Firsts and Lasts

 I have a child who is reaching all kinds of life milestones and it's reminding me of when she was 1 and 2 years old and meeting so many developmental milestones. I find myself wanting to tell everyone about all of the coming-of-age milestones just like I did all of her baby milestones. My heart feels a bit like it did when she was little. I wanted her to crawl--but I didn't---but I really did want her to crawl and then walk and then run because I would never hold her back and would always cheer her on and if those things didn't happen something would be so very wrong. 

And so here I am with all the feelings in my heart--proud, excited for the future, and sad about facing the changes that are coming. But mostly really proud and excited! So here are some of Aliza (and my) firsts and some lasts. 

Graduation cap and gown are in our possession.

Registered for fall college classes.

Received a sample ballot for primary elections 

Signed her own medical consent

Last well check at the pediatrician's office

Last dance class

There are lots more lasts and firsts to come! Aliza was invited to be in theater again next year which she happily accepted so, at least, that is one thing I can just enjoy this year!

Meanwhile, having a 9 year old keeps me grounded. Isaiah told me first thing Tuesday morning that he had 2 loose teeth. By 1:00 both of those teeth were out. He is a relentless tooth wiggler! And Isaiah was so excited about losing those teeth. (My Mom heart can handle losing teeth! lol)

 

Joy Dare::March

 11,026. Putting together a tub of goodies for my brother's (40th) birthday
11,027. Spontaneous lunch with Mom and Janell
11,028. Anna had the best time with her friend
11,029. Celebrating Aliza and Josiah with friends
11,030. Jeremy cooking
11,031. The sound of spring(ish) rain
11,032. Aliza was happy all day
11,033. Watching videos of our baby children
11,034. Celebrating Aliza
11,035. Monday car time with Anna
11,036. Monday evening with Janell
11,037. Isaiah eating sweet potato fries
11,038. Robins all over the yard
11,039. Josiah surprising me with his grades
11,040. Bible class with Grandad
11,041. Isaiah meeting Aliza with an umbrella
11,042. Entertained by rain and rising puddles
11,043. Finding choir pictures on facebook

11,044. ESL lesson went so much better than I thought it would
11,045. Hearing Anna play guitar
11,046. Isaiah working hard on cleaning his room
11,047. Productive morning
11,048. Company clean house
11,049. Spending the evening with Jeremy's mom and dad
11,050. Celebrating Jeremy
11,051. Steak dinner
11,052. Michael W. Smith concert
11,053. Goldfinches in spring
11,054. Grace for sick dats
11,055. Anna was happy with her dance costumes
11,056. Strong immune systems to fight colds
11,057. Finding peony sprouts
11,058. Isaiah working in the yard
11,059. Open windows
11,060. Spring-warm afternoon
11,061. Starting to feel better
11,062. Calm consequences
11,063. Jeremy working from home
11,064. Watching the process
11,065. Focusing on school
11,066. Aliza and Isaiah had the best time together at the park
11,067. Felt better enough for picking up some sticks in our yard
11,068. Tree cutting party at Grandma and Grandad's house
11,069. Josiah driving Grandad's truck

11,070. Youth group at our house for the evening
11,071. Shopping with the girls
11,072. Blooming forsythia in the sun
11,073. Baking cookies
11,074. Getting ready for a little getaway
11,075. Sunday night listening to ALiza's day
11,076. Anna came home so happy after youth group
11,077. Isaiah is SO excited!
11,078. Josiah's commentary while he's driving
11,079. Water slides
11,080. Surprising the children by going on the biggest slide
11,081. Relaxing and playing
11,082. An evening of reading while all the teenagers and Isaiah played games
11,083. Children that express gratitude
11,084. A very quiet trip home
11,085. All the pictures of happy memories
11,086. Fresh start on school after a break
11,087. A fun ESL class to finish the semester
11,088. Math going smoothly for Anna
11,089. Daffodils

11,090. Being Aliza's pillow
11,091. Isaiah "graduating" from Children's Worship

11,092. Singing that fills the room
11,093.  Sunday restoration = worship, nap, organizing, talking to Mom
11,094. Being outside after supper
11,095. More green every day
11,096. Clean sheets
11,097, Isaiah's consistently random "I love yous."
11,098. When Anna gets in the mood to clean
11,099. Evenings at home this week
11,100. Some time with Meghan and the boys
11,101. A day at home
11,102. Ezra's chocolate pretzel pie
11,103. Lunch with Isaiah while the others had lunch with friends
11,104. Supper and the evening with Braedon and Kaelyn
11,105. Starbucks and talking with a friend
11,106. A little shipping with the girls
11,107. Remembering the Cross on Good Friday
11,108. Grocery shopping
11,109. Making a visit
11,110. Pulling together an Easter egg hunt at the last minute
11,111. Sunrise sky
11,112. Easter Sunday
11,113. A nice Easter afternoon with my family
 

Easter

 On Friday the kids and I were talking about Easter and egg hunts. They got all nostalgic about hunting Easter eggs and I said "well, next year I can do an egg hunt for you." They thought it was not necessary to wait a year because all that is needed is plastic eggs and candy. " I was going grocery shopping on Saturday anyway and so I picked up eggs and candy. I brought it home and the kids filled the eggs. And now I'll be having Easter egg hunts probably until grandchildren overtake the children! lol

We had our hunt on Saturday afternoon. I did very much surprise them with squishmallows. Not just any squishmallow--penguin pokemon squishmallows and a colorful, sparkly lion for Anna.

I actually thought it was fun to hunt eggs with big kids. Then there was a egg memory game. They had to find the matching eggs.

This one needs a little more perfecting, but these are supposed to be bunny pretzel treats. I'm pretty sure these will be a new tradition for us too. We spent Saturday evening together as a family and it was just really nice.

The girls and I went to the sunrise service on Easter Sunday which was something the girls had never done. Anna was very excited to see her first sunrise and it did not disappoint. The sky was bright pink/red on our drive to the church. She was taking pictures all along the way.

The sunrise service was at 6:45am. After it was over, we came home for a shower, breakfast and getting dressed for church. Church was at 10:00. When it was over, I came home to get food ready to take to my parent's house and the rest of the family stayed longer at church and then went straight to my parent's house. I make this fruit plate and was really pleased with how it turned out.

The afternoon was really nice. There was an Easter egg hunt for the younger grandchildren. Grandma had candy for all the grandchildren which led to the epic candy trade. This candy trade is becoming an anticipated event--at least by Isaiah.

There is some strategy involved in the trading now and it was fun to watch everyone's personality come through. Some were quickly satisfied with what they had. It was Isaiah and Ezra that stayed in it the longest. Isaiah was going for quantity. And he felt that he was a complete success. Ezra was going for Twix and Tootsie Rolls.

Everyone was very cooperative with taking pictures...

...and so we recreated one from 2011. Caleb and Gideon were a little concerned about squishing Grandma. Josiah added as much noise as he made for the the original picture. And I have no idea how Renee managed to get the same hand pose. Janell, Meghan and I had too much fun doing this.

There was lots of talking and eating and Aliza snuggling. This was a celebration weekend that left my heart full.
 

Spring Getaway

 Two years ago we went to Great Wolf Lodge for the first time. That time we went directly from my Grandad's graveside service and I realized I had COVID. Anna didn't go down any of the slides because she was afraid of the height. It wasn't the greatest trip and so we were pretty excited for a second chance. It also came at a good time when we all just needed a break from the grind of school and activities.

Isaiah was over-the-top, barely-able-to-contain-it excited.

The boys didn't waste even a minute before going down the first slide.

Anna had some fear to overcome. She knew if she didn't do it, she would be so disappointed in herself. I knew that if she got up the steps one time, she would be just fine. She had quite the support group.

Aliza on her right and Alena on her left--their arms through hers--she made it!

And she loved it!

She was so proud of herself! From then on she still had Aliza and Alena on each side of her, but she didn't look back.

Our Wolf Pack complete with their wolf ears.

The Tornado is the biggest slide. The boys did it over and over. Isaiah kept up with the big boys the whole time. The girls also did it countless times.

Possibly the most memorable moment for all of the children is when I did the Tornado. I did all of the slides this time which made me happy. There was also plenty of time to sit back and watch the children have lots of fun. And there was time to hang out with just Isaiah in the wave pool.

This was such a good and needed getaway. I came home relaxed and rejuvenated and ready to hit the ground running again.
 

Tree Cutting Party

 My parents had a couple tall pine trees cut. It was a beautiful day and we made it the start of a little spring break from school.

Dad thoroughly enjoyed the morning of sitting back and watching the work get done without his involvement.

We all enjoyed watching with him! It was quite the spectator event. Between watching puddles rise and trees being cut down, I know I'm very easily entertained!

The company took the largest pieces of trunk. By the end of the project there were 7 or 8 trunk pieces in that truck.

After lunch all of us got to work. Grandad worked on cutting the large pieces while the rest of us loaded the pickup. When the pickup was full, Josiah drove us to the transfer station where we could unload. Josiah had the best time driving Grandad's truck!

While we were loading the pickup I put this plastic cup of water on the bumper of the truck. I completely forgot about it, and was VERY surprised to find it just as I left it when we got to the transfer station. I told Josiah he must be a very smooth driver.

 That afternoon we loaded the truck 4 times and took 3 loads to the transfer station. I preferred loading the truck. Josiah preferred unloading. We were all happy to get to help Grandad get a start on his cleanup. I think we could hardly see a dent in it that afternoon. The next day Jeremy, Josiah, Isaiah and some of the other men went back and helped get the biggest pile cleaned up. 

Even though I completely wore myself out as I was still getting over a cold, it felt good to get out and work in the beginning days of spring.