Avery is 15!!

Birthday season continues with Avery's birthday! She is 15! Her birthday almost always happens during Fall Break so she gets some time off school along with her birthday. She doesn't really like cake and she is a very creative person, so this year she told us she wanted a Fry Cake for her birthday. We went to 5 Guys Burgers, ate some dinner, then brought a bunch of fries home so she could make her creation.

I have to be constantly listening for clues from the kids to know what they might want as gifts. (Especially the teenagers. They are hard to please.) Everyone's birthday, except mine and Sophie's, are from August to November and then it's Christmas, so the last half of the year is a really busy time for me. Luckily, a couple months ago, I heard Avery mention something she wanted, so I got it for her. Chaco sandals. I think she liked them.

Now to try and figure out what she might want for Christmas...

Happy Birthday Avery!!

First Day of School

I'm late posting "First Day" pictures because my life is crazy. I have 4 kids going to 3 different schools, all of which are their first year at these schools. The little boys are going to a new charter school in Vineyard because it is close to where our new house is being built (more on that later), I put Sophie in a preschool that includes dance, singing and karate in the curriculum, and Anthon Jr. decided he wanted to live with us so I got him registered at Mountain View High School. I also work 3 days a week, so I feel stretch pretty thin most of the time.

Last year I was so ready for the kids to start school, but this year the boys' new school started earlier than all the other schools so the first day kind of snuck up on me and I felt like we were not quite ready for the summer to be over yet. They were both excited about going to a new school, but I was nervous for them. They are great at making friends so I knew they would be fine, but I was just having some mom-anxiety for them.

The boys have been loving their new school and have already made a few good friends. Within the first couple of weeks Monson had a playdate. After only a few days at school, when I picked the boys up after school, Monson said, "Mom, I'm planning a playdate with someone in my class. Her name is Hadley." Of course it's a girl. Monson has always loved playing with girls and meeting new girls. She is really the only person he talks about in his class. They had a playdate at her house and he asks if he can have another playdate with her all the time.

Damon has some good friends at school, but the only person he wants to spend time with after school is his friend Baden. He's in our ward, but he's a little older than Damon so they didn't really know each other for the past year since Baden moved in. I can't even remember how they became friends, but in about July they started hanging out and now EVERY SINGLE DAY they only want to spend time together, mostly playing Roblox.

Sophie's school didn't start until after Labor Day. I have had all my little kids going to Kids Village preschool in the past, but over the summer I found out about a preschool that offers singing and dancing as part of the curriculum. Those are two out of three of Sophie's favorite things (the third is makeup) so I knew I had to switch her to this other preschool. So far she loves it. They also do Karate one day a week, which she is loving too.

I've never been able to do an official "first day" post and picture for Anthon Jr. so this is new! Anthon Jr. was on a trip to Equador until the weekend before Labor Day so he missed his first 2 weeks of school. On the Tuesday after Labor Day, he and I went to his new high school, met with his counselor and picked out his classes. All the classes he wanted ended up being open and fitting into his schedule on the first try. His counselor said that never happens. It's hard to tell whether a teenage boy is excited about something or not, but I think he was excited about his new school because his friends go there. He even let me take a picture of him before we went in!

So far he is doing well in his classes. He is taking band, wrestling, biology, AP calculus, seminary, English, Spanish, and US history. He gets a ride to and from school with his friend Johnny and they either go to our house or his friend's house for lunch everyday.

Avery started going to a private school this year. It's in Kaysville and it is Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints based and focuses heavily on academics. It doesn't have any art or band or anything like that. They only go to school for 5 hours a day, 4 days a week. They get a lot of homework and read a lot of books. Avery said she is reading 7 different books right now. She seems to be liking it and is learning a lot.

Here are some stats:

Damon

Height: 4 feet 8 1/2 inches     Last Year: 4' 6"

Weight: 70 lbs.                       Last Year: 62 lbs.

Shoe Size: 4                           Last Year: 2

Clothing Size: 10

Favorite Color: Green (Back to normal. For a while last year he was saying red.)

Favorite Super Hero: Spiderman

Favorite Food: Burritos

Favorite Friend: Baden Pratt (a kid in our neighborhood that he hangs out with EVERY SINGLE Day)

Favorite Thing to Do: Play Roblox with Baden

Favorite Subject in School: Math

Favorite Book: Monkey Me

Favorite Toy: Doesn't really have one anymore

Favorite Game: Roblox

What do you want to be when you grow up: Soccer player

Monson

Height: 4 feet 1 1/2 inches     Last Year: 3' 11 1/2"

Weight: 58 lbs.                       Last Year: 50 lbs.

Shoe Size: 1                           Last Year: 1

Clothing Size: 6/7

Favorite Color: Teal (because Avery told them her favorite color is teal)

Favorite Super Hero: Iron Man

Favorite Food: Spaghetti

Favorite Friend: Baden

Favorite Thing to Do: Play outside

Favorite Subject in School: Art

Favorite Book: Dinosaur book

Favorite Toy: I don't care

Favorite Game: Roblox

What do you want to be when you grow up: I don't know

Sophie
Height: 3 ft. 7 inches              Last Year: 3' 4"
Weight: 42 lbs.                       Last Year: 36 lbs.
Shoe Size: 10                         Last Year: 9
Clothing Size: 5

Favorite Color: Teal (because Avery said it was her favorite color)

Favorite Princess: Elsa

Favorite Food: Spaghetti (she heard Monson say this was his favorite)

Favorite Friend: Lilly and Kyrus (next door neighbor kids)

Favorite Thing to Do: Cuddle with Mommy

Favorite Subject in School: Draw

Favorite Book: Kitty book

Favorite Toy: Owley (a rainbow owl with a unicorn horn)

Favorite Game: Guess Who

What do you want to be when you grow up: a Mommy

Anthon Jr.
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 150
Shoe size: 10 1/2
Favorite color: I don't care
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite friend: His group of friends
Favorite thing to do: Play video games
Favorite subject in school: Band
Favorite book: Adventures Wanted
Favorite game: Call of Duty
What do you want to be when you grow up: The smartest man alive

Avery
Height: 5' 8"
Shoe size: 9
Favorite color: Yellow (apparently not teal anymore)
Favorite Super Hero: Spiderman
Favorite food: Tin foil dinners
Favorite friend: Tyler, Elana, Xavier, Audam
Favorite subject in school: Math

I think it's going to be a great year!

When Your Kids Aren't Little Anymore

Avery is 14!!

Avery gets to share her birthday with Fall Break most years so she doesn't have to go to school and we get to have her with us for the whole day. She wanted to go to the movies so as a family we went to see Christopher Robin. It was a cute movie and all the kids were entertained by it the whole time...miracle!

After the movie we went home and we all sat in the living room with Avery in a chair in the middle of the room and we all told her one funny memory that we have about her and one thing that we love about her. We do this on everyone's birthday and the birthday person really loves it. It makes them feel very special. Siblings, and even parents, sometimes forget to say nice things to each other so it gives everyone a chance to remember why we love each other.

Next was presents! Avery has been really into doing card magic tricks so we got her a special trick deck of cards and a DVD that teaches magic tricks. She has also been infections in her ear piercings so we got her a bunch of special earrings for sensitive ears. She loved her presents.

Avery said she wanted a Lego birthday cake, so this is what I came up with:

It may not be Pinterest-worthy, but she and all the kids loved it.

I can't believe how old all our kids are getting!!!

Avery Turned 13!

All 3 of the older kids are officially teenagers! We had a nice family celebration for Avery's 13th birthday. First pizza, cake, ice cream and presents.

Avery let Sophie help her open presents.

Next we went to the Lehi Fun Center for some laser tag, games and rides.

It was a fun party! Avery is getting more mature and helpful. She loves to plan elaborate things for her and the little boys to do like building things out of a cardboard box, playing outside together, and coming up with fun, pretend things to do. Happy birthday Avery!

Summer Catch Up - Lagoon

We went to Lagoon back in July with Anthon's parents. I wasn't sure how Sophie would handle the rides, but she LOVED them! She wanted to go on every ride.

She was too short for the swings ride so she couldn't go on that one with the other kids. She just stood outside of it shrugging her shoulders because she desperately wanted to be on it with everyone else and didn't understand why she couldn't be.

Can't fight nap time.

Damon loved the bumper cars.

We got there right when it opened at 11am. I thought we would only stay until 8pm or so because the kids would be so tired and worn out, but at 10pm when all the rides were closing Damon was running from ride to ride trying to find an open one. He wanted to keep going. Sophie and Monson were doing fine too. They were all sad when I told them it was closed and we had to leave. It was such a fun day. I was so surprised how much Sophie loved it and loved riding the rides.

Avery came with us too, but there aren't any pictures of her because she was with one of her cousins the whole time doing their own thing. They went on the big rides and we only saw them a couple of times the whole day.

Avery Turned 12!

Birthday season continues with Avery's birthday! She turned 12 years old today! It's a pretty significant birthday for her because now she gets to enter the Young Women's program at church. She has been excited for this for months. She has asked a few times if she could go to the Wednesday night mutual activities, but she had to wait until she was 12. Tonight she got to go to her first activity and I think she had fun feeling like one of the old kids.

The older kids rode Frontrunner down this afternoon. We started the birthday celebration with a pizza party. It was our family and Avery's best friend Kaleb. Yes, her best friend is a boy. That's Avery.

After we quickly ate, the older 3 kids and I went to the mutual activity. The Young Men and Young Women were combined to watch a Q&A with the cast of the sketch comedy group Studio C. Avery was a little restless during it, but I think she had fun. Her Beehive leaders had a birthday gift for her and introduced her to everyone.

After mutual, we went home and opened presents and had cake and ice cream.

Avery was so nice and let the little kids help her open her presents.

The thing she wanted most were some suspenders....for some reason. I was lucky to find some for her in time. They were a big hit.

She also got a couple shirts, a pair of pants, underwear, and the new Saturday's Warrior movie, which we watched tonight.

Avery adds a lot of fun to our family. She is always finding fun adventures for the little kids to do or building something out of cardboard or jumping on the tramp with everyone. She is turning into a real leader and getting smarter and smarter. She loves to play outside, construct things and hang out with her friends Kaleb and Lucas. (Lucas couldn't come tonight because he was in Hawaii with his family.) We are lucky to have Avery in our family.

Happy birthday Avery!!