Mom+Dad=SUS

 {Subtitled: The Latest Goings On}

Where to start, where to start??  It's been a while and certain children are hounding me for a blog post, so here we go!  I feel like I say this every year, but for such a short month, February always seems to pack a punch in our household.  Between Sophie's birthday, Valentine's Day, MY birthday (coming up on Monday), and everything else that's been going on, there's more than enough material for a post.  Let's take it from the top!

ETHAN

Ethan has perhaps had the most exciting happenings this month as he received his mission call a couple of weeks ago.  After reporting to the MTC (missionary training center) on May 16th, he'll head on out to the Kentucky Louisville mission on June 6th!  He's happy and excited and we're all so proud of his diligence and preparation.  He's a good kid and his light will shine wherever he goes.  For the grand opening of his call, friends and family gathered in the Budge Hall lobby while Ethan read it aloud.  As an extra bonus, we got front line reporting and pictures from my brother and sister (and niece and nephew) who trekked over from the other side of lake to be there for Ethan's big moment.  Thankfully, for those of us who are scattered afar, we were able to tune in via Zoom to be a part of the action.  What did we do before modern technology??  Hahaha.  

(If you look closely, you can see a grainy image of Alex on Freddie's phone while he was FaceTiming us.)

(I'm not exactly sure why, but all of the pictures that Ethan takes on his phone end up in my Google photos.  This means that I get a sneak peek into his daily life and I love it.  Hahaha.)

(Temple trip with friends)

(ME: What is this about? 

ETHAN: It was a ward prayer activity on temple and family history work.  In case you can't tell, that's the Rome temple on the left and the outline of Europe on the right.  

ETHAN: Very nuanced.)

(Nuanced indeed.  Hahahaha.)

GRACE

Grace continues to be a #carpoolmom for her friends and is always up for a Wendy's run or a trip to Goodwill.  I think her very FAVORITE thing to do, however, is to come and plop herself down (at some point every day) in my room (or wherever I might be) and let me know that she's bored and has no one to talk to and that she, quote, "miss[es] us," after which she sets up camp and forces me to engage with her so that she has something to do.  MY very favorite thing would have to be when she says she wants to talk to me but doesn't know what she wants to talk about and therefore I become the one who is tasked with thinking of things to discuss.  LOL.  It actually drives me nuts.  Hahaha.  

(Valentine's Day flowers for Grace from her boyfriend)

(Said boyfriend is a good sport, along with being an all around good kid, as you can by his acquiescence to having his make up down by Grace, Sophie, Jane, and their friend Lyla.)

(For one of her classes, Grace had to take care of a "clothespin baby" for a few days.  This involved taking the "baby" with her wherever she went.)

(Obviously, she couldn't resist staging some "fun" photos with "Steve the Dude.")

SOPHIE

Sophie has had a pretty exciting month herself.  Events of note include her birthday (obviously), attending the Colors Day dance at school with a friend, and becoming a part of the school's Lit Mag.  After submitting a writing sample and undergoing an interview, she earned a spot on the staff for next year and will help with deciding what will go in it along with formatting the issues and other stuff like that.  Additionally, she's been enjoying her brand new (to her) bedroom that was one of her main birthday presents this year.  With Ethan moved out (because of school and then mission), we finally caved to letting her take over his old room so that she didn't have to share with Jane anymore -- and she's thrilled.  {Let's just say they have WILDLY divergent ideas of what constitutes a clean bedroom.  Hahahaha.}  I used photoshop and my mad interior decorating skills to come up with some options for making the room ring with a Sophie vibe, and while there are still a few elements we'll need to complete the look, it's finished enough for her to move in and start living her new -- and tidier -- life.  Hahahahaha.

(Colors Day)

(Sophie and Lyla obviously couldn't miss out on an opportunity to do a "sorority sisters" pose.  Hahaha.)

(The photoshop mock-up...)

(...and what we've got so far.)

JANE

With Sophie moved out, Jane now has the room all to herself and I'm hoping that less stuff will equal less mess in general.  I'm not holding breath, however, considering Jane just brought down at least 5 or 6 bowls from her bedroom, along with some cups and spoons and other used dishware after I forced her to do her Saturday chores this morning and get her room clean.  Her favorite things to do these days are FaceTime with her besties, listen to Taylor Swift, and show me her jumps and toe touches.  

(In case anyone forget, she's REALLY into Taylor Swift -- she created these cat drawings to represent various songs and albums.)

ALEX

Alex continues to live for the Switch.  He's upped his game (get it?? hahaha) lately by connecting with friends via FaceTime while playing together. Or at least that's what I think is happening.  I'm not savvy enough to understand the logistics, but I know he's somehow communicating with them and playing at the same time.  Unfortunately, a side effect from all his screen time seems to be an escalation of his trichotillomania (pulling out his hair).  Obviously, correlation does not prove causality in this case -- or I guess any kind of case -- but his bald spot grows bigger every day and he seems to be even less mindful of the pulling when he's in lounge mode on the couch.  He's recently started medication for his anxiety and I'm hopeful that it will help not only with the anxiety but possibly the hair pulling as well.  It's only been a couple of weeks, though, so time will tell if there's anything to it.  

ISAAC

And now we get to the story behind the title of this blog post.  Hahahahaha.  Isaac, Isaac, Isaac.  I literally have no idea what goes on in that brain of his.  A couple days after Valentine's Day, I discovered a crumpled card in Isaac's backpack that he must have shoved in there and neglected to give me.  When I opened it up and read the message on the inside, I was dying laughing when I saw what he had written -- "mom+dad=sus" (sus being the current cool kid slang for suspicious).  Hahahahahaha.  I am eternally grateful that he has the NICEST teacher in the world, who genuinely thinks he is so funny and so clever.   Especially since he's the reason why the chat feature has now been disabled for his kindergarten Zooms.  Let's just say it's not a good idea to send a message to your friend saying "I'm going to kill you in your sleep" no matter how much you're just joking around.  Yeah.  That happened.  Thankfully, the friend's mom knew he wasn't serious -- and actually laughed about it -- but needless to say, all chatting has been shut down for future Zooms.  

(mom+dad=sus)

(100th day of school)

(One of the many odd positions I find him in while sleeping)

And that's all, folks!  My brain is shutting down and I can't think of anything else to report, so I'll sign off for now.  With my birthday in two days,  perhaps I'll have more to blog about next week.  (Although I wouldn't hold my breath.  Hahahaha)  Peace out, peeps!