The little things that make me happy here on Bliss Road~~Emily Keaton

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

My Daughter

It's hard to believe, but on Friday--yes, that's Christmas Eve--my dearest daughter, my firstborn, will turn 12 years old. Twelve!!! Twelve short years ago, we spent our very first Christmas together in the hospital. Santa visited us in our hospital room and gave me a hospital logo mug filled with peppermints! And now she is on the cusp of teenagerhood. How I love this girl! And how very proud I am of her. She works hard and does so very well in school. She loves to read, loves anything to do with horses, loves to be creative, and loves to play with her brother. She has a caring heart, a compassionate soul, and a generous spirit. What an amazing journey it is watching her grow up. I'm in no rush, but I look forward to seeing who she will become!!

Last Friday night, my husband and son attended their monthly Cub Scout pack meeting, leaving us girls home for some quality time. She loves her academic teachers and, being the generous girl that she is, wanted to do something special for all four of them for the holidays. She decided to make a set of hand-stamped holiday gift tags, so we spent the evening stamping together. We had a wonderful time, and I am so proud of her results!! Here is one of the four identical tag sets she made:

We bought four small wooden boxes at A.C. Moore
for packaging her tags and tied each with
some red and white baker's twine.

After untying the twine, her teachers will discover
a baker's dozen of assorted hand-stamped gift tags,
each sporting baker's twine for easy hanging.

Each one is different! My daughter had so much
fun playing with my various Stampin' Up! tag
stamps and coordinating punches.
On Monday, she couldn't wait to deliver her gifts to her teachers and got such a thrill from their heartfelt reactions. Ah, the joy of giving!!!

Thanks so much for taking a peek at my daughter's creations today. She is so much a part of my little slice of bliss!

Challenges:

9 comments:

Crafty Math Chick said...

Awww! Such a lovely collection of tags, you both did such a terrific job with them. They look so pretty all laid out like that for the photo. What a wonderful day to come into the world J! Happy early birthday!
~Meredith

Marisa said...

What a wonderful tribute to your daughter. She sounds a lot like mine :) They grow up waaaay too quickly, don't they! My daughter turned 12 in Sept. and can't believe where the years have gone. So glad the teacher loved the gift and what a fun way to spend some time together :) early happy birthday Joanna!

Kristy Smith said...

Emily! These are so SO cute! Your daughter sounds like such a wonderful young lady! As a teacher, I can tell you that the handmade gifts are always, ALWAYS the most appreciated and that I'm sure her teacher's loved it! And a Happy Birthday to your daughter, tell her I said that Christmas babies are extra special! ;)

Emily (stampingout on SCS) said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Joanna!!! Your tags are just wonderful! I am sure your teachers will love them and appreciate that you took the time to make them something special.
I am a December baby, too! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and birthday, Joanna! :)

I am glad you got some special time to stamp and enjoy your sweet girl, Emily!

Mary Marsh said...

joanna did an awesome job with these tages emily-and a great gift idea-we always need tags at christmas-wish her a hb for me and merry christmas to you and your family

Colleen Dietrich said...

Awww! What a nice post. Very heartwarming, and I hope you let Joanna read it! I like the little wooden boxes, bakery twine and assortment of tags VERY much. I am sure those teachers are making good use of them this week. :)

Dawn B. said...

What a precious post.. I love that she has such a giving heart at such a young age.. Her teachers are going to love these. She did a great job..Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Joanna.

Benzi said...

Joanna is such a sweetheart to make this for her teachers. And just in time to use for Christmas! Great job, Joanna! They are all so pretty and so is the box.

Anita said...

Emily, your daughter did a wonderful job on these tags. And the two of you will always have that wonderful memory of your time spent together stamping. It sounds like your daughter is a very special person, just like her sweet mother. Please tell Joanna that I hope she has a wonderful birthday.