Eighteen

Oy. My Asher turned EIGHTEEN yesterday. Eighteen, y'all. How the heck did that happen?! 

Here's what we'll call the birthday portrait for the year...

And here are the height comparison photos I've been doing for the last few years (the number is Asher's age in that photo)...

Yes, they're all huge! And here's Asher standing next to Nathan and then next to me...

Yup, he's definitely a young man now. Given the givens, he's not working this summer but is helping with Micah's second degree black belt testing and still going to limited demo team practices (the team's not been meeting altogether but in parts). He actually made the choice to stop going to parkour just before going to parkour became impossible anyhow. (He wanted more time for his schoolwork and also wasn't really able to attend the class/session that fit him best, as it conflicted with karate.) In his downtime he still enjoys computer games and YouTube videos and, when possible, hanging with friends from karate.

He finished his junior year strong, maintaining his 4.0 gpa despite distance learning, and is set to start his senior year at CEC this August--though we have no idea what that will look like, lol. He'll graduate next May with his high school diploma and his Associate of Science from the local community college. Thanks to the pandemic, we haven't been able to visit all the college campuses we were planning to so decisions about life after high school remain undecided for now. He's done some job shadows and had scheduled more, but most of those were cancelled/delayed by the pandemic. (He was able to get one rescheduled for next week via video chat, though! The others he'll try to reschedule later, as some of the other places are closed over the summer.) He's also scheduled to take the ACT later this month, which will be the only official test result he'll have going into college application season.

(He'd originally been scheduled to take both the ACT and SAT in April with intentions to re-test if desired over the summer; but, due to cancellations, this one in July will be his first one and the SAT won't be until the end of August...which doesn't leave as much time if any re-testing is desired. Oh well. We're obviously not the only ones in that boat, lol. Wishing schools could/would just do away with the standardized testing requirement altogether!)

In any case, yesterday we took these pictures. Then, at lunchtime, we picked up curbside service from The Waffle Lab and ate at a nearby park. We then enjoyed some time actually playing on the playground (there weren't many kids there, so we didn't feel like we were taking over or scaring them, lol) and walked to the river. On the way home we picked up the cookie cake Asher loves before enjoying a quiet afternoon. Asher's new iPhone came (it was all we could figure out for his birthday since the boy doesn't really need or want much), and we got that set up. Meanwhile, Noah baked a red velvet cake for Asher as his gift...we did dinner...and we finished the last season of The Big Bang Theory (which we'd started watching when the boys all finished school in May). Not a hugely exciting day, but I hope my Asher feels celebrated...

Sigh. My sweet, happy boy. 

Thankful Thursday

Ta da. I remembered this week, lol. So, without further ado, here are things I'm thankful for...

1. Our neighborhood. In case I haven't mentioned it lately, I really like where we live. Our neighborhood is terrific. We have fantastic neighbors. We can and do make use of our ample sidewalks and bike lanes and trails to walk and run. We have so very much within walking distance...a regular farmer's market (hooray for weekly fresh tamales during the summer!), numerous eateries, groceries, our doctors' offices, our bank, the boys' school, the archery range, the gym, parks, a hardware store and more. Yup. Good location. :)

2. The game of Life. During one of last week's lighter adulting sessions, we ended by playing a board game...Life. It wasn't really part of the lesson but was fun nonetheless. And, even though we think we could definitely make a more accurate game of life, it was entertaining to watch predictable tendencies play out. (For instance, despite Noah and Asher playing it safer and having more lucrative jobs, Micah managed to win by gambling and having kids. A lot.)

3. Our local library. Don't know about where you are, but our libraries aren't yet open to the public again. But. They've been doing curbside pickup for holds so I can still check things out online and they'll pull them and bring them down to a table in the doorway for me to pick up. (We call first from the parking lot then give them a few minutes to drop things at the table then walk over to pick up items...wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.) I appreciate still being able to make use of the library's many resources this way and have checked out numerous books and dvds lately.

4. Our community parks. So glad to live in a city with so many community parks. Nathan and I have been having our weekly date lunches in different parks around town...we pick up take out, go to a park and spread our blanket. Lovely! (Also, thankful that those parks have plentiful trees to provide shade on the particularly warm and sunny days, lol.) 

5. Couples in our life. Thankful for the many couples in our life and the examples they set. In particular, my baby brother and his wife celebrate their 9th anniversary today...and Nathan's parents celebrate their 49th anniversary tomorrow. Happy, happy anniversary to both couples!!

Okay, I know there were other things I meant to mention today, but they're eluding me just now and I want to get back to the book I'm reading... ;) Hope the tail end of June finds you all healthy and happy!

Father's Day

One, yes, I know I missed last Thursday's "Thankful Thursday." Sorry. I just completely forgot. Will resume later this week. :)

Two, hope you all had a fabulous Father's Day yesterday! We had a terrific day here. Noah took over cooking duties for Nathan...grilled brats for lunch and hand-formed burgers for dinner. And, given the pandemic and all, we opted not to go out to play mini golf as per tradition. Instead, we got Nathan a croquet set. :) I have fond memories of playing backyard croquet growing up but haven't played in decades. Nathan had played a few times. The boys had no clue, lol. So, we found a quick video on how to play, walked over to our neighborhood park and gave it a go...

It was awesome...even with the unexpected rain that sent us home again only to have the rain stop...so we set up another game in the front yard, lol. Micah had some initial finesse issues (muscle over technique/aim) but made a roaring comeback to win the second game...Noah and Asher took turns playing spoiler and later became a team against the rest of us...and Nathan, as was fitting on Father's Day, won two of the three games we played. 

Amid all that, we also took some Father's Day pictures. Course, getting a serious/nice photo wasn't the easiest thing with these goofballs...

This was after a strange conga line style leaning sequence.

Micah and Noah were pretending to be coal workers or something?

Not once did everyone agree on what pose they were doing.

But they're still a fairly handsome bunch, right?

After the outside fun (and we were grateful for the overcast day!), we headed back inside for snacking and some poker (where Noah came out victorious after finally getting the last of my chips)...and it was a good day celebrating Nathan. :) So very thankful for the wonderful dad that he is and for all the things he does around here to make our lives better!   

Thankful Thursday

Hi there. It's still Thursday, though it's gotten later than I intended. ;) Here's my quick list of things I'm thankful for this week...

1. Micah's new longboard. A couple weekends ago, Micah spent some socially distanced outdoor time visiting a friend. He was introduced to longboards. Obviously, then, he bought a longboard the following week. :) (He found a really good deal on eBay.) He's still just learning the ropes and likes it just for transportation, not tricks, and has used it to get to and from the park where he's been doing workouts. We're using Asher's old guitar stand to hold everything right now, lol. 

I'm thankful for the whole thing because it's something new that's interested him and that's lovely these days. 

2. Ascent opening up again. On Monday, our local climbing gym reopened to members...yay! You have to make a reservation so that they can monitor how many people are in the building at any given time (there were fewer than 20 people climbing while we were there and it's a big building)...masks are required inside...areas are marked off to help maintain social distancing (which, honestly, is pretty standard with climbing anyhow)...handwashing is very encouraged...and staff are making frequent rounds sanitizing areas. All in all, we're pretty happy with how things are being run and comfortable enough to go climb. Micah and I made reservations for Monday morning and had a fabulous time...

We could both tell that it had been awhile since we'd worked some of those muscles (even with our home wall) and it was our hands that took more of a beating than anything else, but we were happy. It didn't hurt that a number of Micah's climbing teammates had also made reservations for the same time block so they were able to all climb "together" and visit. :)

3. Braiding. With three boys, I rarely get the chance to do anyone's hair. Rarely. But, during this pandemic, Noah and Micah's hair has grown out quite a bit and is braid-able. The other day Micah actually let me braid his. I have pictures but he doesn't want me to share them, lol. Still. I had fun. :) 

4. Adulting lesson. One of this week's adulting lessons was basic sewing. Embarrassingly, I'd never covered this during our homeschooling and decided the boys should at least have a basic understanding of how sewing works. We went over how to thread a needle and sew a couple basic stitches. I had them sew a bit and attach a button. I stressed that we were going for familiarity, not mastery. It was still entertaining, lol. 

5. Drivers ed. Micah's doing his drivers ed classroom time this week. He's not thrilled about it, as it's all virtual. Even with a couple breaks and a longer break for lunch, a full day sitting in a Google Meet classroom is not the most fun. But. He'll have this portion of drivers ed completed tomorrow, and I'm thankful that it was still able to happen at all so that I didn't have to reschedule yet another thing. :)

(He'll do the written test next month and then get his permit after his birthday. He'll also have two days of drive camp--one in July and one in August. After he gets the permit, he'll do the 6 hours of on-street driving training through MasterDrive and log the 50 hours of drive time with me and Nathan before the driving test and finally getting his license a year after he gets the permit. Whew. It'll be lovely to finish with getting all these boys licensed, lol.)

And that's my list for now. Thanks for reading!

Birthday

Thank you to all my fabulous friends and family who wished me a happy birthday yesterday! So grateful for all the messages and reminders that I have such terrific people in my life! Thank you all for the part you've played in getting me to today.

As for us, we had a quiet day at home and it was lovely...

Someone sent me these gorgeous flowers. There was no card or tag with the local delivery...so, whoever you are, THANK YOU! They're totally brightening up our kitchen and truly made me smile. :)

Beyond that, we played a marathon round of The Farming Game...starting around 10:30 and not finishing until after 6pm. We took breaks for lunch and a snack, but it still took much of the day. And, if it hadn't been for a couple of very fortunate fruit harvests for Asher in the last "year" of the game, I would have won. ;) 

And, yes, my guys celebrated me. Nathan made lunch (which included corn on the cob...yay!). Micah and Nathan prepared shrimp and tilapia ceviche for an afternoon snack, complete with margaritas for adults...yum! Noah made hand-cut burgers and shoestring fries from scratch for dinner, and Asher picked out a delicious tiramisu for dessert. It was a very yummy day. :)

After all that, we vegged and binge watched some Big Bang Theory while we digested...and it was a beautiful family day. Happy sigh.