Erica Turns 8

Erica decided she wanted to get her ears pierced as her gift from Nadine so a couple of days before her birthday we took her to the mall. Sarah decided she was finally going to get hers done too. Erica made Sarah go first. 

Erica only cried a little. She said it hasn't hurt since this day.

Her birthday was Saturday. The rest of the kids decorated the night before and set out all her presents way after bedtime. She only wandered out of her room once to "go to the bathroom." Letting the kids decorate has become their favorite part about family birthdays--I wish I would have thought of it sooner.

She was so excited. They were all waiting patiently watching TV downstairs until they felt like they could wake us up.

Justin made breakfast while she opened presents.

She got a clock radio, Shadows in the Forest game, a heatable sloth, a coloring book and candy and snacks.

For breakfast we had pancakes, bacon, eggs, and "baby brats" (sausage) and chocolate milk. I actually remembered to buy the chocolate milk this time.

Then the kids ran around and played and kind of did jobs. I worked on her cake--a pink sloth cake. White cake, whipped ganache filling.

I don't think it's my best work but she looooooved it so that's all that matters.

After lunch she went to her new best friend Delaney's birthday party. It seemed a little weird to go to someone else's party when it was her birthday and Delaney's wasn't for 2 more days but she did get to have fun with her friends so it was all good. She came home all decked out in cowgirl gear and got a present so she was happy about it.

Pictures with Dad.

And with Mom.

Then we went to Chuck-a-Rama for dinner. It has been so long since we've been there that Erica and James had never been. It's the same. But our good friends the Sheens came along too! Everyone has a Sheen friend except Sarah so she got to sit at the grown up table.

Best buds for life. 

Erica also sat with Corey and Nadine so she was just in heaven. She ate mostly jello. The staff came to sing to her and I thought for sure she would bury her head but she handled it.

She's super impressed with the dessert. She may have even eaten a bite.

We went home and played Shadows in the Forest. You have to play it in the dark and the kids love it. You can play up to like 7 people but I think 3 is perfect.

Cake time!

Happy birthday baby girl!

8 things you may not know about Erica.

1. She doesn't seem like a serious student because she just isn't all that serious and doesn't get stressed by stuff but she is so smart and the perfect student. She dominates spelling, is the first to get things done and right in math (I help in her class during math so I know) always turns things in on time and never complains about assignments. She loves to read but she would rather be read to than read her books herself. She's not competitive like Henry or a perfectionist like Sarah--I think her desire to do what's expected of her drives her.

2. She finally likes playing the piano. She started lessons in September and it was a little questionable for awhile if she'd stick with it. She is finally playing real songs which she likes better than the simple drills or clapping or whatever she did. She picks up songs really quickly and has better sense of counting the beat than Sarah so I think it worked. (Sarah's first teacher had her playing out of the primary song book the first day and taught technique later. It's interesting to see the different ways to learn and the benefits)

3. Her room is always the messiest in the house. She has the most stuff and loves it all but it's a struggle to keep it organized and tidy. She loves all her things. I tell her all the time that if it's hard to keep your room clean you have too many things, this is too much for a little girl. But she's determined. She is getting a little better about not keeping every paper.

4. She wants super long hair to her bum (but I'm mean and take off inches when I cut her hair and don't tell her). 

5. She loves jerky, brats, sausage and all the chips just like her dad. She loves gummies, frosting, and candy like her mom.

6. She's the second shortest kid in her class. James is going to pass her up in 2 years--mark my words.

7. She is the most compassionate person. She hears and sees and feels needs of others and gets up and does something about it--without being asked --it's like a superpower. I am so glad I have her to take care of me when I am an old lady.

8. She says she wants to be a gymnastics teacher and a mom. If she wasn't so queasy and traumatized by her ER visit she'd be a great nurse. (Ugh, she would be such a good nurse!)

She's getting baptized this month so I'll have more of her soon.

Let's Make This Fun

In an attempt to make January more fun, each Friday this month a kid gets to be in charge of family movie night. They pick the movie, they pick the treat. James was first up. He chose brownies and Hotel Transylvania 3.

Erica's was the second week. She chose rice krispie treats and Shrek.

The kids have loved playing in this huge box James's new beanbag came in. They play box ball which means they all stand in the box and kick a ball around inside. Below is their challenge of sorts--who can stay in the box the longest. They pause for bathroom breaks and snack breaks but then pile right back in until I tell them to go to bed. Weirdos.
 
We finally have a place to sit in the living room! I ordered these chairs in October, the store said they'd be ready to pick up mid-December. They actually arrived mid-January. (We're in month 6 of waiting for the couch but hopefully in the next couple of weeks.)

James is a goof and put his jacket on upside down and on the front.

He rode to the store this way but I made him switch it before he went inside.

Erica wants a sloth cake for her birthday cake coming up. Which one should I use for the inspiration?

This is downright terrifying.

I didn't get any pictures of Henry's movie night. We combined his family movie night with his friend movie night and he chose chocolate chip cookie pizza and Hotel Transylvania 4. Three of his friends came over and Justin and Sarah and I played Ticket to Ride while they shot each other with nerf guns and kinda sorta watched the movie.

Saturday Justin helped me with a project. I wanted to add some subtle pizzazz on this wall.

We had just enough of the same boards we used on the living room wall to add some panels.

Henry helped for the first while but once James found some boots he took over as assistant. He loved everything about the process--the measuring, the saw, the holding of pieces.

But mostly the nail gun.

From here Justin went shooting and I took over.  I filled the nail holes and did the caulk and got the first coat of primer on Saturday.

And then I finished the painting on Monday. The kids loved squeezing past the buffet in the hall all weekend.

Isn't it so pretty?

 It adds some pretty visual interest without being too much. Subtle pizzazz. 

James asked for a gold crayon for Christmas so Santa put this box of metallic crayons in his stocking. He finally opened them today, a month later. "This is the best day of my life." Do you remember you asked for a gold crayon? "What? No."

He copied the robot from the back of the crayon box. Isn't it so cute?

After a steady stream of medical bills arriving from Erica's elbow dislocation, it was nice to get an unexpected refund check from the escrow company.

We're going to have so much fun spending it.

Happy New Year 2022

Justin got his birthday wish--he woke up to nearly a foot of snow. He was so excited he went right outside and began shoveling. (Well I don't know if excited to shovel is accurate--he likes being in the snow but we had to make room for a lot of cars that night so it was mostly being responsible.) Henry joined him.

That gave the rest of us time to wrap his birthday presents. I asked each of the kids their favorite thing about him and if he guessed who said it, he got to open a present.

I picked out some of his favorite treats and a few surprises.

And he got a big IOU from me for his actual present. He hasn't decided what he wants yet (he has a long list). Kind of lame but I didn't want to spend money on something he didn't want the most 

After breakfast (that he made) he relaxed and I went back outside to shovel some more.

So. Much. Snow. Isn't it pretty? It sure was heavy.

Then I think Justin noticed our neighbor with his snowblower was helping me so Justin came back out.

After we were free from our driveway, Justin and I asked the kids who wanted to go get tacos. None of them did so we went to the taco place by our house just the two of us. 

That afternoon Erica went outside by herself to play in the snow. "Is Henry going with you?" I asked. She just shrugged and said she didn't ask him. She's funny. She was out there for a good half hour all alone trying to figure out how to slide down the slide as it was propped on the trampoline frame.

I was busy cleaning and making cupcakes in the kitchen but as the others noticed Erica outside (James had fallen asleep in his room after throwing a fit about his sandwich not being made properly) they got their snow stuff on and joined her. I don't know how it turned into sledding off the roof.

Then we got ready for Justin's birthday/New Year's party. We invited all our family. Justin's brothers had other plans but his aunt and grandpa and parents came. My sisters and their families and my parents joined us as well.

We even got my parents to play Formula D!

Justin won. He won all the games that night. We let him because it was his birthday.

Then we sang to him ugly style, as requested.

He chose flan so I made him that plus a bunch of cupcakes for kids that don't deserve like flan.

Then it was just more food and games for the rest of the night. There was so much food, it was great. Rachel and Kenny brought their cotton candy machine and it was a hit! It kept the kids occupied forever. We also snuck in a few rounds of doubleshot.

I got those super annoying horns for all the kids to blow at midnight. They ran outside and blew the so hard as we watched fireworks in the distance. Sorry neighbors.

We had a firm "outside only" rule on the horns but they broke it. A lot.

Poor James was out of his mind tired---even with a 3 hour nap. Justin put him to bed as soon as the last person left. 

Miraculously the house wasn't that big of a mess the next morning. Everyone helped clean up and took home their food the night before so it wasn't bad at all. I spent New Year's day shuttling kids around to friends' houses, updating primary documents, playing games at the Dyes, visiting my parents and then that evening I took off all the ornaments from the tree.

Here are my favorite James quotes from the year.

Jan 4: "What's the word like butter in football?" asks James

Fumble? Punt? Kicker? Punter? Quarterback? Is it something they wear? Do? Something on the field? What does it look like? What do they do with it? (I went on and on guessing every football word I know and he wouldn't elaborate or describe what he was thinking. He only laughed or got annoyed at my suggestions. The answer was Superbowl.

Feb 12: Who doesn't like ham? Probably someone who doesn't like anything.

Feb 19 Me: I have a lot to do today.

James: I don't have a lot to do.

Aug 8: James asked me if grappling hooks are faster than ziplines.

Sept 9: Are screws the same metal as keys?

Me: Probably. They are both pretty hard.

James: And they both taste pretty weird.

Oct 4: For his snack at school today James said he had "Donatello, grapes, and a rice cake." He had nutella.

Oct 8: While James and I are making pumpkin cookies. He smells the ginger and says it smells like ginger ale. I tell him the use ginger in ginger ale. Then I have him smell the nutmeg. Before he even sniffs it he says "they use nutmeg to make Mountain Dew."

Oct 20: Halloween is a great time to go trick-or-treating.

Oct 23 Erica: James, we're growing up. We are having argumenations.

James: What does that mean?

Erica: I don't know.

Nov 1: James: I want a possum tree!

Erica: Do you mean blossom tree?

Nov 28: Primary leader:What do we have now because of Joseph Smith?

James: water

Dec 10: When it's snowing there's everything to do.

Welcome 2022. You're just a number. I'm tired of people hating on years or thinking there's something inherently different about the next one. Seize the day, people.