I love this girl. so much. She is funny and goofy and stubborn and kind and sweet. She is closest in age of all the cousins to Gracie and probably gets her more than anyone. They fight light cats in a bathtub sometimes, but I’ve seen Emmie be kind to Gracie when Gracie needs it if even she doesn’t deserve kindness. Emmie’s laugh is contagious. And, she loves my homemade projects more than anyone else in the entire world.
I made these shirt for the girls for Christmas for our upcoming Disney trip. Peace, Love, and Mickey Mouse just seemed like a good theme for our visit (what? You don’t have themes for your trips?). When Emmie opened her box she smiled and said thank you. Even though it was obvious they all four liked their matching shirts, none of the girls were exactly dancing around the room. They were shirts after all, not American Girl doll clothes or horse accessories. My sister quietly said to Emmie, “Did you know that’s an Aunt Daffy shirt?” and Emmie’s face lit up. “You made it?” she asked and the shirt, in her mind, was instantly elevated to something else entirely. I’ve made her t-shirts using whatever is my craft medium of the time since she was a little bitty girl. She is sometimes the reason I keep crafting, just to see that smile on her face when I give her an Aunt Daffy shirt. Yep, I love that girl.
When the girls got dressed that morning, they looked so cute! I loved how Emmie added her Happy Birthday pin over the peace sign on her shirt. It looked great! I was particularly worried that morning because Abigail’s temperature was back up really high again and she just looked very sick. Steve decided to take her to the urgent care clinic in Orlando (her second visit in four days). I was more than a little stressed, but I still noticed how cute the girls looked in their shirts.
It wasn’t until later in the afternoon, after Abigail returned from the doctor with a new antibiotic and a confirmation that nothing was seriously wrong, that I learned the secret of the pin over the peace sign on Emmie’s shirt. Do you see it in the picture? Yep! You see it. I put the peace sign upside down on her shirt. Emmie’s shirt said Mercedes. Love. Mickey Mouse. She had put the birthday pin on over the Mercedes sign because she knew I was worried about Abigail and she didn’t want me to be upset about her messed up shirt. See? Even my nine-year-old niece knows I have a perfectionist streak! Once she took the pin off, I just laughed and laughed and laughed some more. I have issues with peace signs all the time. I can never, ever, remember if the lines point up or down. But, really, the peace sign isn’t the important symbol on this shirt. And neither is the mouse ear symbol. The important symbol on all their shirts is the heart. I am so blessed to love and be loved by all four of these girls. Little girls who love me enough to proudly wear a Mercedes, Love, and Mickey Mouse shirt.