Fourteen

Happy 14th birthday to my first dream come true!  It's so hard to believe it was 14 years ago today that the doctor place a tiny 6lb 14oz perfect little bundle in my arms and I truly understood what love was.  I never would have thought through that first 6 months of life where you continuously fell into the "under average" category for weight and height that in just 14 years I'd be looking up to you.  God truly blessed me by making me your mom!

I love you sweet boy of mine!

 ( I love that in this picture JK is actually leaning down a little to get closer to my height.  When standing up straight I only come up to his shoulders.)

I'm proud to say that we have officially survived year one of the fun that is raising a teenager and it honestly hasn't been to bad.  We have had to adjust our parenting in a few areas and I have had to really try to learn to not take the sudden mood swings thrown at me to personal.  This year has had a few ups and downs, but we are all learning together and things seem to be smoothing out.  What we have learned after being in a constant battle in a few areas is that we needed to adjust our no dating rule until 16 a bit.  Currently we ar still saying there is no dating, but there is now room to have a girlfriend.  (Because there is a difference!)  Clint and I decided that if JK decides he wants a girlfriend (which he has) he's going to have one whether we know about it or not.  Trust is important in our house so we decided to be a little more lenient in this area.  JK is still not allowed to go on dates or meet up at the mall or have any alone time with said girlfriend, but he is allowed to hug her and spend time with her at school and school events such as dances.  (Thank God for a school with a very strict pda policy and a staff that enforces it!)  There is phone time allowed, but it happens in a somewhat public place in our home and the time is strictly monitored.  While we originally said there would be no time spent together outside of school events until next year, we agreed to bend that rule a little and JK is being allowed to invite his girlfriend to see Frozen with our family on Friday.  Clint joked that she would be sitting on his right side and JK on his left.  We both feel that these girlfriends are going to happen whether we're ready for them or not and that we would much rather be the family they want to spend time with, when in the future they are allowed to start dating on a less restrictive basis.  Honestly this has all been such a learning process for us and I can only pray that we are making the right decisions with our sweet boy as we continue to take each day and each new situation one step at a time. 

Aside from the serious interest in dating and the mood swings that have come with the teenage years, JK is still the sweetest most thoughtful kid I know.  The way he thinks of and treats others continues to make my heart swell on an almost daily basis.  He is kind and generous and just so much fun to be around.  I am so blessed with the kids that God has entrusted with me but am beyond thankful that he chose to give me JK first.  He really has made being a parent so much fun and for the most part so easy.

We love you sweet teenager of ours and hope and pray that all of your birthday wishes come true!

Happy 14th Birthday!

  

Another attempt...

Life gets so busy around here that I usually find myself declaring after a month or two of not posting anything that it might be time to let this little blog of ours go.  Then I need to remember something and I find myself back here looking through the pictures and memories. Every time I do this I find myself falling in love with this little space all over again.  So I make a promise to myself that I'm going to do better, because these days and years are full of things I want to remember and probably wouldn't if it weren't for this space. So here I go again...

A little random rambling as to how I found my way back here again today...  It's actually quite sad, but I can't for the life of me remember what exactly Christmas looked like here last year.  Honestly I'm convinced that I have the worst memory of any 34 year old around.  My husband and kids think it's funny, but it's actually starting to scare me a bit.  So this morning as I laid in bed trying so hard to remember having Molly home with us last year on Christmas, I just couldn't do it.  So I decided to look here.  Looking back through pictures and posts of last Christmas might seem like a strange way to see what kiddos sat around our tree last year, so that I'll know for certain which one's will be around our tree this year.  It's just that it's so much more pleasant then skimming the filing cabinet looking for an ugly, dusty divorce settlement.  And for the record I could have just as easily and quickly text or called Molly's mom for the answer (which I do a lot) but I hate to bug her and really, really hate how scatter brained it makes me feel.  Even though the truth is that I am a bit of a scatter brain.  Which is just another reason that having this space is so important.

So where to begin.  Hmm....

I think I left off with a couple of cute picture of JK and Lillie at the start of the football season.  And oh what a season it was!  The jr braves ended in 3rd place with an awesome winning record 8-2.  It was a great year to end our time with the youth football program.  JK's team is stocked full of really good, sweet boys that Im excited to watch him grow with.  Through this team we have created amazing friendships we know will last a life time.  While we were a little sad to see it come to an end, we know most of these boys will be moving on into high school together and as strange as it is to say it, I can't wait!  I am so ready to cheer our Braves on through the next chapter of their lives.

And who knows we very well might be with this program again next year if Lillie decides she wants to cheer again.  While there were a few rough patches in the beginning she ended the year so strong.  All of the girls had a little dance routine they learned over just a few weeks to perform during a halftime performance and Lillie rocked it!  She really did do such a good job this year and was beyond cute cheering her little heart out.  I was reminded quite often that she was a fan favorite for sure!  

Molly ended up playing soccer closer to her other home this year which meant that we had to make a long drive up north to watch her play.  While we made it to a handful of games, it was hard to schedule it so we could get to all of them and we ended up missing more games then we would have like.  What we did notice this year was that she was definitely the star player of her team and showed improvement every time she played.  As I've said in the past I think she could really go a long way in this sport and wouldn't be at all surprised to see her playing in college one day if she decides to stick with it.

Like the Jr Bethel team JK's middle school team also had a winning season, though they did struggle a little to find their balance.  They were anticipated to be undefeated at the end of last year but with a new coaching staff their team had a little more trouble then they probably should have.  JK was named team captain at the beginning of the year and did a great job leading this group of boys under a coach who a lot of them were reluctant to play for.  In the end the boys did well and are all looking forward to starting their high school careers next year.

   
Moving onto Halloween...

For the first time in I think forever we did not get to the pumpkin patch as a family this year.  We did some switching of weekends in the month of October so that Molly could be with her other family for some fun things they had planned and it just never worked out for all of us to get there.  It made Clint and I both a little sad and it's been decided that it will not happen again next year.  It's one of our favorite things to do as a family and we both realized this year how much we missed all of us not getting to go as a family.  Lillie and I were able to make a quick trip there with some friends while Clint was at work one day, but JK didn't want to go.  I should have made him and regret that I didn't.  I've decided that I'm really starting to loathe the month of October.  Every year it seems to get busier and busier, pulling our family in what seems like a hundred different directions.  I used to think December was our busiest month, but it's a different kind of busy.  An all together busy and I'd take that over having to split up most weekends any day!

All complaints aside, we did end up finding a little bit of time to host a dinner and pumpkin carving party at our house with friends the weekend before Halloween.  On Halloween Lillie had lots of fun tick-or-treating, filling her snack bag full and then eating more candy then she probably should have.  Frankly, after her class party and night of trick-or-treating, I'm dreading her next dentist appointment.  She chose to be a princess (again) and fell in love with a little southern bell dress while we were walking through Fred Meyer one day.  It's the first year that she has not changed her mind on costumes, ever!  This little girl of ours truly has a princess heart!

With October and Fall sports now behind us we've got a little bit of a lull in our schedule (which is quickly filling up with lots of miscellaneous events and other projects) but the best part of all this year is that we FINALLY have Molly coming back again.  We went an entire moth without seeing her and decided that was just much to long.  We were all missing her tons and then when she finally came back last weekend it took a little bit of time falling into our normal, comfortable routine again.  We did get to have a fun girls night out and enjoyed dinner and Disney on ice.  I know Molly is probably getting to old for this little tradition, but I'm hoping she'll want to continue to go for at least a few more years.  As much as I love watching our kids grow into amazing young people, the speed at which they're doing it is hurting my heart a little. 

So I think that about covers most of what we've been up to the last couple of months, and now my fingers are crossed that I'll actually be better at keeping this little place a little less dusty. 

My football player and his cheerleader

My heart beats just a little faster as we're getting these two ready for a Saturday game.  It's kind of like my little dream come true...

With the age difference between the two, I never imagined that we would actually find something that they could participate in together.  This year we did.  And with JK moving onto high school next year sniff sniff this will be the only year they'll be able to participate in a sport on the same field at the same time and I'm loving every single bit of it!  The only thing that could make this any better, would have been if  Molly could have cheered along side Lillie.  Of course even if her primary house wasn't more then an hour away, I don't think we ever could have gotten that girl to trade her cleats and shin guards in for pom poms, anyways.

JK is officially playing for two teams again which makes the weekdays a little exhausting with four hours worth of practice after school.  This kid of ours never complains though and really has found his true passion.  So far he has lead his team through two games coming away with pretty big wins for both of them.  His athletic ability astounds me.  People are always asking me where he gets it from, and I honestly don't know.  I wasn't bad in sports, but I certainly wasn't the superstar that he has proved to be so far.  Next week his middle school games will start and it will be fun to get to watch him play two games a week.  Although it can be a bit nerve racking at times, I really do love watching him participate in something that makes him so happy. 

Then there's our new little cheerleader.  Lillie is love love loving cheering for her big brothers team.  While she is a little young still and I think sometimes gets a little overwhelmed with some of the cheers, she really is doing an amazing job. And don't even get me started on how stinking cute she is in her little uniform!  In true Lillie form she has made a ton of friends and the girls she cheers with adore her (especially the older one's whom JK has told to watch out for her).  I don't know why I worry, (being as shes proven me wrong time and time again) but I was a little nervous over how she'd do getting up in front of such a large crowd. As usual she seems completely unphased by the people watching her and just has a blast.  This girl of ours loves to perform and has so much spirit in her!  One of the moms told me the other day, you just can't help but be drawn to her.  I don't know if she'll follow in my mom and my footsteps and turn out to be a high school cheerleader or not, but for now she is seriously having a blast!

This last Saturday my past and present came to heads for the first time when we took on Orting.  My cousin and  stepbrothers sons both played on the Orting side in the game right before ours. It was fun to sit with family and friends and cheer on the younger Jr. Cardinals to a victory.  It just felt so natural.  For JK and Lillie's game we loaded up our chairs and headed to the Bethel side.  It was a little strange to be sitting across from people I've known my entire life, cheering against their kids, some of whom our kids are pretty good friends with.  And although I was super proud of and excited for our boys, my heart did hurt a little for my old hometowns team as JK and his teammates walked all over them ending the game with a score of 28-0.  It was fun nonetheless and everybody, including JK's old Orting coaches were good spirited and proud of him and the job he did.      

8th Grade

Today JK started 8th grade.  Which means, next year he'll be off to high school.  Sigh.

I'm not ready to have an 8th grader, but this sweet boy is certainly where he's supposed to be.  This morning I dropped off a completely cool and calm kiddo who walked into his middle school like an old pro. (His only complaint about the start of this school year was that he had to wear his leadership shirt on the first day.  In protest he refused to wear any of his new clothes stating that he had nothing to match the shirt and that it was to hot for jeans.)  Yeah...  He's kind of funny about the shoes, clothes and socks he wears all matching.   

Last year JK was selected as one of a just few 8th graders to be part of the leadership team that is in charge of welcoming in the 6th and 7th graders this year as his school transitions from a Jr high full of 7th and 8th graders last year, to a middle school.  He went from being the underclassmen to the upperclassman in just one year and he had no problem taking on that big guy on campus role today.

With the start of school comes a much busier and more structured schedule, that I just wasn't ready for.  I forgot how little time I have to work dinner into a night with two football practices.  So the kids settled for a big snack after middle school football and then a late dinner after his second football (and Lillie's cheer) practice.  I've made a few small changes to my schedule for tomorrow in hopes of finding something that works a little better for all of us. 

JK honestly makes parenting seem so easy.  He's super laid back, smart, talented, well liked by all of his peers and teachers, and so sweet hearted.  I have never really worried about sending this kiddo off to school because friendships and academics all just seem to come so easy to him.  I'm super proud of the fact that he was chosen for the leadership program and just love everything about this boy.  He honestly makes me so proud.  I know his 8th grade year is going to be a wonderful one!  

Santa 2012

{Jk 13, Molly 10, Lillie 5}

This past weekend we visited Santa and then spent hours baking, decorating and taste testing cookies for his big arrival on Christmas Eve.  And because Lillie has decided that his reindeer like oranges better then carrots, we even bought another bag of cuties I'm hoping won't all be gone by next week.  

While we all love the Santa we visit, Molly and Lillie have determined that he is most definitely not the real one, but one of Santa's very best helpers.  Molly came to this conclusion after he asked if she wanted a movie for apparently the second year in a row.  She thought that seemed silly being that Santa has never actually left her a movie on Christmas morning.  Clint and I had the discussion with the kids on our way home that Santa does have helpers who listen to what each child wants and gets pictures taken as he is obviously super busy this time of year and couldn't be at all of the malls at once.  Lillie was satisfied with the explanation and Molly being the smart big sister she is assured us that the information we were sharing was old news to her.

The kids had put their letters to Santa in the mail box at the end of November and I'm really hoping he received them.  Lillie can't remember what was on her list, but wants just about everything she sees so I'm assuming it was pretty random.  Molly is being super secretive about what she asked for and won't tell a soul what was on her list to the big guy.  And JK, well being the teenager he is, his list is pretty much full of really expensive electronics and items I just don't think Santa could or would deliver on.  Luckily I was able to get him to scale his list down to some reasonable items that he wants so he won't be super disappointed come Christmas morning.   

A Weekend of Birthday Celebrations

This past weekend was full of birthday celebrations some Christmas decorating, and a little puking.  Needless to say, we were busy!

For the past month JK (and Clint) had been anxiously awaiting his birthday party that included 7 teenage boys spending the night and participating in an all day/night paint ball war.  And aside from Lillie coming down with a 24hr flu bug that morning, the party went off without a hitch.  We took the kids up to my parents house where the boys (with a little help from Clint and two other dads who were excited to help) turned one of the large fields into the ultimate paintball course.  They had tons of fun rolling in the mud, hiding behind trees and shooting each other with paint balls.  By the end of the weekend the boys were plastered with mud, welts, bruises, smiles from ear to ear and stories to last a life time.

Saturday night we celebrated JK with family over pizza.  Our good friends teenager daughter made us this cake of what JK hopes and dreams will be an actual jersey that he'll be playing in one day.  She put his football number on the cake, but I wish now that I would have had her put his age on it.  Oh well...  The cake looked great, was super moist and tasted amazing!

  

Jr High

Today was my sweet boys first day of 7th grade... Jr High.

I think we were both to nervous to sleep last night and spent most of the evening tossing turning and clock watching, making the 5:30am wake up call this morning all the more painful.  On our drive to school we went over his schedule, and locker combination and then I reminded him that it was absolutely okay to ask for help if he was struggling with getting into his locker or feeling a little lost.

Anxiety plagued me as I drove away with tear stung eyes.  I said a little prayer and waited for what felt like for ever to hear about how his day went.  Directly after school he participated in his first Jr high practice and I may have participated in a little drive by just to make sure he had made it to the field okay.  I could see from the smile on his face that I had nothing to worry about.

I was at the field waiting as soon as practice got out and excitedly listened to how much fun JK had.  He really likes all of his teachers and only ended up in the wrong classroom once.  He said he figured it out within just a few minutes and was only one door away from where he should have been.  His locker gave him no problems until the end of the day and he was thrilled to have a large group of friends sharing the same lunch as him.  

Now that I can breathe a huge sigh of relief, I think it's safe to say that JK's first day of Jr. high was a huge success! 

Ready or not, Jr high here we come!

Today was JK's Jr high orientation.  I was expecting this to be a day of taking care of business as we loaded into the car and headed to the school to pick up a class schedule, pay for an ASB card, sign up for Jr high football, and get a locker assignment and combination.

As we pulled into the Jr high parking lot, I looked at my sweet boy sitting by my side and saw the anxiety swimming in his eyes.  I grabbed his hand and reminded him it would be fine and that he would do amazing.  Because he will... He will do amazing.  He's just that kind of kid, the first born that makes parenting seem way to easy.

We walked into the Jr high (no longer hand in hand, that would be too embarrassing) and found the line for picking up class schedules.  After being handed a sheet of paper with seven classes listed and a teachers name that looked just a little bit familiar, my emotions started to overwhelm me.  It was staring at this list with my sons name on the top of it with to many classes, room numbers and a locker assignment on it that got the tears to swell.  It was looking over this list that triggered a picture of my sweet boy in the form of his five year old self wandering lost in the halls too embarrassed to ask for directions, followed by an image of him working hard to unlock a stubborn combination that just wouldn't budge as the bell rang and the halls cleared out ensuring him to be tardy to class.  It was in this same moment that these images took over my mind that I overheard my 4 year old saying "JK you are so lucky to go this school.  I can't wait until I get to go to school here, too!"  that I knew that I had to quickly wipe the tears that were getting too close to spilling over away and try my best to compose myself before the waterworks really started.

After I was able to take control of my emotions and we got all of the official business out of the way we went  off to explore the new halls that will be JK's home away from home for the next two years.  I assume we did what all parents and there new 7th graders do... We did a walk through.  We entered the school where JK will enter in the morning.  We then found his locker and walked to each classroom in the order that his classes will take place.  We did this three different times with me guiding and then twice with JK leading the way.  We then spent several minutes with him practicing opening his locker.  His bottom locker that he has to get on his knees to open.  I wish that they would take the size of kids into consideration when assigning lockers as opposed to doing it in alphabetical order.  A little girl scouting out her new locker just a few down from JK had to get on tippy toes just to get into hers.  :/

After spending two hours at the school and JK recognizing a ton of kids from his football team his nerves seemed to have subsided and he stated how excited he was for this new adventure he was getting ready to embark on.  My anxiety on the other hand had doubled.  While the school is beautiful, it seemed huge to me.  His class schedule has him moving between three different wings all day long and his locker is a pain to get into.  I know in my heart he will do fine, It's just my imagination that's out of control.

Oh, and the teacher who's name looked familiar to me, well that's because she was one of my teachers in high school!  She was so excited to see me and was even more excited to be teaching one of her former students children for the first time in her career.  She was amazing when I had her, so knowing that she is JK's advisory teacher certainly makes sending him off to the halls of Jr high, just a little easier for me to deal with.

Under Construction

As of late June this mouth has been under construction and will continue to be for the next 3 to 3 1/2 years.  

My poor boy who has never had a cavity in his life or sucked his thumb like his mamma did, just got dealt an unlucky hand.  His mouth is super narrow and his upper teeth acted as a block to his bottom teeth, leaving no room for his jaw to move forward like it should have.

In late June stage 1 of a multi stage process was started when an expander was glued into his mouth that had to be manually widened once a day.  He handled the process extremely well and I was hopeful that braces wouldn't be to hard on him.  I was wrong.  Early Monday morning we headed to the orthodontist to get started on stage 2.  And the first 4 days were awful!  My usual sweet tempered, strong boy was anything but his normal self.  His mouth throbbed, he was hungry for real food (pop cycles, ice cream, soup and yogurt was about all he could really handle.)  and he hated us for making him get braces.  I started him on ibuprofen before we even got to the dentist Monday morning and nothing seemed to put a dent in the amount of pain his poor mouth was in.  As we hid every set of pliers we could find (in fear that he would seriously try to pry the braces off after day 2) my heart ached for him.

Thankfully, by Thursday night the pain had become manageable and my sweet boy seems to be making his way back.  I'm just hoping and praying he doesn't experience this kind of pain each time they have to adjust wires.  I hate watching him suffer and feeling like there is nothing I can do to really ease his pain.

So now that the bad days seem to be behind us, I can't begin to explain how excited I am to have this process started.  After waiting 12 1/2 years for all of his baby teeth to fall out and still having to have 2 pulled, he is now on his way to having a beautiful mouth to complement this handsome face...

Lovely, isn't he.  :)

Halfway Mark

Yesterday our sweet boy graduated the 6th grade.

Which means...

* That next year he'll be roaming the halls of a jr high. 

* That he's half way through with his "free" schooling.  He will attend college!

* That girls are beginning to look a little more... likable.

* That he has yet to figure out the right amount of cologne to apply and leaves a little scent trail  lingering in the places he's been. :)

* That he's becoming less of a boy and more of a (gasp) man.

* That I may need to go back to work full time just so we can afford to feed him. 

* That his emotions are all over the place!

* That while striving for more independence, he still NEEDS more hugs, direction, and support from us then he may think.

* That we've got just 6 more years to love, nurture, and take in the every day quirks this boy has to offer before he leaves the nest and heads off to college.  

JUST 6 YEARS!!  THAT DOES NOT SEEM LIKE NEARLY ENOUGH TIME TO TEACH AND SHOW THIS BOY ALL OF THE THINGS I STILL WANT HIM TO KNOW!

So, Before the tears really start flowing let me just brag a little and say how proud I am of JK, my sweet boy. 

* He's well liked by all of his peers and teachers.  

* He's got a heart of a gold.  A servants heart!

* He is sweet and tender and so attentive to others feelings. 

* He is not above or embarrassed of giving me (or his littlest sister) hugs in front of his friends.  

* He is strong and kind and a little bit of a goof ball.  

* He is everything I prayed my son would be.

* And he's smart too!

One of just a few boys in his class to make honor roll!

Keep up the good work JK!  We know God has amazing and wonderful things in store for you!!

Family Photos

The last time we got family pictures taken, Lillie had nearly no hair and neither JK or Molly were wearing glasses yet. So to say that the picture hanging above our fireplace was a little outdated, would be a bit of an understatement.

We had tried to set up a photo shoot several times over the past few months, but with bad weather, kids in sports and just living a busy life, it seemed that we were always having to reschedule. This past Sunday though, all seemed right with the world. The sun was shinning and the amazing Sarah Richardson was available to capture our family in a way only she can.

We all had so much fun being outdoors for our little shoot and Clint and I are both super excited with the end results.

Here are just a few of our favorites...

JK ~ 12 years

Molly ~ 9 years

Lillie ~ 4 years