13, 11, 8, and 6

This is what y'all are up to lately. What you worry about. What you love. Funny things you've said. Just a little look at what makes you "you" these days.

Lulu:

The first thing that you want to do whenever you come home is vegg on the tv or computer. You love to watch silly shows, life-hack videos, animal videos, or even people putting Lego's together. When I remind you that you need to get homework and chore done first, you are good about turning off the tv and getting your stuff done. That isn't easy. The next step is for you to just first get your stuff done without me telling you! We're getting there. You are reading Harry Potter 6 at bedtime, but you're not sure how much you love it. Your biggest worry is that you'll be abandoned somewhere one day. Maybe that's why you keep asking when it will be time to get your own phone. You're hoping that 16 years old will be the magic time. We'll see. I have no idea what to do about that yet because I don't want you to waste time on it or to feel the anxiety from social media and all the drama that comes with that. Right now I'm happy that you have a few good friends at school and 2 in our ward but that our home is still a safe haven from everything worldly.

Hammer:

This is kind of an artistic selfie that you left me on my phone! You are funny about your after-school time. You always make sure that you first have a snack, a big snack!, and that you get some time to decompress before you get your homework out. If it were up to you then you would ride your bike and write books and play with friends all the way until dinner time. You never want to be assigned a chore; you want me to list all of the possible chores and then you choose the one that sounds the best. You've started listening to a book on cd that I checked out at the library. You listen while you follow along in a book. You had a really hard time getting in to it so I hoped that the audio version would help get you to the exciting part. Your reading level is so high so we're trying to get you to branch into harder books! Sometimes you get in a silly mood at dinner time where everything you say makes the other kids laugh. Then it's hard for anyone to finish their food because you're all laughing or trying to add to your silly hypothetical situations. I can't think of anything that you're really scared of. You even sleep in the furthest corner bedroom in the basement by yourself! I love that you're brave. 

TJ:

Another selfie that I found on my phone. The first thing you do every morning is start reading your Harry Potter book. You've made it to number 4. You like me to guess what page or what chapter you are on because it's amazing how much you read each day. You often want to take Pluto on a walk around the block, all by yourself. You only lost him once. You say funny stuff all the time, things like berry-of-the-straw or where did you get that sleeve-less coat (when I was wearing a new vest). One night you tied your gator pajamas around your waist, instead of putting them on normally, and then sat on the couch to read. When I came to join you I sat on your jammies just a little and you said in an annoyed voice, "hey! you sat on my gator-tom!" Apparently that's what you named the jammies when they're worn like a weird loin cloth. You have a thing for rodents lately. You think they are the funniest and you are always using that word in your sentences. I love it when you catch your reflection in the kitchen window at dinner time, when it's dark outside so our lighted room is reflected back to you like a mirror. When you see yourself you make funny faces or strange arm contortions, just to amuse yourself. Every chore is the worst chore, even though what you consider the worst changes daily. It's always the one that you're supposed to do that day. Some days are pretty rough getting you to get it done, but you have no problem cruising through spelling and math each night. The only things that you're scared of is going on a ride that you think will be scary, and eating a bean.

Fish:

You couldn't wait to take your dollar to school and buy this fund-raiser-sucker. It took me a few weeks to decide that a dollar for a sucker was an ok purchase. It is a little expensive in my opinion, but it was after all only a dollar and it was your own money to spend. You love to spend your money. We're trying to find the right balance of spending and saving. I don't mind you spending some of your hard earned cash so that you can learn the value of a dollar and it will make you want to earn more money if you're able to spend it. But I also want you to learn to save. Anyway, you finally remembered on the right day of the week to take your dollar to school. You were so excited to bring it home and eat it. I love that you come home and right away get your assigned reading for school done. You're such a great reader. You would love to have a play date every day if you could. You also love to play cool songs on the piano, not the boring ones in the lesson book. You play the Harry Potter theme and the Pink Panther every time that you pass the piano, which is a lot. You have very creative fingering but always remember exactly what notes to play! You love playing Nintendo, but mostly just with the big kids because you won't go downstairs by yourself. Your biggest fear is probably the basement. Luckily you have no problems being down there if someone else is down there too. You talk about your two best friends at school all the time, whom incidentally are both about a year older than you. It makes no difference though! You have no problems being the youngest in your class, which makes me so happy because that was the toughest decision to make. 

There you have it! I love all of these things about you guys. You're growing up strong and brave and kind and smart.

Love,

Mom

Things I Love - part 2

Hi guys!

In honor of Valentine's Day that recently passed, here is a post all about love. 5 years ago I started a list of things that I love. (https://chermylife2.blogspot.com/2015/02/love.html)  It was a pretty good list! Nothing has changed, I still love all of those things.
Today I want to add to it!

More things that I love:

.yoga
.a clean chick flick
.disneyland
.raspberries
.blossoms
.the library
.an irish accent
.kayaking
.soft baby hair
.the smell of a rose
.dad's homemade pico
.llama's facial expressions
.green arrows to turn left
.italian ice
.the sunshine
.when my kids all play creatively together
.hearing an old song with a memory tied to it
.puzzles
.freshly baked bread
.discovering a new place

Love,
Mom

Lulu is 13!

Lulu! 

My teenager! You're the first one to enter this unknown territory. What will it be like to be a parent of a teenager? So far so good! You still want to spend time with me. You still love being tucked in and snuggling, but you also love being invited somewhere with friends. You are the perfect blend of homebody and social bug and I hope that doesn't change!

We started the festivities on February 1st with a birthday party. You invited 5 girls over, 1 couldn't come. You had breakfast and a movie in your pajamas! I took your orders at breakfast and served you, like a waitress. The waffles and quiche were so yummy, and we sang to you with a candle in the waffles instead of in cake:

Of course you were thrilled with all of your gifts:

 Cute group of girls:

On your actual birthday yesterday you had to go to school. You weren't happy about the fact that you were sure band class was going to sing to you, and you wanted me to check you out early because the boys had early out day. Once you decided to just endure, the day went great because no one sang to you after all and two friends brought little gifts by the house!
You were stoked to find I had bought sushi for your after school birthday treat:

After a lot of homework and a yummy dinner of lobster, potato chowder, and corn bread, we headed off to Bowman's to get donuts:

 Before we sang to you, you opened the gifts from your brothers. You had already seen and tried out the bike that you got from me and Dad! You loved all of the gifts again:

13 candles!

And here you are out to eat with Gramma and Grandpa for your birthday! You wanted Red Lobster for your birthday lunch:

It's fun to watch you learn new things and become independent! You love skiing, swimming, and biking. You're learning to love hiking and tennis and are excited to try snorkeling this summer! Watching you find ways to be active and healthy that you love is so important to me. It was a long road to get here, you have tried lots of different things! You also love watching tv so I think it's important to find those fun things to help you stay balanced.
You're very creative. You love to write books and you love painting. You are still slowly progressing at piano and you have excelled at flute this year! You also loved being in the musical at school. You like to build things or make stop motion movies with Legos.
Your favorite foods are of course lobster and sushi, but you also love burgers, pizza, tacos, and all fruits. You love spicy foods so much.  And oh do you love sugar. You don't like hot dogs, chicken nuggets, most sandwiches, or crispy cheese. You know, when the cheese sneaks out of the sandwich onto the griddle and gets crunchy? You hate that.
You have done really well with 10 classes this year. Staying organized is still a little hard, and math doesn't come easy, but with hard work you have been on the High Honor Roll both quarters! That's a great accomplishment. We still need to celebrate a little for that.
You are sentimental. You want to keep all of your special papers and keep in touch with old friends. I love that.
Lulu, you are very smart when it comes to the gospel. You have been listening all of these years! You know that answers to almost all of the questions that I ask during our family studies. You believe what you learn too. You have a sweet gentle faithful spirit. Sometimes the boys do their best to push your buttons still and sometimes you still snap, but that's to be expected. Brothers can be pests that teach us patience, but your brothers are also some of your best friends. I love it when you play together or explore some place together. It's the best.  We can't wait for the fun trips coming up this year! Your passport came in the mail last week and we're ready for an adventure!
I sure love you Lulu. You are a light in our home.
Love,
Momma

January's Photos

Life Lately,

We checked almost everything off of our Winter Break Bucket List!:

TJ, you had to have another check up for your kidney, which involved a blood draw. Here you are, trying to be brave in the waiting room, reading your Harry Potter book:

And you were brave! Tears streamed down your face as you tried as hard as you could to lay still. Being brave doesn't mean you weren't scared or that it didn't hurt. It means you were scared but you did it anyway. I was proud of you so I let you choose a treat at Bowman's on the way back to school.  You chose your own carton of strawberries instead of candy:

We saw Laura and Jordan's family at our favorite Mexican restaurant one night!:

Fish, you didn't feel well one morning. By afternoon you were fine and we had to figure out how to entertain you. You did all of these rhyming matches:

Pictures from Lulu's play called Dear Edwina:

A cool sunset one night:

A date with TJ:

Parents and Pastries one morning at the school:

Making cards to mail to veterans:

Lulu and her friend on their last day of ski lessons:

January is done, it was long and cold but we still had fun!
Love,
Mom