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.