Goodbye 2019!

Last school day of the decade! 

Grief

Tonight on the way home from the store Amelia made this observation. “Mom, you know when someone dies you change a little bit. Like if you and that person do something special together and when they die you have to change a little bit when you do that special thing.”
I was a little wowed and said, “Yes,you do.”
Jack chimed in to say he talks back more since Nana Kim died because he is sad still. We all decided that it is ok to grieve but not talk back.
This will be the second Christmas without Nana Kim. I need to remember that the little hearts in our family are still grieving.

Amelia

For the past couple of years Mrs. Stephanie from next door has gotten the kids a little something for Christmas; nothing big, just socks or a little puzzle. Today the kids and I went over to open their presents and have some treats. This year Amelia got Mrs. Stephanie a present. When I got there I was surprised since I didn't know anything about it. What she got her was a yellow and green paper chain that she made at school, plus a smaller green one. Oh the joy on Amelia's face, as she jumped up and down, as Mrs. Stephanie opened it up! It was such a precious moment to see her be so happy giving her a paper chain. She said, "I made this because you love to decorate!" Oh so sweet. Of course her and Mrs. Stephanie draped it on the tree a little while later.

Jacob

Jacob turned 12! Wow my baby Jacob is a preteen! He continues to be a person of integrity and hard work, he still has a kind and grateful heart and enjoys being outside and with his family. On the edge  of becoming a young man I am excited to see him grow.
This birthday we went to Triple Play, an indoor

Amelia

 

Amelia’s goals from the first half of second grade.

Jacob

Here is a great story Jacob wrote for 6th grade ELA. He got 10/10.

Jacob

Jacob is now a certified hunter! After what seems months and months of work, Jacob completed his hunter safety education course! This last Saturday he completed the field test portion. He spent about 4 hours going over gun safety and other stuff about the weapons. He also got to use a shotgun to shoot at clay pigeons. He said he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him now that it was done. It was a big commitment for him so I am proud that he took it so seriously and that he completed it.

Halloween 2019

So for Halloween this year we kinda split up. Jacob, who is now too old to trick or treat, spent his Halloween volunteering at the church's Trunk or Treat with his Boy Scout group. He served over 700 hot dogs to the public. Of course he still got candy! Jack and Amelia each gave him 10 pieces each, he got the rest of our house bowl and Mrs. Stephanie got him his own "goodie bag" of good candy since she knew he couldn't got trick or treating.
Jack and Amelia walked around for an hour to completely fill their pumpkin buckets. Jack was the first to say he wanted to go home since, as cool as his mailbox costume was, it was pretty uncomfortable.
Amelia decided at the last minute to be a witch again for Halloween. She had wore the inflatable dinosaur costume to several Halloween events but for trick or treating ended up as a witch. I guess it's good to have options.

Jacob

Jacob's Boy Scout Troop got to spend the night on the USS Turner Joy. Jacob said it was his favorite camp out so far in Scouts. He rated it 9 our to 10, apparently the bathroom stalls didn't have doors so that's why its a 9. He was super excited to tell us all the history of the ship and all about it. The boys had free time for a couple of hours where they could go anywhere on the ship they wanted. While speaking with the overnight chaperone Jacob answered a question correctly so he got a special coin. He was the only boy to get one! So he felt super special. It is great to see him so excited about the trips.

Jack

 This year Jack decided to be a mailbox for Halloween. Him and I created it from a couple of boxes, he painted it blue and I taped the printed out USPS papers on the side. As a fun treat we got Skipper a postal worker costume.
Well this year we stumbled upon a Fall Festival in Richland. The kids got to do some trick or treating AND there was a costume contest.
Jack totally rocked the contest. He was a finalist in the 7-12 year old category (He almost won that one.). And him and Skipper totally won the Best Couples Costume category by a roaring win! He came in second in the overall costume category.
He was so excited! He won lots of coupons and gift cards, which he was very surprised about.
The whole time we were there people kept asking if they could take a picture of the two of them together. Jack said he loved having everyone cheer for him. Great Halloween costume!

Amelia

Amelia is doing so well in second grade! Periodically I check in with the kids' teachers to see how they are doing. Mr. Lugo, Amelia's teacher, said she is doing well and then immediately started talking with me about how Amelia needs to be tested for Hi-Cap math. He says she is exceeding in all areas of math and is almost to multiplication. I am so proud that she can focus on her math studies and abilities.

Amelia - 2nd Grade

Jacob

Jacob attended his first Middle School Lock-In at the church. Basically it's kinda like the elementary ones I ran but with the added bonus of staying up as late as you want. Jacob said he had lots of fun playing games and video games. He said he fell asleep around 1:00 am to about 4:00 am, during the movie they were watching. I was like, "Why did you keep sleeping? Didn't you get bored?" (My thinking was everyone was asleep.) His response: "No, I just went back to playing video games with everyone else." Oh! Everyone else was still awake!! Geez, aren't I a dummy.
Despite the fun Jacob was exhausted and wrecked the next day. He literally fell asleep during Children's Worship leaning on a bookshelf. Then afterward while he was trying to talk to me, his eyes kept shutting on him. lol Lucky for him the Mehlenbacher gave him and Dan a ride home from church so he didn't have to stay thru Sunday School. Jacob slept until about 3:00 in the afternoon, got up for a bit, and then went back to bed at 8:30.
I asked him if it was worth it? If he would do another lock-in? He said of course, it was really fun.

Jack

Jack has decided to play the clarinet for band this year. He is very excited about his choice since he tells me how good he is already at playing it. The other day he was playing "Name that Tune." I will say I was able to hear the tune for Darth Vader's entrance from Star Wars but after that not much  else. He seemed genuinely surprised each time I said I didn't know. He would put his clarinet done and say something like, "What?! That was the Jeopardy theme song!" I am just glad he is excited.
I hope he finds something he really likes. Jack has such potential to be good at so many things. I believe once he finds the thing he likes to do his hard work drive will kick in and he will just take off with it.

Amelia

Amelia performed her first Little-Pups Pom routine! She does a pregame performance at the Pasco High football games. She was a little stressed about her uniform before it started: her shirt was too big, she didn't have the skirt, her shoes were too sparkly. BUT once she got it all on and saw her friend Kate she was good to go!
For her routine she was a little off at the beginning since they started so quick but she caught up and rocked the rest of the performance. The music even cut out during half their song but the girls just kept on dancing. Their high school instructor really held it together.
After the dance all the girls got pizza. Amelia just floated around the whole rest of the night chatting with her friends and having a good time. She is very excited about the next upcoming performances.

2019-2020 School year

Another school year has started! Geez it doesn't seem possible that summer is over already. I hope my brain catches up with the new routine. Amelia is in 2nd grade this year. Of course she is amazing and smart and will do great. This year she has Mr. Lugo as a teacher, her first man teacher. So far she says he is super nice. Jack has Mrs. Brinkley, who he wasn't too excited to get since he heard she is strict, but of course when he came home on the first day of school he was super excited to have her as a teacher. He said she was really nice and had tons of rewards to give out. Jacob has Mrs. Williams and he is in 6th grade!! Holy Cow! He said Mrs. Williams might be his favorite teacher so far and is looking forward to school each day. I just pray that they learn, grow with responsibility and kindness, and their teachers encourage them to be lifelong learners and good people.

Family Vaca - Bay View and Moran

Our family had a great time discovering some of the San Juan Islands this summer. We rented a cabin at Bay View State park and a tent spot at Moran State Park. For a couple of days at Bay View Josh, Beth and the boys stayed in the cabin next door. The kids had a blast playing with Burton and Dane. They rode bikes, went to the beach and played with other kids. The day after they left Jack told me, "well, we might as well go home; Burton and Dane left so we have no one to play with." -So dramatic
That day we did go walk around Deception Pass State Park. We all walked across the bridge and then played on the beach. We also found an old steamboat museum that the kids thought was real interesting.
The other fun thing we did was take the ferry. Moran State Park is on Orcas Island so the only way to get to the park is on the ferry. Oh my on the ferry ride out the kids couldn't stay still enough. We wandered all over the boat checking it out and looking at different views. They were so excited to be riding a ferry! The only thing that worried them was that Skipper stayed in the car. They wanted him up with them and was concerned if the boat sank he would drown. I had to assure them Skipper would be just fine and let them check on him once (he was sleeping when we looked).
At Moran State Park the kids fell right in with a big group of kids playing by a fort made out of logs and sticks. It was right next to a little creek that had some logs over it like a bridge. We hardly saw them after that! They loved playing down in the woods.
The other fun thing we did at the park was that Jacob, Jack and Dad jumped off a tree that hung out over the water and off a bridge into the water. Jack was a big talker, as usual, about jumping off the tree at 4:00 but once he was in the tree looking down he quickly got down. LOL  It took him a bit but he finally did it. The drop was about 8 to 10 feet so pretty high. Jacob, though, jumped right off, he loved it! After the tree they jumped off the bridge, which was a shorter drop. Jack said he liked the bridge better. Amelia almost jumped off the bridge but didn't in the end.
It was another great family trip, one to remember and cherish.

Summer Trip

For a couple days this summer we headed over to Umma and Uppa's. We spend the couple of days hiking and hanging out. Burton, Dane and Maysen got to come over for those days, which is always a great time. We are so lucky to have cousins to play with and be around. Another fun part about the trip was Uppa was around during the day! He usually has work but now that he is retired he is around.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Stone

So this stone was actually a gift for Uppa for a wedding anniversary from Umma but she really could have gifted it to all the grandkids too! When they texted us a picture of the stone the kids went nuts with excitement. Of course the kids, especially Jack, needed the details of where it was (in Montana at teh Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) and how it came to be.  They think it is sooo cool that their names are on a stone. We have been to tons of museums that have stones like this and it is always something they had wanted to do. Now thanks to Umma they have it!

Jacob

Jacob had another successful baseball season. As usual he really enjoyed the regular season and had a lot of fun playing with his team. He chose to participate in All-Stars again. He had a good time but not as fun as the regular season.
During the All-Star season he discovered his talent for playing outfield. He did a terrific job tracking the ball and making some great catches.
Baseball is full of life lessons on teamwork, staying positive and focusing on what you can control. I am glad he has the opportunity to experience these.

Jack turns 10

My Jack-Man is officially double digits! We got him 10 packs of gum and 10 New York Seltzers (his new favorite drink).  He was lucky because Umma and Uppa were over to help celebrate. He wanted to do a progressive dinner so we went to Applebee's for appetizers, McDonald's for french fries and 5 Guys' for burgers and shakes.
Jack is a naturally happy, funny kid. He likes to talk about EVERYTHING! And often starts debates at the house, such as: "If you could be a animal, what would you be?" or "Which would you rather have money or fame?" His favorite past time, besides talking, is watching TV and Youtube. He is a dependable kid that I have come to rely upon with helping with Skipper in the morning.

Amelia

For the school event "Night at the Museum" Amelia's class dressed up as a favorite animal.  People came by and "scanned" her so she would come to life and share some facts. She chose a kola bear. She, along with her classmates, really got into the project. As you can see we even got her a "eucalyptus" tree for her to hold on too. It was a lot of fun.

Amelia turns 8

Amelia turned 8 this year! It also marks 8 years of living in our house. For her birthday I took her on a shopping spree. We started by getting a cold drink at Starbucks in the mall and then preceded to hit up several stores. Some of the things she got were basic summer items that I wrapped up into the shopping spree, she didn't seem to notice. Her favorite store was probably Claire's in the mall. She got 7 different things including rainbow poop emoji earrings and a giant box of nerds. At the end of it all we stopped by McDonald's to buy her a happy meal, something she rarely gets but loves. It was a fun day for her. To top off her b-day celebrations Mrs. Stephanie is taking her to get a pedicure; which Amelia LOVES! I am glad that Mrs. Stephanie will do that since I do not like too.
Right now Amelia is a spunky carefree girl that likes to read, dance, swim, eat candy, and play with her brothers. She is a very smart little girl, both socially and book smart. She is conscious of others feelings and actions. She even asks her Dad and I how are day has been, without prompting and then proceeds to listen! Some of my favorite things to do with Amelia is to read her books, and make cookies                                                                                 with her. We are so lucky to have her as part of our                                                                                 family!

Amelia

 

Skipper Loves the Kids

 

Every morning the kids go to school Skipper goes nuts! He does not like them to leave the house without them. One of my tricks to get Skipper walking when he doesn't want to is to say, "Let.s' go find Jacob!" He defiantly loves his kids.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend this year we camped out at Fishhook again. This year Jack slept in his own tent, Skipper had his first camping trip and Jacob brought his inflatable boat to try out. The Mitchells  camped with us one night so Amelia had fun playing with Cami and Gabby. The boys made friends with some other boys there so they played wiffle ball and rode on an electric scooter (which of course they now dream of owning someday).

Jacob

 

 

Jacob took the CogAT test to see if he should be placed in the Highly Capable Program at school. His teacher recommended it since it would help place him in higher level classes in middle school. Of course he did great and now will be given more challenging work (we'll see what that is).

Jack

Jack is playing flag football again this year. He loves it! So far he has had two games and was the MVP of both! He can run and catch and grab flags like a mad man. And at the end he gets a snack! lol I am glad he can enjoy playing a sport.

Easter 2019

Happy Easter 2019! This year Skipper got to be apart of our Easter fun. Its amazing to me how excited the kids get over Easter. I guess the thought of a ton of candy and a present is enough. :) Jack is still a believer, kind of, of the Easter Bunny, Amelia is of course, and Jacob not at all. We had a laid back Easter at home with a good steak dinner and a sunny day of playing.

Spring Break 2019

Spring Break 2019 was another great, fun filled, action packed week. Me and the kids went to Umma and Uppa's for the week. The kids played in the woods, watched satellite tv, went to a movie, played with cousins, went roller skating and to Northwest Trek. This was all within four days! Additionally the boys made some money by hauling branches from Uppa's trails and burning them. Of course they actually thought this was a lot of fun since they got to use the 4 wheeler (Jacob got to drive it) with a little trailer and throw the branches into the fire! Both boys also got to ride a dirt bike for the first time. We stopped at John and Tanya's new house and John got the dirt bikes out for the boys to try. Needless to say they absolutely fell in love with them and are now determined to save money up to buy their own. John is the coolest uncle to them. He has the best toys, best stories and is always wiling to share. Amelia didn't want to try the bikes since she had crashed on a 4 wheeler a couple weeks prior at a friend's house, but Tanya did push her on the swing super high.

Jack

Amelia

Amelia's nonfiction story about kangaroos. I just love her writing!

Destination Imagiation

The boys finished up their Destination Imagination (DI) competition this last weekend. Their group, the Meowing Cows, completed the Escape Artist Challenge. They had to come up with an idea to solve a social problem in an on going way. The kids decided to tackle the problem of kids being bored while they stay in the hospital by creating craft kits for them to complete. The kids then had to create a presentation with specific requirements that told about their project. It was a lot of work, starting back in November! It all came together in the end. The group performed the very best they ever had during the performance so walked away feeling great about it even before learning they place 3rd overall. Jack was soooo excited to get his medal. He can't wait to do it again next year. Jacob was disappointed about not advancing to the state level but was still happy they did so well. I appreciate the leadership and team building skills that it brought out in the kids. Definitely a worth while program for the boys.

Jacob

 Jacob is now a Boy Scout! He earned is Arrow of Light this last month. He was very proud of himself  for this accomplishment and was excited for the ceremony. He can't wait to join the troop of Boy Scouts at the church.

Jacob

A nice watercolor Jacob did with Mrs. Stephanie.

Amelia

Amelia recently completed the bronze, or beginner level, or gymnastics. She was very proud of herself, recounting in detail how she got to ring the bell after she completed her final skill she had to master. It brings my heart great pride and joy to see her proud of herself and her accomplishments.

Jacob

The other night the kids were all kinda wild and out of control so they were all sent to their separate rooms. Jacob later left this on my nightstand with the words, "Do not tough unless you are mom." After we discussed it he told me that was how he was feeling at the time he drew it but since had felt better so his heart was breaking anymore. I was glad he felt better and that he had made such a creative way to express himself.

Kids' Puppy

We got the kids a puppy: an 9 week old corgi puppy! Of course he is adorable but so far he has been a very laid back, smart puppy. Of course Jack's reaction is to talk a mile a minute about every detail of having a puppy. Jacob was emotional, quiet and ecstatic. Amelia was overjoyed and happy.
At first the kids named him Skippy but Amelia kept getting Skippy and Piper mixed together so it turned into Skipper. The kids are totally into walking, playing and feeding him. This puppy is going to be a well loved part of our family.

Amelia

Amelia is an amazing writer! I love her pictures and descriptive adjectives she uses

The Christmas Eve Party

This Christmas I got my ears pierced!! I'm going to tell you how it felt. 

It felt painful! It just hurt, just hurt.

Jack and Amelia

Here is an assignment that Jack and Amelia did at school during their Reading Buddies time. Jack's cat is on the right. Amelia's is on the left. Still amazes me that they can work so well together at school!

Jacob

Jacob had his first band concert. He said he played one of the songs and just pretended to play the rest. Needless to say he is not enjoying band and can't wait for the year to be over. He asked if he had to do band next year and I said "No, you gave it a try, you'll completed the year but you now know band isn't for you." He was relieved to hear that.

Jack

Jack is really enjoying the online computer gaming sight, Roadblocks. Up until now I haven't let him have an account because some of the games on there are not, what I would call, appropriate. But he has assured me he will not play those types of games so I let him.
SO... he plays it on the laptop computer every chance he gets now but he ran into the problem of logging on to the computer so early in the morning. But after a couple mornings I found him playing on the computer when I came downstairs. Jacob was also awake so I assumed he had logged Jack on (Jacob knows the computer login password). After a couple of days of this though Jack tells me, with his I-am-so-proud-of-the-things-I-can-get-away-with-smile, "I don't know the login password to the laptop I just created my own user account." Lol, well that is one way to get on the computer.  His problem solving skills will bring him far in life.

Jacob

Now that Jacob is 11 and in 5th Grade I have been talking to/making him do life skill tasks like making his bed, packing his lunch, taking the garbage out. Just last week as I handed him his clean sheets to make his bed I said, “Time to practice those life skills!” He replied back, “These are wife skills, I don’t need to do this.” Ha, that kid! I explained that not every wife will stay home and do these things, he may have to stay home and take care of the house and kids. He promptly replied "I don't want that kind of wife."

New Years Eve

Another year down, it's 2019! We spent the Eve at our friends the Schonewill's again. Didn't see much of the kids since they just played and played with the other kids there. We made it home by 11:00 and stayed up until midnight. Staying up wasn't as much as a struggle for Jack and Amelia this year but as soon as it turned 12:02 they were asleep.

Amelia

Amelia's turkey that dressed up like a peacock so it wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving.

Bugatti

 For some reasons the kids love the bugatti, I think because it is the most expensive car you can buy or at least that is what google says. It comes up in so many conversations. How one person or another would have one. Not sure if it will ever go away but it will always be the high bar of cars