Who they are now....

We begin the end of the year slide.....

Logan- just turned 12!!!! Middle school has arrived and with it first pimples, blushing at the mention of girlfriends, and rough and tumble guy time. You no longer ask for playdates- you wait for mom to set things up, or for other moms to call and invite you places and then you are super excited. You are polite, fun, and happy. You are responsible and fair. Your favorite things are your laptop- terraria is your choice right now, your dog- Carly has given us a run for our money this month with emergency vet visits and getting into and out of things constantly- and. your. soccer ball. You looooooved playing soccer this season and your coach rocked at teaching and helping you to love the game. Still plenty of youth in this gentleman, but also steps up to be "man of the house" when Dad traveled ad nauseum this year. Did I mention he flew to Dubai this morning?

Logan-ism: When I kick you off of video games, you choose to go out and play soccer with the dog. Every time. Come winter, I expect you to use one of the neon balls in the snow.

Venice is counting down the days until the magical day arrives that will bring with it 4 birthday fingers, cake, and toys, toys, toys. She is darling in her actions (dancing around), in her words "Mom, you are so crazy." and in her habits (Carly, I loooove you with hugs and kisses). You are handling preschool well, skidding through the basics like colors and shapes, starting to like the concept of letters, and memorizing songs by the bucketload. You listen so well in ballet/tap the teacher calls you an angel. And you are almost at the next stage of gymnastics- again. You are the typical little sister and female with your dad's DNA who obsesses over how much mom played with you today, hates sleeping at night (and is hard to wake from naps should you choose one in the daytime), and if your siblings play you hate for it to end. You love all little dolls, Frozen, playdoh, kinetic sand, and 300 meals a day.

Venice-ism: "Mommy, you didn't PLAAAY wif me yet." "Mommy, I need some yittle kid scissors." 

Sylvie- seriously, I should wrap you in bubble wrap before you get a boyfriend and take off on the back of a motorcycle never to be seen again, AmIRight? You have turned from a cute bubbly kid into a beautiful young woman. This school year has been fabulous for you, you feel needed and loved by your friends, and you are working on organization skills and get real consequences for doing well or poorly on homework. You decided on a whim to play ukulele and your Abuelita has spoiled you with your first instrument and lessons. I think it sparked your musical gene, you dragged out the keyboard and have been writing songs. Your dance skills impress me and you obviously are perfecting the art of the 'selfie.' You sent this picture to your Dad, your knight in shining armor who manages to say yes most of the time to our endless ideas. I am good at allowing your creative juices to flow by handing you up-cycled materials and showing you ideas of what to do online. Plus, we are squeezing in as much girls only time as we can.

Sylvie-ism: "Mom, I just had my shoes, where are they?" "Mom, my new favorite thing is.... (insert new awesome creative endeavor)" "Mom, wait until you hear this amazing ghost story....."

Love you three kiddo's, I hope you have great birthdays and the start to the next wonderful year. 

And for our family... I wish for so many things. It's hard to say if it's just that my husband traveled extensively to some great places that it would be nice to move to... or that our house keeps managing to fall apart on us and has turned into a money pit we just do not have the heart to keep spending money on.... or that we're really ready for the next adventure. This December we will celebrate 11 years in this house, and while it has served us well, I desperately miss the west coast and I regret that we moved away from some of the things I was so excited to have in our children's lives. And yet they had family to grow up with so that has been amazing. I'm back at an old job and while it's a great fit, it's not providing much inspiration in a year where my husband has had some amazing things happening. I feel like we're in a good groove mostly on top of everything even with the 3 schools and many after-school activities, but I'm longing for a bit more. A nicer place, a better job, a new place to live perhaps? I'm not really sure, but I really hope I'm not still sitting here in a year wishing for the same things. If none of those things change, I hope I find something new here, in our current lives, to dive into and enjoy a bit.