A Little about a Lot of Us

Just some random day-to-day things about each of us right now…

CHRIS

1. Chris is spending his nights on organizing videos and making highlight videos for several of our great trips last year. Trying to keep his mind busy so he isn’t going crazy thinking about where we could possibly be going this summer.
2. He’s watching Downton Abbey with me.  He gave me Season1 and Season2 for Christmas AND agreed to watch them with me (even though I’ve already seen them)  and then continue on to Season 3.    Half of our nights involve an episode with popcorn and drinks.  The other half of the nights involve Chris watching Football.
3. Chris has been waking Katie, Emily and Megan up at 6:00 and reading scriptures with them (and Ryan) before he takes Ryan to seminary at 6:15.  Then he drops Ryan off and goes to the gym before work (when he doesn’t overdo it with his hip and his shoulder).
4. He’s enjoying the last of ‘Egg Nog Season’ and is a little proud/disappointed that Ryan, Megan, and Matthew love it just as much as he does.

LISA

1. I just finished reading THE SELECTION.  Katie got it for her birthday last year from friends and has been dying to have me read it.  It was fun. Now we’re looking forward to the next book coming out in April.  Now I’m on to Emily’s book… PRINCESS ACADEMY.
2. I’ve been blogging a ton lately – it feels good to have everything recorded!
3. Feeling so anxious to know where we’re going this summer.  We’re not feeling like any of our top choices will be considered so we’re getting used to the idea that they really could send us anywhere. ???
4. Trying to get in bed by 11:00 these days.  At least that’s the goal… and it’s going pretty good so far.

RYAN

1. Enjoying basketball through the rec league on base.  His YM president is his coach… and three of his good buddies – Mark, Tate and Alexander – are on the team.   They all haven’t played basketball for a couple years so it’s been fun to practice together.  Chris is assistant coach and practices are M and W from 6:30 to 7:30. 
2. Ryan is whipping through the Harry Potter Series again in record time.   He started the first book again just before Christmas and even though he has new books to read from Christmas he still is determined to always ‘finish the series’ before he heads to something else.  He’s reading them just under a book a week.
3. Ryan is eating a ton.  One day he asked how many mandarin oranges he could have in a day.  “Seven” I said thinking I was so funny.  “Oh, good, I’ve only had 5 so far.”  He still asks if he can eat stuff but now in stead of saying “We’re just about going to eat dinner”  I just say…. “sure, whatever.”  I know he’s going to eat dinner too and then some more.
4. Ryan’s started working on his EAGLE SCOUT project.   It’s got to get approved still but it’s going to be a good one.  Stay tuned.

KATIE

1. Katie made it to the top 3 of Mr. Osborne’s Spellers and hoping to go to the school wide Spelling Bee.
2. Katie is starting to work on CHOICE and ACCOUNTABILITY goals for Personal Progress.  She and I have been asked to be in charge of a Choice and accountability Activity Night for the Young Women in late January.
3. Katie loves wearing her navy owl pajamas to bed.  Remarkably they are in pretty good shape still.  They are a size 8 and when I gave them to her in Georgia, 4 years ago, they were way too big and she had to roll the waistband a couple times but loved them so much she wore them anyway.  Now at 12, they finally fit her and aren’t even too short.  She wears them with her long sleeve navy tee and they are her favorite.
4. Katie eats lunch with her six best friends… Emily & Rebecca (twins and friends since her 5th grade class), Mercedes (friends since 5th grade class) Jamie, Amanda P (church friend who moved here the same time we did) and Ashlenne (church friend who moved here at the end of the summer).

EMILY

1. Emily is having a race reading Harry Potter books with Ryan.  They are both on Book 5 so Emily was nice enough to borrow a copy from her school library so Ryan could read the family copy.   She realizes that he reads like a maniac but she’s up to the challenge.  If anyone could give him a run for his money – she could.   She’s reading several books these days… she’s at the end of PRINCESS ACADEMIES and one called WORTH for school too.
2. Emily loves that her hair is long.   She keeps her hair clean and brushed well but still has a pretty sensitive head.   Curled is ok but she prefers it straightened with a clip.
3. Emily’s  4th grade teacher just moved up to Wiesbaden (an hour north).  We were sad to see Mrs. Smith go.  She was great and adored Emily.   With Heidelberg closing down this summer people are leaving left and right.  Emily has a new teacher until the end of the school year… Mrs. Thomas.  Emily thinks she’s great.
4. Emily loves her Heidelberg purse that Chris and I got her for Christmas.  As super organized as she is, she has in in perfect order.  It holds her camera in it’s blue camera case, her wallet (made out of duct tape by Katie), money, gum and cherry chapstick.
5. Emily likes to read on her bed and loves listening to music or books with her new headphones.  I think she’s enjoying her own room.

MEGAN

1. Megan is loving the MERCY WATSON books she got for Christmas to add to her collection.  They are cute books – a little below her level but she reads and re-reads them all the time.  She just finished a book report on one of them and had to make her own cereal box with a cereal title, picture about the book, what the shape of the cereal would be, a list of ingredients (characters) down the side, a summary, a game on the back and a prize inside all having to do with the book.  She LOVED working on it.  ‘PIGGIE TREATS’.  It’s pretty cute but I’m glad it’s done.
2. Prefers her hair curled but likes a good ‘back ponytail’ as well, especially for PE days. 
3. She loves sports and tells us that she wants “to be a sports girl.” 
4. Megan has mostly boy friends at school and on the bus.  Some of them have been in the same class as her for 3 years now and she has them all thinking she’s so great.   Megan gave a couple of them a Christmas card.  Once back to school in January one of them returned the favor with a card saying “Thanks for the card.  You are a good friend.”  She said that the day after that they were ‘fighting about love’.  “What do you mean?” I said.  “Well, he said that I must be in love with him because I gave him a card and then I said ‘WHAT? You are the one that’s in love with me for 3 years!”   Then he said, “Well you gave me a card.”  and she said “Well, YOU gave me a card back!”    Yes, this is a fight about love for a 2nd grader.     He made the mistake of telling Megan how she felt.  Big mistake.   But they are still best friends.
5. Megan falls asleep quick as a wink once she’s in bed and we always have to go in to her room and turn off her lamp.  She always has her next day’s outfit laid out on the floor like a person.

LUKE

1. Luke is participating in ‘school time’ every day with me.  Sometimes we practice writing a sentence.  Sometimes we do the Opposite puzzle.  Sometimes we practice writing his name in lower case.  Sometimes we roll a dice and write what number it is on a piece of paper and then talk about which number was rolled the most and least.  I think he’s liking it. 
2. Luke unloads the dishwasher for me almost every morning and is doing a good job.  He also brings his dishes over to the sink without being asked.  If I call him up to do a random job for me then he has a pretty good attitude about it.
3. He’s going through a phase where he’s scared.  Scared of going into a part of the house where nobody else is.  He gets mad if his sidekick, Matthew, doesn’t want to go to the same place he wants to.   Or scared about the dark and would rather go to sleep in Mom and Dad’s bed then his upstairs by himself.
4. Luke is loving the Wii these days.  Thank you Santa.  But he gets a little out of control sometimes when Matthew doesn’t do the right thing and it makes him die.   We must work on controlling our temper.

MATTHEW

1. Matthew is a new little sunbeam!!  We have 1:30 church now so he’s kind of tired once Primary comes around.  It doesn’t help that I sit with Luke’s class on the row opposite him.  He did great in his class though.  Sis Tillett is awesome.
2. A couple of times a day he asks me if he can eat cereal.
3. He likes to play on the computer and calls starfall.com ‘HIS’ game and friv.com ‘LUKE’S’ game.  He prefers ‘Luke’s Game’ but he knows he has to put in some ‘ABC learning’ time before he can jump to the other stuff.
4. He still LOVES Little Einstein shows.  Definitely his favorite.
5. We’re going to story time at the library most Wednesdays and he and Luke both love it – especially the art time at the end.  They really love putting their masterpieces on the green magnetic boards in their room.