The Wednesday of the break was even busier than Tuesday. Boo's bestie had spent the night for her re-birthday and Peanut, Peaches, and Lou had spent the night at Noni's. We went to pick Peanut and Peaches up and headed to town for ice skating!
This was my field trip for the year (each family in our homeschool group plans one field trip). Because of our crazy busy schedules this was actually the first homeschool event we have been able to attend all school year!
We got an hour and half at the ice rink and everyone had a great time!
Peanut took this one of T and I skating.
We got a helper for Peaches.
Love these two!
Peanut zoomed around the rink like a pro.
Bug tried to teach Peaches to do a spin.
And by the end of our session Peaches was skating great without the helper!
We had a few families out for sickness but still made a pretty good group!
We headed to lunch where the girls shared a milkshake.
Then we went to Target where the girls used their Christmas gift cards from Uncle J and Aunt H to pick out some fun things. Next we dropped Bug off for her "Drive 3" with her Driver's Ed instructor. We went shopping at a nearby store while we waited on her. Then we took her 30 minutes north to a surprise birthday party for one of her camp friends.
The rest of us went to do a super quick look at Christmas lights. We had tried 3 other dates in December to do that with Noni, Papa, and Mama but because of illness or weather in never worked out. :( We just did our two favorite streets and then went to have Chinese food before we had to drive back to get Bug. After we got her it was an hour back to Noni's to pick up Lou. Noni had kept her all day since she's too young for ice skating and needed a nap. They finished the puzzle we got Noni for her birthday!
We finally made it home at 8:15 Wednesday night!
Thursday I didn't get any pictures. The little ones and I were able to stay home all day, and also watched two kids most of the day for a friend. Daddy, Bug, Boo, and Peanut got to go play laser tag with the youth group. Peanut was able to tag along since Daddy was a chaperone.
They had a blast and T sent me this picture of Peanut and her glowing nails, and Bug and Boo with their friends. Apparently Peanut won one of the rounds! High fives for the youngest person there! Way to go Peanut!
Somehow our Christmas break always gets jam packed with activities. Our Tuesday was spent with Lou's yearly check up...she's healthy and looks good. 50% for both height and weight. Then we ran home to grab everyone else and were off to our next activity. It was Boo's re-birthday so she got to choose lunch. We did pizza and pasta.
Lou brought her camera and took pictures of everything...literally.
Then we headed to the pottery place! Noni had given the girls gift cards for their piano student gifts so they got to pick something extra big.
Boo, Bug, Daddy, and I all did ice cream bowls.
Peanut did a turtle to put in Buddy's cage, a candy cane, and an ornament. :)
Saturdays in January are for enjoying Christmas presents!
Daddy and the girls have been having fun with the Nintendo Switch! They each created character profiles and have been having fun racing and playing all the different sports.
T and I had fun breaking in the dart board. I didn't realize Peanut was taking these pictures.
Somehow, by total chance, I was able to beat T in all three games we played. He rarely loses in any kind of sporting competition so it was kind of funny. :)
Unfortunately one of my shots hit a piece of metal and bounced off, hitting the floor and chipping the laminate. :( We put the cardboard box down to catch other such shots.
We played several rounds and then he and the girls played too. I think this particular shot was Boo's.
It's so nice to enjoy a few lazy Saturdays before Spring hits and we start up again with projects.
We have two teenagers in the house!! Thankfully they are both awesome! Everyone talks about the trouble teenagers can be...I won't deny that the letting go process isn't stressful but our teenagers are so much fun! They are hilarious and witty and bring so much laughter into our house and they are REALLY fun to hang out with. They are also responsible and can be super helpful around the house, not to mention having built in babysitters is awesome! We are thankful for our teenagers!
We have decided this will be Boo's last year in the online school. She is an amazing student...incredibly focused and she will not settle for anything less than an A+! Her teachers love her and she has made some friends, but we are ready for her to be in a traditional school. I still love the online school for Elementary but the Middle School is a whole other ball game. It is VERY time intensive. She spends 7-9 hours a day working hard at the computer and it feels like we hardly see her even though she is home. She has been participating in one class at Bug's school (choir/drama) and also in Middle School volleyball and basketball so she has lots of friends up there and loves it already. She is excited to attend full time next year!
For volleyball she practiced with the team but didn't play in games since she was only able to be at 2 of the 5 practices a week. She learned some great skills though and will be prepared to play next year. For basketball they only practice twice a week and they just happen to be the days she's already there for choir/drama so she will officially get to be on the team and play games! Their games will start next month and we're looking forward to watching her be able to play again. She is very athletic and basketball is "her" sport!
She continues to excel in piano and impress us with her skills! We are so thankful to Noni for developing this amazing talent in her and it is so fun to hear her playing difficult songs so beautifully! She is currently working on a classical piece.
Another activity we added this year is Drama Club! Both she and Peanut go to Drama Club when I am at worship team. They are going to be auditioning next week and putting on a full play in June!
Her other new thing this year has been joining our church's youth discipleship program. This will allow her to work at summer camp next year and she is really excited about that! We agreed to let her work one week next summer, in addition to going to teen camp. Camp is a LOT of hard work and very little sleep and leaves them wiped out for weeks so we've decided their first year will just be working one week (there are four). The youth started a read through the bible in a year program in January and she is doing a great job keeping up so far...not easy to do on top of schoolwork, AWANA, discipleship, piano, and sports!
Speaking of AWANA she is doing great in that as well! They went back to their original model this year specifically so that she and her best friend would be able to complete a book. If you complete 10 books in the AWANA program starting in Kindergarten you can get the Citation award. I have only given out one in the 11 years I've been working at AWANA. Boo...our most competitive child...has of course set this goal for herself. It will be work but we have no doubt she can do it! One of the things I most admire about Boo is her diligence and persistence. When she sets a goal she sticks to it and works hard to accomplish it.
Here is her birthday interview:
1. Favorite color: yellow
2. Favorite toy: I prefer to read books
3. Favorite fruit: strawberries
4. Favorite TV show: The Mysterious Benedict Society
5. Favorite lunch: nachos
6. Favorite outfit: a hoodie and jeans
7. Favorite game: Catan
8. Favorite snack: strawberries
9. Favorite animal: Owls
10. Favorite song: Behold Our God
11. Favorite book: Percy Jackson series
12. Your best friend: Rebecca and Katelyn
13. Favorite Cereal: Honey Nut Cheerios
14. Favorite thing to do outside: play basketball
15. Favorite drink: rootbeer
16. Favorite holiday: Christmas
17. Favorite breakfast: Blueberry pancakes
18. What do you like to take to bed: my 5 million pillows and blankets, according to Momma
19. What do you want to be when you grow up: I'm not that far yet, I don't know
20. What do you want for your birthday dinner? Italian
Dear Boo,
Welcome to your teens! It's not hard for me to accept that you are already a teenager because you are so mature that you've always seemed older than you really are. It has been so fun to watch you diving into your leadership responsibilities. You are so much more focused than I was at your age and it's awesome to see you growing in your faith. I am also so impressed with the way you can stand up and give your testimony, a devotion, or a gospel presentation. You are so poised, eloquent, and graceful!
I am so thankful for you!! You are such an important part of our family. I so appreciate all you do to help out around here and how disciplined and responsible you are. Not to mention polite and thoughtful. Not a single meal goes by without you saying thank you...even if you have to grab your plate and eat at your computer to get to a class connect.
It has been so fun to watch you jump into a traditional school...even for just one class. You fit right in and have such good friends there. I am really looking forward to you being able to go full time next year. I have not doubt you will do amazingly well!
You have grown into such a beautiful young woman. It is hard on this Momma's heart to watch you growing up so quickly, but I am so incredibly proud of the person you are becoming. You are letting God lead you and guide you and that means more than anything to Daddy and I. You are amazing my sweet girl and I love you more than I could ever say! I hope 13 will be your best year yet!
She has changed a lot this past year and looks so much older now that she has glasses! She has been incredibly responsible with her glasses and after that learning curve the first week she rarely forgets to put them on in the morning. She carefully stores them in their case each night and cleans them with the special cloth when she needs to. I have been impressed with this new level of responsibility.
She and Lou are still the best of friends and do everything together. They are two little peas in a pod and have so much fun together! Lou is starting to give up naps so I've been trying to separate them for a quiet hour each afternoon, but they beg and beg to be allowed to play together. They get along really well for the most part and have a great time with their games and toys.
Peaches has done a great job joining the online school! They changed it a lot this year and it is completely online, even in the younger grades. She does a pretty good job of getting things done on her own, but does need a bit of re-focusing now and then. She is still pretty busy...although settling down a lot compared to last year...so she's always moving and squirming around on her seat. For the most part though she does really well with her schoolwork. She loves her teacher and has found some friends among her classmates.
One thing that has not changed much is her teeth! She lost the bottom last summer and hasn't lost one since. That fact has been hard for her because her online class has a page where they get to put a sticker when they lose a tooth and lots of her classmates are getting to add stickers. Her front top two are wiggly so she's hopefully she'll soon be adding her own stickers!
Speaking of friends...she has lots of them! There are lots of kids at
our church so she has a nice big pool of friends! She also has some from
homeschool group, dance, and library story time. She is very sweet and
always includes others.
She is reading really well and devoured the chapter books we got her for Christmas. Here's a little clip of her reading from them.
Dance is going pretty well although they changed teachers and the new one is quite a bit harder and more intense. She is very focused on technique and building strength and less on the lighthearted "fun" stuff. We'll see how the year continues to go. I think Peaches favorite part is getting to play with the other big sisters during Lou's class. :)
She played baseball last Spring and did a wonderful job! She had fun, especially with the other two girls on her team, but I think the boys were a little rough for her. After the season she told me she probably didn't want to play again.
She is doing great at AWANA and is nearly finished with her first grade book. I got some extra credit books ordered and she will be one of the first to need one. She loves AWANA nigthts!
Her piano continues to improve. She has great timing and feels the music really well. She played for offertory the other day and our previous worship team leader was very impressed with her ability. It is fun to watch her play!
Here is her birthday interview:
1. Favorite color: blue, purple, and pink
2. Favorite toy: Calico Critters
3. Favorite fruit: peaches
4. Favorite TV show: Gabby's Dollhouse or Octonauts
5. Favorite lunch: pb&h (peanut butter and honey)
6. Favorite outfit: This!
7. Favorite game: Frozen Monopoly
8. Favorite snack: monster apples
9. Favorite animal: piggy
10. Favorite song: Away In A Manger
11. Favorite book: The Bible
12. Your best friend: Alissa, Audrey, Gianna
13. Favorite Cereal: Honey Nut Cheerios
14. Favorite thing to do outside: Build a snowfort and have a snowball fight
15. Favorite drink: Cherry slush (from Sonic)
16. Favorite holiday: That's hard. Easter and Christmas
17. Favorite breakfast: pancake cereal and cinnamon rolls
18. What do you like to take to bed: Do-do
19. What do you want to be when you grow up: either an artist or a baker that bakes donuts
20. What do you want for your birthday dinner? hot dogs
Dear Peaches,
Happy 7th birthday sweet girl! You are growing up so fast and we are so proud of you! You are so much fun and full of joy and laughter. You make us all laugh every single day and have so much energy!
It has been fun to watch you doing so well with school this year. Your reading has really taken off and I love to hear you discovering new books. What I really love though is watching you at church and AWANA. You are learning so much and you can memorize scripture so quickly! It is wonderful to watch you growing in your faith.
You are such a sweet girl. I love seeing you with your friends at church and especially with your little sister. She adores you so much and can't wait for you to finish your schoolwork each day so you can play with her. You two play for hours and are so creative. You are such a good big sister.
You have such an inquisitive mind. So many questions. Often times you send me to Google looking for answers to your many questions, and you always have to ask at least three or four before we can say goodnight. I hope you never lose your desire to know more and learn more. You are very bright and love to learn new things!
Thank you for being such a wonderful part of our family. I love you so much and am so thankful for you! Daddy and I are proud of you and the big girl you are becoming. Happy birthday!
We left the farm on the 26th, drove home, got unpacked and all the new Christmas presents put away and then started round 2!
Noni, Papa, and Mama were able to join us at our house this year! My side of the family went together and bought the girls tickets to the San Diego Safari Park for our trip! We've heard it's really cool and are excited to check it out!
Abby is so funny...always interested in what's going on. :)
Uncle M and Aunt N got each of the girls a camera! Perfect for our upcoming trip!
Lou was especially excited! Her and Peaches cameras have some games they can play. It became a permanent part of her body for the first week after she got it.
Uncle S and Aunt J got my name in the family drawing and gave me a granite pan I'd asked for and a new pair of slippers! Mine were a tad worn out...haha.
Our piano teacher gift for Noni was this beautiful sign that Auntie Nae made out of a piece of wood that came off an old piano! It turned out so great!
The girls loved giving each sister their gifts.
And they each gave us a gift too. So sweet.
Sweet sisters!
Bug and Boo found this cute leather jacket for Peanut and also gave her a paint by number of her and her favorite horse from lessons!
I helped Mama give the girls Rocket Books. It's a reusable notebook that you can download to your phone...pretty neat!
Tyson and the girls spoiled me, a new set of books, wool socks, a pretty blouse, a new sweatshirt, waterbootle, watch, a mother's necklace, jeans, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
We gave Daddy a couple of new sweaters, some tools, gloves, and a hat. Uncle K had him in the family gift exchange and got him a pair of lineman pliers because this summer he learned T didn't have any and told him he need some. He also got a Lowe's gift card.
Papa gave the girls Mario Kart for the new Nintendo Switch! They were so excited!
Noni got the girls new waterbottles and stickers to pick out for them.
We had pizza and played a game of cards before they left...such a fun night!
