barrett: 115 months old

 

Ok, same story for Barrett - I blanked on December.  I thought October was busy.  Well, November was worse, and December has been a blur.  I am finally off work and am determined to slow down and enjoy this Christmastime, even though I have a few loose ends to wrap up, including my ridiculously-late monthly photos of the kids.  

Barrett has been his usual ball of sunshine, and is probably the most excited out of anyone for Christmas.  And, that's probably because anything he's wanted since November has been met with my motherly response of "Put it on your Christmas list!" He wants all things Legos, and now that we're on the third book of Harry Potter, he's really getting into it.  Luckily, Britton has the big illustrated editions, which I find way more interesting to read, because the illustrations are gorgeous, and Barrett loves them too.  

Likes:  FIFA World Cup video game

Dislikes: NBA basketball games - we went to see the Rockets and Mavericks play last night, and Barrett was indifferent 

160 months old

Guys, December has been a whirlwind of stress and work deadlines and, I must admit, I totally forgot to take the kids' monthly pictures this month.  So, the sign says December 2nd, but it is in fact Christmas Eve!  Britton made it through her final exams - an unnecessarily stressful time for this 8th grader - and has been impatiently checking for final grades to be published.  Already talk at school is about going to high school next year (cue me crying over here) and what classes to take in what order.  

Britton is looking forward to softball this spring, but first will be a quick season of indoor volleyball!  She wanted to sign up on a whim, and the season starts at the end of January.  

Likes:  Starbucks pumpkin scones, coming up with Christmas presents for her two best friends Lola and Jordy

Dislikes: being woken up needlessly early while on school vacation

 

in memory of ruby

 

We lost Ruby today.  She was unsteady on Friday morning, and by this morning couldn't walk, eat, or drink, and we hoped that it was an ear infection causing the problems.  It wasn't.  Her symptoms pointed to a brain tumor or lesion, something only a miracle would fix, and her decline was so rapid that we didn't have time to find that miracle.  We brought her home, said good bye, then took her back to the vet to let her go peacefully.  

We only got to love her for 3.5 years.  If covid gave us anything, it was precious (little) time with this girl, who wanted nothing more than to sit on my feet during my work meetings.  We got her from the rescue at 4 years old, though the vet thought she was over 5 years old.  That would make her just shy of 9 years old when she passed.  Her beginnings were difficult - backyard breeding, never feeling grass on her feet, kept outside and unloved, until an ear growth forced her owners to turn her over to the rescue for treatment.  To evidence her early life, she had a band all the way around her neck where hair refused to grow - a chain or rope had weighed her down for years.  We knew our only job was to give her so much love that she forgot about that early life, and we took that job seriously.  She in turn never let us forget how capable of love she was.  She'd scratch at the bathroom door incessantly until I let her in.  I couldn't get a quilt on my lap before she was hustling over to snuggle.  She'd walk the house looking for me if I was quiet for too long.  

Everywhere she went, her nails would click click click on the hard floors.  The house is so damn quiet without her.  The incessant dog hair that she shed everywhere, that I would curse as I cleaned the couch, is an everlasting reminder that she was here.  I don't think I will ever complain about dog hair again.  

We wanted a pug (ok, I wanted a pug) because it had a smoosh face like Sadie, and was considered one of the laziest breeds.  And she was, so we were two peas in a pod.  If she agreed to go on a walk, it'd be at her own pace, more stopping to smell than walking, and about halfway through, if was hot enough, she'd need to be carried.  She loved when I made chicken pot pie because it meant she was getting chicken too, even though her bladder stones meant she was on bland prescription food.  She might be the only pug who detested her food, but she more than made up for it with her love of Greenies.  

I miss her so much, my heart aches.  Her constant paw licking, once so irritating, would be a welcome sound because it would mean that this was all a horrible dream.  Instead, it's just......quiet.  

barrett: 114 months old

Barrett had a fun and exciting October!  I feel like we're still on the hamster wheel.  First and foremost, the new soccer season started!  Barrett's team has a fantastic coach and manager, and he's getting more comfortable being aggressive and pushing himself.  Barrett claims to like being goalie the most, but he seems to really enjoy defense.  He's currently learning multiplication and division (with 2 and 3 digit numbers) and enjoying reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books (re-reading them!) and the "I Survived" series.  He's looking forward to this weekend, when we'll be at Disney on Ice!  And of course, another soccer game.  

Likes:  visiting with Cammy (and showing her his soccer skills!)

Dislikes: Monday mornings are so hard for him - the weekends pass too quickly for him

159 months old

How did we get through October in one piece?!?  I swear, it felt like the longest and shortest month ever.  Every day there was something to do, and it never let up!  Britton finished out her softball season and her team made it to the championship!  They ended up finishing in second place, which is awesome.  She couldn't stay for the second (last game) because she and the hubs were headed to see BLACKPINK, a K-Pop girl group.  We also went to see Mother Mother 3 days prior, a Canadian band.  They put on a heck of a show!  We didn't plan to attend concerts so close together, but you've got to go when they come to town, so it is what it is.  

Britton wants to try out volleyball, so I found a winter league where she can play without running into the spring softball season.  For Halloween, Britton went off to her friend's neighborhood for trick-or-treating - the first time she didn't stay with us.  Sigh, I'm not ready.  She dressed up as corn, and her friends were a lobster and a chef, so they went with a theme.  

Likes:  snuggling Nella the cat, dyeing her hair (we're going with pink this weekend!)

Dislikes:  all of her classes having tests at the same time

barrett: 113 months old

How are we already in October?  Admittedly, I've been ridiculously busy and can't keep my dates straight, which is why I'm almost a week late getting Barrett's monthly post up.  And, since this is a safe space, I took these pictures today.  So, what has Barrett been up to?  He started soccer!  When I asked him if he wanted to do baseball again, he gave a firm no.  And when I asked what sport he wanted to do, he picked soccer.  His friend is on his team, and my friend (Barrett's friend's mom) is coaching, so we've already started off the season in a great place!

The hubs and I had Barrett's parent-teacher conference this morning.  He's doing well in every subject, is respectful and kind in class, and really, the only area for improvement right now is his handwriting.  It's atrocious!  He just writes so fast that it comes out wonky, so I'm scanning Amazon for a pencil grip to help.  And maybe a handwriting workbook for practice.

 Likes:  soccer, BTS, swimming with the pool heater on

Dislikes:  math homework

158 months old

We're now over a month into the new school year, and I feel like we've all gotten exponentially way more busy than we've ever been!  Britton started up softball again, and is doing so well with her throwing and hitting this season.  She's moved from outfield to first base, though she plays both in games, and it's been really exciting to watch her play with her team.  We've also been busy with National Charity League.  Britton won the Presidential Award for her volunteering last year - 50 hours!  She's decided to go for a more manageable total, because she also has to volunteer for National Junior Honor Society.  We're trying out different volunteer opportunities this year - still doing the cookies for the hospital and some others, but added playing with the cats at the shelter and babysitting.  Britton was also elected to Student Council, and is excited to do that this year!  She's also been helping me when we have PTA events for Barrett's school - she gets volunteer credit when she helps out.  

Likes:  softball, baking cookies, sweatpants

Dislikes:  double-headers (that's a long day!), when I embarrass her at Target by breathing 

barrett: 112 months old

Fourth grade agrees with this guy!  Barrett has 3 teachers this year, and they rotate every day.  He had a few easy weeks, but now they have homework (once per week, not hard enough to warrant the whining).  You'll probably notice his teeth have more gaps!  Barrett had a loose tooth that just would not come out.  I finally took him to the dentist when it started turning weird colors, and they x-rayed him and found that all of the roots were gone!  The only thing holding it in was his gums, so a few numbing shots later, that tooth got yanked.  

Likes:  "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series, riding his bike (it's finally not pass-out hot outside), and playing flight simulator games

Dislikes:  taking his lunch to school - he prefers to buy!

157 months old

Britton has started 8th grade, and is adjusting well to her new classes.  She got library aide for an elective, and absolutely loves it!  She's also in art, instead of band this year.  She's got a ton of algebra homework every night, and is not so happy about that, but she's keeping up and understanding it quickly (unlike her mother).  She's also in National Junior Honor Society this year, and also on Student Council.  

Softball is starting back up this weekend!  That is, if the rain stops and actually allows the fields to dry out.  We've had rain all week, and I think we're going to be seeing a delay in the start of the fall season.  But Britton is excited to get back out there, and even after feeling not so great after her flu vaccine today, she still went out and practiced with the hubs.  

 Likes: softball, baking (she's made a marble bundt cake and sugar cookies this week!), having friends over

Dislikes: the local library's volunteering policy - high schoolers only (she has to volunteer for Honor Society, and really wanted to get her hours at our neighborhood library)

barrett: 111 months old

Here's Barrett in his Disney cruise captain's uniform!  He loves wearing it on cruises, and I think it mainly has to do with the fact that when he does wear it, everyone calls him "Captain."  Including the actual captain of the Disney Magic, Captain Robert, who we met at the captain's reception!

Barrett is gearing up for 4th grade!  He loves school, not so much the homework, and we find out on Monday who his teacher will be.  He's decided to play soccer this fall instead of baseball, and I'm fine with whatever he picks, so long as he's getting exercise and having fun.  He'll probably go back to the neighborhood weekly tennis lesson, which he stopped over the summer due to swim team commitments and our vacation schedules.  Barrett loves all things Lego, and got the International Space Station set in Copenhagen - he's completed about half of it!  He's also really interested in ships, especially cruise ships, and could recognize every cruise ships in ports before we could see the names.  

                                                   

                                                   

Likes: exploring all the new cities on our cruise, waving to people in the port with his giant Mickey hands

Dislikes: jet lag

13 years old!

Dude, we've got a TEENAGER!  We were on our northern Europe trip during Britton's birthday, so our fabulous Disney cruise folks helped us celebrate.  They delivered a cake at dinner, and sang to Britton!  Our room was decorated with birthday signs and banners too.  Britton's birthday fell on a sea day, so we didn't have any excursions or new towns to explore.  Instead, we spent the day on the ship watching the new Thor movie and trying out the hot tub in the family pool area.  

Britton is starting 8th grade this week, her final year in middle school.  She's in all KAP (pre-AP) classes, and decided to stop playing the clarinet and instead take art this year.  Softball starts up in a month, and she's moved from only playing outfield to also liking first base.  This will be Britton's third season of softball, and she while her middle school doesn't have a team, she's hoping to play in high school.  She loves listening to music, especially Broadway musicals - for her "big" birthday gift, we're seeing "Mean Girls" this week at the Hobby Center!  She's also discovered live music, and loves going to concerts as much as the hubs and I do.  Britton loves languages, and really wants to learn another one - it's deciding on one that's the hard part!  She's leaning towards Danish now - I think she was inspired on our cruise.

Likes:  her new purple lunchbox, peridot earrings Memaw and PawPaw gave her for her birthday - she's hasn't taken them off, snuggling with Nella the cat

Dislikes:  not having her schedule for school yet

barrett: 110 months old

We're into July already - where has the summer gone?!  I always run into the same conundrum every summer - enough activities and camps for the kids so I can work, but not too much that they feel like they never got free time to do nothing/play on an iPad all day.  Next week, Barrett is headed to drama camp, and is doing "RockstarTopia" and "Harry Potter."  Then he's off for a week, hanging out with Memaw and PawPaw, then we're on vacation!  Barrett is pretty excited about our upcoming cruise, and it'll be the first time both he and Britton go to Europe.  Definitely a bucket list trip!  Making it through a 10 hour flight will be a challenge for all of us, but I've promised they can watch as many movies as they like.  I'll try and sleep (now where's my travel pillow?).

We cooked some hot dogs for the 4th of July, but couldn't do any fireworks because it's been too dry in our area.  The kids were ho hum about going to see the fireworks show, so we played a 3 hour game of Monopoly.  Ugh, I cringe when they want to play Monopoly because the game.goes.on.FOREVER.  I finally start making "mistakes" and spend all my money so we can wrap it up!  But Barrett went all in, and he and the hubs were the last two players standing.  

  

Likes: Harry Potter series - we finally started reading them together, Air Force One he got in Roblox

Dislikes: this brutal summer heat

155 months old

Britton dyed her hair - well, half of it!  And for the first time, she did it all herself.  She did a great job, and got exactly half of her hair dyed red, just like she imagined.  We're all firmly in the middle of summer vacation, and Britton has always been inclined to dye her hair fun colors over the summer.  

Britton spent two weeks at sleepaway camp, and then a week at YMCA adventure camp.  She's also going to do a local theater production in a few weeks.  We're trying to maintain a balance between Britton having something interesting to engage in with wanting time off to just enjoy the goal of summer vacation - do whatever you want!  Swim team is over for the season, so we're striking that balance between sleeping in and getting things done.  And we're all gearing up for our trip in less than a month!  While we're looking forward to a big family trip, none of us are wishing away summer vacation.

 Likes:  snuggling with Nella the cat, experimenting with make up, painting Barrett's nails

Dislikes:  putting away laundry

barrett: 109 months old

Summer is in full swing!  Barrett is in his second week of tennis camp, and doing so well.  He won the return contest at the end of last week's camp - he returned 17 hits, the most of anyone at camp!  He's also doing swim practice every morning at 7:00 am, and just had his first swim meet of the season last night.  It lasted until midnight (ugh), and I really hope the rest won't be these 6 hour events!  The next one is Saturday, and I'm afraid it's going to dominate our entire day - and with temperatures topping 98 degrees this week, it's a long day in the sun.  Luckily, more of Barrett's summer camps (stop motion animation, Roblox development, and drama camp) are held indoors.

Ready for the swim meet (mom and dad are already tired)

Likes:  Roblox, hanging out with swim team friends, snow cones, anything airplanes

Dislikes:  backstroke and butterfly

                                    

154 months old

Britton is off to camp tomorrow!  She's really excited to go back, since the majority of the girls she bunked with last year are coming back for the same session.  She's signed up for jewelry making, leather works, piano, archery, pottery, and a host of other activities.  For the first time, horseback riding isn't mandatory, and Britton is relieved because she hasn't really enjoyed horseback riding.  I feel like the two weeks will fly by, and we'll be right back picking her up.  When Britton is away at camp, I like to take on a project for her room - she isn't there to complain that I'm messing up her room, and I can get done what desperately needs to be done.  Last year it was installing her bookcases.  This year, I'm cleaning out her closet!  I'm going to take all the clothes she never wears and put them in a box for 6 months - if she doesn't ask for them back, they are getting donated!  I also got a tower to put in her closet to hold her sweaters and sweatshirts - they take up way too much room being hung up.

Swimming is going well this year!  Britton's a natural swimmer (she didn't get it from her mother, let me tell you), and prefers freestyle over anything else.  She'll miss two swim meets while at camp, but she'll be back for the last two.  Unfortunately, missing meets means she won't be eligible for the Meet of Champs (she can't make up the point deficit), but she absolutely refuses to move her camp session because she already knows everyone in her session.  

Likes:  Nella the cat, missing two weeks of swim practice

Dislikes: packing for camp

 

barrett: 9 years old

Look who's 9!  Barrett had such a fun day planned out for his birthday.  We had to schedule his party for next weekend, since Britton was on a field trip all day today, and Mother's Day plans would mean a lot of kids couldn't attend a Sunday party.  So, instead, Barrett wanted to go to Main Event for some bowling and air hockey!  We did, and invited Memaw and PawPaw too, the came back to the house for presents and ice cream cake.  Then for dinner Barrett chose In-n-Out Burger.  By the time the day was over, we were all tired!  Barrett spent the better part of the afternoon putting together his Lego passenger train and his Lego Jurassic World boat - which floats!

Likes:  Legos, trains, airplanes, designing cruise ships on the computer and then sinking them

Dislikes:  losing the last baseball tournament game - he took that hard

 

153 months old

Tonight Britton had her last band concert!  She's decided that she doesn't want to stay with band in the 8th grade, and wants to try out something new instead.  I will miss going to her concerts and seeing her and her friends get excited for their band competitions.  But I also know that playing an instrument can be really time-consuming, and I don't want to force her into a class she doesn't want to do.  Such is life!

Britton is gearing up for STAAR testing and final exams, then she will officially be an 8th grader - I can't handle it.  How is she already getting ready for her final year of junior high school??  I've got a fun summer planned for her - she's going to her sleep away camp for two weeks, then some adventure camps in town (during the day, with Barrett), and a production of Cinderella!  If I can find a softball camp, I'll absolutely be signing her up.

Spring Band Concert

Likes: Trader Joes coffee bean mini ice cream cones, "Heartstoppers" series (tv and books - so good!), being finished with band concerts forever

Dislikes: standarized testing, when Nella the cat refuses to be cuddly

barrett: 107 months old

We're one month out from Barrett's 9th birthday!  Party prep is in full swing.  Barrett chose a "cruise ship" theme, which is actually kind of hard to make into a birthday party, since most inspiration photos are of retirement parties!  We decided on a pool party, and decorating with a cruise ship centerpiece, nautical flags, tons of beach balls in the pool, and captain's hats as favors.  I haven't gotten to throw a party at home for years (thanks to Covid) so all my creative juices are flowing!

As you can see from Barrett's shirt, baseball is in full swing!  He's got games throughout April and into May, and is really enjoying practicing with his team.  Every practice he learns something new, and improves just a bit more than the last practice, and I think he's finally getting the hang of it.  

 Likes:  Judy Moody series - he's re-reading it, "Because of Winn-Dixie," and the Roblox game where he can build amusement parks

Dislikes: being hit by the baseball - that took his breath away!

152 months old

We're cruising fast to the end of the school year, and I've now spent way too many work hours getting the kids into various summer camps.  Britton is going to her same sleepaway camp for two weeks, and then to the YMCA day "adventure" (code for outdoors, in the Texas heat) camp for two weeks with Barrett.  She doesn't want to do a theatre camp this summer - last year's was a bust - and is in that in-between age where she doesn't necessarily need to spend the entire summer supervised and entertained.  But I'm still working from home and need someone else to be in charge, so we'll see how we fare.  

We're going to a rose emporium tomorrow to pick out some new roses for the backyard - everyone gets to pick out one.  This might be the first time Britton has been excited about gardening!

Her junior high band just had UIL competitions.  They're letting parents attend, so I got to see the performance and the sight-reading portions.  They scored all "1"s which is the best score!

Softball is in full swing!  Britton is playing first base and right field this season.  Her batting has improved tremendously from last season, and she's made a few hits in the games!

Hitting that ball!

 Likes:  softball, biking to the library to get books, roller skating

Dislikes: 7:00 am band practice for UIL - good thing it's over!