Hannah is a Decade Years Old

 Dear Hannah, 

Yikes! 

It has been 5 months since I've last posted about you. You recently hit the decade mark and I am really proud of the person that you've become. 

Out of the 3 kids, you and I are most alike. I can always count on you wanting to accompany me anywhere that might seem fun to me to visit. 

All 3 of you like foraging for food. I mean, I think most people like to do it, but you get really excited and will go out on your own to look for edible things in nature. When you are stressed, you often ask if you can go on a hike through the woods near our house. 

You are brave and adventurous. You love being in nature and going on hikes. 

You are also very crafty. You love making crafts and learning how to make new things. 

 

For your 10th birthday, you asked to have it at a skating rink. You had your best friends there and we all had a blast. You also couldn't decide one flavor of cake, so we got 2. 

You are probably the bravest person in the family. When we went to the ocean over the summer, you were the only person in the family who went cliff diving. 

You still continue to love gymnastics. We decided to go the recreation route this season and it seems to be a better fit. You are still practicing as long as when you were on the team, but we don't have to go to competitions anymore and you are ok with it. 

You appreciate Nature, beautiful scenery and I can often sense you pausing to just soak everything in. 

You are a little foodie who is eager to try everything. You are braver than I am when it comes to spicy food! 

You beg for us to get another dog almost every day. We got you some fish, which you do a great job of taking care of. You love interacting with animals and ever since you were a child, you love to pet all the animals. You got to pet some chupacabras, sheep, alpacas, an albino kangaroo and a cat on our trip.  

You love to cook. You are now the Havlir waffle master. Anytime we have waffles, you are in charge of making them. I signed you up for a baking class and you made your own mango cake which was delicious! 

You are a beautiful girl who has a sense of style. This is probably where you and I differ the most. I like more traditional and plain clothing, you like florals and colorful pieces of clothing with ruffles. 

When we went to Taiwan, we had to recreate this photo. I think they have moved the panda that we took the picture of when you were 1 years old, I think this is close enough.

You are an amazing big sister to Hailey. You know exactly what she needs to hear when she is sad. You guys like to play together, but sometimes you also infuriate each other. 

4th grade Texas History Wax Museum

Mother's Day 2024

Excited to see all the amazing things you will be doing this year in 5th grade! You are participating in First Lego League Robotics this year and we will be having a competition at the end of this year! 

Until next post, 

Love, 

Mommy 

Nathan is a Dozen Years Old

Dear Nathan, 

Well, since the last post you graduated elementary school. 

We participated in VBS at school. This was your first year in the CIA (Compassion In Action) program and you got to go off of church property to do service projects. 

We went to Taiwan 

You completed survived a week of baseball camp in mostly hot and humid conditions. 

Your sense of fashion is one of a kind. Your outfit of the day is dictated by the first item of clothing that you touch in your drawer. So 50% of the time, you are wearing a tie-dye shirt of some sort. 

You like archery and you are a self-proclaimed nerd. 

You are still sensitive to sensory stimulation, but will be cautious before trying an experience. 

You are mature for your age. We took you on an adult city tour and you enjoyed it. 

Your favorite flavor is sour lemon. The more sour the better. 

You also love eating braised pork over rice. That is your favorite go-to meal in Taiwan. 

You like to bake things. Your favorite foods are chicken thunder and lion's head. 

You are a loving brother who also likes to cause mischief and annoy your sisters. 

You are strategic minded. 

You are a creative builder who is currently obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons. 

You appreciate a beautiful sunset. 

You are a voracious reader / audiobook listener. You love books in the fantasy genre, especially anything that has to do with greek mythology. 

You are learning to play the saxophone. Your previous experience with playing the recorder has been helpful with you saxophone skills. 

You are a hard worker. You recently were invited to join in the jr. black belt class. You will train with them for the next 6 months and then undergo a 4 hour black belt test in the spring. You are ready and excited for this. 

You competed in a ground sparring tournament and placed 2nd place. 

Hailey did too. 

You turned 12. 

You also love a good bacon burger with lettuce and tomato. 

You have also grown so much this year, 4 inches to be exact. You have not grown this much since your first year of life! Your voice has also recently gotten deeper in the past week or so. You have mentioned to me several times that it's weird for you to sing. 

You like coming up with bad punny jokes and continue to love math. Your ag class has taught you to appreciate gardening and you would like to have a little plot of land to grow edible plants. You confirmed that you don't like caring for animals (goats and chickens) but find pulling weeds satisfying. Well, I have a bunch of weeds in my flower beds that you are welcome to pull anytime. 

It's crazy to think that I only have 6 years of you living with us before you move onto college. Time really flies by! 

Hopefully I will be able to make these updates more frequently....before you know it, you will be a teenager!