Monday, October 30, 2023

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
 

Monday, August 14, 2023

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