homecoming 2016

Ever since Ryan has hit high school, he's immersed himself in the extra curricular activities; the dances are no exception. Last year, as a sophomore, he went to the junior prom (it's open to all students, apparently), as well as the Sadie Hawkins dance. He has a great group of friends that plan their dates with great detail, which is always fun to see unfold.

However, I'm still new to this whole prom-posal thing the kids do to ask each other out for the big night. It involves signs, sometimes food, but always seems to be a grand gesture. Last year, for Sadie's, Ryan's date made an elaborate lacrosse-themed sign asking him to the dance, rang our doorbell and ditched. It was quite impressive and thoughtful. Afterwards, Ryan had to plan out his answer.

What in the what what?

Remembering my high school experience, I now feel like a slacker, ha! I mean, all we did was ask. "You wanna go to the dance with me?" "Yeah sure." "Cool."

So lame compared to now, lol.

Anyway, Ryan wanted to ask his friend to Homecoming, so he and his friends had a whole planning meeting to discuss how they were going to ask their dates. Ryan came up with his idea pretty quickly, but I somehow got roped into helping.

This is what our living room looks like right now:

The box (which I wrapped because Ryan and his friends couldn't figure out how to do it, ha!) will be filled with balloons that will float up once the box is opened; the balloons spell out "PROM?" and will be anchored to the bottom of the box so they don't float away. Ryan is gluing letters that I cut out on my Cricut that spells out a cute message, and he also had me cut out "Please 'donut' say no" which he glued to a box of Krispy Kreme donuts.

I joked with Ryan that I feel like I'm also asking his friend so I'll be sad if she doesn't say yes.

Of course, he rolled his eyes at me.

Anyway, they're on a deadline tonight; apparently, the grand plan is to do all the asking in quick succession. Ryan is just about done, and then he needs to go and help another friend with his stuff. Hopefully they can pull this off tonight.

1st day of homeschool 2016-17

No one wants to spend their birthday doing school, right? Ethan is no exception, so we made a deal: instead of starting the new school year on Monday like everyone else, we decided to start today, the day after celebrating Ethan's birthday. We love the flexibility of homeschooling!

Today was really easy; we spent most of the morning going over our daily schedule, what I expect them to do each day, and a general overview of this year's curriculum. Vanessa and Jeff will be mainly working with subjects from Time4Learning.com, while Ethan is sticking to his workbooks. They'll also be working on spelling and vocabulary on SpellingCity.com and practicing their typing skills on an online program, while continuing with daily journaling and reading, as well as their scripture study.

We've been doing this for about 4 years now, but I still feel like a rookie. Most of the time I'm worried about the kids not learning what they should and if they're behind everyone else, but for the most part, I think the kids are okay. They're learning at their own pace and learning about things that interest them, which makes them eager to do their work, so I think that's what's important. Of course, I'm adamant that they learn the basics (math, reading, writing, etc.) and we do have church and other outside activities and groups to keep them occupied, so I really shouldn't worry. But, such is the life of a mom with an anxiety disorder, I guess.

Here's what Jeff decided to do to celebrate our first day of homeschool: he made us some new friends, lol! They're now sitting in different areas of our classroom, waiting and ready to join the kids for schoolwork.

Here's to a new homeschool year!

ethan, ethan, ethan!

It's that time of the year when all of the birthdays in our family start rolling in; Vanessa's was earlier this month and now, it's Ethan's turn!

See how happy he is at his birthday dinner? Red Lobster is his favorite!

He's 15 now and right up there with Ryan in height. Of course, they're still shorter than Scott (who stands proudly at 6'2"), but I'm positive they'll pass him or draw even. Scott says no way, but Ethan jokes that he will just to spite his dad.

The thing about Ethan is that he's not big on change; I don't know if that's because of his Aspergers, but once he finds something he likes, he's "stuck." It extends to his personality, too. It doesn't take him too long to try something new, as long as he decides he wants to try it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Ethan is Ethan, and he really hasn't changed from his last birthday.

Sure, his interest in all things military has amped up, and he's gotten more creative with his Lego building, and maybe his "obsession" with Destiny (video game he plays with Scott) has taken priority over other things, but other than that, he's still the same sarcastic, witty, and intelligent kid that likes to pat my head and remind me of my shortness when I'm next to him.

In other words, he's still awesome.

He has no interest in getting his learner's permit or the girls around him, but I think that's what I like the most about him: his interests aren't reflective of society; he's interested in what interests him and he's content.

I wish I'd had that kind of quiet confidence growing up.

Anyway, he's my Ethan and he's awesome. I don't think anything more needs to be said...well, except my list of reasons why I love this kid. :-)

15 Reasons Why I Love Ethan

  1. He greets me with a cheerful "Morning!" everyday.
  2. He makes it a point to ask how my day's been at different times a day.
  3. He's so patient with Vanessa when they're discussing Pokemon stuff.
  4. He loves lame jokes.
  5. He seeks me out to have conversations.
  6. He's not afraid to ask questions.
  7. He likes family time.
  8. He'll surprise me by randomly giving me hugs and yell, "I'll squeeze your guts out!"
  9. He'll randomly tell me a joke.
10. He gets really excited about playing Destiny (video game)
11. He's polite (always remembers to say please and thank you).
12. He can be really nice and loving with his siblings (when they're not trying to kill each other, lol)
13. He loves our dogs.
14. He loves his grandparents.
15. His concentration is admirable.

first day of school 2016

Another school year has rolled around and I think this kid is ready for it. Maybe. I don't know really, he just shrugged his shoulders when I asked him if he was excited to be a junior this year. If not, his smile in the picture above is really convincing.

And yes, he's blonde now.

He had it done earlier in the month and it's caused a bit of a stir. I had a lot of people in the neighborhood and our ward come up to me asking what the story was behind Ryan's hair. Nothing exciting, he just wanted a change.

Simple as that.

Getting it blonde, however, has not been so simple. Because his natural hair is so dark (my fault, apparently, lol), he'll have to go in for another round of bleaching. He wants it to be platinum blonde, which is close to white, so we'll definitely have to get him back to the salon.

In the meantime, I always have to do a double take whenever I see him. His best friend has blonde hair and at first glance, it's easy to mistake the two. It's an adjustment, but I think it suits him and Ryan seems to like it.

So, go forth, my now-blonde oldest offspring, and have an awesome junior year of high school!

all about Vanessa

Kids really know how to make their parents feel old, don't they? Today we celebrated Vanessa's 12th birthday; still can't wrap my head around it. Or maybe I'm in denial. Yeah, probably denial.

In the LDS Church, when a girl turns 12, she moves from Primary (children's organization) into the Young Women's program. It's a program designed to teach and encourage the young girls (teens) in living the gospel. This Sunday, Vanessa will now be a part of the Beehives (12-13 yr. olds) class, the youngest girls in the organization.

We are so excited for Vanessa! Reaching this point in her life is such a big step and we love how excited she is about it.

12 Reasons Why I Love Vanessa

  1. Her smile always makes me smile.

  2. Her laugh is contagious.

  3. Random things out of her mouth make me giggle.

  4. She's always willing to share anything she has.

  5. She loves her brothers a lot.

  6. She still snuggles with me.

  7. She gets so excited over things she loves.

  8. She skips through the house.

  9. She's so creative with her drawing and writing.

10. She's in no hurry to grow up.

11. She always asks how I am/how my day was.

12. She loves her family.

daphne

In keeping with the traditions that both mine and Scott's parents had when we were teenagers, we bought a "junker" as Ryan's first car. She has a few peeling paint patches and the air conditioner doesn't work well, but overall, she runs well. Ryan took her for a test drive a few weeks ago and he liked her, so we decided she was it for our Ry.

Introducing....Daphne!

 Isn't she cute? Ryan's decided he'd like to get some seat covers and a newer radio for his birthday, so in the weeks to come, she should look a bit different inside. As for the outside, it'll take a bit more time and hard work, but Ryan is willing to put the time in.

Welcome to the family, Daphne!