Nine Years Old

Rachel is 9 years old today!!! Andy and I were talking about how she's halfway to 18... Kind of crazy! We had so much fun celebrating her today. Rachel is definitely a lot of fun. She's currently 43 pounds and 49 1/2 inches tall.  She is definitely one petite package, but she's strong. She amazes me with some of the things she can do, like Spiderman-crawl up the walls in our hallway. :)

This girl is definitely full of energy. She doesn't sit still for long. She loves to ride her bike and even requested a skateboard for her birthday. We'll see how this goes... She enjoys swimming and gymnastics (although she doesn't want to be involved in any program). She likes doing things on her own. Next summer I think I'm going to force her to do swim team. She's such a natural swimmer and I think it will be a great confidence builder for her. 

Rachel loves her "phone", Andy's old iPhone that doesn't have any service. But she texts (iMessages) her best friend all the time. So, we are now into balancing technology. Rachel has reached the age where friends are really important to her. Her best friend is Isabel, who she's known since kindergarten and lives in our neighborhood. It's nice to have a friend so close and they do get along really well. The girls spend lots of time together. Rachel and Audrey have also really gotten into making videos of themselves on their devices. Some are quite hilarious!  It's fun to see their personalities when no one is watching and they just be themselves...

Our 9 year-old likes to call herself a "tomboy". She's quite proud of the fact that she likes to be a tomboy. She still has plenty of girl in her though. :) She's become quite independent this past year. Sometimes I think I may expect a bit too much out of her, but I think that's how it goes with the first.. Rachel and Audrey have been allowed to walk to school by themselves the past couple of months. They LOVE being old enough to do this. Rachel is very protective and loving towards Audrey and Ian. If either one gets upset because of me, she's right there defending them and pleading their case.

Rachel has had a good year at school. She's really started to enjoy science. It's her favorite subject. She's still not a fan of reading, but she's just like her daddy in that regard. She took her first set of STAAR tests this year and passed both the reading and math sections. We're grateful for that! She says she's really excited for 5th grade when she'll have a science STAAR test. Silly girl! Third grade has definitely been a challenging year academically, but Rachel's done well. One day after school Audrey and her created their own power point presentation. I'm amazed at what she's able to do with technology. Definitely a unique generation! 

We are fortunate that Rachel is a rule follower. If she's been told something is wrong, she'll usually follow the counsel. And she's also more than willing to point out when others are not following the rules. She's very black and white in that regard. She wants to please overall and we're grateful for that! We still have battles, but they're usually very minor. 

We love Rachel and all that she brings to our family. She definitely helps me want to be better as I watch her simple child-like faith. I'm grateful for her desire to do right and to try her best. That's all we really ever ask of her, to try her best. We are definitely looking forward to this coming year and the adventures we'll have with her while she's 9!

Strawberry Picking

On Valentine's Day I decided to take the kids to Froberg's Farm to pick strawberries. I thought my idea was unique, but once we pulled off the highway I realized it wasn't. There was quite a long line of cars we had to wait in. It took about 15 minutes to get a parking spot. So between the 30 minute drive there and the wait in the car, I was happy I had decided to bring a DVD along with us in the van. :) It was kind of sad driving down that way. We haven't passed the Mackay's old neighborhood since last summer. It's weird going down that way and not seeing them. The girls pointed out their neighborhood. We also missed them as we picked strawberries. It's been something we've done with them the past couple of years. Last year the Hoglunds even joined us! This year though, it was just the kids and I. Andy was working...although I don't think he's ever been. It was a perfect day for strawberry picking. Rachel was even complaining it was a bit hot, but it wasn't. It was a perfect 73 degrees!

Here are some pictures of us picking strawberries:

Rachel took very seriously the task of making sure the strawberry was sufficiently red enough. She even got a bit too bossy for Audrey's taste...

Both girls did really good finding ripe, big strawberries!

Ian LOVED it!

 

Once our buckets were full enough, we started heading back to pay for our strawberries. Before leaving the field everyone wanted to get a picture sitting in the tractor:

 

 

Ian had fun that evening telling his dad about peeing by the tractor. Ian had to go to the bathroom halfway through our strawberry picking and I knew we wouldn't be able to make it to the bathroom (plus I didn't want to trek all the way back in from the field to a gross porta potty), so we hid behind the tractor tire and took care of business. There are definite benefits to being a boy!

After pictures in the tractor we walked by a few more photo opportunities. Ian lost interest. He was tired and hungry. So, I got cute pictures of the girls:

 

 

We paid for the strawberries, picked up some chocolate-covered strawberries for a Valentine's treat, and the kids each got a small bag of popcorn. Everyone was very content on the drive home. :) We enjoyed our morning adventure and we are still enjoying the strawberries. Whenever we pick strawberries it makes me really miss California. I took for granted how fresh and yummy fruit was while I was growing up. Strawberries are definitely better straight from the field!

Surviving...

It's that time of year again when we rarely see Andy... We're hanging in there. Some days are better than others. Today was a really good day. I'm finally feeling somewhat normal again (had a lovely case of food poisoning this past weekend) and things just went well today. We're busy, as always. But today we had some time for snuggles on the couch after dinner. So, we snapped this picture and sent it to Andy:

Life is good and we are blessed!

100th Day of School

Today is the 100th day of school for my kids. Kindergarten always celebrates! This year they had the kids dress up as a 100 year-old person. Audrey was quite excited about this. Although, as always, there was quite a bit of negotiation. I wanted her to wear a skirt with knee highs falling down to her ankles. She ended up wearing pants with knee highs pulled up (so like thigh highs for her). We agreed on the shawl, the glasses, the pearls, and the necklace. And then I thought the curlers would be a great touch! Audrey was excited at first. But once it was time to go to school, she was in tears. So, Daddy sent her back in and we took the curlers out. In her own way, she was definitely the cutest 100 year-old you'll ever see!

Three Years Old

Ian turns 3 today!!! How can my baby be that old??? He is so much fun and so much work! :) He is definitely the one who made our family complete. Ian's progressed a lot this past year. He wasn't talking much at this time last year, but his speech has really kicked in the past 6 months. There are still times when you can't understand what he's saying, but overall he's able to communicate what he wants. He's still not much of a talker to others (he's a bit shy), but at home he has plenty to say. And he loves to yell, "watch me!". He tries his best to keep up with his sisters, but he definitely enjoys being home with me. Every once in awhile I'll ask him if he wants to go to school like his sisters and he says no, which I'll definitely take that answer for a few more years...

This boy has been on a 3-month potty training program. We started right around the beginning of October and I'm happy to announce that as of January 1st, he's got it 90% down We had a huge breakthrough on New Year's Day. We were probably both being a bit stubborn. Me, not giving up because I knew he could do it. And him wanting to still have some control. But it's finally clicked (for the most part) and we're thrilled! He even sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. So, maybe by the end of the month we'll be 100% there.

Ian loves things that go, from cement trucks to garbage trucks to school buses. He's always telling me what type of vehicle he sees as we drive around town. He loves playing with his play tools and his daddy's tools. Ian gets so excited to watch the garbage truck come down our street and he also loves watching the lawn guys who service many on our street. Ian enjoys Legos, trains, cars, and blocks as well. Just recently he's gotten into movies. His favorites right now are Despicable Me 2 and Toy Story 2. The only show he ever really watches is Doc McStuffins.  

Our little guy has such purpose and confidence in his walk, it just makes us smile. :) He is a very busy boy. Even though he'll watch a show, he's rarely just sitting in front of the show for long. Usually after about 5 minutes he'll play, watch, play, watch, etc... He calls Audrey by her name, but still can't say Rachel so she's Ray-Ray or Rachy. His best friend at church is Gavin (Ga-Ga). Ian loves to help collect the garbage around the house, often on days that it doesn't need to be collected. He's definitely a hard worker like his daddy.  

Ian likes to tease as well. We have this thing where I'll ask him who the cutest boy in the world is and he loves to respond "Audrey" with this mischievous grin on. And then I'll ask again and he'll say "Ian".  He adores his sisters and has to give them loves every night before going to bed. If Audrey's crying, he goes over to console her and tell her "it's okay". He's grown a ton in the past few months and thinned out as well. It probably helps that he's wearing underwear, but he has a hard time keeping a lot of his pants up... 

Ian can be a good helper, when he wants to be. He loves to help in the kitchen and is very possessive of his stool. He also enjoys helping clean the bathroom. Go figure! He LOVES helping his daddy with whatever, from mowing the lawn to replacing batteries on toys. He's even willing to brush the girls' hair. He's a good little companion for me while the girls are at school. He'll run errands with me and be so good. I'm really luck in that regard! And he has a really good friend he's made at the kid zone at the gym, so that's fun for him. He's always talking about Charlie.

We are so grateful for the fun Ian brings into our lives!

Entertaining Conversation

This morning as we were getting ready for church, Ian burst into the bathroom and this conversation followed:

Ian: I need some floss, please!
Me: He is a D-O-R-K (as Andy's handing him some floss)
Audrey: A dork? He's not a dork. He doesn't wear glasses.
Andy: You don't have to wear glasses to be a dork. I'm a dork and I don't wear glasses.

So, we learned two important things this morning: Audrey can sound out dork and you don't have to wear glasses to be a dork. :)

Merry Christmas!

Family Santa Picture

Tonight we had the opportunity to go to the Markwalter's house and see Santa one last time. It was perfect, because Audrey has been a bit stressed about Santa not knowing what to bring her. The two previous times we've seen Santa, Rachel was the only one who told Santa what she wanted. Luckily tonight we sent Audrey up first to talk to Santa and all is now well in the world! Rachel has declared that this was definitely the REAL Santa because he told the girls to stop fighting. And he would only know that if he were the real deal... We're so grateful for the Markwalters and that they open their home to us every year!

School Holiday Party

This year I am Audrey's room mom. It's always fun to get to participate in the parties they have during the school year. Audrey was thrilled to have me there for her holiday party last week. They had early dismissal that day, meaning they get out at 10:55 am. So, we were sugaring these kids up awfully early in the morning. The kindergarteners had 4 different stations. They made reindeer food, decorated a cookie, made reindeer antlers, and put together a type of trail mix to snack on. Overall that party went well. The great thing about kindergarteners, is lots of parents show up. :)

It's so hard to get a picture of this girl that isn't posed. It's like she knows when a camera is on her... Love her little smirk here!

Cutest reindeer around:

 

I was a bit worried about missing out on Rachel's party. She seemed a little bummed about me not being there. So, when I got a chance to escape for a few minutes, I went to check on her. She was happily playing bingo and definitely did just fine without mama being there. :) A quick hug and she was fine with me going back to Audrey's party. The joys of having more than one kid in the same school, is playing the balancing act...

Bike Build & Delivery

Once again we participated in the Elves & More bike build. This has definitely become a family tradition. Last year just Rachel and Andy went. This year Audrey joined them and I'm thinking next year we should all go. Ian LOVES helping put things together, so I think he'd get right in and enjoy.. The girls definitely had a fun time with their dad on Wednesday night putting some bikes together. 

Lots of bikes!

 

Audrey checking out the cool helmets:

 

Andy also signed up to help with delivery. So, this morning the girls and him went to a elementary school about 15 minutes away and helped distribute some bikes to the children who had earned them by meeting some type of academic or behavioral goal. Elves & More delivered 10,000 bikes this year! It's a pretty awesome program and something that we enjoy being a part of every year.