And at the same time, it broke my heart.
She has the story of her life recorded through word and photo. What about the rest of my kiddos? I've done them such a huge disservice by not keeping our blog up. I don't really have the time. A lot of the time I don't even have the desire. But seeing her enjoy the fruits of my labour made me want to really try harder, to be better at recording our family history.
So here I am.
I make no promises.
I will absolutely not be going back to fill in blanks. I can't put that kind of pressure on myself.
But I'm going to try to be here more. To put in the effort of recording our history and our stories.
So here's a little update.
Here we are. This is from last June, but we haven't changed much. The kiddos are all a little taller, but that's about the only difference. I might be slightly skinner! At least I hope :)
Bruce: Bruce is in his second year of teaching seminary. He still enjoys it, but the early mornings are killer. Especially when followed by 10 hour days at work. By Friday afternoon, he is in need of a nap! Which he usually takes once he is home from Seminary and some time at the driving range. After writing up our family Christmas card last year, and realizing that he didn't have anything exciting to include as his "highlight" for the year, Bruce has decided to run a marathon this year. I'm excited for him. It will be a good challenge, but still encompass something he enjoys doing. He is getting ready to test for a promotion at work. It's a scary promotion in that it will mean a significant pay cut. Kind of backwards, but it is a necessary step to reaching his career goals. We are equal parts excited and nervous.
Claire: I'm still teaching preschool and plan to teach for one more year before giving it up for good. Photography has taken off in a big way and I am loving it and want to be able to put all my extra energy into that. But I also want one year of teaching Shark Bait. One more year seems like a good compromise. I am starting to see some changes in my health after a long, seemingly treacherous route and it feels so good to be feeling "normal" again. Or at least more normal than I have in a long time. Hormone issues are no joke and mine have been taking a toll for the past two and a half years. It is nice to be feeling more like my old self again.
Sunshine: Sunshine is in 5th grade and can I just say, 5th grade is hard! There have been some friend issues, so struggles with learning, some difficulties finding where she fits, but she is rocking it! She is such a strong, sweet girl and she makes the best of pretty much every situation. She is super social and loves planning activities for her and her friends. She is currently in the school play which means swimming has taken a back seat, but just last Saturday, she started doing some private coaching with a guy from our stake who is coaching before he leaves on his mission, as a way of making a little more money to go towards his mission. She loved being back in the water and is looking forward to a few more coaching sessions with him before he leaves. Then when the play is over, she'll go back to piano lessons and swim team. She is doing the Mozart program at school which means four days a week, she is getting music education in school. She is playing the flute in the band, taking piano at school and doing choir. I love hearing the sound of music fill our home when she practices.
Beebs: Beebs is in 2nd grade and she loves it. She has an amazing teacher whom she absolutely adores and she is learning and growing so much. She is also in the school play so swim and piano have been on hold while we pursue that, but this past weekend, she took her first ballet class and oh. my. goodness. I've always known she is built like a dancer, but I had no interest in putting my girls into dance. This past Christmas, for our traditional mother-daughter Christmas show, I took the girls to see one of my Young Women dance in The Nutcracker. Beebs couldn't see from her seat, so she hopped onto my lap and as soon as the first dancer came on stage, I felt her entire body lighten with excitement. She hardly moved through the entire performance and I sat there with a knot in my stomach, knowing exactly what was coming. When the performance ended, Beebs turned to me and said "I want to be a ballerina!". It took me a few weeks to get on board, but we signed her up at a studio and she had her first class yesterday. And hasn't stopped dancing since. She was laying in my room tonight to fall asleep and when I walked past my door, I saw her in the dark, standing in front of my full length mirror, practicing ballet positions. It melted my heart. I think she has found her true love and I am excited to see where it takes her.
Man Cub: Man Cub is as rambunctious as ever. He and his best friend, Ike, spend every spare minute possible together. They play almost daily and they are so fun together. When Ike is not around, Man Cub doesn't really know what to do with himself and just wants to play video games ;) He's a big fan of the Lego Jurassic Park game he got for Christmas. Once I can convince him to go outside and play, he loves to dig in the sand and play fetch with Kevin. He is a total homebody and is super sweet, when he wants to be. He is doing well in preschool, but thinks he owns the place, since it is at our house. It causes us to butt heads sometimes, but overall I'm grateful I get to be his teacher. He loves to write his name and do puzzles. He starts soccer with Ike in a few weeks and I'm so excited to see him play. We played kickball tonight at a picnic with friends and he did a great job participating. I think soccer will be a good experience for him. Man Cub is currently doing speech therapy to help get him ready for school in the fall. He is missing several sounds which makes it difficult for those outside our family to understand him. I adore the way he talks and it is sad to think that it will be changing soon. But I know it's the best route for him and I am grateful we have resources to help us.
Shark Bait: Oh what to say about Shark Bait! He is full of life and always into something and keeps life interesting. He has no fear and regularly injures himself, but jumps right up and says "I'm ok, I'm ok!" He has an extensive vocabulary and uses it regularly. He is way ahead of the curve when it comes to speech and that scares me! He's too smart for his own good! He attends preschool with us most days and can say the Pledge of Allegiance. Mostly. Ü He love Rescue Bots and can identify all his colours, based on the Bot they correspond to. His favourite colour is Bumblebee. Yellow, for those who don't speak Rescue Bot. Shark Bait is currently not a part of any extra curricular activities but he loves to run around and chase his brother and sisters. He loves to play with his best friend, Benny Boo Boo and he thinks his dad is the greatest person in the world. He asks daily to go to the beach and I so wish I could indulge him! But Bruce has 8 more years until he can retire, so we won't be moving to the beach anytime soon!
I think that about sums up where we all stand right now! I make no promises, but hope to be back soon with more pictures and more stories.
