Fourteen...and a Freshman!

Over the weekend, Olivia turned 14. FOURTEEN!!! When did I get old enough to have a daughter that old?

We celebrated with a low-key party at home with some of her best friends.

Her church leader came and decorated her room while we were out, it was so fun to come home to the surprise!

She's pretty much past the point of us being able to surprise her with gifts, so we took her shopping on her birthday. She scored a cute new purse, and a few outfits for the new school year.

The day after her birthday was her first day of school. She went from a K-8 school with a total of 275 students into a freshman class of twice that amount. We walked around the campus the night before school started locating all her classes in the various buildings and figuring out how she was going to get from one end of the campus to the other in her 6 minute passing period!

All over campus, there was chalk graffiti by this year's Senior class. Jack decided to leave his mark right outside Olivia's Spanish classroom door!

Last week, Olivia decided to try out for the high school golf team, and she made it onto the team. Two practices and two matches a week through mid-October means I am in desperate need of a chauffeur to help with driving duties. But she sure is happy, and it's a great way to ease into high school!

A custom bag and cute uniform are part of the package!

Olivia is growing into a beautiful, accomplished young woman. She is driven, self-motivated, and hard working. I don't have to nag her (often), she knows what she needs to do and gets it done. She is super creative and kind and pretty much an all-around perfect kid.

First day of high school

Everybody says that once kids hit high school, you blink and it's over. It is bittersweet to watch Olivia growing up. It is super fun to watch her developing her talents and really becoming her own person. But we can also feel her starting to slip away from us...which I guess, is exactly how it should be.

Lucky number SEVEN!

I can't believe that it's been 7 years since we welcomed this little guy into our family.

In some ways, it feels like yesterday. In other ways, it feels like a lifetime. I can't remember life before him!

He is definitely our most strong-willed and opinionated child. He pushes the limits, throws fits, and doesn't take no for an answer. He's been a pill today, and every time I call him on it, he replies "It's my birthday, I'm supposed to do whatever I want to!" Think again buster...

Grant is incredibly bright and has great number sense. He can do mental math no problem and is constantly telling me how many more or less something is than something else, or how many minutes/days/hours until something is happening. Reading and writing has been a bit more of a challenge for him. He finally caught on to reading this past spring—it was like a lightbulb just went off in his little brain. But he HATES writing. We've been practicing over the summer.

He has no volume switch. I can hear him coming from a mile away.

Towards the end of swim season, the boys mentioned they'd like to make a switch to Speedos.
Jack has only worn his in the backyard.
Grant wears his every chance he gets!

He has enough personality for 10 kids. Seriously, the kid cracks us up all the time with his antics.

This was his "crazy" costume for swim team champs. He wore it proudly!

He is good at expressing gratitude. He thanks me for his meals daily, and his words are usually accompanied by a hug.

He doesn't like kisses. Hugs are okay, but he doesn't like me to kiss him. I try and sneak in a kiss on the forehead at night, but he usually wipes it right off!

He goes shirtless as much as possible. Seriously. He was named "Most likely to be shirtless" at the swim team banquet. He nearly ripped his dress shirt off on his way up to claim his award!

He adores his brother and sister. He and Jack have given each other the nickname of "Bubs Chubs" and it cracks me up when Jack is irritated with Grant for some reason and Grant will say "But Jack, I'm your 'Bubs Chubs'!"

Even though he is the source of most of my gray hairs, I wouldn't trade this boy for the world.

Happy Birthday Grant...we love you!