barrett: 12 years old!

Barrett turned 12!  He's now officially in his last year of the "pre-teens" and growing like a weed. Barrett had a video game truck birthday party last year, so this year I asked him if he wanted to do Popstrokes, or bowling, or a pool party, or something new and totally different.  His answer - nope, he wanted the video game truck again!  So we made that happen, and he and his friends had a blast.  

                                          

On his actual birthday, which fell in the middle of the week, Memaw and PawPaw joined us for a birthday dinner at Barrett's choice, our favorite Italian restaurant.  Then we came home for some cake - Barrett picked a Nothing Bundt Cakes lemon cake for his real birthday cake!  For his party, we went with our family favorite HEB vanilla.

Likes:  playing football (in real life and in Madden), playing basketball with me at the playground, science class and art class, plane spotting with the hubs

Dislikes:  having to wait out the next two weeks to get to summer vacation

189 months old

It's May!  Britton is ecstatic because May means the end of school, but also is dreading final exams, including her first ever AP exam for World History.  Soon enough, in a few short weeks, she will be halfway through high school, and while I plan out her college visits this summer, I'll cry into her baby blankets and refuse to believe that my firstborn will soon be driving.  It's all too fast!  But enough about my mental breakdown.  

Britton had her softball banquet, marking the official end of this softball season!  The head coach is retiring (he's the best, we will miss him!) so Britton is gearing up for a new coaching staff in the fall.  Her team also has the option to play summer ball with the local rec league, but so far she's been unable to drum up enough interest to get a full team.  We're celebrating her team's hard work with an end-of-season pool party at Chez Britton!

Likes:  coming up with designs for her fake nails - very artistic!

Dislikes:  studying for finals

barrett: 143 months old

Barrett came home very excited about a new English project - researching a country!  He picked Bosnia, then proceeded to tell me about a ton of other countries. He's always loved geography and flags, and any interesting tidbits he picks up about other countries.  We think he has a future as a cartographer - if that's even a profession when he grows up!  He's doing so well in school, and I attribute that not only to his driving work ethic, but also his natural curiosity about the world around him.

We went to the opening game of the Space Cowboys!  The Space Cowboys are our minor league team, and the games are a blast (plus, the soft pretzels and brisket nachos are not to be missed!).  In other sports news, Barrett and I have recently started taking walks together in the neighborhood, and bringing his basketball so we can play on the neighborhood court.  We're usually the only people there, so we can be silly and try some fun shots!

Likes:  the new Minecraft movie

Dislikes:  waking up early during the school week (even though he's up voluntarily even earlier on the weekends!)

188 months old

Softball season is coming to an end!  It feels like they just played their first game - every season feels faster than the one before.  Britton has been playing first base this season, and really enjoys it.  She's got a great core group of friends on the team, and I think the hubs and I, along with their parents, may be enjoying the games more than them!  Ha!

Exams will be creeping up next month, and then summer vacation - already?!  Britton isn't going to camp this year, but is going on a school trip to Italy in July.  I've never been to Italy, so I want her to report back on the must-dos and best activities and sites to visit!  But the summer won't be all play and no work - Britton was recently elected president of her NCL class, so she'll hit the ground running this summer getting her new board squared away and ready to work the Seniors' fashion show in September.

Likes:  her new headphones, gigantic soft hoodies

Dislikes:  Algebra 2 - she's ready for it to be over!

 

barrett: 142 months old

                                         

Barrett is enjoying March no doubt, as we jumped into Spring Break and went on a cruise on the Disney Dream!  Barrett absolutely loves ships, especially historic shipwrecks and marine tragedies, and was finally old enough on this trip to get to explore the ship on his own.  We walked around the 4th deck, and explored the engine room.  Barrett loved the broadway-type shows every night, and never left the water willingly while we were on the beaches.  

It's hard being back in "the real world" but Barrett jumped right back into school.  He's been reading a new book in English - "City of Ember" - which he's really enjoying, and doing well in all of his classes.  He went to the "March Madness" school party, and luckily we have a nearby school - University of Houston - in the mix, so when he said he needed a shirt the day before the party I was able to track one down!

Likes:  drawing Super Bowl logos and starting Lego projects and not finishing them

Dislikes: that the hubs will gladly finish those Lego projects ;)

187 months

The photo was taken on time, the post was not!  March has been a whirlwind of activity.  Let's jump right in!  Britton is still enjoying debate, and earned 25 points this year in the NSDA (National Speech and Debate Association), which got her a certificate taped proudly to her classroom wall!  Her goal next year is 250 points, so she can earn a letter in debate.  She's finished with tournaments for this school year because softball season is in full swing.

Britton has been playing both the designated hitter position and first base.  She's gotten a few balls hit all the way to the outfield, and she's still doing weekly batting lessons with HTL.  Her team has quite a few returners from last year's team, and overall it's a great group of girls!

We took a break from school over Spring Break with a Disney cruise on the Disney Dream!  We stopped in Nassau, and both Disney islands - Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point (our first time here!).  It was an incredible week of relaxation, trivia, beautiful beaches, and Shirley Temples at dinner.

Likes:  going to concerts - she saw both AJR and Tyler the Creator in March!

Dislikes:  long softball practices and English class

barrett: 141 months old

I can't believe that Barrett is more than halfway through sixth grade now!  He's in all KAP classes and doing really well, keeping up on his homework on his own.  One of his favorite classes has turned out to be Art, and he's hoping to get into Art 2 next year for his elective.  He's also looking at doing football next year, which means he has do Athletics instead of regular PE.  So, we're in the thick of class selection right now, and trying to get everything entered where it's supposed to be, and sign whatever forms need to be signed, and in general making sure it all gets finished so Barrett can get the classes he wants.

Barrett had the best time watching the Super Bowl!  He wasn't much invested in the two teams playing, but he loves watching football, and getting to wear his Super Bowl jacket (even though it's 80 degrees here!).  

Likes:  football

Dislikes:  having to remember his rubber bands for his braces