Eli
Eli is a teenager now, and he likes things teenagers like. He can be moody like a teenager occasionally, but he is still his old sweet self underneath. :)
-Eli has gone through different phases or "manias," and he'll scour the internet for things that go with that interest: skateboarding, fishing, dirtbiking, etc. (And then want to buy what he finds.)
-Eli likes to mountain bike. He is on the Uintah High team, and is progressing rapidly. It is quite expensive, so he went around to different businesses to ask them to sponsor the team (and he gets half). Nothing came of it, but I was really proud of him for trying. It was scary!
-Another proud moment was when I reminded him about a fireside one Sunday. He didn't want to go, but when the time came, he got ready, and went to the church, even though he didn't have any friends going. He has a strong testimony and contributes insightful comments during scripture study and family home evening.
-He now cares about what he wears and how his hair looks. He always wants to go clothes shopping, which would have been unheard of two years ago.
-Eli is having a better year in school this year, because he's got a lot of good friends. He has good friends at church, too, but not all of them are great influences. (They've got him wanting a mullet, for heaven's sake.)
-Eli plays the saxophone in band. He enjoys the sociality of band class mostly, but occasionally he'll be excited to play a new piece for me.
Tori
-Tori is very self motivated. She does her school work, personal progress, and practicing without my having to push her - or even be involved.
-Tori is still very close to Maggie. She spends a lot of time with her, helps her with things like preparing audition pieces, fixes her hair, etc. Sometimes I take Maggie to things she's too young for, just because it feels like Tori and Maggie are a package deal. Although Maggie has her own room, they both sleep in Tori's.
-Tori is very picky about what she will wear. I don't dare pick things out for her anymore. There are so many things in Maggie's "grow into" boxes that Tori NEVER wore. Any arguments I make are in vain.
-She reads her scriptures every night, even if we go to bed late.
-Last year, Tori's best friends were Abby, Kylie, and Gracie. When we changed wards, she got to be better friends with Lauren Hartman, who also goes to Terra, and now they are best friends.
-Tori does a funny little smile that I think you can see in pictures elsewhere on the blog. It's her trademark.
Jonah
-Jonah takes school very seriously, and does well.
-He has a lot of friends at school and in church. Socializing seems to come easily to him.
-The main thing I think of when I think of Jonah is his quirky sense of humor. He is always saying things that make us laugh out loud. Unfortunately, trying to quote him doesn't always work. The beauty of his humor is that it is random and out of context. But I'll try.
One day, John was by Jonah in a pool, and Jonah said "Testosterone." John looked at him, and Jonah just said, "I don't know what goes on in that brain of yours."
Recently, Jonah said, "I feel like a fat cow with no self-esteem." (It was out of the blue - he wasn't actually feeling down.) I asked him why, and he said, "Mom....you know Canada, right?" and I said, "Yes," and he responded, "Exactly."
Once he ran into the room, stopped suddenly, and said, "Skidmark."
-He used to say "Fourscore" as a word of agreement. And when he didn't like an answer I'd give him, he'd say, "Tear," and draw a line from his eye down his cheek.
Maggie
There are some things that I've been meaning to write about her for a long time, and now I can't remember much.
Past:
-Back when she first started school, she wrote in pen on her backpack, "my shool Terra Acadmo." (We just looked, and we think it's actually "Acadme," which is close, but we've quoted it as "Academo" for too long to change the story now.)
-During 1st grade, she would often say, "Tons of kids in my class do that (like that, have seen that, etc.)" John started jokingly saying, "Well, tons of kids in Maggie's class like it."
-During that same time, she made a card for my friend, Becca Summers, and wrote "Wo Sis, Wo Sis," all over it. (For "Sister" Summers and whoa?)
-Maggie skipped kindergarten. In New York, she was registered for kindergarten, and had gone to the orientation, etc. When we moved to Utah, they wouldn't let her start. She was academically ready, and I hated to make her wait another year, or go to kindergarten when she was beyond that.
Current:
-Maggie dances around all the time. She also jumps from couch to couch and flips off the arm rests. She has a lot of energy.
-Maggie has always wanted me to play pretend with her. I'm the mom, and she's the daughter (of varying ages) who is a dancer, singer, Olympian, etc. She makes up the story line as she goes, and performs for me.
-She does NOT like me to brush her hair. She wants to do it herself, because her head's so sensitive, but she never gets the underneath layer in the back. She looks adorable in a messy bun, but it can't be done without tears.
-She talks in a baby voice fairly often - especially when she feels self-conscious about what she's saying. (Tori did that too.)
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