Well let's start with a little about each kiddo.
Bennett: He's nearing in on 10. He loves to joke around with us and thinks it's great when he "gets" the adult jokes. We're in rocket football season and he loves it. According to him, football is his favorite sport. I think if we'd say fishing was a sport though, it might be a toss up. When getting ready to go places, he takes his sweet time. We have to hurry him along quite often. He has been practicing with his bow so he can hunt this season with his dad. They've been out a couple of times already this season. He has a "uniform" and is picky in a way about his clothes. He likes jeans, or athletic pants with a t-shirt and hooded sweatshirt on top. And it has to be the right kind of hooded sweatshirt. I showed him a collared dress shirt today that my aunt found for him and he is adamant he will never wear it. He would like to wear a sweatshirt to Curt and Laura's wedding (I don't blame him. Much more comfortable.) He loves watching football on tv which is what he's doing right now. When outside he rides his ripstick and shoots his bow at the target. And when the weathers right, he fishes. He does what he needs to to get by with good grades but if it's not definitely required, he'll pass on it. Extra reading time is definitely a no go with him.
Annabelle: My girl is coming up on 9 at the end of December. She is a rule follower and is responsible with her school work. She makes sure we sign what needs to be signed and gets done what needs to be done without us having to tell her to do it. She is compassionate in that she does not like hurting people's feelings. She is also quite sensitive. As an example, she had a meltdown one night over the fact her computer teacher yells more than she would like. And she's concerned because she's yelling at other children, never her. Annabelle loves having friends over and is one who always wants to know "what's next?" It's been nice that now they are a little older, they can rides bikes to friends houses. She is in her first year of rocket cheer and loves it! She knows quite a few cheers and practices them at home often. She's got the splits down but is still working on mastering the cart wheel. Her dance season starts soon which she also loves. She is more coordinated in those areas than I am, that's for sure! She is good at doing hair and likes doing it. She often asks to do her sisters hair which is wonderful for me!
Eliza: Eliza recently turned 5. She's a laid back one. She enjoys hanging out with friends and asks "what are we doing today." But she is also good at finding things to do on her own. She loves listening to music on youtube, playing with play doh, and coloring, or doing workbooks. She gets along fabulously with Annabelle. When Ann is home, they are usually doing something together. She loves hanging out with her dad. If he's home and heads outside, she usually does too. She's a good sleeper and on weekends will often sleep the longest. She's not fussy about her clothes. I usually ask her if she wants to pick out her clothes, or if she wants me to do it. She usually tells me I can do it. She's protective of Ads and likes to see to it Ads isn't getting into trouble. Lize likes bike riding and is a pro at her 2 wheel bike. If we take a walk she always wants to ride her bike. We let her go around our little block with one of her older siblings. This year she wanted to cheer like Annabelle did. Annabelle taught her a few cheers and as a result, Eliza can spell touchdown, awesome, and Constantine. She loves when she has school at Jenny's and Science school at the Amigo Centre. Both of those "schools" make learning so much fun for her! At science school this past Monday, she visited a bog on the property then made a mini bog to bring home.
CallaMae: Cal is 2...3 in about a month (and since I needed to finish this draft, she turned 3 four days ago). She is independent and wants to do everything on her own even if it's a lot of work for her. For example, getting her own cup out of the cupboard requires her to pull a chair across the kitchen, over to the counter and back again. But she's willing to do it. She really likes watching youtube videos of people playing with playdoh. And she likes always having something to drink close by, especially chocolate milk. She sleeps with her "cozy heart blanket" and sometimes likes to bring it places with her. She is hilarious in the things she says and her facial expressions. Sometimes when I lay with her at night before going to sleep, I hope she stays awake a bit longer because the things she talks about are so random and funny! She likes playing with her friend Maylyn across the street. Her sisters and I threw together a quick party for her the other day for her birthday (with just us) and when all the decorations were down but we would still say things like "there's the birthday girl" she adamantly told us that she wanted her birthday to be done now! She has kind of a dry sense of humor and she knows she's funny.
Adelene: Ads is 14 months. She walks well and has even passed the point where she turns around to back down large cracks in the sidewalk. She now very intently focuses on trying to step down them. She loves her yellow blanket and is very partial to one corner that is more frayed than the others. She puts it to her nose and sucks the first two fingers of her left hand. She talks some. My favorite thing she says, and crazily, one of the first things she ever said is "here you go." She says it every time she hands you something and sometimes when we hand her something. She says Palmer's name "Paba" and some of her siblings names in her own cute way. She can have a pretty impressive tantrum. She will throw things off a table or area, pinch at me (although she doesn't realize that's what she's doing), and drops herself delicately (she doesn't want to hurt herself) to the floor. She likes waving to people who are coming or going and says "bye." She shrieks with utter joy when her siblings wake up or get home from school. Her pout when told "no" is heartbreaking. Ads also loves to be outside and can get quite upset if I bring her in especially if she sees her siblings are still outside.
