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Thirteen!

Lana turned 13 last month, which means we now have TWO TEENAGE GIRLS in the house!

This one is spicy, sassy, ridiculously creative, loyal, and has a heart of pure gold. She’ll make you crazy with her massive eye rolls, teenage slang, and seemingly uncaring attitude, then turn around and do the most thoughtful thing in the world that no one else would ever even realize you needed.

She and Ryan butt heads constantly; he hating the fact that they speak in nonsensical terms and she seems to “never” listen, and she hating his overbearing father-ness. But they are so similarly minded, neither backs down. Yes, she could stand to learn when to respect authority a little more appropriately sometimes, but I will never quash her spirit to stand up to him and for herself. It’s taken me practically my whole life to learn to stand up for myself, and it’s one thing I will never dissuade our kids from doing.

She’s incredibly smart and now knows the world of beauty and skincare practically inside out. Her artistic skills aren’t at the forefront quite as regularly as they used to be, but they’re still there. She recently brought home some Halloween/fall drawings and paintings she did in art class last quarter, and they absolutely blew me away. They honestly look professional. She loves to make some seriously elaborate food concoctions from scratch, and I’d like her to be my personal barista for life.

She has a great group of friends that has carried over from elementary school and is still going strong. She ran cross country again this fall and was the fastest 7th-grade girl on the team, getting invited to the year-end meet for only the fastest runners again. She claims that she still hates running, but I’m hoping she’ll give track a shot in the spring since she is so fast and it’s so different from cross country. I think she’ll be great at sprints, middle distance, or some of the non-running events. We shall see.

She still loves sushi, meatloaf, and Thai beef with sticky rice. Her favorite color is purple, her favorite holiday is Christmas. She’s watched pretty much every short that exists on YouTube, and she starts almost every text to me, “Mother?” I absolutely love it.

My little Shmee. I can’t believe that tiny girl with the giant blue eyes and Nigh-Night constantly in the crook of her arm (he still is!) is a teenager! The person you’re becoming is so completely amazing, I can’t wait to see where this crazy life takes you. We love you so much, Lana Marie! You are the sparkle that every life needs, so thank you for being perfectly you!!

Here we go, the yearly comparison photos and posts…

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Back in the saddle

School started 2 weeks ago, and man, is it off and running!

The girls both have cross country practice after school each day, with meets once a week or once every two for Della and once or twice a week for Lana. Morrison is playing fall ball with Little League and flag football again, so those games and practices are once a week. I’m waiting to sign the twins up for their next round of swim lessons until this winter, mainly so the family calendar doesn’t burst into flames and my head keeps from exploding. 😀

We did make sure to have a lot of fun that last weekend before school began again, though. Obvisouly Donut Monster, Della went on her annual up north trip with her best friend and her family, Ryan took the other 4 up to Sheboygan Falls for dinner with his family and a hometown high-school football game, and those here did a few nights of backyard camping. Well, not me. I don’t camp. But I did put up the tent and get it all situated for them. 😉

Hard-earned $ from a lemonade stand the day before
Treats bought with that $!
Last early-morning walk together of summer 2025

I went to Parent Orientation for the boys this week, and I absolutely love getting the peeks into their daily lives at school when they’re away from me. I hope to god our schools always stay safe and keep them protected. But they all have fantastic teachers and are off to a great start, so I think it’s going to be a wonderful year!

Nat’s 2nd-grade class

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Fifteen!

Della turned 15 last month, and the independence she’s gaining is nothing short of astonishing.

We actually just had her physical, too, shockingly on time, so here are her official 15-year stats:

  • Height: 5′ 7.7″ (so we just call her 5′ 8″ 😀 ) (94%)
  • Weight: 127 lbs. (69%)
  • BMI: 19.4 kg/m2 (43%)

She’s a sophomore this year, and I swear, even since this school year began just a few weeks ago she seems more grown up. She’s carrying a full class load this fall semester with her first AP class (comp sci) and no study hall, plus she’s added a second sport to her list – cross country. I was very surprised when she said she wanted to join the team this fall earlier this summer, because she doesn’t like running. But she went to most of the optional practices this summer and is all in this fall. They’ve had one meet so far, and she did great! She ran a sub-8:00 first mile, then in the 9:00s for her second and third miles. That’s pretty impressive to me, seeing how she couldn’t even finish a full 3 miles running when practices started. She’s doing this as conditioning for her first sport, lacrosse, in the spring, and I think it’s great. They do a lot of cross conditioning like yoga and swimming, and they work with a strength coach for muscle building and to help prevent injuries, plus a dietician and nutritionist. I wish we had all those extras back when I was in high school! After the first meet I asked her how everything went, and she said it was great aside from the running. 🙂

But the independence. She chose and scheduled all her classes by herself. She’s already thinking about colleges, seeing which ones on Ryan’s list of tuition exchange will fit her best. She keeps track of all her practices and meets by herself. (in fairness, i obviously do, too, but she almost never needs a reminder for anything) She started going to the chiropractor with me this summer so we have all those appointments set up. Side note – her scoliosis got much worse over the past 5 years so we had to go back to the back doctor for x-rays this summer, but fortunately she’s pretty much done growing so it shouldn’t get any worse; we go back for follow-up x-rays in a couple more months to confirm that. She makes plans with her friends and they do stuff all on their own. I always tell her I don’t remember doing anything on my own when I was her age. But I also didn’t grow up in a place like this where we could walk everywhere at any time and never need rides from our parents. She can pretty much fully take care of herself and siblings when needed, but she does still prefer my help on that kind of stuff. 😉 And I’m happy to give it!

She has a great group of friends, which is so important in these weird high school years. This summer they went out to a pizza farm for one of the girl’s birthdays, then the very next day they went down to Chicago for an amazing overnight shopping trip for another girl’s birthday. They went to her first concet at Summerfest to see The Lumineers right after the 4th of July, and they’re always going over to one of their houses before and after football games to get ready and hang out.

For all the “grown-upness,” though, she still loves to be silly. Making faces, picking on her siblings, having summer or weekend sleepovers with the twins, burping the alphabet, showing me all of her purchases and product unboxings. She tried to get a summer job this year, but that didn’t pan out. She did do some mowing for one of the neighbors a couple times, but it wasn’t quite the regular paycheck she was hoping for. We travel a lot during the summer, though, and she had lacrosse and cross country practices, so I’m not sure where she was planning to put that job. So not totally grown up quite yet… 😉 She also has a tiny strawberry plant that we got from a neighbor’s baby’s 1st birthday party this summer that she started from seed and has been taking meticulous care of – bringing it in during heavy rains, misting it with a spray bottle when it’s dry. Still the caring peanut she’s always been.

She just got her driver’s permit a few weeks ago, too, and she’s already scheduled her first behind-the-wheel session for later next month. She did 30 hours of online lessons this summer and passed the written and road signs tests last month. I took her to a big abandoned parking lot a few blocks from our house for her first driving lesson last month, and she did really well. She only revved up then slammed on the brakes once, ha! She said she was scared to actually get behind the wheel, but I was very proud of myself for staying completely calm the entire time so I didn’t freak her out, even when we thought we might crash into the sidewalk there at one point.

Happy 15th birthday, Della Jolee! You have no idea how proud we are of you, and your quiet confidence impresses us constantly. You’ll always be my little peanut, but this bigger version is turning out to be a really great one. We love you so much!!

Here we go – the looks back through the years:

One!
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Three!
Four!
Five!
Six!
Seven!
Eight!
Nine!
Ten!
Eleven!
Twelve!
Thirteen!
Fourteen!
Fifteen!

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Back up – heavy hitter!

Morrison hit a home run during the spring/summer baseball season this year, so he was eligible to participate in the Little League home run derby after the championship games. Their team didn’t make the finals, but that didn’t dampen his excitement for the derby at all! The kids and I got home from our Canada trip the very day of the derby, but then it ended up getting rained out and postponed. No big deal, it was just a few evenings later. On one of the hottest nights of the year. 🥵

The kids had the option of choosing who they wanted to pitch for them – parent, coach, friend, etc. – and Morrison chose Ryan. They both needed to warm up in batting practice beforehand that night! Then unfortunately they waited directly in the sweltering sun of the dugout until Morrison was up to bat. We may decide to have his coach pitch to him the next time he’s in the derby, but they both did great. There was a full opening ceremony where each of the kids was introduced, which was so fun to watch. And most importantly, Morrison was SO excited, because he hit a home run that Ryan and I both got to see this time!! I was thrilled! He and a couple other batters hit 1 each, a couple hit 2-3, one kid hit 7, and the winner hit 10! There were only 6 batters in all, so I was SO PROUD that Morrison was one of them and so happy that all of them hit at least one home run. And his team had 3 boys in the derby, the most out of any team – I’d say their coaches did a great job! He still claims that he’s waiting for track to be his breakout sport, but I truly love watching him play ball. His athletic skills are pretty amazing. Incredible job, kiddo!

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He’s ten!

Morrison turned 10 last month – double digits!!

ETA: We had his annual physical in September, so here are his official 10-year stats:

  • Height: 4′ 10″ (88%)
  • Weight: 83 lbs 12.4 oz (76%)
  • Blood Pressure: 98/60
  • BMI: 17.35 (60%)

I say it every time, but this kid never ceases to amaze me. He’s brilliant, helpful, kind, caring, empathetic, curious, responsible, respectful, inclusive, and the fastest wheels on his Little League team.

Last sleep of 9!

Every teacher he’s ever had says what an amazing student and classmate he is, and he’s always the one they turn to when they need help with something or need a leader in the classroom. His teacher this year told me multiple times that she’d have no problem leaving the room and letting Morrison just run the class. He’d be in heaven. 😉 He’s both a good friend and a good role model. He’s become Ryan’s apprentice for any and all jobs around here, and I LOVE that. I said these kids will know how to do more stuff by the time they’re teenagers than I do right now. And I could not be more proud of that.

He continues to have the most pure, golden heart and is still happiest when he’s helping others. Sometimes that can turn into policing when it’s trained on his younger brothers, but such is sibling life and love… 😉 The other weekend our neighbors had a 1st birthday party for their little girl, and they asked the girls to help decorate. I said absolutely, and if you have anything you need help moving around, setting up, etc., Morrison would love to get in on the action, too. He (and our neighbors!) were over the moon. He spent all morning over there with his sisters rearranging their backyard, creating a massive balloon arch/banner, decorating tables, setting up food, generally getting everything perfect for what turned out to be a blast of a baby’s birthday party. When he was all done, without prompting or being asked, he came home, showered up, and put on nice party clothes. I was so impressed and proud of him acting like such a little gentleman, I could have burst into tears. The thought he puts into things he does amazes me.

He’s still loving baseball and hit his first out-of-the-park home run this season! I hadn’t gotten to that game in time to see it, but fortunately his coaches had the live replay so they sent that to me. It was so exciting! He’s still dying to start track, though. He told me the other day that he doesn’t even want to try out for the higher-level travel baseball teams, because he really wants to focus on running instead once he gets that chance. You got it, kiddo! I love that he knows what he wants and doesn’t feel like he has to try out for the more exclusive teams just because he can or because his teammates do. To say he’s a natural athlete would be an understatement!

The color green remains his favorite and has been from the start, math is his absolute specialty, he’s made some really cool clay creations in art class this year and loves it, he’s gotten into another new hobby of weaving on a loom, his favorite food is sushi, Snugs and Elli are still tucked in next to him every night along with his other rotating collection of stuffies, and he’s the best little brother his sisters could ask for (except when he annoys them to no end) and the best big brother the twins could ever hope to look up to (except for when that aforementioned policing gets too annoying).

Happy 10th birthday, Morrison John!!! You’re the one who kicked off all the boys in our family, and for that I can’t thank you enough. You are such an extraordinary kid, and I can’t wait to see where that incredible brain takes you. It’s going to be somewhere amazing, I just know it! We love you so much and are so, SO proud of you!

Here they are – the throwbacks!

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And we’re off!

School got out exactly 1 week ago, and it’s already been a whirlwind! The kids all had a half day that last day, then we got home, ate lunch, and immediately drove to Peoria for our annual summer weekend with family. It always coincides with Father’s Day, so I get to see my dad and Ryan gets the best Father’s Day gift every year – silence. We spent a day at my mom’s on the tail end of that trip, then we got home and their true summer break began.

So far this week we’ve worked on flipping our rental house before a new tenant arrives, and the big kids have been absolute rock stars helping with everything. The twins have done a great job entertaining themselves so we can get all that done, Lana and I have started our summer morning walks together, and we’re getting ready for our first of 2 trips this summer. Morrison’s spring/summer Little League is winding down next week, Lana starts cross country camp next week, the twins start tennis lessons the week after next, Della starts lacrosse lessons the week after next, and she started online driver’s ed today!

I love this season so much. My work will unfortunately be busier than usual this summer, but that’s ok; we’ll still have fun. Let’s go summer vacation!!