We Are Fam-i-ly, I Got All My Sisters With Me

Cooper graduated from high school tonight! There are so many pictures to go through and my brain is too tired to do that right now. Instead, enjoy this picture of a sister hug that took place after the ceremony tonight.

Rise and Shout!

Cooper got some very exciting news today!!!

Eye to Eye, Almost

You can't really tell from this picture (that Sophie insisted we take to mark the occasion), but another child has officially surpassed me in height. She's just barely taller than me. I'm okay with it and Phoebe is coming to terms with possibly being the shortest sibling.

Senior Citizen

This handsome kid had his senior pictures taken this week. I didn't take any pictures of my own inside the studio, but I did snap this one as we left. And yes, I did get a little teary when he took the cap and gown pictures.

Pumpkin Patch

Remember when Topher and his friend Caleb planted pumpkin seeds in our garden? Well, because of a possible freeze tonight, we harvested their crop. This is the whole haul. Topher is quote pleased. He's planning to give two of them to Caleb.

Nearing the Top of the Hill

Today is my 45th birthday. It's been a full, fun day. I'm so tired from all that fun that I can barely keep my eyes open. 

There's something about this birthday that feels bigger than some of the others. Somehow 45 feels a lot older than 44. I mean, I'm now officially halfway to 90.

Maybe that's why I'm so tired.

Happy birthday to me!

Go to Sleep

One of the trickier things about having teenagers is making sure you stay up longer than they do so you don't find them asleep on the couch in the morning, in daytime clothes, laptop still open from doing homework. I guess it's good I'm a night owl.

Spring Pictures

The kids had their Spring pictures a few weeks ago, before Topher cut his hair. I don't usually buy them, but they did send home proofs for us to see. These kids are cute!

Fancy Baubles

We've been trying to spring clean. Bryan did a great job clearing space in the garage on Saturday. Cooper folded and put away all his laundry so he no longer has to perch on the edge of his computer chair while the unfolded laundry takes up all the sitting space. And Sophie attacked a basket that has been full of random stuff and tucked under her desk for months. She's not done, but she did empty it enough to find these earrings. The last time she saw them she didn't have pierced ears yet. She wore them to church on Sunday, her first time wearing dangly earrings!

You Are Fifteen Going On Sixteen

Cooper had quite the glow-up yesterday. Bryan took him to an eye doctor appointment, which included trying contact lenses for the first time. Then Cooper got a haircut on the way home. He's anticipating turning sixteen next month and being able to date...

On the Road

As of this morning, we have three licensed drivers at our house! We had enough snow fall today that the school district called a snow day, so we were concerned that Peter's test would be canceled. But instead he got to take his test in the snow. The whole thing lasted about twelve minutes and Peter was happy with the result!

And now we really need to find a third car.

Mind the Gap

Topher has been wiggling his front tooth for a few weeks. It was so loose one day last week that his teacher sent him home from school with a special tooth box to stick under his pillow. He wiggled and pulled on it throughout the afternoon, but it just wasn't ready. That evening he brushed his teeth and the tooth came out!

Magnetic Smile

Somebody at our house has a new smile.

She brought headphones and music to distract her from the process, she was pretty anxious about being in that chair.

"Phoebe, how do you feel about getting braces?"

She was a good sport about it though.

She has the top braces on now and will add the bottom set in October. And she hasn't eaten solid food since Friday morning, but hopefully that will change as the soreness goes away.

Coming Into Focus

This boy can officially see! We picked up his glasses yesterday evening. He spent most of today looking at books that he most likely couldn't see clearly before. And, like his siblings before him, he looks awfully cute in his new spectacles!

Framed

This cute boy got to pick out his first pair of glasses today. He's mildly farsighted with a major astigmatism in each eye, which explains why reading lessons stalled when the text got smaller. Hopefully he'll have plenty of time to get used to his new lenses before kindergarten starts. These aren't the frames he picked, but they're similar.

Peter Turned 16 (in 2021)

How did I not publish this one?! The rest of the post is as I wrote it, a year and a half ago.

I realize that 16 is only one more than 15, but somehow it feels like a much bigger difference. We now have a 16-year-old at our house and my brain can't quite wrap itself around that fact.

FAVORITE FOOD: sushi
FAVORITE ANIMAL: elephant
FAVORITE SONG: End of Time by K-391, Alan Walker, and Ahrix; Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons
FAVORITE BOARD GAME: Catan
FAVORITE VIDEO GAME: Minecraft
FAVORITE THING TO DO: Sleep.
FAVORITE MEMORY FROM BEING 15: Hang out with my best friends. (He means his siblings.)
FAVORITE PLACE: Home.
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Reading.

FAVORITE CANDIES: Red Vines

FAVORITE BOOKS: Oathbringer or Rhythm of War

FAVORITE COLORS: #0000FF and #FF0000 (blue and red)

FAVORITE SHOWS: WandaVision and Loki

FAVORITE MOVIE: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

FAVORITE CARD GAME: Uno Flip

FRIENDS: My family and friends.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP: Either Mechanical or Aerospace Engineer.

Topher Is 5!

Topher's fifth birthday started the night before when his Primary teacher dropped off a present for him. He opened it first thing in the morning on his birthday.

Then he moved on to a breakfast of chocolate donuts with sprinkles.

We visited Party City and got a fun birthday call from Uncle Jordan, Aunt Leah and cousins while we were there.

After Bryan and Peter got home, Topher unwrapped his other gifts.

Topher requested chicken nuggets, french fries, cheese balls, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and pineapple. When he named all that fruit I said, "Oh, you want a fruit salad." He made it very clear that no, he did not want a fruit salad. He wanted them each served separately.

He had a Bluey themed cake. I forgot the buy the correct frosting to write on the cake, so Bryan pulled some cookie decorating icing out of the cupboard. It did not stay where he put it. Then the Heeler family kept falling off the cake, so Bryan pushed them in waist-deep. We decided they're in a pool, which also explains the runny words. Yup, that works.

He's been happily telling anyone who will listen that he's now five. And, in case you didn't know, that means he's a big kid.

A Long, Long Time Ago

Yesterday had some rough patches. After more yelling and arguing than I wanted to be part of, this picture popped up in my memories. It helps to see them when they were tiny and sweet. This brown-eyed boy is 16-month-old Peter. I'm putting it here so I can find it easily to look at and calm myself when the 17-year-old version is out of sorts.

Big Hair

So, it turns out Peter's not the only one with big hair. This didn't even require product and a hairdryer, just his hands running through it. I think it's quite impressive.

The Last First Tooth

Topher lost his first tooth on Wednesday! It's been loose for a few weeks and by the time we brushed his teeth on Wednesday evening it was quite mobile. He asked both me and Sophie to pull it out, but the root was still holding on. However, I had the feeling that it might work its way free while he slept, so I offered to give it one more tug. Out it popped!

At four years old, he's the youngest of our kids to lose his first tooth. His fifth birthday is right around the corner, so he just slipped in under the wire.

He was thrilled to wake up on Thursday morning and find his tooth, which he had placed under his pillow the night before, had been replaced with a quarter!