(I wrote this towards the beginning of last month because I didn't want to forget about it, and have been saving to share when we were done talking about rest.)

Miss A’s best friend got dropped off for a play date today. Her first time over to our house.

There was some drama from the little sisters, but not too much. And the big girls have been happy to include them which is so nice.

Lots of running and giggling. Barbies and and American Girl dolls and dress up clothes.

They come to the table for an early afternoon tea, all decked out in their finest and fanciest attire. The baby of the house has even donned some lace edged socks for her “gloves”.

They sit down to crackers and apples and blueberry streusel muffins, with some extra sweet wild raspberry tea. A violin waltz plays in the background and it is quite clear that we have been fully immersed in little girl land.

The man of the house steps in to play photographer.

He tells them how pretty they are and gets them to smile, then teases and says ridiculous things to make them shriek and laugh.

All in a moment it hits me.

We’re grown up.

I may not feel it. But the evidence is there. Me in an apron, pouring tea and passing napkins. Him in his day off casual clothes telling jokes and teasing in the way only a father of girls can.

We’re the grown-ups now. The adults.

It feels like just yesterday my dad was teasing my best friend at the breakfast table.

Now it’s my husband.

So weird.

But fun. I love being the one to supply the fun for little girl land.

And I love even more seeing the man I married, the man who growing up knew only all things boy, find his place in the land of little girls.

We celebrated a special birthday this weekend. 

Little miss fancy turned seven years old, and was beyond thrilled when her long dreamed of gift came true.

Last week the girls and I started reading Little Susy's Six Birthdays. They are sweet stories written by one of my favorite authors.

The thing that caught my attention was a small part of the introduction. The author is speaking directly to the children who will be reading the stories and explaining how exciting Susy's six birthdays are. Then she says:

Sometimes little children don't live to spend six birthdays in this world. They go to heaven and spend them there….

Throughout all of the stories there is an underlying tone of joy and gratitude with each birthday that comes; another year that Susy's family has been given with her. The unspoken knowledge always being there that another year is not a guarantee.

These stories were written in the 1850's; a time I assume the mortality rate in infants and small children was quite high compared to now. It was not expected that you would see your children live to grow up. I can't quite wrap my brain around that.

But it's been there in my mind this last week, since we started reading, and since we were preparing to celebrate.

We've already had the joy of experiencing one seven year old. Now we get to do it again. What a privilege!

One I far too often take for granted. 

Much like my thoughts on my own birthdays, I'm feeling drawn with my girls to appreciate and savor the gift of another year.

And just because we've done 7 before, I don't want to take it for granted this time. Because this is our only time having this 7 year old.

Things I love about our 7 year old middle girl:

She loves to be silly. This can drive me completely crazy, but when I'm not being too serious it's a lot of fun.

She loves learning. She resists it because she thinks she can't do it, but with a little encouragement she can get to the point where she gets something, and she is so excited.

She likes picking out my clothes and inspecting my make-up.

She wants her hair fixed just like mine. The joys of a little girl who wants to be just like her mom! (I'm well aware this is a fleeting gift)

In spite of all of her attitude, she is very tender-hearted. Sympathetic to the smallest tragedies of life (like a dead praying mantis in the backyard).

She still has full, round little cheeks. 

She's so different than me. This can sometimes become a source of conflict, but I want it always to be an opportunity for me to grow in understanding and humility.

These seven years have been so wonderful. Sometimes I think she's quite grown up now. But sometimes for a moment I forget that she's my girl who I'm with every single day , dealing with all kinds of discipline and drama.

In those moments when I forget, all of the sudden I am mesmerized by this cute little girl in front of me. And I just want to squeeze her and hold her and relish her littleness before she decides she's all grown up.

Last week I took all my girls to the dentist for a routine cleaning.

No big deal. We’ve done this several times before. Everyone walks out with an armload of junk prizes, and congratulations on perfect teeth.

So of course my laid back little office visit was completely rattled when the dentist informed me that not one, but two girls needed to return for procedures.

Poor little Miss E had her first cavity. But it was a small one and would be a quick fix if she cooperated (that was a very big “if” by the way).

And Miss I….my baby….my little tiny four year old girl.  They said her front tooth was dead.

She was scheduled for a “baby root canal” to try to save that perfect little tooth before infection could set in.

Today was the big day. Miss I was calm and ready, Miss E was a sobbing mess, and me….though I’m disgusted by the taste of alcohol, I’m thinking a glass of wine could have been to my benefit.

We arrived five minutes early, which was good because it took about three minutes to convince my sweet little six year old to stop clinging to the armrest and get out of the car.

As a side note here: all of Miss E’s fear was rooted in a drawing in Little Critter Goes to the Dentist, where part of Little Critter’s cavity filling procedure involves a drill bigger than my head. Thank you “helpful” childrens book!

Once inside we were saved from continued hysteria by video games and a movie, all at the same time. Perks of seeing a kids dentist.

The girls went back with minimal drama, picked out their little “noses” so they could suck in some strawberry scented laughing gas, and all was well.

Until the dentist was ready to start on Miss I’s front tooth.

That’s when he saw that the tooth had already abscessed, and there was no longer any option but to pull it.

It’s a good thing my devoted husband decided to show up on his lunch break so he could be there with me to get that news. If he hadn’t been there to say “Go ahead and pull it,” those poor people might have been stuck with a sobbing mess of a woman who wouldn’t say anything but “My baby’s tooth….”

Thankfully my husband was there to be tough for his pitiful little wife.

Less than ten minutes later Miss I was ready to go. Arms loaded with balloons and stickers and a big fat piece of gauze sticking out of her mouth as she bit down on her “band-aid”, she really didn’t care one bit that her front tooth was gone.

Which is a good thing, because if she’d been sad, those tears I’d been fighting to hold back definitely would have spilled out.

The girls were fine, we were out of there quicker than expected, and Hombre headed off back to work.

I know it’s ridiculously dramatic to be so emotional over the loss of a tooth, but I really was sad.

A missing front tooth is a big deal. It changes a child’s look forever. And I was so not ready for that with my baby.

 As soon as the dentist said he needed to pull it, I was so mad at myself. Why didn’t I take a picture of her this morning? Just in case. One last mouth-full-of-baby-teeth smile.

I told her how cute she looked while I mourned inside and texted my closest friends for sympathy.

We came home and I chose to soothe my sorrows with a bag of chips and some nacho cheese. So ridiculous.

And that is why I am now choosing a better (and less fattening) form of therapy and writing about it.

I needed to tell you the story, but I also need to write the truth. A little preaching to myself.

Here’s the truth:

• It is just a tooth. She is not unhappy.
• There are much worse things than a missing front tooth.
• Any parent of a child enduring worse things would be thrilled to trade for my tooth drama.
• This is pure maternal vanity. And it's not okay.
  

Now for a list of gratitude.

We’ve been reading Pollyanna lately. It’s a wonderful book. I seriously love it.

Of course if you know anything about Pollyanna you know about “the glad game”. The game of finding something to be glad about in the midst of undesirable circumstances. I’ve been encouraging the girls to play it anytime I hear them griping or complaining. So far all I’ve gotten is a lot of irritated looks, but that’s okay. We’ll get there.

Anyway, today it’s my turn to play.

I’m glad that:

• We happened to go to the dentist right at the time that attention to this problem was needed.
• Miss I didn't seem to be experiencing any discomfort from the brewing infection.
• There's medication/drugs to minimize the pain of having a tooth removed to virtually nothing.
• The most serious health issue in my four year old's life is a damaged tooth.
• God knows exactly what I need and had my husband there right when I needed him to be.
• My husband is tougher than me.
• My friends are so willing to give me their sympathy.
• A missing front tooth on a child is so much more endearing than it is on an adult.
• Jesus knows I can be selfish and vain and still loves me anyway.
  

Honestly, I’m thinking that a missing tooth will just be one more thing to add to the list of charms this little girl has going for her.

One of the things that is fast becoming a favorite of mine is sewing for my girls. 

I like being able to create exactly what I want for them, as opposed to scouring the stores and settling on something that's okay, but not what I'd hoped for.

I love giving them something that is uniquely theirs, that can hopefully be theirs to treasure in years to come.

And I think that the creativity and focus of purpose that sewing allows is a bit therapeutic for me.

So today, I'm sharing with you three of my favorite things when it comes to sewing. The ones that are fast becoming my standby/go-to projects.

The first is this felt crown tutorial.

I made my first "birthday crown" in September 2009, and it has become a much anticipated part of our birthday mornings around here.

The thing I love about this tutorial is the simplicity of it. After making several I've gotten to the point wear I can do the actual sewing of the crown (minus the decorative embelishments) in about 15 minutes.

I also love the room for creativity in making these. Here are a couple I've made.

This one was for my niece's first birthday "poodle" party.

This is Miss E's for her "Fancy" party last year.

I go back to this basic pattern every time and am always so happy with the results!

Okay, second is a newer discovery, but I already know I'm in love.

I've been following the blog of The Handmade Dress for a couple of years now, but have only recently jumped into trying out her patterns.

My first experience was the Miss Mary pattern, for my Miss A's 9th birthday.

I need to take a full length shot of this one, but as you can see it's a beautiful yet simple "big girl" dress. 

The website says the patterns will take you about two hours from start to finish. This one took me four hours, but now that I know what I'm doing, I'm sure I could do it in two next time.

The patterns are easy to follow and require very basic sewing knowledge. It was exactly what I had hoped for when I ordered it.

And favorite sewing resource number three….

Well, you remember these girls.

I know I told you before how much I loved this pattern from Wee Wonderfuls. 

Well, the love has continued as I've been able to pull out the pattern again to clothe our little "girls" in dresses to match their owners.

My girls have long been fascinated with the American girls and how you can dress them just like you. So we've found our own version of that and they couldn't be more thrilled. I've found that they are not concerned at all if the actual pattern of the dress is identical, as long as the fabric is the same.

There you have my three favorite things when it comes to sewing lately. 

I pulled out all three last weekend and in a single day whipped up Miss I's entire birthday loot.

The prized birthday crown (made extra fast and simple this time by the use of printed felt), a little dress for Josie and a matchy Miss Madeline for the birthday girl.

The Miss Madeline pattern actually did only take me two hours, start to finish on my very first try, so I will definitely be going back to this one.

I hope you're inspired to try all these things out. You won't be disappointed!

**disclosure: these endorsements are my own, not solicited or compensated in any way.