I. am. the. mother. of. a. teenager...

and I couldn't be more excited. I seriously have the greatest teen girl to have walked the planet - well, at least as far as I'm concerned. :)

Her big birthday treat was a trip to the salon. Anything she wanted I said. Hot pink highlight? You betcha.

Doesn't she look fabulous. Coolest homeschooled girl I know. :)

Because one of her bestest buddies was going to be in Tulsa on Madison's birthday, I took her and her two special friends out for dessert on Tuesday night. Now, if you have a 13 year old daughter who has horrible friends, then you should stop reading right now or might just become overwhelmed with envy. These girls are amazing. The love each other and their families and the Lord so very much. They truly sharpen each other as well as having so much goofy fun. I am so very thankful for the role they have had in my daughter's life.

On Thursday morning I took Madi took a local hair design school to get her hair done. This picture is so precious to me.. my little girl getting punk rock pink in her hair while she reads the biography of  Adoniram Judson.I am telling you - this girl has my heart!!

We spent the morning of her birthday with our co-op. We met at our church gym and talked about the cardiovascular system and spend some time jumping rope and playing basketball.

We had a little friend staying with us too and Madison loved getting to take care of her...

I brought cupcakes again - Boom Boom Pow cupcakes to be exact. A local cupcake place makes these fantastic treats with yellow cake, chocolate frosting, caramel and sea salt. The call them Boom Boom Pow. :)I have been known to duplicate them and they were Madison's special request.

Jason took Madison out to her most favorite restaurant.. The Olive Garden... for dinner (3 cheers for a gift card!)

After dinner they spent the evening at Barnes & Noble and she spent a little of her birthday money on a book learning to use a flower loom. She can't wait to spend the rest on yarn.

She is just as precious as can be. Learning more and more of the world every day and desiring to grow up in a way the honors the Lord. She still wants more than anything to be a missionary to Zimbabwe. She recently learned of a group there that she might want to investigate called Hands of Mercy. I love her dedication to this desire if hers. She is constantly reading biographies of great missionaries and sitting in with me while I listen to Piper sermons. She is growing in the Lord and I am so thankful to see His hand in her. She is quick to apologize when she is wrong and often very broken by her sin. If you want to ask me for parenting tips on how to get a daughter like this just forget it. This must be the work of the Lord. Besides, wait till get to the twins birthday and I write about them - you'll be sending parenting tips to me! :)

Happy birthday my darling girl.