Josiah is 9 now, 4th grade. He loves his new school here in Fairfax. He loves having recess every day (shame on you NC! This poor boy didn't know daily recess was even possible.) He hates hair cuts, so he normally grows it out long till I can't take it anymore and have to force him to the barber shop. He is doing awesome in school, and is part of the gifted program. He is semi-obsessed with xBox (Minecraft mostly) and PC games that I can't keep up with. He is still a devoted reader. He is almost done with the Harry Potter series and is a new fan of the Rick Riordan books based on mythology. He is getting so tall! Everyday I am amazed at how soon he will be taller than me. He performed at his school's Colonial Day performance last week and I was so impressed. He is so shy. He does not like dancing or singing or doing anything publicly, but in his performance he sang proudly, he played his recorder in 3 songs (by memory), and he danced! He danced with girls! And he looked like he was having fun during it all. My baby is growing up. He is clever and brilliant. He is easy going and kind. He is as forgetful as me. He likes creating his own games, like a recent Star Wars lego game he created for he and Tanner (which apparently requires the pieces to remain out in the basement floor instead of going back into the lego bin.) If he were to turn into the food that he eats the most of, I would be the proud mom of ravioli or cereal.
Tanner is in Kindergarten. He is 5 and is the pefect playmate for both Joey and Brinley. He also loves school. He gets funnier and more fun everyday. He loves any excuse to celebrate. When he found out Valentine's Day was coming up, he demanded to know when I was going to be decorating the house. I had to break it to him that I didn't have valentine decorations. He immediately started rectifying that. He also created Valentine's for the whole family, a week in advance. He asks what all we get to do to celebrate. I gave him the usual ways but that wasn't enough. He created his own work out video to perform for me today as one of my gifts from him. He cracks me up. (He and Brinley often do a work out video with me at home.) He loves helping the kitchen. Bummer for him that he is stuck with a mom that doesn't do much in that area. But we make do. He has recently informed me of a girl in his class that he would like to marry. But there is competition: Evan wants to marry her, too. So Tanner has decided whichever boy finds her first after they grow up, gets to marry her. I asked him if this girl knows all this. Tanner says she knows he wants to marry her, but she doesn't know he was on a big crush with her. If he were to turn into the food he eats most, I would be raising a peanut butter sandwich.
Brinley is 2, going on 16. She is loud. So loud. And is still cutting teeth. She is potty trained. She mostly enjoys food off my plate, but will occassionally eat out of her own plate, too. She likes to be a princess, while she fights crime. I though I would have more crudeness in my life with the boys, but this girl is the one we worry about what she is saying at Church (the toot talk is non-stop!) She is affectionate and completely adorable. She is getting opinions on her clothes and which PJs she will wear on which night. She has odd play ideas...we often have to pretend I am the baby and she is Gail. Or that I am Grandma and she is Mommy, When she goes #2 on the toilet, she insists on books to read to help. She loves playing with playdough and taking baths and still loves playing with her Paw Patrol toys. She also loves painting her nails. I used to have to paint them 5 times a day. She got some kid polish from Joey for Christmas and I let her use that by herself because it washes off things so easily. She is getting much better at painting her nails. She is so ready for her own school...she does not like the boys having a school and her not having one. We recently had a winter blizzard and her main reason for wanting to go out in the snow was to stick her face in snow and eat it. She occassionally salutes me and says Yes Ma'am when I ask her to do something that she doesn't mind doing. She loves helping me with dishes. If she were to turn into the food/drink that she wants the most, she would be hot chocolate.
