Fish is 6!

Dear Fish,

You started school on Tuesday and then turned 6 on Friday. I was worried that we'd have to kinda ignore it at school since I thought we should celebrate your 7th birthday like the other kids in class.  Or 6 1/2 like the other summer birthdays. Or celebrate it twice? Your teacher said, "Well it's his birthday Friday, let's celebrate it then! It doesn't matter how old he is." That made things a lot easier. It was your birthday and it was a special day!
We actually started celebrating the day before when you got to choose where we go out to eat. You wanted chicken nuggets and french fries in a Happy Meal, so off we went to McDonalds. You were super excited about playing on the toys there too.

When you woke up on your birthday the first thing you said to me as you came down the hall and peaked into the kitchen was, "Where's my birthday cake?" I reassured you that I would make it while you were at school, and then I sent you off on the bus with your favorite book and some treats for your classmates. You already had a poster there since the first day of school with your picture on it. You came home with a birthday crown that Dad thought looked like a Pope's cap. He called you the Birthday Pope for the rest of the evening.
You could hardly wait to open your presents. I let you have one gift in the morning with breakfast, a baby squishmallow, and then the rest you opened when Gramma and Grandpa came up to visit.

You loved them all. Some things that you got were candy from the kids, Lego's from Gramma, a fireman costume from Grammie, and a train set from Mom and Dad. Grammie wasn't able to come down for cake, but she called to wish you a happy birthday. After gifts you went out to eat with them at Red Robin. You had been talking about going back there for a whole year!

We ended the night with cake and ice cream.

You picked out two designs on the computer and we put them together to get this cool cake:

You were absolutely in heaven being the lucky boy with all of the attention and awesome gifts. You wanted to play with them all right away.
It's fun to watch you get so excited about things. Lots of things excite you like your date night, play dates, swimming, and trips. You ask me what the next trip is before we're even home! You're a trooper with anywhere we go, finding joy in the smallest things. You especially love being outside, hiking or biking or boating in new places.
At 6 you still won't try a banana. You are scared to put anything in your mouth that you haven't tried before, even when your siblings tell you how delicious it is. Occasionally I can get you to put it in your mouth if some show is on the computer and you're distracted. That's how you discovered that you like berries and kiwis. I know that you will love all fruits when you finally get brave.
You have been better about trying the main course at dinner, unless TJ is throwing a fit about it and then you get worried. You like salads and green beans and even eat fish tacos, without tartar sauce. Your favorite thing though is still chicken nuggets and french fries. It's always your first choice.
You are a great reader! Your favorite books are Pete the Cat and Moby Shinobi.  When we read scriptures you read along with us, deciphering most of the words!
You love playing soccer and you're getting pretty good at it! That makes me happy. When you love it then you're more likely to keep at it and be healthy! You also love riding bikes and swimming and hiking and are starting to learn tennis and basketball so that you can play those things with your siblings in the backyard.
You adore Pluto still. You love to let him in the house and pet his soft ears, or lay on him if he's laying down. You also love to go outside and throw the ball for him, but it's hard because Pluto keeps losing the ball!
I think you are so handsome, with those big dark eyes, stubborn thick brown hair and little button nose. I am very grateful that your body is healthy and strong.
I love to hear you say your prayers out loud in your bed each night. You thank God for little things that happened and usually thank him for things that you can see around you, like your pillow and your books and blankets. After prayers each night I tuck you in and then you want me to give you a kiss on the forehead, then you give me a kiss, then we do an eskimo kiss, and finally you say "Good night Mom says Fish", as I walk out, to which I reply, "Good night Fish." It's basically the cutest thing. I love you to pieces. You're my big baby now. Thanks for letting me snuggle you and kiss your cheeks and tuck you in at night. I hope that never changes.
Love you forever,
Mom

Back to School in 2019

Hi guys!

Summer is gone and school has started. At least it still feels like summer out there! We can enjoy playing outside after dinner a little longer.

All of you are in school all day now. People keep asking what I will do with my time. I have lots of plans. Painting, temple service, family history, cleaning the house, exercising, reading, volunteering at the school... and guess what I did the first week? A whole lotta shopping and returning supplies at Walmart. Seriously, that took forever. Plus it was my week to pick up Jr High carpool and I have to be at the school at 2:40 for that. Next week when I am not driving then no one is home til 3:10 at the earliest! Well, Fridays are early day too. But next week all of the returns and organizing are done and maybe I'll have a better idea how my time will go!

It's an exciting time, a big change for our family. So far you guys have done great. You're setting your alarms and getting yourselves up and getting dressed without much reminding from me. I've been making hot breakfast so you're full longer, and we have been ready with time to spare for the bus and the carpool pick up.  You haven't really had homework yet, so we're a little worried about working that out with sports and mutual. But we got it. You guys are super smart, once we get a routine down and if you decide to focus, it will be fine. Busy, but fine!

1st grade for Fish: This is super exciting. You have a teacher that none of the other kids have had and she seems really great. We like her a lot already. I will be in there once a week to help the kiddos return their library books and log in to the computers. Sounds fun to me! You were tired at the end of the first week. Going to school all day will be an adjustment but you'll do great. School lunch is awesome too, right? You were super excited to play soccer again. You didn't complain during your first game, even though it was 100 degrees. Literally. I about died just sitting there watch you, and you you didn't even slow down. You're doing great. You know how to get the ball and dribble it. Your enthusiasm is fun to watch.

3rd grade for TJ: We're so happy to have a new teacher in 3rd, one that is in our ward! She is so nice and we're super happy you're in her class. You love it already, and it helps that pretty much all of your friends are in there with you. I will come in and help once a week with math or reading, whatever she needs help with. You're excited for that, and I'm glad you're not embarrassed by me yet. You're taking soccer again and have games the same night as Fish. You love being part of a team, especially when you're winning. You also didn't complain in the heat and you played for close to an hour!

5th grade for Hammer: You also got a new teacher that we didn't know.  I think she'll be nice but strict. You need that with kids that think they're getting so mature. I'm excited to see you learn so much this year. You weren't happy that none of your friends are in your class, but it just gives you a chance to make new friends! You play with your old friends at recess too, so that is great.  You haven't complained about how long the school day is at all, so you're an old pro at Elementary school now! You do insist on having some time for your brain to rest and reset at home before we start on homework. That's ok, as long as we can stick to the schedule  that tells you when to start homework, and get it all done! You're excited to start tennis lessons with Lulu.

7th grade for Lulu: Jr High! Lulu, you have 10 classes, basically 9 cuz math is every day. It is broken into 5 classes on A day and 5 on B day. That is a lot to handle, cuz you also have YW and tennis and piano and a locker to figure out! But you're doing it! The first week was pretty low key. Basically you just needed to figure out how to work the locker and figure out where your classrooms are. I think it helps to have so many fun classes. You have band and dance and musical theater. Study Hall is even awesome. You had a few small assignments and were on top of those. I hope that you can stay focused and remember that you are just as important and friendly and determined as everyone else in that school. Say hi to people, make new friends and rekindle old friendships. Everyone likes to have someone say hi to them. It brightens their day and makes you look like genuine caring person. So that's our goal, besides keeping 10 classes straight. We're working on not worrying about what people think and just saying Hi. Good goal, right? I'm glad that you have lots of cute friends at school already though. Good friends make a big big big difference through all of school.

We had a back to school feast on the first day of school. We cooked a fancy roast, used our china dishes, and lit a candle. We decided our family goal for this year is Be Brave and Try Something New. You kinda have to with learning new things and having new teachers, but embrace it! And look for other things to try outside of school.

Here's to an exciting new year. I love seeing you grow and mature, and when I see you being kind my momma heart just wants to explode.  It's a privilege to be your Mom.
Love,
Mom

July '19

Life, according to our phones:

Besides our two big vacations, we also this fun stuff!

Summer library time. Here we learned about astronomy and then looked through the sun-scope at the sun!:

Cherry Hill fun. TJ, you like to whip your hair into a mohwak in the water:

We brought Anya with us this day!:

Free movie:

Dad and I went to see Darin's parade of Homes house that he had worked so hard on. It was cool! The deck over the garage was my favorite part, and there was quite the view from up there:

 Neighborhood water party at our friends' house:

Lulu got to go see a few more Parade Homes with me!;

The orthodontist had a fun Surf N Swim night:

Fish, you were proud of this snack you made and you wanted me to take a picture of it:

We celebrated your twin cousins' birthday at a Splash pad. That was fun:

We also had cake and ice cream with them that night:

Found this picture spot at Walmart:

At the ward breakfast the primary kids got to break pinatas. That was a new activity and it was fun!:

One Saturday I met some High School friends downtown at the Farmer's Market. I thought it was cool that there was a flower in my passion fruit juice. I didn't notice until I was done drinking it:

Cute ladies:

Hammer, you were proud of this picture you took of our flowers:

Sparklers and pop-its one night:

We met Gramma and cousins downtown on a Monday. We had fun on our tour of the top of Grandpa's work building:

Then we decided to tour the Beehive House since the kids had never seen it. We enjoyed it, and you guys liked finding all the hidden beehives throughout the house:

This is the original drawing by the architect who designed the Salt Lake temple:

 Pretty dishes:

 Cool door knob:

 Such fancy rooms:

There was even a little store for Brigham's wives to come get what they needed for their families:

After that tour we did the Church Art museum. You guys got to do some watercolor painting!:

We always like the exhibit downstairs of the church's history. You're climbing in a log to see where Joseph Smith hid the golden plates:

At this point it was lunch time and we headed over to City Creek for lunch. I let you guys pick whatever sounded good for lunch, that was a special treat. Lulu chose sushi. I chose Indian food. Hammer had a Subway sandwich, and the little boys got chicken nugget Happy Meals. This is in the play area at the food court:

Fun times. TJ and Fish then went to Gramma's to have a sleep over!:

The last day of July turned out to be windy and almost cold. Weird! We still had some fun at Cherry Hill:

Fun times right? Summer is the best.
Love you,
Mom