Fantastic at Fifteen

Josiah's play practices begin on Monday.  We've all been wanting to help him practice his lines, because we want to help him, of course, and we're really curious about the play.  Josiah has been resistant because he has wanted to keep the contents mum.  He did let Caroline read, but only up to a point.  She did a good job reading all the other characters.  She had a lot of emotion in her voice.  She also learned how to pronounce Colonel, as in Colonel Mustard.  He let Todd help another day.  

Henry invited a few friends over last weekend.  Because of that, we always clean the downstairs bathroom.  It was Caroline's day to clean the toilet and when we did a final check of the bathroom, we noticed that she had left us a surprise.  She also informed us that she only cleans the outside of the toilet, never the inside.  Good thing the inside never gets dirty...

Henry originally asked me if his friends could come over from 12-2.  That sounded great.  When they left at 6:15 and 6:45 that evening, Henry informed us that he never actually told them an ending time, he just thought they'd get tired and want to leave.  Communication skills were learned that day.  I kept telling him to feed them (because we had sandwich fixings), but they were never eating real food.  Feeling that they must be starving, Caroline helped me make some homemade pizza to feed the crew.  It was Valentine's Day, so we made a heart with the pepperoni, but then that wasn't enough pepperoni to actually have on a pizza, so we added more.  We used Josiah's recipe and it makes a good dough.  

For President's Day the kids got to reconnect with friends we met our first year here.  They moved to NC, but were coming back to check on their house.  They have a big barn in their backyard, so they set up a rope and played pickle ball on a makeshift court.  It was a short visit, but good to reconnect.  

For Henry's birthday weekend, he wanted us to play cards, especially poker.  Especially the Texas Hold 'Em version his teacher taught him at school on Friday...  The girl's basketball team was up in Columbia playing for States.  Every girl in Henry's class was on the team, so that left two boys.  What did they do but play poker.  Playing as a family, Josiah won the day.  Henry and I tried to bluff our way by raising the stakes.  That backfired on both of us and I was out pretty quickly.  Caroline did pretty well, even though she was just learning the game.

Henry woke up this morning fifteen years old.  5'9" and ready to drive.  He breezed through the clues we had given him to find his gifts.  Crazy quick.  Fortunately the very last clue made him sit and think a little harder.  It was a pyramid word puzzle whose letters built on each other.  (O, Lo, Los, Lose, Close, Closet) This year's gifts were more accepted by the household.  Texas teams were represented.  He also got a new desk chair - for months now, he's been looking at desk chairs online.  He loves his mid-century style and was determined to find one of that style (that was affordable...).  He's enjoyed his new headphones as well.   

For breakfast, Henry wanted açai bowls.  We bought frozen premade bowls as well as all the ingredients to make our own.  We tried the frozen ones first.  Henry enjoyed it.  I loved it.  Caroline, not a fruit-lover by any stretch of the means, first picked out all the blueberries, tried one spoonful, and was not a fan.  Josiah attempted as well, but their bowls were ultimately trashed.  (Todd missed out because we smelled banana in it.)

Lunch was Jersey Mike's subs, which was a throwback to Henry's cross country season.  

Dinner was homemade Chipotle chicken and cilantro lime rice bowls with all the fixings.  

Before we ate dessert, Henry had us play a little Knock Out.  Once the first person made a shot, the next person could start shooting.  You didn't want the person behind you to make a basket before you.  It was fast-paced and pretty fun.  

For dessert, he wanted a chocolate cake with raspberries.  Costco makes a mean chocolate cake, so we got that and put our own raspberries on top.  Caroline was our candle decorator.

Henry has been studying for weeks now to take the driving test.  He wanted to go tomorrow, the first day he was eligible.  Unfortunately, we have nothing with his name on it showing proof of address, so Todd's making some phone calls tomorrow to see if we can get something.  The banks here won't allow him to have an account because he doesn't have a photo ID.  Our school doesn't issue them, so it's been a catch-22.  Hopefully, we can get to the DMV on Tuesday.  Henry's antsy to get behind the wheel.  

Winter Ball

This weekend was Winter Ball.  Weeks ago we were asked to host Josiah's class for the meal beforehand.  It is supposed to be a fancy dinner, which was intimidating because there is zero fancy in me.  We decided to do Chipotle catering.  I asked Josiah to subtly ask his classmates if they liked Chipotle so we could gauge interest.  Despite forgetting the meaning of the word subtle, they were all on board.   We had moved our furniture two weeks ago to try out different configurations to seat all 11 kids.  We settled on a configuration on Saturday.  Benson got displaced from his corner and put in the corner of our front living room.  He still got the view, but he missed out on the warmth of the sun.  

Saturday morning our house got cleaned like never before.  Baseboards, windowsills, we dusted everywhere.  I was still doing last minute things when Josiah's first classmate showed up.  When everyone arrived, we walked down to the bigger pond and took pictures.  It wasn't crazy cold, but the wind kind of hit us at that spot, so it felt colder.  They all looked so nice.  They were an easy bunch.  

Dinner went well.  Seconds and thirds were had, which is always encouraging.  Dessert was enjoyed before we headed to the dance.  Originally the dance was at our school, but because it was postponed by the snow last week, the dance got moved to the gym where we play our basketball games.  That meant they were required to wear tennis shoes.  Henry was happy for that because it was his intention (and hope) to wear tennis shoes anyway.  We had bought Josiah new shoes before all the snow, so we were hoping his would get a little use.  

Henry's class had dinner together and left for the dance in style.  

Henry was asked to be an escort this year.  All the seniors ask a lowerclassman as their escort.  From what I can gather he walked her out and then they all did a dance they had practiced.  Josiah told me that all the students had to dance.  The boys have to ask the girls, too, which is good practice.  Josiah was very tired by the end of the evening.  Henry continued his evening dining with friends at Waffle House.       

Today we got all our furniture moved back so we could give Benson the best birthday gift of all - his bed back in his warm, sunlit corner.  Today he is six!  I made him a dog cake and when it came out, it smelled like a dog cake.  That peanut buttery aroma, but without any sweetness.  Benson enjoyed his slice and Caroline ate a slice as well, so it must have been a good one.  

This is six.

The Best Kind of Snow

We made our yearly trek downtown to the local pizza shop to support our school's Spirit Night.  It's really good homemade pizza, I don't know why we don't go more often.  Henry wanted to order the margherita to both eat and drink.  The pizza version was good.  The drink version did not happen.   Caroline took artsy photos of everyone without their knowledge.  We had one official photo so the kids could get House points for going.  I did not tell Henry to put his chin down for this picture, but now he understands why I say that.  I told him I was going to nickname him Trach.

In anticipation of Winter Ball, I had Josiah walk to our "photo spot" at 5:15, around the same hour the kids would be here for dinner and pictures.  He was my test case for lighting and background aesthetics.  He is wearing what he bought with his birthday money - a sweater.  It is red, not burnt orange.  He will correct you.  It is not a Mr Rogers sweater, but he does sing, 'It's such a good feeling to know you're alive' every time he wears it.  He wants loafer style shoes to go with it, but not the same ones Mr Rogers takes off at the start of his show.  

Instead of having the Winter Ball this weekend, we got a beautiful snowfall.  We were told it would start in the middle of the night and it was a little sad to wake up Saturday morning with zero snow on the ground.  It started slowly around 7 a.m. and then we had big snowflakes fall all day long.  It was the good snow, too, perfect for snowballs, snowmen, and for Benson's palate.  Benson was like a little kid -- he loved the snow.  He loved to run in it, he loved to eat it, he loved to watch it fall.  He whined to go outside all the time.  Filled his belly with snow, marked his spots, and filled it back up again.  All. Day. Long.  

Josiah braved the driveway and took a picture of our house.  He also wrote me a note on the hood of my car.  I saw the word, love, and assumed he was writing a sweet note for me to see.  Instead, he was writing a note for me to speak aloud.  It's always a contest around here.  

This was the best snowfall.  For most of Saturday, even though it was snowing fairly hard, it did not stick to the streets.  Then, what froze on the roads last night has already melted.  After missing two days last week, the kids are glad to have school tomorrow.