I thought I had already created these comparison photos from Lana’s first days of K4 and middle school last year, but I apparently did not. I just did her first and last days of elementary school. So here are some new cute comps, just a few months late!
So, 2024 was…. fine. Let’s rock n’ roll, 2025!
November was most likely our last annual fall trip up to Eagle River, and it really bummed us all out. We’ve been going each year with our friends since the twins were born, so this was our 7th trip. It stinks that it was our last, but the owners are selling the whole place and our friend’s family whose timeshare it was isn’t continuing on with the new ownership. Can’t blame them, but now the week getaway we so looked forward to each fall is gone, too.
Here is a big photo dump from our last hurrah. Thank you for all the years and great memories, Lake Forest Resort! We’ll miss you! And maybe someday we’ll make it back to our favorite hike to see if Lana’s stick is still there…
Lana turned 12 last month, and it’s been so fun watching her turn into her real “big kid” self this past year.
ETA: She had her 12-year checkup in December, and here are her official stats!
Her love of outer space has taken a back seat to pop music and a skincare routine, but her undeniable artistic ability and being one of the most creative souls I have ever encountered remain steadfast and stronger than ever.
I’ll admit, I was a little nervous on how her academics were going to hold up going into middle school this year, but she is absolutely crushing 6th grade. At the end of the first quarter she’s carrying straight A’s, and we got the same email we got for Della about the 6th-grade teachers bringing up Lana’s name as one of the standout students for her work ethic and accomplishments during this first part of the school year. Proud is an enormous understatement there.
Also new this year was her breakout cross country season. Before school started we were talking about Della doing lacrosse and Morrison doing baseball and flag football, and Lana said, “I don’t have a sport.” I immediately told her not to even give that a second thought – tons of people don’t do sports, plus the artist in her blows 99% of people away. But she did a cross country camp this summer, and she and I even threw a couple runs into our almost-daily morning walking routine on the bike path, so I could tell she was kind of looking forward to giving running a shot. Giving it a shot – HA! She ended up being the fastest 6th-grade girl on the team!!! She was also invited to run in an invitational meet 2 weeks after their last Conference meet of the season, which she wasn’t super enthused about since it meant she had to race after her birthday, but she did amazing. They only took 10 girls and 10 boys total from all 3 grades (6th, 7th, and 8th). She even went for a practice jog the night before the meet because they didn’t have any organized practices in those 2 weeks between Conference and the invitational. Unfortunately she was struggling with a cough and chest cold when the meet came around, but she still ran her best 1.86-mile time of the season at 14:38 and was the fastest 6th-grade girl for Bay in the race. Plus the WFB girls placed 3rd overall out of like 27 teams, and all 3 grades ran together! Again, proud doesn’t even begin to describe the emotion I felt watching her not only give something new a try this year but excel in the amazing way that she did.
Her favorite color is back to purple from black, and she even admitted she went a little emo for a bit. 😀 Her favorite foods are still sushi, Thai beef with sticky rice, and Jimmy John’s, which she can’t wait for for her birthday dinner together with me. Goofball! (ETA: we ended up going to Noodles again for her birthday lunch instead of Jimmy John’s – game-time switch in the car as we were leaving) Nigh-Night remains her constant companion, and her flair for the creepy and macabre in her sense of humor always entertains everyone.
My little Shmee!! You impress me by the day, and you’re one of my favorite people in the world. Happy 12th birthday, Lana Marie! We love you so very much, and we can’t wait to celebrate you year after year after year.
The best – photo and yearly post comparisons:
As you know, Della started high school this year, our first foray into the world of truly big kids. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s horrifying. I know full well what high schoolers do when left to their own devices sometimes, so I’m just putting full faith that we’re steering her in the right direction at all times possible and she’s actually listening and taking our advice to heart. Hey, a girl can dream, right?! 😆
But anyway… It prompted me to make some pretty cute comparison photos that I wanted to share for posterity. Here are her first days of elementary and middle school plus last day of 8th grade, then first days of all three. I’ll make them for last day of high school, too. Those will be crazy!
As usual, I am far behind over here, but such is a busy life with 5 kids and a full-time job. Said kids all passed their grade levels last year, whew!, we had a fun-filled summer vacation, then they all started back to school within the past 2 weeks. We are now in 3 different schools for the duration with Della starting high school and Lana starting middle school, so that’s a big change, too!
Here are pictures from the last day of school in June and the first days of school this month, but I’m not going to photo dump everything from summer in here. So sorry, that would take forever. I’ll mix a couple summer fun pics in that I might not have posted on social, but our vacations (late winter/early spring break in Florida, Canada in July, and St. Thomas in August) would be entire posts all their own and I just don’t feel like doing that. 😁 But that little Instagram box in the right sidebar here rotates through all my Instagram pictures so they’ll pop up over there, and if you follow me personally on Facebook then you’ve seen most of them there, too. And if you haven’t, just use your imagination! 🤣
Della just turned 14 and I’m sorry, but that just sounds crazy – 14?! However, the day she was born does feel like eons ago…
ETA – we had her 14-year checkup at the end of August, and here are her official stats:
Not only is she now a full-blown teenager, she’s off to high school! We’re going to be in 3 different schools now for the next 5 years, so that’ll be fun. 😀
She remains the unshakable leader of the Rau kids, and we are beyond lucky that she is. The poise and responsibility she shows when she’s in charge is amazing, and the way she makes sure her siblings are 100% ok and everything is taken care of is incredible.
She’s also a wonderful friend, and I’m so happy that she has had such a great group of girlfriends for a number of years now. It gives me comfort that they’re all going into their high school years together – strengh in numbers, right? I’m going to keep telling myself that, anyway, as all of these big-kid years and stressors come our way.
She’s still loving lacrosse and plans to play on the high school team next spring. She’s taken lessons from an upperclasswoman on the team all summer and will be doing some skills clinics with her coach from this spring in the next couple weeks before school starts, so hopefully we can keep her stick in her hands over the fall and winter, too, to get ready for the big leagues on the high school team.
It was cute – she and I were getting her school supplies ready today and ordering the ones she needs, and she already has her color scheme of corresponding notebooks, folders, and binders for each class picked out and ready to go.
Happy 14th birthday, Della Jolee! We love you so much, and the pride we feel watching you grow into this outstanding young woman is immeasurable. Thank you for who you are and everything you do – like I always say, never change for anyone. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead and many, many more birthdays to celebrate!
