Josh's 14th Birthday

Joshy Bear himself turned 14 this year. He has grown up so much this last year- physically speaking. ( and probably in many other ways too 😏) But right now, I am just speaking to the physical because he is now taller than me..,I realize this is not the feat that I am making it, but it is still strange going from my boys that I have always been taller than to when I am finally not. He is very strong, very athletic. Josh has woken up this past year early in the morning to get to the soccer fields before school. A very funny phase I want to remember. He would come to the house after practicing at the field and come make milkshakes with his friend, Jack, at our house. Or the other option would be them riding their bike to Chik-fil-a and making friends with the workers. 

I appreciate that person that Josh for so many reasons. He is an amazing brother. He has helped Rowan with his math homework, he has stuck up for him at school on a few occasions. And, actually the way he handled it was pretty much the best way anyone could. He found out who was being the problem, then he pulled him into him and whispered: "So, you know Rowan?" The kid "Yeah."  "What happened today?" The kid tries to explain. "Is that going to happen again?" "No" The kids say quickly. 

Josh has lots of friends. He is a good friend. We had some girl drama with his friends and the day of Josh's birthday his best buddy was "broken up with" I say it like that because...really? It's middle school. But, nonetheless, Josh was mostly trying to ensure that he was happy that day. 

Josh is funny. Josh is quick-witted, he is aware of others, he is aware of his surrounding. Josh is also the boy of mine who tells me I am beautiful every day. Every single day. Not Sam-😂 Josh. He is actually setting the example of doing this..Jonah tells me all the time now, and Lily is starting to as well. 

Josh asks great questions, I love talking with him. Josh is also my equal in seeing the best in others and trying to stay positive. He notices (like me) quickly when attitudes need to shift and start thinking more positively.

Josh draws people to him, as he always has, and I predict he always will. I love my boy Josh, and I am so very thankful for him.

 

Just more about Rowan...

 I was able to attend Rowan's last band performance of the year. I do have to admit it was an improvement than the first one. It was with all the grades. I couldn't find him in the crowd at first, and then I spotted him., smiling with his friends, listening to the solo that they were doing, and being genuinely happy for their accomplishments. Rowan is the best hype bro anyone can ask for. I see how he looks at his brothers, I see how is charmed by their talents, and proud to be their brother. This boy deserves the world. I know that is he really looking forward to the summer, and I am hoping to make it everything that he would want, also. 

Rowan was talking to Jonah about the girl "who stares at him,  followed by, "I mean, I know I'm everyone's type." 😂 Yes, yes he is. 

Rowan is everyone's type. I think that if he makes the right friends, and is around the right people, I think Everyone loves Rowan. His teachers love having him in class, he does have some friends, and I hope that his friendships continue to develop. I still believe that God is in the details to Rowan's life. 

Lily's 7th Birthday

Oh boy... Lily is looking more and more grown up by the day. I will tell her she is beautiful- I make she gets other compliments too. 💁🏼‍♀️ But, she does not like it when I tell her that. She'll say "You have told me that a million times." But, she just is the loveliest thing. She is extremely smart, and a very good student. She has great handwriting, and very creative drawings, and she retains so much of what she is learning. She is still a bit of a snuggler, but I kind of feel like that could be coming to end soon.. she doesn't like to hold my hand as much anymore. It's hard to let go. We have a really bad ski season this year, and we have only been able to go 3 times. But, Lily is such a great skier. It is so fun being able to watch her do the things that I was always a little more on the nervous side to do. 

For her birthday she just wanted to go with a couple of her little friends to the trampoline park, the other one in town, and then we went and ordered Chik fil a, and had dinner back at the house, and had cake and presents. By the end of the night, it seemed like she was really odd with low energy, and when her friends got picked up, she told me she wasn't feeling well. I took her temperate, and sure enough she had a fever. She was so sad, and she kept saying, "Why I am sick on my birthday?!" The injustice. But, I talked to her about how germs don't know it was her birthday. She skipped school the next day, but was luckily feeling a lot better.

I love this little girl so so much. She really is so sweet and kind, and is definitely aware of others. She plays hard with her brothers, and does not like to take it down a notch even though I tell the boys to please do so, because she is still a lot littler than them. She loves unicorns, reading, and laughing together. Her favorite color right now is black, followed by purple. She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, and I am sure she can do just that. She still absolutely loves animals. She is a force. 

Lily recently really wants to earn getting her ears pierces and in a very interesting twist is asking me a lot of questions about...ahem.. periods. I know, I know! I never thought I would be explaining periods yet to my 7 year old. But, because we already have an honest rapport, and I always have encouraged asking questions with an honest back and forth, I am answering the best I can. I had explained that she already has eggs, and then that boy brings something that mixes with what the girl has. (I mean she's 7) And she stopped and thought for a minute trying to figure some things out. I complimented her great questions and I said, "You're like a little scientist." Lily said.."Yeah...like a scientist that doesn't know very much" 😂

Oh Gosh! I love this girl so so much. She is the dream of a daughter that I could never imagined. 

 

Rowan's 12th Birthday

Rowan turned 12 this year. He keeps telling me next year he will be pretty much a grown up. But, I am reminding him that 13 does not mean a grown up, but yes, he will be a teenager. He likes to see me squirm with that information. I mean, I don't know what parent likes it when their kid turns into an official teenager? Nonetheless, he is not 13, he is 12. 

Rowan is a very good kid. We recently had report cards come through and almost every one of his teachers commented that he was a pleasure to have in class. This does not surprise me. He is inquisitive and friendly, and friendly to his peers. 

He is not without hard days at school, but perhaps I will write more on that another time. 

For Rowan's birthday this year he wanted to go to the Trampoline park so we went to Mountain Air as a family. It was lovely because we almost had the whole place to ourselves. He wanted English Sausage Rolls for dinner, and the usual bundt cake. 

Rowan loves basketball right now, and he is still making goals for his running and improving his next season for cross country, and I think he will be really excited when Track and Field start up. He is still very talented on the piano, and he is always very creative and fun. He has really liked being in Young Mens and he is lucky to have Josh and all of Josh's friends at school with him this year. They all look out for him, and really care about him. 

We love Rowan so much, I think my favorite thing right now is watching a Seinfeld with him before bed. He really loves it, and will do these big laughs, and look over at me while he is laughing. He can remember and repeat all the jokes even if her has only heard it one time. His favorite class right now is Tech, which he admitted that at first it was really boring, but now it is fun. 

He is a strong kid, and he has had so many things that make him stronger. We love Rowan in our family. 

We went around the dinner table to say one thing that we love about Rowan, Jonah's suggestion- which I love. Rowan's face was delighted. Jonah began, "When I was younger, " 😂 and then he proceeded to laugh at his own joke, "I asked Rowan if we could be bros. I love having Rowan for his brother." 

 

What happened on Rudy's Birthday

Well, the title was just supposed to draw you in.. did it work? 🤨 Because, let's be honest, what happened for Rudy's birthday was he still spent it like a dog. Taking multiple naps, hanging out with his peeps, and then taking more naps, but he also got a birthday hat, a special dog cake, and a new toy, but other than that he was living his best life, like he does every day. 

 But, really the day was about Jonah. Jonah had taken his day off yesterday. Quick aside, I made contracts with all my kids this year that they could take a "brain break" day, and just have the day for no other reason than they just need a day. So, Jonah took the day off, and we played some card games and went to cuppayo and watched a movie together. Today, however, was not that day, but when he woke up he didn't want to go to school today either. 

First, frustrated, I told him he needed to go. I am realizing it is quite difficult to actually make your kids really do anything they don't want to do. So, after telling him he needs to get himself ready to go by the time I circled back home for the other boys quite firmly, but feeling badly  I called him before picking up Kaj from seminary to say that I was sorry, and that I loved him, and was ready to listen if there was anything else going on. He then told me there was "this jerk" at school. He had been unkind to Jonah and his friends, and had whistled really loud in Jonah's ear- all of which maybe doesn't seem like much, but to him, it was, and it bothered him enough that he didn't want to go to school. 

I immediately let his teacher know, and she was quick to respond and also quick to let the vice principal know. I received a phone call from her, and she planned to talk to the family, and have the people out at recess aware of Jonah. I must say I am impressed and continue to be impressed with Lava Ridge. We are very lucky to be at such a great school. I was able to pass this a long to Jonah, but he was still really upset going. I gave him a bit more time. Around noon we got to the school,  he still continued to be upset, and really didn't want to go. 

I was pretty much at a loss. There this battle that happens- it's not that big of a deal-he can stay home the rest of the day. After all, he had missed most of the day, but the other side says will he do this same thing tomorrow? I needed him to do the brave thing. His teacher and people there care about him, and I knew it would be ok. We said a prayer. We talked about not letting someone else have power over you, and I reminded Jonah that he was powerful. We walked in together. He was the sweetest boy in the world. He was sad but brave, and then I cried as I left. 

At night, we went for a drive -this happens a lot- as Kaj is trying to put in his hours in to driving, and Jonah and Josh came with us. The older boys ran into Target, and I stayed in the car with Jonah. He quietly said, "I don't have a best friend. Or a best friend I can trust." 🥲 We had a chance to talk about friendships and that right now it was important to make a lot of friends, and that a best friend he can trust will for sure come. I was telling Jonah that he has a lot of friends but I understood that he wanted a best friend. We moved on to talking about a couple of other things and then he said, "Wait, I do have a best friend....You. And I can always trust you." Talk about absolutely melting my heart. He is amazing. He honestly has the sweetest, biggest, most tender heart. Protect this boy at all costs. 

He also said recently, that it would be a "leprechaun miracle" if Josh had been born on St. Patricks Day. 😂

Happy Birthday Rudy. You're getting so big! 

 

Christmas 2025

 Our Christmas this year was a good one. The kids all got new skis...but, we didn't get any snow. We were anticipating lots of ski days but we did not have a one. 

We picked our beautiful tree ourselves, but it did take us two tries. We went out after work one night and it was getting dark so fast, and we had  been looking in areas where there was a lack of trees. But, the following week we were able to score the winner.

We still loved the time altogether, and I literally can't believe how huge my kids are.