Big Sister Love

Petting Zoo

Back in August, we went to Saddle Up Riding Club. It was a hot, messy, and muggy mess.   
But we had fun
.Note to self: Only go to the zoo if it is 80 degrees or less.

Bittersweet

 

 Today is the first of school. And its bittersweet for me because on one hand I'm excited for you. I'm happy that you have this opportunity. I'm optimistic about your peers and the future friends you will make. But, and it's a big one, I'm sad that our homeschool journey has come to an end. I'm sad to watch you grow because it all feels so soon that you'll be on your own to discover the world. I also am confident that you are ready. I have watched you prepare for this day and it made me happy the way you took charge the day the summer reading list came in the mail and read every single book. Even the boring ones. I knew then that you were ready. I watched you sort and organize your school supplies in nervous anticipation of your first day. I watched you try on different clothes looking for that "first" day of school outfit. I like the way you humored me and let me take photos and videos even though you thought it was useless because you're not a little kid anymore (those are your words, not that in actually believe it).

You are 15! I called you 14. Ha! Where the heck did that extra year go. You are kind, conscientious, and over all a great kid. You are a good big sister. You adore your sisters, as well as your new baby brothers. Your are very quiet and introspective. You are very responsible. You are respective (most of the time). 

This year we have seen you step up and really help our family out as we went through a crisis of my sickness and pregnancy. We wish you the absolute best big girl!!

She humors me sometimes and lets me take photos. Ha! But she drew the line at taking photos on campus. I was only able to snap this one. When I really wanted to follow her around with camera and record her day!

NICU Day 10- The Day We All Came to Visit

Cailin was so excited to hold you! All day she was practicing and asking questions. Oh the anticipation!

 Me: Rylie what's the baby's name?
 Rylie: Person

 Rylie you were surprisingly gentle with the babies.

 Look at Rylie's latest smile. She closes her eyes and smiles really big when you say cheese.

My Big Ariel

My big, little one, Ariel. You are 13 1/2 years old. You are definitely in the throws of teenage hood. You are tethered to your phone. You send a gazillion texts every month. You text more than actually talk on the phone. The friend's name that I hear the most are Cassidy, Tatiana, and India. You don't like having your photo taken. You hate skirts, dresses, and earrings. You have worn nothing but Converse and jeans for the last 2 years. You used to wake up early, now we are lucky if you're up before 9am. You are a voracious reader and like playing the cello. You are doing dual enrollment this year with our district middle school. You take orchestra and PE there. Most days you do the work I assign at home, but sometimes it's a struggle. You are looking forward to going to high school next year, although I'd like you to stay home one more year. Like probably every other teen, you are very concerned about socializing with other high schoolers next year.

You are a loveable and conscientious kid. You give lots of hugs and kisses. You sometimes recognize when I need a break from the babies and will take them to their room to play. You are quiet and need to warm up to people before you are yourself.

You run track and are pretty good at it. You seem to excel at sports in general. Your chore is washing dishes and keep your room clean, which most of the time you hate, but then you hate doing most anything asked of you. You are a bit of a slob (but then I was too at your age). You throw your clothes all over the floor and your hard worked papers you've spent the day working on seem to make it to the floor too. You favorite food is burgers and fries. You are definitely your father's child. Oh, I don't want to forget chocolate. You love chocolate; Herseys, Snickers, and brownies. I might not be able to get you to cook with me often, but if there's a box of brownie mix, you will be in the kitchen then. You love your little sisters, but they sure no how to get under your skin. I have so many dreams for you, but I think the hardest thing for me has been to let go and encourage you to follow your own heart. I hope that I am passing that on every day.  We love you sweet (most times) Ariel.

April 27 (Ariel)

Today you volunteered to wash the dishes for me. Even though you absolutely hate washing dishes. Your thoughtfulness almost knocked me over. I like that you are so in tune to people's feelings and look for ways to help out. You are turning into a fine teenager so far.

TWeenage Fashion

I'm participating in a Photo-A-Day Challenge. My goal is to nail the exposure in camera. This is my photo for day #2. I've decided that I will TRY to post every photo. Especially since every photo tells a story of our life.
So these are the shoes that Ariel begged for and that I'm making her work off in chores around the house. After all, they are $70+ shoes! I like that she likes to express herself. But.....

Ariel is 12

We celebrated Ariel's birthday over my Mom's house. We went swimming and then we barbecued. I've been on a health kick lately, so I made black bean burgers, corn-on-the-cob, and baked potatoes on the grill.

Birthday presents were Cherice and Justin Bieber CD's.

And a CD player for her room.

This was the first year that she didn't have a "birthday cake", but not the first chocolate cake. This was overwhelmingly chocolate. Chocolate cake, with fudge icing. I had a teeny tiny piece.

She had sparkler candles, but they didn't exactly sparkle.

She was in heaven cutting this cake. This kid LOVES chocolate.

I was surprised because she cut herself a normal slice of cake. Happy Birthday Ariel.

Baby, Baby, Baby........

12 Years Old

I can't believe you're 12 years old now. Feel free to stop growing now. We have been homeschooling now for 6 months and you seem to have settled in. I overheard you telling a girl at the pool, that it isn't as bad as you think. I smiled inside. Your Dad is a little worried when I tell him all that we do. But I'm not. I'm proud of you and all that you accomplish. They said that if you leave your child alone and provide an educational environment, that they will learn. Even I was a non-believer. I guess you proved us wrong. You order books from the library. You have mastered using the intralibrary system to have books shipped to the library nearest us. You are a voracious reader. It started with anime cartoons, now you draw anime characters. You are a really good artist. You are currently teaching yourself Japanese. You have a notebook full of words and characters. You walk around all day long singing the Japanese alphabet and nursery rhythms. You have a Japanese pop video saved on your cell phone that you play. Your best friend is Alicia and I like that you talk alot even though she just recently moved. Your are extremely athletic. You run track right now and recently came in first place in the 200m. You traded in the oboe and just started playing the cello. You say, that when you grow up, you will be a graphic designer and work for Google. I can totally see that! Although, you say that at 16 you will work for Coldstone Creamery. You are shy opinionated and stubborn and sweet thoughtful and conscientitious, we love you, sweet Ariel.

Pool Tricks

"Wait a minute, Momma."

"Get a picture of me doing this."

"Ok, Ariel. What was that?"

And Ariel, what is this?

These are all her pool shananigans.

Happy 12th Birthday Ariel

We're singing Happy Birthday to Ariel while Jerry is hiccupping and Rylie is crying.

Altamonte Striders Invitational

This was her second meet. It was in Orlando at a pretty impressive high school. The school grounds looked like a mini-university. She is a highly competitive girl. She always likes to win. I suppose that is what makes you good at sports. She was 2nd place overall in the 200m and 4th in the 100m. Go Ariel!

The 200 Meter

This was the last race of the day. She was so nervous. I don't know why, because she is such a natural when it comes to sports.

The coaches could tell she was nervous and they told her to stretch to get rid of some of the anxiety.

It must have worked because she took off and quickly gained the lead.

And she kept the lead. Leaving the other girls in her dust. Go Ariel go!

My Big 6th Grader

Dropping her off at the Middle School reminded me of taking her to Kindergarten. I was weepy both times. Both times she said, "Good Bye" and ran along without me. I look at her sometimes and literally wonder where does time go. How can she already be 11 years old and not 2. Makes me want to shut her in the freezer to just slow down the time. Especially since we are on the cusps of the "Dreaded Teenage Years".

Ariel says that she is stuck in the house with Adults and Babies. I thought about that for a long time. And you know what? I agree. So I decided that I would just have to make more time for her and I to hang out or make myself available for her to just hang out more with friends.

On this day, however it was just her and I making a run for ice cream. My camera came along too- he he!

So quiet and thoughtful. She reads alot. She can finish a chapter book in about a week. This is in addition to homework. I never have to tell her to take time to read. Also reflective and conscientious. She's not really a risk taker, she likes to know all her options before ever making a decision. It reminds me of when she started to walk. She would always stand but no amount of coaching would make her walk across the floor without something to hold on to. She comes back and apologizes for acting out. I can hardly believe this, because I certainly wasn't doing that at this age.

Most of the time, she is a really good big sister. She looks out for Cailin- making sure she is safe. However her patience is really short when it comes to Cailin and her room. She rarely allows her into her personal space.

She LOVES chocolate! This is the smile I got when confirming that it was ok to have chocolate ice cream. This child ate at least 40 chocolate bars in two days. She wiped out all the Halloween candy in the house.

She has recently decided that my skills for picking out clothes were inadequate. Over night she has decided that I don't know how to dress her and she can do a much better job.

Which leads us to these shoes. I cringed while her face just lit up over these shoes. I am giving her the space to choose what she wears. My only stipulation is that it is neat and age appropriate.

Love you sweet sweet Ariel!

Next he went in to bother Ariel. Poor thing just wanted her light off so she could go to bed.

Back-to-School

I am so late blogging this, but this picture was taken on August 28, the first week of school. Usually I get a picture of her and the teacher, but I didn't dare try that this year. After all, she is in middle school. I did have my sights set on taking the pictures by the lake of the school. However, Ariel had other ideas. She led me to this far off corner and she actually told me that this was embarassing. Sheesh, I don't know what to think about that.

Anyway this is Ariel's first year in Middle School. I think she got into a great school and is settling in rather nicely. She is in Advanced Placement classes this year and I am rather happy about that for her. She was concerned about the work load. I like to call that Jerry's half coming out :0)!

She has started playing the Oboe this year. She says her favorite subject is Language Arts, because the teacher is pretty funny and he doesn't yell. She doesn't like Math, because it's confusing and the teacher yells alot (funny)!

This was the 2nd shot that morning. Yes! I only got to take two pictures of her before she was off and headed to school. I am excited for her and we wish you the best this year, as you begin a new journey.

My big girl doesn't mind taking pictures. She will usually sit for a picture whenever I have the camera out.

She would probably cringe at my next question, but it's something I am always teasing her about. When she tells me about another loose tooth in her mouth, I always act concerned and ask her when exactly do you stop loosing teeth.

At the beach, Ariel usually stays close to the beach. She gathers shells and transports water from the ocean to the sand near where I am sitting. I have no idea why she does this and lately she has gotten Cailin in on it too. They make countless trips to the water and come back and pour the bucket in the sand. They don't build anything in the sand, just make puddles of water to play in. Lately she has been venturing out into the water. She is braver than me because I almost never go in the water. I don't really like the sea creatures, the salty water, or being slapped around by the waves. Instead, I usually take them to the beach and I sit in a chair and read a book while they play without me.

Happy Birthday Ariel!

We celebrated Ariel's birthday on May 16th. She got her absolute favorite thing in the world- chocolate cake. The cake was chocolate with fudge icing. And to top it off, we had chocolate ice cream as well. She was in heaven!

We had a small party. It was just family and her best friend, Alicia. We sang happy birthday.

She blew out the candles and made a wish. Which she promptly shared with us that she wanted a dog. I don't know about that birthday wish!

She was allowed to cut herself a piece of cake and it could be any size she wanted. She cut a surprisingly small piece. I couldn't believe it! Afterward, we went to a game room and played laser tag and games. They only played the games that would give the most tickets. She won 700 tickets that night and took ten years picking out prizes to redeem the tickets!