Siblings and Other Things

This morning, as I was dropping the 6 youngest school-aged kids off to school, I had to fill out a form for Claire to temporarily attend "math intervention". She is struggling some with the current math concepts her class is learning. She is very worried about going to math intervention and was begging me not to sign the form. Esther, Ezra and Talley have all already been to math intervention (Esther also goes to reading and speech and Talley also has reading intervention) and knew how Claire felt. They were trying to reassure and encourage her by saying things like, "Don't be scared, it's actually really fun," and "You get prizes there and sometimes they have pizza and soda parties," and "Lots of kids go and it's not anything to worry about," and so forth. My heart swelled with pride at their love and compassion for Claire. Siblings are so crucial to a healthy childhood, in my humble opinion. Claire does not want to go to math intervention, but she has the confidence of knowing that three of her siblings have already been there and are currently going there and that she is not alone. When people act like we're strange for having so many kids or imply that our kids are somehow suffering because they are in a big family, I have to smile to myself. They have no idea how wonderful it can be to have lots of brothers and sisters to travel this crazy journey called life with. I am grateful for my kids. They have taught me SO much and continue to do so. They are loving, intelligent, compassionate, thoughtful, funny, happy, beautiful people.

And now for a basic update since the big computer death. ;-) I am using Tim's laptop. It is hard to get used to, but I am thankful we had an extra one I could commandeer. I have not downloaded any photos onto it, so nothing to share for now. My macbook is for sure dead, well the hard drive is, and it's not looking so good for my lost photos. I'm trying not to even think about that aspect. But life is rich. We are blessed. We have everything we need. I have photos on facebook and this blog and a few shutterfly photo albums I have made over the years. All is not lost. And this was a good lesson to learn (although a hard one since we know better!) that backing up even my little old laptop is important. (Tim backs up his business computer every night. We just got lazy about my laptop.)

OK, enough about that. Henry is 11 months now! I can hardly believe my baby boy is growing so rapidly. I distinctly remember this time last year, wondering about who he would be and hoping and praying all would be well with his birth and that he would truly be our son. Here he is walking, running, climbing, throwing balls (and other things!), kicking balls, jumping (!), trying to talk, laughing, eating basically whatever we eat, getting into the pantry to get his favorite Annie's Cheddar Bunnies and bringing them to me to feed him some, getting excited when he sees Daddy wrestling with his big brothers and having to join in, "singing" when we sing, and just being a delightful, busy, inquisitive little man. He is more active than any of my other kids were at this age and it has been a blast following him around the house, playing with him, and just watching him blossom. I cannot believe he will be 1 next month. How time flies. Henry has four teeth on top and 3.5 teeth on bottom. He has so much hair and it is probably to the point where I should cut it, but I cannot bring myself to do so. It is beautiful. He is adorable. He is happy. He is the sunshine of our lives. The other day we were at the library. Henry loves to wander around there while the other kids get books. It's a very kid-friendly library and there are many activities for little kids to do, so it is a fun place. There was a little boy who was a little taller than Henry. I was guessing he was about 18 months old. Henry saw him and went straight for him. Henry absolutely adores other children. He went right up to this boy, whom he had never seen before, and gave him a big hug. It was precious. The boy just stood there staring at Henry for a few seconds and then he proceeded to follow Henry everywhere. They were playing together and just having a good time. I love that he is so outgoing and friendly already. (This little boy turned out to be 2 years old! Henry is such a big boy compared to kids his age--in fact he is wearing 24 month old clothing.) His big brothers and sisters (and parents!) adore him, as does everyone who meets him.

Sahara is gearing up for Ragnar again (200 mile relay race through the mountains of Utah). She has been running and training for a couple of months now, but she just switched teams, got a much more difficult running position on her new team, and has been picking up the pace quite a bit. I am really proud of how much effort she is putting into this. And I am glad that she has such a healthy hobby. She can't wait for cross country to start up again.

Bethlehem has been meeting early at the high school several mornings lately to practice her violin. It has made for some tired parents and siblings as we get up earlier to have our family scripture time before she goes. ;-) She has decided not to do orchestra next year and is thinking about doing dance instead. She still loves her Korean dramas and all things teenager-ish. ;-) Both Sahara and Beth will be getting their driver permits this month. We finally got Sahara's paperwork ironed out (we lost some important paperwork of hers when we moved from Phoenix to Salt Lake City) and can take her in for the test. Beth was waiting on Sahara doing it the same time as her, as she is highly unmotivated to drive at all (that girl!). ;-) I am looking forward to a summer of driving lessons for my two girls. I cannot believe how fast they are growing up. They will be Juniors next year!

Ryland and Kenyon are still obsessed with basketball--just like their dad (and now it seems to be rubbing off on Ezra and even Henry, who has his own little basketball). They love to go to the local elementary school to shoot hoops with Tim and when they aren't doing that, they are playing a basketball video game they all love. They talk basketball scores and stats and players in between. It is enough to drive us all crazy. But it is nice that they all have a common hobby and can bond over that. Ryland and Kenyon are doing well in school and love it. I am so glad we got into this charter school. It has been an excellent switch for our whole family.

Ezra has been doing scouts since he turned 8 and loves it. Tomorrow is his very first Pinewood Derby and he couldn't be more excited. He has made his car all by himself (at his insistence) and has big dreams of being a winner tomorrow morning. I hope he is not too disappointed and just enjoys the experience.

Right now Claire and Talley are taking care of a neighbor's cat and fish while they are gone on vacation. They have so much fun running up to the neighbor's house and feeding the animals by themselves (Ezra and Esther usually join them). We happened to be at the store when our neighbor asked us to watch their pets. Claire and Talley were the only ones who wanted to go with me, so they got the privilege of this job. When Ezra and Esther found out, they both said, "Next time you go to the store, I'm coming too!" As if all neighborhood jobs come from the store! ;-) Too funny. But it has been a good experience for them and they feel so mature for being able to do so.

My goodness is Esther ever flourishing. It is hard to imagine that 3 years ago she could barely walk, weighed 26 lbs (she was 6 years old), couldn't talk, didn't know any of her shapes, colors, alphabet, numbers, etc. and here she is almost 9 years old and nearly on target developmentally. She is reading (!) and reading much better than I ever could have imagined at this point. This time last year she had finally learned how to write her name and here she is reading. She communicates well, is almost as tall as Ezra and Claire (who are her same age), can make her own food when she wants a snack and is a big help around the house. She loves Henry and is great with him. She is like a whole new child. Sometimes I marvel at the progress she has made in these 3 years. I remember meeting her in Haiti for the first time and thinking that she was either mentally disabled or autistic or both. She is nothing of the sort. She is amazing--and is turning out to be such a pretty young lady. I am so glad we weren't scared off when we met her and that we continued on with her (horrendously hard) adoption. Life is good.

Last week we went down to San Rafael Swell for a drive, a hike (and I ran about a mile and a half with the little kids), a hot dog roast and some family time. We love to do things like this--there is not much better in life. While we were there and running, I happened to trip on a branch that was sticking out of the road. I totally biffed it. My knee was scraped up badly and bleeding. It hurt so much; I even cried a little. Poor Esther thought she had tripped me and started bawling and apologizing. She has such a tender heart. (Claire, Talley and Ezra started freaking out and yelling to Tim that I was hurt--he happened to be hiking up the mountain with the boys and they were hurrying down as quickly as they could). I told Esther that she had not tripped me and that I was fine, but she kept crying anyway. I had to hug her for a long time and reassure her over and over again that she had not tripped me and that even if she had, it would have been an accident. She just gets so upset sometimes (she cries in a lot of movies). She's just a sweetheart. Anyway, I ended up being fine and was even able to finish our little run. The next day, of course, my hip and knee were both hurting. It took me a several days to feel better. I guess that means I am actually getting old! Ha! ;-) You can see photos from this trip on this post.

I think we are all starting to feel antsy for summer. Last week, we had "movie night" three nights in a row. We keep staying up later and later and everyone is starting to talk about what we're going to do this summer. It's going to be so much fun. We are blessed. More soon.