Hailey Turns 6 and the Last Kid is off to Big Kid School

Dear Hailey,

Your presence lights up a room. You bring joy and laughter to people, but in your worst times, you are a hurricane, a vengeful force that is fierce. 

The big news is that you have outgrown your dairy allergy and this has definitely been a life changer. I'm excited to experience with you a whole new world of foods laden with dairy. We are not limited to certain foods or cuisines. The world is our buffet tables now! 

You love all things beautiful, flowy, flowery and you are very particular about the ensembles that you wear each day. You, on the other hand, have no problem making your mind up on any sort of matter and will get annoyed at someone if they try to change your mind. "I said already..." is a common phrase that comes out of you mouth. 

So, nonetheless, you are definitely sassy. I took you in to a research study where they ask you similar questions repeatedly and so many times under your breath, you would say, "I already told you that." but you kept it under your breath since the interviewer was a complete stranger. 

When your top front teeth was loose.
You would stick it out and show  everyone your silly face. 

As the youngest child, you often get frustrated about the things that you can't or are not allowed to do because of your age. In times of frustration, sometimes you ask me if I could "just love " you "a little bit more than" I "love the others." I usually just chuckle and say, not possible, because my love is divided equally already. On the flip side, Nathan and Hannah are always saying how I let you do things earlier than when I let them. I just can never win. 

You also had specific desires for your cake. You wanted a rectangle cake with cream layers with strawberries and oreos. You also love to watch baking shows with Hannah and are often inspired to just go in the kitchen and create something great randomly. I've been more of a buzz kill lately, because I am literally stretches as much as I can be stretched and the thought of taking time out to clean up a kitchen after you guys just sounds draining. Maybe I will find more balance soon and will go back to being a bit more of a cooler mom. 

Hailey, you continue to love martial arts and have even been taking part in the monthly sit up challenge, to complete 500 sit ups in one month. 

You love school and at some point even had a boyfriend. Your teacher actually told me about this and since you are not dating any more, I  think I can share this story. 

So, one day we were in the car going somewhere and the dialogue went something like this: 

    " Hailey, does anyone in your class have a boyfriend or girlfriend?" 

    "Nope." 
    "Oh, ok, cool. Nathan had a girlfriend in pre-school, so I was wondering if kids had boyfriends in kindergarten." 
    "Oh, well, I have a boyfriend."

    "I thought you said no one in your class has a boyfriend." 

    "No one else in my class has one, but I have one." 

    "So, how did it happen?" 
    "He came over and asked me if I would marry him."

    "Well, what did you say?"

    "Of course, no!" 

    "Ok, and then what happened?"

    " Well, he then said that if I wouldn't marry him, that maybe I would be his girlfriend." 

    "What did you say to that?"

    "I said, 'yes.'" 

    "Ok, cool. So what is his name?"

    "_____" 

    "What does he like, his favorite color?"

    "Um...I don't know." 

    "How about his favorite food?"

    "I don't know that either."

    "What color are his eyes?" 

    "He always wears sunglasses outside so I can't see"

    "Ok, well, sounds like you need to get to know him more to see if you have much in common." 

    "Yeah, I guess I can ask him." 

    "So why do you even like him?"

    "He's handsome and he says that I am pretty." 

    "Ok, so what is more important, handsome, or being nice." 

    "Mom, I know, being nice, of course. He's a nice boy. He doesn't really get in trouble." 

So last week we had a field trip and I met your boyfriend's mom. She tells me that he's already had several girlfriends in school already. 😁😂 A red flag immediately went up when I asked you the next day if you found out what his favorite color was and you said that he just ran away from you. But anyways, you guys are just friends now, and I'm ok with that. 

When you had originally told me about your boyfriend, you told me not to tell Nathan or Hannah because it was a bit embarrassing, but one day during dinner, you just announced it. Both Nathan and Hannah's jaws dropped as they couldn't believe that their little sister snagged a boyfriend before they ever did. Technically, Nathan has a fiancé, but she's been ghosting him since they graduated preschool. 

Stay cool and work your cuteness as long as you can. 

Love, 

Mommy 

 

Nathan turns 11

Dear Nathan, 

You are a quirky, smart-Alek-y, self proclaimed nerd who loves to play DnD, but you can't find anyone to play with so you spend hours and hours playing by yourself--creating stories, and characters. You love all things chocolate and not too sweet. You are still the pickiest eater, keeping to your known favorites, but you are still my best veggie eater. 

You will talk to anyone who lets you talk about DnD, Pokemon, or Zelda. Often you start talking about things and I have to remind you, "context please." Because when it all comes down to battling and picking up treasures, all of these things have that in common. 

You are an avid reader, as avid as they come because often, I actually have to tell you to stop reading and take a break. You love Brandon Mull, Rick Riordan and continue to love the Pilkey series, Dogman. 

I also often have to remind you to eat your dessert and we often joke how I'm the worst mom ever because I tell you to stop reading and eat more sweets. 

You partook in your first communion earlier this month. You are not a huge fan of the wine, so during communion, you opt for the grape juice. 

You are a kid who really has a big heart, but your desire for justice and tendency to follow the rules limits that quality (big heart) somewhat. I pray that God puts the right people in your lives to help you figure this out. 

You continue to be a great leader in martial arts class. Your tornado kicks are pretty impressive and you are nimble, agile, quick. You also show great discipline, but can be a little absent minded sometimes. I love you so much and am proud to be your mom. 

Love, 

Mom

 

Hannah turns 9

Dear Hannah, 

My dear middle child. You are curious, a little sassy, a little caring, and you still have a tough time making decisions. It's so crazy how much of myself I see in you. Dad makes comments like, "of course you would like/do..." all the time. 

Hannah, Kinder                                                        Hannah, 4th grade

I've talked to other parents and they can confirm hormones are coming in at 4th grade and you are definitely more sensitive to emotions than you were before. You still love creating things with your hands and you have passed that love on to your little sister. Dad and I sometimes have to secretly throw away trash to prevent it from being a potential craft project. 

You still love to explore and try all different types of food. So, for your birthday we went to Le Madeline's for some French cuisine. 

You are quickly growing out of your clothes, so we went on a small shopping spree to restock your wardrobe. 

You wanted to make your own cake, so that was easy enough and it ended up being absolutely delicious. 

You continue to practice gymnastics and it is crazy to see you continue to get strong. You also are a part of a lego robotics team this year and you are enjoying it a lot. You continue to play viola and your tone is starting to feel a bit warmer and fuller -- less like large screeching cats. It's cool to see you get excited when you nail a piece that you've been working on line by line. You also say "wait" after you mess up, before looking closely at the music...something I used to catch myself doing as I practiced flute. 

According to Ms. Maldonado, you are her favorite Havlir kid and you definitely don't let Nathan forget it. 

I feel like I've finally gotten your schedule balanced out a bit so that you have time to be a kid. We paused martial arts for now. You miss it, but I think you definitely appreciate the free time. 

When I'm home at night, you always still ask me if I would sing you a lullaby before bed and you always tell me you love me when I drop you off at gymnastics. I love you much! 

Love, 

Mom
 

Bye, Bye Summer Break!

Dear Kiddos, 

So, our last post left off at the end of June, so this post will cover July and half of August. Still too long between posts, but, I'm getting better. 

Hannah, you helped our neighbors with some cat sitting this summer and I was very proud about how you were able to go (most of the time) without any reminders from me. Now, feeding our fish daily is another story, but the good news is that we kept the neighbors' cats alive. 

Last week in June, Hannah attended a music theater camp and because of it, is not a major Swifty...Nathan and Hailey have also been slowly converted. 

So the first week of July, we drove up to Dallas for Auntie Momo camp. We visited the Perot museum on the way there. 

You guys raced dinosaurs. 

And olympic athletes... Afterwards, we had some yummy soup dumplings and we dropped you guys off at Auntie Momo's house while dad and I got to spend some time together doing things that adults like to do...

Like tour the AT&T cowboy stadium, where we did a lot of walking and you guys would've complained the whole time. 

Check out water gardens in Ft. worth, where the trek down was a bit scary, and we would've had to skip out on the experience because we love you guys too much to lose you. 

And visited a distillery, where we sat down and sampled many different types of spirits. 

Eventually, we met back up and we enjoyed some hotpot where everyone got to cook their own pot of food. There was even a conveyor belt that brought ingredients right to your table. 

Dad and I tried Korean cheese dogs, which were pretty good 

and super cheesy. 

On the last day that we were there, we decided to take you girls to the Crayola experience while Nathan finished a role playing game with Auntie Momo and Justin. 

On the 4th of July, we drove back down to Austin and then around sunset, we went to go watch some fireworks. 

Dad celebrated a birthday a few days later and we made a cake for him. 

Hailey started swim lessons and after 1 lesson, you were swimming under water. Prior to swim class, you pretty much avoided going under and anytime your face got wet, you would run to wipe your face off with a towel. 

Hailey, you've gotten pretty good at playing checkers too. You can legitimately beat me if I'm not trying too hard to win. 

You have also made good progress with your reading lessons and you finally earned your lollipop. 

One day after camp, we went to get froyo. Ya'll think it's the best! 

Another afternoon, we went to UT for all of you to participate in some child development studies. When I listened in on Hailey's interview, it was like an episode of Kids say the darndest things. I was doing my best not to laugh too loud in the room next to you. 

We've had a good balance of camps and relaxing time at home this summer. We have been able to play games, clean, and have play dates with friends. 

So, I finally took Hailey to an allergist. She did the skin test and confirmed allergies to cashew, pistachio, peanut and almond. But milk continues to not show up. Hailey's also allergic to dog and mountain cedar. 

After the skin test, I asked you what you wanted to have for lunch and without hesitation, you said, Crispy noodles. 

So good news about the dairy thing. We tried goat cheese a week ago and you were able to tolerate it well. Slowly, we are introducing different forms of dairy to you to see if you have outgrown the dairy sensitivity and it looks like you have! We have not given you a full glass of milk yet, but that is on the list for next week! Squeee I am so excited about the possibility of you being able to enjoy dairy!!! 

We had a tea party at church and I got to attend it with Hannah and a few close friends. I love how Hannah just gets so excited about trying different types of foods and it was endearing to see her get excited about the food in front of her. 

Following the tea, I had a roller derby game and the whole family came to watch and cheer me on. It was super fun to see you and hear you all cheering as I broke out of the pack. During intermission, it was so cute how you guys were pretending to play roller derby. 

A few days later we visited the blue hole in Wimberly and both you big kids tried jumping off of the rope swing. Nathan, you decided that it wasn't super fun, but Hannah liked the thrill and must have jumped like 10 times. Right before we left, Hannah, you went to the high jump and jumped off of that one too. I'm super proud of your bravery! 

 And that brings us to today, the first day of school. Kindergarten for Hailey, 4th grade for Hannah, and 5th for Nathan. 

Good luck kiddos! 

Love, 

Mommy