Levi is EIGHT!

 Happy Birthday Levi Olin! Today you are 8 years old! You are currently downstairs playing Axis and Allies with Daddy (your new favorite game) while we wait for your orange rolls to rise and bake for breakfast. 

Levi, you are such a kind and thoughtful boy. You don't want people to feel left out, you stop and check on people when they get hurt. You pick up on ALL the emotional cues in the room. You have a big case of FOMO :) You are learning to play the piano and have begun creating your own series of dragons and you asked if you'd be able to publish your "book" at the library when you are all done. Every morning you let out the chickens and spend a little time playing with Marshall. Every afternoon you vacuum the living room and you are always one of the first to arrive when I ask for help. At night you take care of your gecko, Sapphire, walking him around the house and feeding him. Sometimes you'll help shut the chickens back in. This summer you learned how to make our family's giant cookie and now you make one for us every Sunday. You sold several over the summer and everyone agreed they were delicious! 

You love to spend time outdoors -- your favorite activity is fishing. You also like our hikes and playing at the park. Just yesterday you found a big branch that fell down during a huge windstorm this week, you dug a hole in the back yard and hammered in the branch, so now it looks like we have a new tree in the back yard :) Then you proceeded to hang your pinecone bird feeders that you made for the birds this winter. You spot all kinds of birds and hawks when we are out on walks or driving around. 

Tonight we are celebrating your birthday with some friends and family. We are having a Nintendo themed party. And you don't know it yet, but you're getting a Nintendo switch. (I mean, you've asked for it, and want it, but we're trying to surprise you anyway). You've even worked really hard to save some money of your own to help pay for it. I hope you love it so much! We are having pizza, fruit, veggies, cupcakes and ice cream. You even put up streamers last night in the shape/design of a Switch. I think your hopes are high! 

You and Zoë seem to share a special middle-children bond. 

Birthday Interview -- December 17, 2021

What is your favorite color? Dark green (after look at his new multi-tool from great-Grandma)

...movie? "Home Alone"  

... tv show? "That's a hard one, but it's going to be "Dragon Riders: Race to the Edge". 

... book? "Snake books" 

... fruit? "Mango" 

... animal? "It depends on the day, but its birds." 

... thing to do everyday? "Well, on a normal day I like playing outside and helping the birds. And I like with my family." 

... about Naomi? "That she's funny and she's kind." 

... about Zoë? "That she's good at hide and seek and that she has lots of colors in her life." 

... about Zeke? "I like that he's smart and he has great ideas." 

... about Mommy? "That she's a great chef and that she makes my birthday meals."  

... about Daddy? "That he likes playing games with me and going fishing."  

What do you want to be when you grow up? "The first thing that I want to be is to have my own zoo and it's only reptiles. The second thing is that I want to be a person who loves birds and builds nests for them." 

What do you like most about homeschooling? "Play time and math." 

What is your favorite food? "Whoo, that's a hard one! I think it's homemade pizza." 

Anything else you want to remember about turning 8? "That I can have good memories and that my friends can come over and that we'll have a great time! " 

Levi, you are an intense child and I find that we have many things in common, for better or worse. I can't wait to see what the year ahead brings as you continue to learn and grow. I love that you want to snuggle with me every time we read, even though I often ask you to let someone else have a turn. Somehow you convince them that it's your turn again ;) I love your zest for life and your energy to run and play and do all the things. You typically wake up every morning around 7 am, but this morning you came out of your room at 630 am, excited to start your birthday early. I pray that in the year ahead your friendships will grow, your self-control will strengthen, and your love for others will be returned back to you in abundance! Love, Mommy 

Zoë is 6!

 This year we celebrated Zoë's birthday in grand style -- at the beach in San Diego, CA! 

- You absolutely loved the beach and the ocean! You were in the water as much as you possibly could be, even though the water temp was in the low 60s! You played on the boogie board and caught a few good waves. You had fun shopping and buying some new jewelry and accessories. We decorated our condo's room with a birthday banner and brought some candles from home so we were able to sing to you! On your birthday we ate donuts for breakfast and ordered black/white and white/black cupcakes from a little bakery called Pure Cupcakes. They even came with pink sprinkles! You chose pasta with meatballs and cucumbers for your birthday dinner.  

- I love this picture! You were having such a laugh! :D 

- We ate all our dinners outside because the weather was so lovely! 

- Your big birthday gift from your family came about a week before your birthday, so we let you open it ahead of time since we didn't want to lug it on the plane. 

- Your new sleeping bag!

- One of your current favorite things -- whistling! You are quite good at it, you have good tone and I think before long you'll be able to whistle songs. You would do it a majority of the day if I didn't shut you down quite a bit. 

- 4th of July party at Bryan Dolinar's farm! 

- When we went to CO to visit Grandma at the end of June, we visited Mehaffey Park where we celebrated your 1st birthday. It was a lot of fun! And we even were there when the little waterfall turned on. 

- Our first trip to Smithville Lake for swimming this summer. I loved this swimsuit we picked out for you this year! You have gotten SO TAN! You have a done a great job swimming in the water and being very comfortable above and below the water. 

- For our summer bakery, you helped me make brownies! You love chocolate so it seemed like the right choice for you to assist with. 

- We had fun attending Miriam's dance recital in May! You are getting ready to take another session of dance this Fall. 

- Slimy things don't bother you a bit! You and Levi brought up this {lovely} worm for me to see from the backyard. 

- You were such a great helper with your sister at our W+F Field Day at the end of April! I was busy coordinating the day; you chose to participate with the younger group going through an obstacle course and playing with different balls and jump ropes and such. 

- You LOVE art! You do some every single day. Whenever we clean your room, it is covered in paper with drawings, colorings, paintings, writings. Daddy is teaching you how to water color on Sunday afternoons. We have an entire rubbermaid devoted to art this year for school. 

- Easter at Aunt Teresa's house! 

- You love animals! Playing with the new kitties at Heather's house. 

- You got your first major haircut in the Spring! I thought it might help because you were putting your hair up in a ponytail every day. But alas, with short hair, you wanted your hair up even more! So we've been letting it grow out. You said you never want to cut it short again! It's finally getting to the point where it will all fit up in the ponytail, so we are happy to be back to that point again. I'd be curious if you'd like a pixie cut sometime so you don't have to deal with it at all. But for now, I'm not willing to go through the growing out process again... for a long while :) 

 Birthday Interview -- August 20, 2021
What is your favorite color? Pink
... movie? "Bolt" 
... TV Show? "Sofia the First" 
... Book? "My Princess in Black book and From the Desk of Zoe Washington and Anna and Elsa" 

Favorite thing to eat? Cupcakes
... Fruit? Strawberries
... Animal? Kitties
... thing to do every day? Draw 
... about Naomi? "That her be's nice." 
... Levi? "umm, that's a hard one. *giggle* when I was a baby, I liked Levi." (They had gotten in a an argument earlier that day.) 
.... Zeke? "That he builds things kind of like me." 
... Mommy? "That her reads to me." 
.... Daddy? "That he is nice." 

Who is your best friend? "The one that I've known longest is Miriam" 
What do you want to be when you grow up? "An artist and a teacher." 
What do you like most about homeschooling? "The new books that we got. The handwriting books." 

What are you looking forward to most about being 6? "That it was my birthday. And *whispers* am I getting that suitcase? We get to play a lot." 

Zoë Kayte, you are such a joyful, fun-loving, strong, athletic, artsy girl! I love spending time with you and listening to the way you view the world. You have been listening to the Ramona Quimby series on Hoopla for months and like to bring in her stories to our dinner time conversations. You tried jiu jitsu for the summer, but I don't believe you've been converted. You tried one CrossFit class back in the Spring and loved it, so I think after your Fall session of dance, we will put you in a session of CF. You seemed very natural at the moves, so I'd love to support you in that area. You are doing a great job taking care of Dora and proving that you want an animal of your own. All last year you asked for a kitty, recently you've mentioned a puppy a time or two, so we'll see what we can come up with in this coming year! You want to get your ears pierced soon and I just know it will make you look more grown up. But it will be fun to wear earrings together! We've finally figured out that you like to wear athletic clothes the best. After months of struggling where you won't wear most of the clothes in your dresser, I tried some organic cotton clothes from Pact and some of the athletic clothes from Target and now you don't have any problem picking out clothes for the day. No more dresses for you! I'm just thankful we finally have an answer for what you like to wear. I am looking forward to the year ahead with you! Love, Mommy 

Ezekiel is NINE!

 Happy 9th Birthday Ezekiel Dekker! 

I cannot believe you are halfway "through" childhood. It makes me want to cry because I can't imagine you being away from home, but I'm also happy for you because these years with you are so very good. Since I'm typing this up on your actual birthday, we're going to start off with your birthday interview! 

Birthday Interview - 1/27/2021

What is your favorite color? Red and blue and purple 

... food? Ice cream, no, pizza! 

... movie? Frozen II

... TV show? Dino-trux

...book? Let me think about that one... all books! I don't have a favorite. 

...fruit? Pears (said with expression, more like "peeeeeaaaarrrrs)

...animal? Penguins! 

...thing to do every day? Play

... thing to learn? Science

... about Naomi? That I can cuddle her sometimes. 

... about Zoë? That we have fun together. 

... about Levi? That he sleeps in my bedroom, in our bedroom. 

... Mommy? That she plays songs for me. 

... Daddy? That he got my fish tank stuff! 

What do you want to be when you grow up? An engineer. 

What do you like most about homeschooling? Science

Is there anything else you want to remember about turning 9? No. 

Zeke, you are a thoughtful, kind boy. As you say, "I love, love." Which is funny to me, but true, you love hugs, snuggling, and sitting on Daddy's lap, even now. You have become a much better reader in the past year. You enjoy putting together puzzles. You enjoy CrossFit-- you are currently taking your second, 6 weeks of kid classes. You can build/see thing in your mind and make them happen with your blocks/marble tracks/legos, whatever material you are building with. You like to experiment when you play piano. You'll practice your songs, then you'll transpose your songs into different keys to see how they sound. I love that you sit down and just try things to see how it sounds. You've been receiving Think Outside boxes this year and have collected quite a slew of equipment for your backpack! Some of your favorites are your flint and steel, the repair kit, and the newest box which gave you a long rope and lots of instructions for tying different types of knots. You have begun 2 finger knitting, and are currently working on knitting 2 strands of yarn at the same time. We have employed your skills to make us a door sock to keep some of the cold air out! You are getting your own aquarium {Pictured above} for your birthday this year! You set it up yesterday! It is so colorful and fun. You got to pick out your own decorations and colors of gravel and I think it turned out really cool! Today when Daddy and I take you out for your birthday lunch, you'll be picking out your fish. 

Gosh, apparently when you have younger siblings, it is hard to get a picture of you alone! These were about the only two in the past 3 months! 

Well I'm going to make this short and sweet so I can get it posted! Ezekiel, you bring joy and fun and music and thinking and growth to our family. You are getting a bit more responsibility these days with your own Relay "phone" and you are proving trustworthy so far. I cannot wait to see all the ways you grow and mature in this coming year. I am proud to be your Momma. Happy 9th Birthday! Love, Momma 

Levi is SEVEN!

 Levi Olin, you are 7 years old! On your birthday this year, you picked out your very own pet -- a leopard gecko! 

You were so disappointed when Daddy told you Pet-topia didn't open until 10 AM. You thought that they should be up and open by 7 am! :) But when Daddy explained that Chris (the owner) has to feed all the pets and check on them before the store could be open, you were more understanding. You held a couple of geckos and decided this one was the best fit for you! You have named him Sapphire (for some reason you had a whole list of gem related names picked out?!) and we are calling him "him" for now as you cannot distinguish gender until geckos are closer to 2 years old. We've given Sapphire the birthday of August 17, 2020. You picked out a purple plant for decoration and since Christmas have also received a couple of gifts for his terrarium -- a green, vine plant and a reptile hammock. He has quite the set-up. You make sure we feed him and try to hold him everyday. And last night he climbed up your arm! He is definitely getting more comfortable with you. 

You began 1st grade this year and have been learning addition, letter sounds and phonics, studied the artist Whistler and the composer Haydn, Spanish, the 50 states, listening to stories about the Middle Ages, listening to tons of audio books on the Hoopla app through the KCK library {this program is awesome!}, taken nature hikes and done some journaling, learned to bake Viking bread {you recently asked to make this again}, colored pictures to help you remember our family ways {a family devo we're completing together}, learned 5 hymns, plus more worksheets and other activities! You are a good student. Math is your slowest subject, not so much because you don't understand but because you want to work through each problem slowly and thoroughly in order to always produce the correct answers. You love science and learning about animals and nature! You love physical activity and ride your bike regularly, like to kick the soccer ball, throw the frisbee, toss the football, play tag, and participate in Jiu Jitsu once a week. You're getting stronger and have no problem keeping up on our family hikes even when they're more than 2 miles!You enjoy listening to your playlist on Spotify and playing drums when we do our worship time together on Sunday mornings. 

You have a strong sense of justice and fairness in every capacity. Sometimes it is a gift, other times a curse. But we will continue to work with you to make it a strength in your life because it can indeed be a blessing and a driving force to shape your life and what you choose to do. You are a great helper! You vacuum the rug every day, help clean the table off after every meal, enjoy baking, sometimes let the chickens out in the morning, sweep and mop, do odd jobs as I ask for them, and have become quite a responsible boy! 

Birthday Interview -- December 29, 2020

What is your favorite color? Purple 

...movie? "Croods 2" {We took him to see this at the theaters on 12/21 for his birthday!}

... tv show? "Scooby Doo" 

... book? the books from the library about leopard geckos. 

... fruit? Grapes 

... animal? "It's two things. Cheetah and a bull. It's a leopard gecko, I mean." 

... thing to do everyday? "Play a game. And eat breakfast." :) 

... about Naomi? "That she's kind." 

... about Zoë? "I like coloring with her." 

... about Zeke? "That we build together." 

... about Mommy? "That we get to hold my leopard gecko." 

... about Daddy? "Fishing." 

What do you want to be when you grow up? "I don't know. That's a tricky one... what I really want to be is a smoke jumper but I don't know if I really want to do that." 

What do you like most about homeschooling? "That I get to learn math." 

What is your favorite food? "Reubens" 

Levi, it is a joy to be your Momma. You are intense, strong, and dependable! I love sharing some of our favorite things together -- music, baking, animals, nature, and physical activity! I cannot wait to see the way your life unfolds and all the things you will do! I look forward to sharing this eighth trip around the sun together and all this next year holds for you and your family! Love, Momma