barrett: 159 months old

 

We're in the final stretches of summer, and soon to have an 8th grader on our hands!  While it's easier to get swept up in all the senior stuff his sister has going on, this year is a big one for Barrett too, as it's his last year of junior high.  He's decided on Art 3 (HS credit) and home ec as his electives, and is in all KAP classes.  He's also doing football again, so he's been at football camp all week, rising at 6:15 am every day.  He's playing nose guard this year, same as last year.

Likes: drawing airplanes, football

Dislikes: playing offensive line at football camp, school starting in less than one week

17 years old

                                       

We got to celebrate Britton's 17th birthday before she heads back to school for her senior year!  17 feels like such an in-between birthday - the thrill of driving with your 16th birthday, then the "I'm an adult" ness of your 18th.  But 17 is secretly a fantastic age, because nobody is putting any HUGE landmark milestones on you, and you can just celebrate.  Britton went with her heart for her party theme, and we pulled off a Dunkin Donuts party!  Instead of iced coffees though, she went with a refresher bar, which included green tea, lemonade, syrups, cold foam, and fruit juices and purees. The girls loved getting to make their own concoctions, and I made personalized cups for them - so they knew whose drink was whose!  After drinks, pizza, and cake, they were in the pool for hours, which worked out well since it has been so ridiculously hot all summer.  Britton's favorite gifts included NHL tickets to see the San Jose Sharks, clothing, Dunkin giftcards, perfume, and a Snoopy Owala.

Likes:  iced caramel cappucino, making fun recipes she finds on Instagram

Dislikes: waking up early (ugh)

barrett: 158 months old

 

Barrett wanted his monthly photo with Poppy this time, and she definitely doesn't fit on the chair, so we made do with the couch!  Barrett has had a fun month doing MAC camp (strength and conditioning camp for football), even though it wears him out for the rest of the day.  He got to skip a week when we went on the cruise, and then missed this week because he went to his friend's ranch.  Barrett loves the ranch because they have baby goats, but they did put him to work hauling feed.  Next week he will be in 3D printing camp!

Likes: setting off fireworks at the pool parking lot for the 4th

Dislikes: making his bed

203 months old

 

We are halfway through summer and I don't think we've slowed down, despite this ridiculous heat!  Britton has been busy this summer with a nanny position in our neighborhood for 3 girls 7 years old and younger.  They wear her out, but it's good to having spending money.  Especially because she and the hubs went to Anime Expo in California, where she found many fun keychains and pictures to buy.  Now Britton is gearing up to have her wisdom teeth removed next week - all 4!  She's surprisingly not nervous, but I can't say the same for her mother ;)

Today we went to the first of many senior activities - yearbook photos!  They did the classic black drape and pearl necklace (I told her how I have the same thing on for MY senior photo, eons ago!) and the cap and gown photos.  I wasn't allowed to take any photos except for the "selfie wall" (below).

Likes: being first in line for senior photos - we were in and out in an hour!

Dislikes: narrowing down her birthday wish list

barrett: 157 months old

 

Barrett has started off his summer vacation with a week at Texas A&M Galveston Sea Camp!  For the first time, he went with a friend and they roomed together.  Both enjoyed the Coastal Ecology camp, and got to go on boat rides, dissect a turtle and shark, and visit Moody Gardens.  He came back sunburned and with a ton of sandy laundry.

While Barrett was at camp, we replaced his twin-sized tree house loft bed with a new full-sized bed!  He was ready for a bigger bed, and it worked out to do it while he was gone.  He starts MAC Camp next week, with 2 hours per day of conditioning camp for football.

Likes:  Legos and Microsoft Flight Simulator

Dislikes: oysters

202 months old

 

It's summer vacation!  Britton is doing some nannying for a neighborhood family this summer, and getting ready for our cruise in a few weeks.  And the one thing she's got planned this summer that she does not want to do is have her wisdom teeth removed.  But come July 15th, she is!  All 4!  

I think she's most looking forward to the cruise because she's bringing her friend Jody with her.  Jody moved to Virginia, so Britton doesn't get to see her often, and now they'll get an entire week to hang out and have fun!  Barrett will be stuck with us boring parents, ha!

Likes:  making nails

Dislikes: the humidity

barrett: 13 years old!

 

Barrett is officially a teenager!  We celebrated his birthday on his actual birthday (family gifts, because it was also Britton's softball banquet night), then out to dinner at Gringo's the next night, then a party at Activate with his friends.  Whew, 3 days of celebrating!  We got Barrett many new shirts and also the Lego Pan Am airplane - his number one wish.  Memaw and PawPaw got him some plane models and shirts, and Aunt Jessica got him a gift card so he can treat himself to something fun!

Barrett loves all things airplanes, so much so that he's mentioned that he wants to work for the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) when he grows up, and investigate plane crashes.  Legos/building things comes in a close second, and Lego airplanes are definitely a favorite.  He loves his 1:400 plane models because he wants to construct a miniature airport - I just need to figure out where he can put it!

Likes:  Sea Camp (coming up the first week of summer)

Dislikes:  waiting for school to be over - finals are next week and he's ready to be finished with 7th grade

201 months old

We are getting into the last month of Britton's junior year! I can't believe how quickly this school year as flown by.  It feels like we were just getting back from Christmas vacation, then Spring Break, and now she's juggling AP exams and grad parties.  It's a hard milestone for me, knowing that soon enough Britton will be starting her senior year of high school.  Cue the crying because I will be a perimenopausal mess!  Britton is set to have 6 AP classes next year, with a "fun" class of ceramics thrown in for a creative outlet.  Her school cancelled AP French, so no language class next year, unfortunately.

Britton's softball banquet is this week (on Barrett's birthday!) and sadly, it will be her last as a player.  Under the new coach, the coaching staff is focused on rebuilding, and seniors don't really factor into that team.  As a senior, she'd be guaranteed a varsity spot, but she'd probably see little field time.  She plays first base, and the new coach prefers first base players that also play pitcher.  Britton was offered, and accepted, the team manager position for next year!  She still wants to be a part of the team, and in this way, she's not constantly disappointed with her position on the team.

Likes:  sneaking in a nap on the couch, her Dunkin Donuts iced caramel cappucinos

Dislikes:  AP exams

 

barrett: 155 months old

 

Barrett had a fun Easter!  Sometimes I think my kids are getting too old to enjoy an Easter basket, but when they asked if we were doing them this year, and an egg hunt, I knew we had to keep it going.  The Easter bunny delivered the usual favorites (Cadbury creme eggs, mini eggs, Twix) and a Monster drink!  We moved the egg hunt indoors because it's always a race against the ants.  The Easter bunny even included some dollar bills in the eggs to make the hunt that much more competitive! 

Barrett also had an art show, which was awesome!  He and some friends worked on a ship in the water, and Barrett was in charge of blending the water.  He did a great job!  He also got his braces removed.  He had braces twice, and is now free of them, and is getting retainers tomorrow.

Likes: Memaw's Easter bunny cake, getting rid of his braces

Dislikes: STAAR testing coming up

200 months old

Easter came super late this year, a whole 3 weeks after spring break!  We went to London and Paris for spring break and had the best time ever.  We've been to London before, but it was right before a cruise and rushed, so this time we got to stroll around and see what we missed before.  We even got to go see Matilda at its original theatre!  In Paris, we did the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, because of course, and then went to Disneyland Paris.  It's not my favorite of the Disney parks, but was a cool experience to see their castle and their versions of my favorite rides.  Britton was exhausted by the time we left to head home, and was glad to see her own bed!

Likes:  when softball practice ends early

Dislikes: the blister on her toe

 

barrett: 154 months old

 

While it feels like we've got all the time in the world, in fact Barrett's 13th! birthday is fast approaching in May and I'm not ready!  First off, I can't believe I'm about to have 2 teenagers.  Second, he wants a party that isn't a pool party at the house, so that involves planning and calling and scheduling and sending out invites, and he's now past the point of "party themes" so I'm trying to figure out decorations and a cake without a theme guiding me.

Barrett had his 7th grade art show tonight!  He made a model of a ship with a group, and was in charge of blending the paint for the waves.  He did a great job!  He's decided to take Art 3 next year, which is a high school fine art credit.

Likes: plain white tee shirts, that we planned ahead and bought 2 pairs of glasses (he broke his in Paris)

Dislikes: taking Poppy on walks - she doesn't listen!

199 months old

 

I promise I will catch up!  March has flown by, and while I got pictures late, I've also been quite lazy about getting them into a post.  That's on me!  We are firmly in the middle of the second half of Britton's junior year, and I just know that I should enjoy this time, as senior year, by all accounts, is a logistical nightmare of college deadlines and choices, harder classes, and transition overall.  But we're not there yet!  

Britton's softball season is officially halfway through, and she will finish up in April.  We have NCL's Senior Recognition this weekend, which we've never attended in our 5 years of NCL so far.  Because we're the junior class we help out, but we'll also get to enjoy the gala.  As class president, Britton is doing the invocation, which of course she has no worries about, because she doesn't fear public speaking like her mother!

Likes:  softball, feeding Ginger the stray cat, hanging out with her friends

Dislikes: weird tan lines from softball, AP Biology

barrett: 153 months old

 

Almost a month late posting??  Yes, February was brutal.  How can it be the hardest and shortest month of the year?  We're off the high and bustle of the holidays, but just a month away from spring break.  And everyone in this house needs the break.  We lost my mom on February 17th - "Cammy" as she was known to her grandkids.  We all went to her service and I did the eulogy, and Barrett looked so handsome in a tie.  

198 months old

 
                                         

Posting late because that's just how February was!  I was out of town for Valentine's Day because my mom had surgery, so I don't have any fun photos.  Britton has been trucking away at softball this season, playing first and showing the freshmen how it's done.  We went to see "Beauty and the Beast" and absolutely loved it!

barrett: 152 months old

 

Going back to school this week has been rough on everyone, especially Barrett.  He absolutely loved loafing around over Christmas break, with no demands on his time other than playing, riding bikes with friends, and trying out the new Madden 26 video game.  I feel his pain - I may have shed a tear or two on my early commute Monday morning.  He did have a great time at Disney World before Christmas, and discovered a love of roller coasters!  We tried out Slinky Dog, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Cosmic Rewind.  Unfortunately, my favorite Big Thunder was down for renovations.  He and the hubs were also the only ones willing to risk getting soaked on the new Tiana ride (previously Splash Mountain).  

Likes: Planet Coaster - a video game where you can create roller coasters

Dislikes: going to bed at a reasonable time now that school is back in session

197 months old

We had a fantastic Christmas this year, taking the kids to Disney World to see all the Christmas decorations and attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!  We left on the last day of school, and arrived home on Christmas Eve.  It was a whirlwind trip, and I don't think we ever stopped going (20k steps per day!) and admittedly once we got home we vegged out hard.  

Britton has softball tryouts this week!  I'm sending "good luck" vibes her way!

Likes:  Nella

Dislikes: putting away laundry