DJ, age seven

This has been a big year for DJ! He started at a new school and has learned lots of important new things--he learned how to ride a bike, read, tie his shoes, and swim. DJ has really come into his own as a thoughtful, independent kid. He hasn't had the easiest year, but he's coming through more confident and aware of who he is and what he stands for.

How do you feel about being seven?  

Good.

What kinds of new things do seven-year-olds do?   
They can build bigger Lego sets and build robots, and help Dad build fires.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?
The trip to Florida.

Who are your best friends?

I don't know...[How can you type and stuff so fast, Mom? You've been practicing?]...Bennett, Charlie, Alexa, Otto, and Eddie.

Who are your favorite people to play with?
Otto, Eddie, and Bennett.

What kinds of things are you good at?

Legos, swinging, tricks like a flip on the bar or going across the balance beam sideways or backwards.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Either a policeman or an astronaut.

Why do you want to be a policeman or an astronaut?
I want to be a policeman because in the movies they look really, really cool and I want to be an astronaut because I just kind of want to see what it looks like inside of a real spaceship.

What’s your favorite song?   
The Weekend Whip [by The Fold--it's the Ninjago theme song]

What's your favorite food?
Macaroni and cheese

Favorite movie?
The Lego Ninjago movie

Favorite book?   

Mo Willems books

Favorite color?   
My favorite colors are blue and green.

Favorite place to be?

Meijer, because you can get fun stuff.

What are your favorite things to do?   
Go to Impression 5, play in the basement--Ultimate Beastmaster--and play Ninjago with Otto outside.

What is your favorite birthday present that you received?
My 200-piece Lego set.

And a cool video to show off his climbing moves:

Christmas 2018

Some favorite memories:

• Six parties in six days
• Playing Christmas-themed pictionary and singing rock songs together at Erin's house
• Mary Cate played with Steve, stayed overnight at Grandma Lisa's, and hugged my dad. This is a big deal given a child who has gone from screaming in the face of any approaching human to jabbing me in the chest saying, "MY MOM," to any approaching human to giving the stink-eye to everyone not in her immediate family.
• Lots of quality family time, including cousin sleepovers, hanging out with Dave, Laurel, and Roger, hosting John, Sue, and Pam over Christmas. It was especially nice to spend time with Sue and get to know our new bonus mother-in-law!
• I planned a big family dinner on Christmas for the first time and decided on Swedish meatballs. I whipped up the sauce before starting on our waffle brunch Christmas morning...and realized I'd forgotten to buy the meatballs. So Kevin, Pam, Sue, and I made up our first-ever batch of homemade meatballs. That might be our new Christmas tradition!
• Sweet homemade gifts from Annie, thoughtful gifts Nellie bought with her own money, and a new mug from DJ.
• Making Christmas cookies at Mom's house
• Our second year of dressing up as a reindeer and elf Christmas morning
• Annie - Spending time with the family and watching my sibling's and other people's reactions when they opened the presents I got them--especially DJ and Eddie's faces when we got the new climbing rope wall.
• Nellie - Grandma Lisa's Christmas party, which was really fun with the cousins and we were surprised being able to open our presents that night instead of waiting until the next day
• DJ - When I got a lot of fun presents, like Legos and a new Nerf gun
• Eddie - my new Power Rangers sword
• Mary Cate - snuggling with Mommy
• Kevin - Playing his new Punderdome game with Nellie, Annie, and me. His particular favorite moment was when Nellie and I came up with puns so bad, he won with "nothing."

And nobody threw up the whole break (so far)--counting that as a win!

Some favorite pictures:

Present time at Erin and Steve's

Grandma Lisa's Christmas Eve

All Mario

Classic Christmas apple and orange

Everyone got their favorite drink...Nellie's was gone in minutes

Laughing with my helpers about all the plastic bags around my gift from DJ--a flamingo mug. He picks out the best mugs!

Annie's gift from DJ

Matching shirts! We are so tired.

Mary and her lotion

Waiting for presents at Grandma Linda's house

Girls' weekend

We had lots of relaxing fun at my mom's condo on Crooked Lake this December! It was the girls' first trip there, and we spent our time shopping, eating, playing games, and watching movies. We even introduced them to Hallmark Christmas movies. They weren't impressed, but we pressed on anyway. 💓🎄

Mostly, I loved sharing the Petoskey area--my first place--with Nellie, Annie, and Mary Cate. I lived there until I was four, and it's still one of my favorite places. I sometimes wonder if I just romanticized my life there, but no, it's just that great. On the way home, my mom drove by our old house and told stories about her life when we were babies. We're all hoping this was just the first trip of many.

A wonderful moment--Annie getting a ukulele lesson from a couple I've known my whole life.

Annie and Mary Cate were best buddies.

The girls loved these natural drinking fountains

Matching overalls. I will die happy.

Church Children's Concert

Tonight will probably go down among my favorite parenting moments. All the kids were in the show this year for the first and probably the last time. It was Mary's first year in the little kids' choir, and although it's technically a PreK-5 show, Nellie was asked to do a reading. They all did a great job, though it wasn't exactly DJ's idea of a great time. (We had fun reminiscing about the year he threw a fit, refusing to go on stage, and another when he stood up there but just soundlessly opened and closed his mouth the whole time like a fish.) I loved every minute of it.

So here's a Christmas challenge for us all...

May we gracefully accept each opportunity and responsibility that comes our way this season like Nellie;

may we share the good news of Christ's birth with sweet confidence like Annie;

may we carry on diligently when we face holiday trials of any kind like DJ--whether it's beating the crowds at Meijer, surviving a family get-together, or holding up the letter "S" even though people will be watching;

may we watch for and quietly meet the needs of others like Eddie;

and may we draw near to the Lord with even more adoration than Mary Cate has for her brother.

Karaoke Tuesday

I married up. I mean, how else can you explain these kids' dance moves?

Nellie's ability to tune everyone out, though--that's all me.

It's the holiday season

After a rough week--which started with a blessed post-Thanksgiving snow day, but went downhill when Kevin came down with strep and I got to single parent most of the week with a dead car battery thrown in there somewhere--we had a great weekend together.

Kevin was finally well enough to get out of bed, and we had a rare 48 hours without a single plan. We filled it up with some of our favorite things: Pumpkin-dark-chocolate-chip pancakes, Chinese take-out, fires in the fireplace, Christmas movies, online gift shopping, church, and Christmas tree decorating. 

Annie made up and hosted a Double Dare-esque game for us called "Wernet Wonderland." It involved trivia on energy, heat, and motion (using a Jeopardy review game from her last science test!), some blind pictionary, a few rounds of Heads Up, and everyone's favorite--obstacle courses in the basement. It's a miracle Kevin and I didn't hurt ourselves. Team Booger Assassins (DJ and I) narrowly beat the Pine Tree Tyrants (Kevin and Nellie).

As we move into the break-neck pace of Christmas celebrations and preparations, it was a nice little window of relative peace and quiet.

A talented student painted this ornament--it made my week!

No denying she's a funny girl, that Nell

We just had our first round of conferences at Beagle. I was a more concerned about how the kids were doing socially than academically at their new school. When I asked her teacher if Nellie was making good friends, she got a funny look on her face. She told me Nellie gets along with everyone okay in class, but it's not uncommon for her to read alone on the playground instead of playing.

That worried me a little, so I asked Nellie about it when I got home. She confirmed that yes, she reads on the playground, and sometimes plays with friends.

"But MOM. I had NO IDEA how many books they would have in their library. And I keep accidentally checking out really good ones. Like, cliffhangers. And I can't stop reading them, so I have to read at recess."

I mean, what am I going to say about that?

P.S. While I wrote this, the girls finished up their weekend project of making a family library out of the books in the basement.

P.P.S. And here's a sampling of pictures of Nellie from summer in her natural habitat.

Halloween 2018

Eddie: Captain America

Annie: Wonder Woman at school, princess at home

DJ: Lumberjack

Nellie: Lumberjill

Mary Cate: Was going to be a pot of honey but refused to wear the costume. She did, however, like the ballerina dress. And because she eats, sleeps, and breathes Daniel Tiger, she knows that "You can dress up any way you choose--find a way that's right for you!"

As has become tradition in the past few years, we hosted an extra 11 people for a quick dinner before heading out for trick-or-treating. The big girls hit every house in the neighborhood, only two kids cried, and no one had any razor blades in their candy! So we're calling it a success.

It's not all the neighborhood kids. Just us.

Her everyday hero

Fun with Nellie, Annie, and DJ

Honest moment: Eddie might be addicted to playing Mario on the Wii and the kids' most frequent fight is whose turn it is on the iPad or Kevin's old-school Gameboy. 

Now that that's clear, I can mention how awesomely creative they can be and how much fun they have together. Nellie is quite the activities director. Annie lends a lot of creative logistical support and DJ goes along with whatever they make him do. 

In the last couple of weeks, Nellie finished a hunting board game she's been working on (DJ won). She described it as a prototype and is planning to make a larger version on poster board. 

The three of them put on a puppet show complete with a homemade stage and puppets, lighting, and a sound system (karaoke machine). Sorry about the poor-quality picture--I had to use a screenshot from a video.

This weekend, they wrote and performed a play at my mom's house. There is rarely a boring moment around here!

The program

The play

The story board

Mary Cate is 2!

In my "happy birthday Mary Cate" post, I commented that she's equal parts sugar and spice. I'm not actually sure that's true. It might be more like 40-60 or 30-70. Mary is a girl who walks around hugging us and saying, "I love you so much," and, "I want to snuggle you." She cares lovingly for her dolls and adores her family. Then she'll scream and push a sibling in the face for invading her personal space. Mary perfected her stink-eye at an early age, which she uses with anyone who tries to talk to her in public. But she's so darn cute, they keep trying. She just recently started talking to Ms. Jentz, who she's known since birth and seen almost every day because we share a classroom. My dad almost had a heart attack from shock this weekend when Mary let him help her with her sweatshirt.

Anyway, she's got a mind of her own and I have little fear that she'll ever be pushed around or be someone's doormat!

Mary's favorite word is "no," to the extent that she often has to backtrack because she responds before she realizes she was offered something nice, like a gummy bear or opportunity to watch Daniel Tiger. The older kids have a great time with this. ("Mary, can you say no?" "NO." "Mary, do you love to say no?" "NO." And so on.)

She also loves her blanket ("hee-hee"), mac and cheese, ice cream, baby dolls, and her family. Her favorite color is blue (I think it's the only one she knows), her favorite shows are Daniel Tiger, Thomas, and Sesame Street, and she loves to read books, sing, and pretend to talk on the phone.

Mary Cate celebrated her birthday while we were camping, which was...different. I didn't want to bring many presents because of the dirt. Her cake was an arrangement of Hostess cupcakes. She was pretty excited about having a birthday and usually told people she was turning five. We asked what kind of presents she was hoping for and she said, "Um, I don't know...blue?"

Tonight (two days later) we got an ice cream cake to share with Grandma Lisa. I tried to bring her a piece of cake while singing Happy Birthday and she literally ran away from me yelling, "NO!" until we got to the part of the song where we sang her name--then she smiled and said, "Oh." She still wouldn't blow out the candles, though.

Mary Cate has some spice in her soul, that's for sure, but you probably need some as the youngest of five! We can't wait to see what's in store for her in the next year.

The "cake"

Little mommy

Mary loved to swing us in the hammock

I gave her a bin to use as a table, but she wanted to sit on it

Our camping neighbors were up partying until 1:00 am. Did I feel bad about giving my child a xylophone for her birthday at 7:30 in the morning? No. No I did not.

Best moment of summer

Before school started, we chatted about our favorite part of the summer. It was sort of a tough question--we had so much fun and truth be told, it was a lot smoother than last summer. Not that last summer was bad. Everything was just so much harder! This year, with everyone a year older, I could run occasional errands by myself and everyone pretty much had fun doing similar things. We didn't travel a lot, and the kids got along pretty well.

Still, I have a favorite moment, and we were lucky enough to capture it on video. We were sitting out by the lake around the campfire listening to Annie play her new ukulele...

Mario bro

Eddie is a little obsessed with Super Mario Bros. He plays it on Kevin's old-school Gameboy. He plays it on the Wii. He plays it on the iPad. When his screen time is up, he plays a game of his own invention called "Double Wii" or "Double Mario," where he runs around pretending to be Mario. We play "Bowser tag" after dinner.

Like his brother and sisters before him, Eddie loves to make up jokes that are so nonsensical, of course we laugh.

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Firepower."
"Firepower who?"
"Coin rush!"

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Mario."
"Mario who?"
"Mario fell in the lava pit!"

Kevin and I got in on it.

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Wario."
"Wario who?"
"Wario jokes so silly?"

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Yoshi."
"Yoshi who?"
"Yo--shi should tell more jokes!"

Nellie, age 11

What was your favorite memory from the last year?
Probably going to Great Wolf Lodge with the girl scout troop.

What is one way God's been working in your life this year?
Well when I found out we'd have to go to a new school I knew my friends would probably be really sad, but God helped me express it in a good way and not be too sad about going to a new school.

How do you feel about being eleven?  
I'm happy because it was my golden birthday this year and I had a lot of fun at my birthday party. Also I'm going into sixth grade this year and it's not middle school at Beagle, but it feels more, like, grown up. I'll bet there's more things that I'll be able to do, like if we go to an amusement park, because I'm taller and older.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?
Going to Michigan Adventure at the end of the year! Being in the same class as Alayna, one of my friends from softball. I'm excited about being in Mrs. Stabley's class because she seems like a really nice person.

Who are your best friends?

Avery, Emma, and Leah. They're probably my main ones.

What kinds of things are you good at?

Swimming, playing softball [I'll add that she's good at pitching, though she's trying to be modest!], playing with my siblings. That's one of the things I really like to do. Not making them really mad like I used to.

What careers are you considering?
A lawyer, a movie writer, and a book author. A lawyer and a book writer go good together; at least that's what Aunt Emmy tells me.

Why are you interested in those things?
Well, for a lawyer it's mainly because there's a lot of helping people and I really want to make a mark on the world and help a lot of people. Also, there's a lot of excitement involved because there's so many possible things you could be encountered with. A movie and book writer because I like to imagine stories and things that could happen--or not happen, ever! But I really like to put those ideas in words and share them with people.

What’s your favorite song?   
That's a tough-y, because I like a lot of music. I really like Taylor Swift right now. Right now I'm not very into listening to songs, but I like rewriting songs in silly and fun ways. Like "Livin' on a Prairie" or a realistic version of "Party in the U.S.A." I like Reckless Love by Cory Asbury.

What's your favorite food?
Pesto pasta for a meal. Carrots and celery remains my favorite food!

Favorite movie?   
The live-action Beauty and the Beast.

Favorite book?   

That's tricky because I've read so many books lately. Probably the Harry Potter series, the Little House series...my favorite this summer was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Favorite color?   
Blue. Especially dark blue.

Favorite place to be?

Anywhere where my friends are, especially because at my new school this year I won't be able to see them as much.

What are your favorite things to do?   
Play with my siblings, especially hide-and-seek because I'm older now and I can find good spots. Also I like to read, obviously. Swim at Aunt Pam's lake.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you as an 11-year-old?   
I really want to learn the guitalele better this year--I got one for my birthday--and I hope I do good at my new school and make new friends. I want to be able to encourage them if they have any troubles. I want to be a good example for them and my siblings.

Annie, age 9

What was your favorite memory from the last year?
Probably seeing my friends again when school started and learning ukulele in music class.

What is one way God's been working in your life this year?
Helping me realize that even though we're going to Beagle, He's helping us and teaching us. 

How do you feel about being nine?  
Older. And like an upside-down six-year-old.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?
Maybe meeting new friends because we're going to Beagle, and seeing my old friends next year. Learning more things.

What new things or skills are you learning?
Diving without a mask, playing the ukulele, relearning piano. How to pitch and slide in softball.

Who are your best friends?
Probably--like from school--Lael, Bree, Kylie, and really everyone. And then my family.

What kinds of things are you good at?

I'm good at cursive and ukulele, math, reading, writing. I'm a good friend. Being me.

What careers are you considering?
Maybe a teacher, a movie maker, or a doctor.

Why are you interested in those things?
I like kids and--well, for the movie maker, because we've written lots of plays with Robynne and Leah and I feel like it would end up good!

What’s your favorite song?   
Lullabye-wise it's still Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. [What are some songs you like?] Mercy Me songs, Christian songs, rock-and-roll songs. Livin' on a Prayer.

What's your favorite food?
Cheese and brownies.

Favorite movie?   
Harry Potter, The Greatest Showman. If they made it, Harry Potter and The Greatest Showman mixed together.

Favorite book?   

A Wrinkle in Time or Babysitters' Club books or graphic novels in general.

Favorite color?   
Purple.

Favorite place to be?

I don't really have one! School or home.

What are your favorite things to do?
Read, play ukulele, spend time with my friends and family. I enjoy writing but sometimes I don't concentrate on it all the time. It might not seem like I like to write but I do.  

Is there anything else you want us to know about you as a nine-year-old?   

I liked being an eight-year-old because it was like a sideways infinity sign, so it was a long year. [Haha.] But I like being nine because I'm almost double-digits and that's nice to think about. I'm changing schools and going into fourth grade. Yay!

Sister, sister, sister

Today I realized Mary Cate was wearing the same outfit as Nellie wore on her trip to the zoo with Emily many years ago. Such cuties!

Since we are officially homeowners, Nellie moved into her own room and Mary moved in with Annie! I'll get better pictures of their matching comforters and general sweetness but Kevin captured this one tonight--Annie reading her old favorite to Mary. Be still my heart.