Jonathon - It’s not always about you!

Well, we officially have a teenager in the house. Even though he just barely turned 13 on Tuesday, we have been experiencing teenage behavior for a while now. In my opinion, teenagers (well, at least Jonathon) think the whole world revolves around them. Steve and I can not have a quiet conversation without Jonathon asking what we are saying about him. If I get after the kids for not cleaning up, Jonathon gets mad because he thinks I am speaking directly to him. If we make any plans, go anywhere, do anything, we have to make sure that it’s all right with Jonathon first. He even thinks that all phone calls are either for or about him.

This week, however, was actually all about Jonathon.

Last Friday kicked off his Magical Birthday Weekend. I’m not sure how many times I heard him say that he didn’t have to do something because it was his Magical Birthday Weekend. Steve even wondered if we should ban the whole magical weekend thing between the ages of 12-18. I’m not sure if we need go that route, but we will have to make some adjustments for the teenage years.

Friday was spent at another friends birthday party and on Saturday he went to see Diary Of a Wimpy Kid with his friend. This meant that we lost our babysitter for the whole weekend – Oh the sacrifices we make for our kids! Tuesday was his actually birthday and so I took him down to Salt Lake to a book signing at Desert Book. We bought the 5th book in the Fablehaven series and got it signed by the author. This was exciting for Jonathon, but for me, and Henry, and Jack, it was a long wait in line. Now I have to decide if I should read the Fablehaven books, or the Percy Jackson series first – any thoughts?

I swear this picture is almost the same as last year. He wanted the same ice cream brownie cake as the last two years. I don’t care though, because it’s the best. I invited neighbors over so there wouldn’t be any left over to pig out on the next day.

This week was also the Regional Science Fair. So we went to BYU to set up on Wednesday and then Jonathon presented his project on Thursday. There was an awards ceremony that night too. I am truly amazed at the amount of talent and imagination kids have these days. Jonathon didn’t win anything, but our neighbor McKay took second place in his category. So way to go McKay!

When I think about how fast the last five years have gone by, I get worried that the next five will go even faster, and he will be 18 before I know it. Jonathon is my best helper even though he complains the whole time. I can count on him to do a good job babysitting when I need to go somewhere. He does good in school and I don’t have to badger him about doing his homework. I know he is a lot like me when I was his age and I love to see how he copes with the challenges of daily life. He makes me proud to be his mom.

Jack Turned One

February 23rd – Happy Birthday!

Yes, it was a while ago, I don’t know where the time goes.

For every kid that we have, the first birthday becomes less and less of an event. See Henry’s First Here.

Poor Jack, I wasn’t even going to buy him birthday presents. It’s not like he knows right? But, Steve said that we had to get him at least one. So he got one present from us and one from Grandma. I also got him a new outfit, but then forgot about it until I found it 2 days ago.

Grammy was a slacker and decided not to show up for the “not really a party” so she could hang out with my Dad in Austin. So it was just our little family.

I didn’t even make him a cake – I went to “The Store” in Midway and bought him one. It was white with confetti sprinkles. I also bought a red velvet cake for me and Steve to eat - they were both delicious. Also, they were the perfect size, everyone got a piece, and there was only one slice leftover. I’m not sure who ate it for breakfast the next day, but I’m sure she did plenty of Jillian Michaels to make up for it.

Note to baker: Green confetti looks like mold!

Jack was 23 lbs. and 12 oz at his last check up. He only has 4 teeth, but that 5th one has tried to cut at least 3 times. I think it might come through this time though. He says Mama and Car and sometimes Henry or Hannah – not too chatty. He doesn’t walk, but he can climb just about anything. I think he’s going to be a mean little boy, because he likes to hit and throw things, and grab my glasses off my face.

Blatant Destruction

Throughout the years I have had quite a few things ruined by my sweet little children. I will never forget the day that Thomas sat and picked the chocolate chips out of his Chip A Hoy cookie and mashed them into my two day old couch cushions. Or the time that Jonathon dumped a quart of blue paint in the hallway. One day, one of them took a pair of tweezers to our television screen and carved some nice designs. We had only been in our new house a few months when one of the kids scribbled non-washable green crayon all over the walls and the back of my Lazy Boy – Mr. Clean met his match on this one.

These things and many other have taken place because I have had an endless supply of toddlers. I understand that they really don’t know any better. One could say that it is my fault, for not watching them more closely. So, over the years we have just learned to accept that destruction is going to happen.

However, I can not accept the fact that my 8 year old would do something like this:

 

 

When did Libby turn 8 you ask? Oh, No, Libby didn’t do this. This is Hannah’s cruel attempt to frame her sister. And, it wasn’t enough for her to just let me find it, she actually came to me and tattled on Libby.

I used to think that Hannah was pretty smart, but she wasn’t bright enough to figure out that I would know that this was not Libby’s work. I have so many unanswered questions. Why would Hannah want her sister to get into trouble for this? How could she be so mean? Why did she have to use my chair?

P.S. I have not tried to get the crayon out of the chair. I don’t know the best way to go about it. I don’t even know if it’s washable crayon.  But mostly I have left it there so that she can be reminded of it whenever she goes into the front room.