Jane is 12- way back in September 2015- last year.

I told Jane if she wanted a party she could plan it herself, at her age she knows better than I, what her friends and her would like to do for entertainment.
Five minutes after I give this speech, I am on pinterest looking up tween birthday parties.
The idea we both liked the best was the auction. 
Give kids fake money to bid on items. You introduce the items one at a time and they have to decide how much of their money they want to spend on it, without knowing what comes next. 

Powerpuff and Tangled theme Birthday party.
This is her third birthday party that had some part of it to do with Tangled.
She also came up with a pass the parcel game herself. She first played this in Hong Kong ( it is a British based game) and although a "kiddy" game it is one of her favorites.

Hannah, Lexi, Sophie(twin #1) - Emma ( twin#2) Berea
Jane is the youngest of the bunch,
Camp- out sleepover in the yard. All of them are homeschoolers like herself. 

Uncle Shane calls her captain. 

At 12 -Jane is fun loving, kind hearted, thoughtful. 

She is taller than her mom and is quickly becoming a young lady.  

As a seventh grader she isn't suppose to attend children's church anymore and I remember the first Sunday we showed up, she had to decide to work the four -year old class with Nathan and I or go to the "big" church. I was shocked when she chose going to the service.
 Our church facility is large, it houses a school, has classrooms, a gym  and is attended by 3,000 people. I wasn't sure she even knew how to get to the sanctuary from the nursery. I was nervous for her. We thought she would turn around and come back and work the classroom with us. She didn't. We speculated that she might have decided to sit in the foyer and look at her phone. A phone that has no phone plan attached to it, so I couldn't text her to ask . She returned after service and reported she did in fact sit through the whole service.
Jane mentioned it was intimidating and was worried at first no one was going to sit by her in the balcony, but eventually people filled it in.  She even took notes. 
Since that time she has opted to work nursery with us on the off weeks, but I was proud she was willing to at least try it and brave it on her own.  I tell that story because it reflects a spirit in her I admire. Of course independence and doing things "my way" are frustrating tendencies, but we all have our faults.  Time and again I have witnessed  her stepping out and try something new. The actions of her friends do no always dictate what she decides to do, she will go it alone. Not a common characteristic of all middle school girls.
The time is going fast.  Thanks for making me a mother Jane Autumn- you're great!