (as in today), Lydia's interests include bee keeping, quilting, painting, reading, knitting and making smoothies in every flavor imaginable.

For about one week this past fall, Lydia produced a daily family newsletter, which she printed and distributed to the members of the household each morning.  Here are a couple of samples:

Also this past fall, Grandma Dianne indulged Lydia's desire to learn quilting by taking her to quilting lessons.  Lydia was certain she wanted to make a big project right out of the shoot, but she was talked into a smaller wall hanging instead.  She gave the wall hanging to my Aunt Leanna for Christmas, as my aunt loves quilts and quilting.

Speaking of Christmas.  Lydia made Christmas gifts for all of the immediate family, plus her grandparents and a few other friends and relatives.  With the exception of the quilt, Lydia made all of the aforementioned gifts entirely from materials she found around the house.  For instance, she made coloring books for her little brothers by printing out free coloring pages she found online and then binding them in plastic file folders.  She made crayons to go with the books by melting old crayon pieces in small muffin tins.  She also made a "build-your-own" snowman by cutting out all of the parts from felt and then placing them in a plastic container so that Isaac could make a snowman whenever he wanted.

Christmas cards that Lydia painted

For my birthday last week, Lydia painted me a picture of two love birds on canvas.  She found the instructions online and then painted the picture with cast off paints we were given a few years ago.

Lydia received gift cards to Hobby Lobby from her grandparents for both Christmas and her upcoming birthday.  The Christmas card has been spent.  Lydia bought fabric fat quarters for quilting and has already sewn them together to make a quilt front.  We still need to purchase a few more materials to finish the quilt.  We must have spent an hour at Hobby Lobby wandering the aisles while Lydia decided what to buy.  Despite my objections, Lydia purchased the fat quarters.  I tried to talk her into a intermediate art kit, one which included an instructional video.  "But mom!  I don't need any instruction!"

That Lydia.  Not only is she a dandy, but she's also a Dean.  The Lord must have big plans for this little girl and we can't wait to see how her life unfolds.