Buckle up, because I've got a WHOLE lot of catching up to do now that I'm finally finished with our Road Trip recap! I'm just gonna do this in one fell swoop, so get ready for information overload to come your way in 3, 2, 1...
ETHAN
My firstborn in the wilderness is really growing up. This summer (and really the whole past year) has been a time of tremendous growth for him and he has been a huge help this summer in almost every aspect! He does his chores without complaining (for the most part), he's been patient and long-suffering with the younger kids' antics, and he's been possibly the sole voice of calm and compassion this summer. Scott and I noticed a few months ago that something was different with him -- in a good way -- but we couldn't quite put our finger on what was up. When we found out a little while later that he had made a personal goal to read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes every day, it was like a light bulb went off over our heads! No wonder he's been such a beacon of light! :) Seriously, though. If I didn't already have a testimony of the power and life-changing influence that comes from reading and studying the Book of Mormon, this would have sealed the deal.
{Consequently, Scott and I are currently in the process of trying to convince the other kids to start reading for 30 minutes every day as well.}
In other triumphant news, Ethan has finally scored himself a job!!!! And yes, it merits 4 exclamation points. Hahaha. Last week, he got a call back from Sonic asking him to come in for an interview. He was excited to put to use the interview skills that he had learned during Youth Conference at the end of last month, and I helped him with some practice questions just to get him thinking.
{I can guarantee that he was the most prepared 16 year old interviewee that Sonic has ever seen!} In the end, the interview was a piece of cake because all they asked basically was if he's okay with getting his hands dirty -- i.e. washing dishes -- and if he gets along well with others. Winning! :) He started training yesterday and goes back tomorrow for some more. Perhaps by next week he'll be on the schedule for real!
His uniform.
GRACE
The biggest news on the Grace front is that she has finally acquiesced to moving downstairs. And while I'll admit that I'm slightly heartbroken to be losing my library in the process, I recognize that it's really for the best as far as bedroom arrangements are concerned.
{Not to mention I'm a whole lot happier now that Maxwell is in a room without carpet to ruin when he has his occasional (or not so occasional) accident.} Grace has gotten herself settled in rather nicely and has put her personalized touches on things throughout the room. It's starting to all come together, and I think it will be really great for this upcoming school year.
I found this cute throwback picture tacked up in her new room and had to document it. I think she was 3 and Hannah was 4 when this was taken.
Speaking of the school year, we had our Bulldog Blitz last Thursday (where she was able to pick up her schedule, chrome book, and ID and I was able to turn in her paperwork) and she was also able to participate in a Freshman Orientation to get herself familiar with the lay of the land and find out any other important things that she'll need to know for this year. I think she's pretty stoked about her schedule -- among other things, she's taking a child development/parenting class; digital photography; and both Geometry and Algebra 2 -- and I know she's hopeful that she'll have at least a few classes with friends she already knows. Unfortunately, she's on the opposite daily schedule of Ethan, which means she gets to chill in the library between seminary and the start of her school day each morning and she'll have to ride the bus home when she gets out at the end of the day. I guess it's only unfortunate in my mind, though, because she claims it's all good and that she WANTED the 8:50 start time each day instead of the 7:15. I'm pretty sure she's planning on using that hour plus in the library each morning to do all of her homework, so I guess it's not too bad a gig.
{Insert shoulder shrug.} I guess only time will tell how all of that will progress.
SOPHIE
Sophie has been BUSY with her end of summer activities! Not only did she have a Yearbook Boot Camp for 2 days last week, but she finished off her week with a Dance Team boot camp as well. And the fun thing to see is that she is equally excited about both! :) They got to learn how to use the "real" cameras during one of the yearbook days and I can tell she's really intrigued with being a photographer. As fun as that was, though, I'm pretty sure the highlight of her week was getting her uniform and pom poms in dance. She couldn't wait to try it on and pose for me as soon as she got home. Hahaha.
Apparently the dance team cheers on the sidelines at the football games.
Back-to-school haircuts were also on the to-do list this last week, and as a special treat, I booked the 3 girls with my hairstylist. And as an EXTRA special treat, I let Sophie get a couple of highlights around her face.
{Don't judge me.} She was pleased as punch about the idea and was also game for chopping a few inches off her hair. The end result is super cute and I know she really likes it, too.
I'm not sure why the tongue sticking out is her signature pose, but there it is.
JANE
Jane was excited about her haircut, too, even though she was adamant that all she wanted was a trim. A trim is what she got and as a bonus, the stylist curled her hair when she was done and Jane was thrilled. :) Now the only problem is that I'm sure she would love to have her hair curled for the first day of school, but I'm not so sure I can replicate it. At least she has her carefully chosen "vintage plum" linen jumpsuit to wear for the big day along with her gold sandals. Hahaha. I don't know why I'm getting such a huge kick out of her newfound sartorial preferences, but I really am.
Our final Jane news is kind of a combined Sophie new. You see, now that Grace has moved out of her old room, Sophie and Jane have moved IN. We
{and by we, I mean mostly me and Ethan} spent several hours last week taking apart Grace's old loft bed (that she no longer wants) to clear it out and make room for the two full beds that were in the Tweedlearium.
{Alex, Jane, and Isaac's room.} It took some blood, sweat, and tears, but we finally managed to get them through the doorway without having to take them apart, and then came the fun part of making everything look lovely. Jane was ESPECIALLY excited that I got her an early birthday present in the form of a new desk, and I'm excited that she's excited to use it for homework this year. ;) We're not quite finished with the room's "decorating," but it looks good enough for now and it's fully functional so I call that a win!
Here's a tidier view of the space before we took down the shelves with Grace's stuff on it.
And here's how things are looking now.
ALEX
Alright, so as I'm sure you can surmise, now that Sophie and Jane are roomies in Grace's old room, the two little boys to have the former Tweedlearium all to themselves!!
{We're REALLY keeping our fingers crossed that separating out the younger 2 from the others will help with bedtime purposes.} With the girls taking over the full beds that used to be in there, we decided to go with bunkbeds to maximize the space for the boys to play. We still need to figure out some clothing storage solutions (because their current dresser has bit the dust), but it's livable for now and that's all that matters. I think Alex is excited to finally have a "boy" room to decorate and not have to share with his sisters. ;)
Other than that, the main news on the Alex front is that he is super excited about starting to work with a counselor for his anxiety. We've known for a while that he has some anxiety issues -- in fact, a couple of his episodes have been documented on here before -- but the thing that made us decide to look into getting some help was when he came home from school towards the end of last year and announced to US that he thought he had anxiety. This self-awareness came after a "Diverse Abilities" day where they talked about a couple different "invisible disabilities" -- dyslexia and anxiety -- and he recognized himself in the description of the latter. I'm really glad we're starting him with some help while he's still excited about the idea of going to see a counselor rather than waiting until he's older and less enthusiastic. Especially since I didn't quite realize the extent of his worries until he volunteered the following on the day we were going to his first appointment: "The things that give me anxiety are: being alone, the dark, dolls, natural disasters, and death." Poor kid! No wonder he's had some struggles. We're really hoping he can learn some coping strategies to help when those worries creep in.
ISAAC
Isaac, meanwhile, just might be the death of me. It sure would have been nice to end the lot with a nice, mellow, easy-going, stress-free kid, but I guess that's not in the cards for us! Last Monday, I had succumbed to an afternoon nap after an exhausting morning, when I was awoken by Ethan yelling for me that Isaac was bleeding. Ruh Roh! I quickly jumped up to assess the situation and was greeted with half of Isaac's face covered in blood. Knowing head wounds tend to bleed a lot, I wasn't panicking, but I could tell he was hurting and I knew it was probably pretty bad. After cleaning things up as best I could, however, the bleeding had stopped and -- since he was no longer crying thanks to the phone that Ethan had given him to play on and distract him -- I thought we'd maybe be able to avoid a trip to the doctor. A couple hours later, though, while checking on the cut I could tell that it still wasn't quite closing all the way and it probably needed to be looked at by a professional. It's a good thing we brought him in, because once the nurse got it prepped and cleaned for the staples he was going to need, we were able to see just how bad the gash was! Yikes. I'm pretty sure it was cut through the entire layer of skin on his scalp and it was almost an inch long.
{He was doing a somersault off the bean bag in the bonus room and hit his head on a shelf.} It was a bit rocky for those few minutes while the staples were being put in, but once it was over, he was quickly distracted by the promise of playing on a phone once again.
Before the nurse cleaned it up...
And after.
It's times like these that I'm totally okay with electronic distractions.
Grace's first comment after seeing the staples was that she could have done a better job herself. Hahahaha. (You know, since she's going to be a pediatric surgeon and all.)
He was pretty happy about the prize he got to pick out. :)
So that was last week. THIS week, he decided that our annual school supply shopping event at Walmart needed to be amped up a couple of notches by running away and forcing a Code Adam to be called. Fun times, let me tell you! That little rat had already run from me a couple of times that trip but I was able to reach him before he got too far. That final time, however, he took advantage of me trying to stuff markers back into the box that he had thrown on the floor and he darted away before I could see which way he was going. When we finally found him, he was clutching a package of cookies and a pair of shoes he had found on his flight that he really wanted to buy. It was such a perfectly encapsulating snap shot of this kid, that I couldn't decide whether I wanted to laugh at the picture in front of me or spank his little bum. I settled instead for holding him and giving him a big hug and telling him how scared I was when I couldn't find him. "I was just over there, mom!" he said with a look of bafflement and "I-don't-know-why-you-were-so-worried" on his face while pointing to the grocery side of the store. Needless to say, he spent the rest of that shopping trip buckled in the buggy without a chance of parole. ;)
Some pictures from happier times. ;)
Whew! That's all folks. Congratulations if you stayed with me to the very end. :) I'm almost exhausted writing about it as I was living through it. Hahaha. Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow! :)
