Good Bye 2012

Well another year bites the dust. It should does seem like the years are starting to literally FLY by us now. I'm going to go through each kid and give highlights of their year...I'll start with the youngest!

Peanut and I enjoyed the first part of this year just hanging out together while the older three kids were in school. This summer she was tall enough to go on the Demon at Great America. That is the roller coaster that goes upside down. She loved it! She must get that from her father ;) She also learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. That has been nice for our park and library bike trips! She also got really good at swimming under water but not quite ready to make the jump off the diving board. In September she turned 5, a whole hand, and started school 5 half days a week. She has started to read and do simple math problems. Helping out in her class with their Christmas party I was able to see her personality. She is quite the little leader. She was organizing the kids and giving them intructions. It was really funny to watch. I have a feeling she might end up teaching. She has a lot of friends at school and church, too. She is currently doing her last year of Awana Cubbies. She just finished gymnastics and ballet but we are going to be taking a break at the beginning of this new year. She is such a lovely little girl and always good for a chuckle!

Red finished 1st grade and turned 7. He played baseball for the first time this summer and was a total natural. He loves pitching. His coaches were amazing and we were so blessed to have them both as his coaches! He also made the all star team. He is my little athelet, probably because he has the two older ones to keep up with. He is now playing basketball for the first time and loving it. He is my super active child. Loves to be outside or doing something inside. He went to sleep away camp this summer for the first time and had a blast. He is loving 2nd grade and he has a real young and fun teacher. His grades continue to be As and Bs. He is in his last year of Sparks at church. He loves to tell jokes. He asked for more joke books for Christmas and he got them. He also like to make up jokes...there have been a few that were actually pretty funny. But not always! He has the most contagious laugh I have ever heard. He has lost 3 teeth this year and the only ones he has lost so far. He currently has the one front tooth smile...love it. He is going to catch up with his older brother height wise pretty soon if he keeps growing at the rate is he going.

The first part of this year for Monkey was pretty slow. He played baseball for the 2nd summer. He got a ton better from the year before and his confidence grew. He ended up making the all star team for the first time this year too! I was so happy that they both made the all stars. His baseball coach talked him into playing soccer this fall for the first time. Jeff and I were pretty excited that he wanted to try soccer. We both really love watching soccer! I think we found his sport. He loves it and he is really good at it too. He was so excited when he got his first goal! His coach was begging us to sign him up for soccer this spring instead of baseball. And by begging I mean every practice or game the coached asked if he was going to play in the spring and would say "I would really love to have him on my team." In November he tried out for basketball at school and made the team. I love seeing him improve his basketball skills as the season has gone on. He went from playing like 2 minutes or so the first few games to playing the entire game. He also is doing well in school and getting As and Bs too. He is also my one who will also come and snuggle with me on the couch when we watch our television show "Once Upon a Time".

Glamor Girl tried track and field at the beginning of the year. At first she didn't like it because there was a lot of conditioning. But she really liked the track meets. She is not very fast though. Have to admit that track meets were not my favorite sport to attend but I am a great fan of my daughter so I was there rain or shine. She also got the lead in the play at school while she was in 5th grade. She loves to act. This summer I took her away for a weekend just her, me and my mom we had a great time! This fall she played soccer as well. She liked this league much better than the one she played on a few years ago. The best part was that Monkey and her were on the same team. It was great for our family only one game and practice. She did really well and got her first two goals this season. She decided not to do cheerleading this year. She started her last year of elementary school...we are going to have a Jr. Higher next year. She continues to get all As on her report card. Her favorite activity of all time is reading. She reads 500 pages books in 2 days. She can't get new books fast enough