Scarlett's 14th Birthday

Between all Tucker's graduation stuff and Calista's baptism stuff Scarlett didn't get the birthday attention she deserved.  She had a great attitude about it though and is always very thoughtful.

She requested a lemon cake.

I usually tell everyone I'm leaving and everyone usually responds with an half hearted, "OK." It is funny and I'm not sure when she started doing it but whenever I leave the house she makes a point to run down the stairs to me and give me a hug and say bye.  She is the only one of my kids who does that and she does it completely on her own.  I've noticed her giving her friends goodbye hugs as well.

Scarlett also cares a lot about her friends and their feelings.  She always wants to include everyone and doesn't want to hurt anyones feelings.  

She loves reading and prefers to be in her room alone than hanging out with the family most of the time.  We love her and try to get her to at least read on the couch near us.  Happy Birthday Scarlett.

Scarlett's 13th Birthday

Scarlett is a teenager!  We now have three in the house.  

Scarlett has noticeably matured over this past year.  She has grown so much in her schooling, they took her off of her IEPs and is doing well in her classes.  Her teachers says she is great in class and they especially love how hard she works.

She has a lot of strong feelings but I can see now that she tries to control them, which is not something she did when she was younger.

Scarlett is very kind.  She will write bob and I nice notes and whenever she is somewhere that they are giving out treats she will try to get one for me because she knows I like sweets. 

She still struggles getting along with some of her siblings but we are working on it.  

Scarlett loves reading.  She usually walks around school all day with like three huge chapter books in her arms that she is working on.  She spends a good amount of time at home reading as well.  

Scarlett is not into sports or competitive anything, but she did do cross country at my encouragement and worked very hard at it.  

At her birthday party right after she opened presents I accidentally pulled Beatrix's elbow out of place.  She was in pain and Bob and I rushed her to the ER.  After the long wait the doctor fixed it in about three seconds (Side note, we saw the doctor less than three minutes, used no medicine, supplies, or machines and got an $1800 bill.  That makes no sense to me, but thankfully our insurance covered most of it).  Anyway Scarlett was so sweet about the whole thing.  She didn't care that it was happening right when we were about to eat cake.  She wanted to go to the hospital with us to make sure Beatrix was OK.  I had her stay home, my parents and sister and her husband stayed with the kids and finished out the birthday party for us.  They even cleaned up and made "get well" cards for Beatrix.  Beatrix was totally fine and happy right after the doctor popped it back into place.  No ice or resting needed.

In ended up being a decent family birthday party aside from the ER trip right in the middle.

Happy Birthday Scarlett!

Scarlett's 11! Photography

Now that Scarlett is 11 we wanted to quickly take some pictures before she grew anymore.

Scarlett looks so grown up in these pictures, but she is still very much a kid.  She just finished elementary school and will be starting middle school in a couple of months.  I can hardly believe it.  She is excited to go to the same school as her sister, something she only did one time before when they were in kindergarten.  She actually doesn't want to go to school at all.  Her teachers always tell me that she works so hard in class and she follows directions well.  She also doesn't seem to have a problem with making friends or the other kids. That being said, schoolwork is hard for her and she would rather not do it at all.

Scarlett loves plants.  She has a few at our house and diligently takes care of them. Scarlett also likes to cook and draw.  Encanto was a favorite movie of hers and she enjoys the show Elena of Avelor.  

After months of trying to adopt a feral neighborhood cat we found someone who was moving and needed to rehome their outdoor cat.  Scarlett loves Mochi and is in charge of feeding and taking care of him.  She even made an outdoor house for him.  We can't actually have any pets in our home so this was the perfect solution.

Scarlett Pictures

Scarlett and I knocked these pictures out in about three minutes.  She said she was so quick with her good smiles because she just had a modeling job yesterday.

Happy Birthday Scarlett!

Scarlett's Birthday

Scarlett had school on her 10th birthday.  It took a lot of the pressure off me to full the day with fun.  After everyone was home we did do a little family party.  

She loved the cake!  I'm surprised I've never made one like this for the kids before.  It was a huge hit.

2nd First day of School

Scarlett and Leon had their first day back to school on Monday.  The've been doing virtual school, but now that our covid numbers are super low the actual school has opened back up full time to students.  I, of course, have mixed feelings about it, but overall things went as well as they could.  

The kids had a ton of stuff to bring back with them on the first day.

Masks are mandatory.  That includes at the bus stop, during the bus ride, and the entire time at school.  The kids also have plastic barriers set up on their desk.  Their desks are spaced out.  The playground is sectioned off, and their one recess is short.  Their lunch times are extra early.  I think in order to reduce the amount of children in the cafeteria some kids are eating even earlier and some even later than what would be considered normal lunch time.  The bus children must arrive 10 minutes earlier and leave ten minutes after everyone else.  There is no sharing.  

Leon likes his teacher, Dr. Maxey.  His best friend from last year is in his class again this year so he is pretty happy.

Scarlett also likes her teacher Mr. Sinski.  He is fun and so far she enjoys her class.  She says that it is easier than virtual school and I'd have to agree.  It is easier for both of us for her not to be doing virtual school.

Things have been much calmer and less stressful at home.  I'm still plenty busy with homeschooling Penelope and Tucker and watching Calista and Beatrix, but now I don't feel like I'm being pulled six different ways all the time.  Virtual school was not a good fit for us.  I hope the schools stay open for the rest of the school year, but that is not guaranteed.  I feel bad for sending Scarlett and Leon to school all day where it almost seems like they are treated like prisoners.  I would not like it at all.  They are on the bus for about two hours a day, even though we live 15 minutes away.  They are doing fine though and so I think it is the best we can do this year.

Scarlett's 8 Year Video

I put together clips and videos of Scarlett when she was 8-years-old.  Check it out.

Scarlett's 9 Photos

Scarlett is nine years old now so we hopped outside on our back porch before some home church last Sunday for a few photos before she gets any bigger.

She is practically the same size as Penelope and growing fast.  I think her short hair makes her seem older and it suits her perfectly.  After last summer she did want to grow it out but that didn't last long.  She was begging me to cut it again.  She really doesn't like combing or even doing her hair and so this is much easier for her.  She also doesn't like it on her back when she is hot so this hair cut is great.  It accentuates her vibrant personality.

Scarlett seems to feel everything a little more deeply then the other kids.  What could seem like a small accidental bump to most she might take as a purposeful and painful shove.  I can't really say what she is feeling and what she is faking but she does seem to think things hurt more then everyone else.  On the flip side she the the happiest when something good happens to her.  

She is also very sensitive and does seem to struggle more then some kids.  School and traditional learning doesn't come easy for her.  She also is just a little slower when it comes to things like racing.  She doesn't enjoy games like tag or running around very much, I really don't know if she doesn't like it because she is slightly slower or if she is a little slower because she doesn't like it.  Honestly she is barely any slower, but just slow enough that it is really hard for her to tag someone when she is it.  I really hope that these things that are challenging for her now will help her to grow up to be stronger and have more character then she would other wise. 

She does have a strong personality and is not the type of person to just go along with whatever her friends or siblings are doing.  She has no problem sitting out because she doesn't want to do what the others are doing.

Scarlett is very caring.  If someone is upset she will try to please them.  She is the first one to help with a crying baby or toddler.  In fact she is amazing with them.  Scarlett told me one time that if she has a toy that Penelope really wants that Penelope will just ask her to have it over and over again and then she will say yes.  It was funny to me how she said it in some sort of resigned tone like she couldn't control it and just tell Penelope no.  The point is she cares about others feelings to the point of sometimes putting them before her own.

Scarlett is very motivated by prizes or food.  I mentioned earlier that she doesn't like schoolwork, well she has worked so hard to learn her multiplication facts because her teachers promised her ice cream.  She hated all the practice, but she kept talking about how she really wanted ice cream so she had to do it.  I'm not sure how she is going to get the ice cream now that everyone is home for the virus but her teachers can figure that one out.  Scarlett has mixed feelings about not being at school.  She misses her friends and her teachers but she also is happy to have more free time and not be rushed all the time.  She does not want to go to public school again next year.

I love Scarlett and am excited to see who she turns into as an adult.

Scarlett's Birthday

Scarlett is now nine years old!  We are pretty much in quarantine so even though it was her year and friends party wasn't an option.  She didn't seem to mind though and just said she will do her friends party next year instead.

Her door opens out so we had to decorate the hallway outside her door instead of putting the streamers right on her doorway like we usually do.

For breakfast she choose giant pancakes, lunch was macaroni and cheese, and dinner was a frozen dinner in a bag thing.  So easy!  

She still had to do her virtual school, but it was fun to watch the 40 kids in her class sing happy birthday to her over zoom.

 Once Bob got home from work she got to open presents.

 Bob and I got her an indoor trampoline.  She was pretty excited, and so were all the other kids.

 She requested a lemon cake and said it was the best tasting cake ever.

Happy Birthday Scarlett!