Merry Christmas!

 

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Our annual summer visit to Texas was another roaring success! 

We ate a ton of delicious Tex-Mex, took the Lululemon outlet by force (bought so. many. clothes.), laughed and visited and enjoyed the company. 

We went to a slide park and I think everyone would agree it's the most fun we had! It was a blast, and I even snuck a ride myself just to try it. There's supposed to be one opening near us soon, and we can't wait to bring all our friends!

Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/vomx8pBF6Y4

We also visited the Fort Worth Stockyards, which was really interesting. We saw a cattle drive, found our way through the cattlepen maze, peeked in on the rodeo arena, shopped for all kind of cowboy accessories, enjoyed some ice cream (naturally!) and took the kids to a honky tonk.

Bonus: we flew home on my birthday. So I woke up on my birthday with Jon, Susan and all the kids -- and then went to sleep with MJ in our own home. A perfect day!

National Junior Honor Society

Sweet Pea is the newest member of the National Junior Honor Society! We're super proud of her, but not shocked -- she's always taken her grades seriously and motivated herself to do well. Last spring she received the application packet, which consisted of quite a few pages detailing her leadership, service to the community, and good character, plus a letter of reference from a non-related adult (thanks, Miss Alice!). And it was all worth it when Sweet Pea found out a few weeks ago that she'd been accepted.

Her induction ceremony was today at the school, and it was really cute! Unfortunately MJ couldn't make it (he's in NYC for the week) but we sent him pictures, and he was able to congratulate her via FaceTime. And a Chick Fil A lunch made it all better.

I hope you always accomplish your goals, Sweet Pea! We love you and we're proud of you!

(In related news, Little Man is pretty motivated right now to get inducted next year. Stay tuned ...)

New School Year!

Hooray! It's a new school year, and it's off to a great start.

CC has been a bundle of nerves the last few days. She had trouble sleeping; she complained of stomach pain; she barely ate anything. She's starting at a high school where she doesn't know anyone at all, and the campus has multiple buildings that she'll have to navigate to get to her classes. But when I picked her up at the end of the day, she was all smiles. "I made two friends!" she squealed. One of them even has her same major -- Costume Design -- so they'll be taking classes together for the next four years. She only experienced half her eight classes today, because the school has an A/B day schedule. She'll have the other four tomorrow. But she is feeling much more comfortable now that she knows a few kids and is more familiar with the buildings.

Sweet Pea had her outfit planned out for weeks (discussed at length via a huge group chat with other 7th grade girls). She was up early, fully packed and ready to go an hour early. She didn't even bring the schedule I printed out for her, because she already had her classes memorized. After school she couldn't wait to tell me all about which classes she had with which friends and how her teachers were. But I know it was still a really big day for her, because after school she also had two hours of cirque. By the time I picked her up, she was in tears over multiple perceived slights (which is what happens when Sweet Pea gets overtired).

Little Man rolled out of bed and, in typical Little Man fashion, wore the clothes he slept in to school. "What?! I just put them on last night. They're clean!" 

He was happy to report that he has recess with one of his best friends, which is great news. And he's really excited about the robotics class he's taking this year. He told me about his plan for school this year: "If I do all my homework, and all my projects, and do well on all my tests, I'll get good grades!"

Um ... yes. That is literally how one gets good grades.

Little Man and Sweet Pea have all the same classes and teachers, but not at the same time. This is the ideal situation for me -- they will have the same projects and homework and teachers, but they won't be talking for each other (Sweet Pea) or teasing the other (Little Man). They also happen to have almost all the same teachers CC had when she was in 7th grade, and those were the best teachers she had in all of middle school. So I'm very thankful for that!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea and Little Man!

Holy cannoli, they're THIRTEEN!! I can't believe our little twinkies are teenagers already. They love to fight like cats and dogs, but as you can clearly tell from this picture, they aren't the worst of enemies. They actually play really well together, and often convince each other to get involved in schemes and elaborate plans.

Sweet Pea continues to be her sassy, spunky self. "That girl will go far in life!" is what I hear the most from people, and we certainly hope her strong will and definite opinions will pay off. She is determined, and an extremely hard worker, whether it's in school, in the neighborhood, or with cirque.

Cirque continues to be her biggest passion, and boy, does she dedicate herself to it. She'll in the studio for classes 7.5 hours a week this year, but on top of that, she volunteers for extra performances, and is eager to practice on her own if she feels she needs a little improvement. Recently she was selected for a major performance with an adult cirque company, so we're in awe and eager to see what it'll look like.

She's the only Morrison (sadly) who has qualified for National Junior Honor Society. She is self-motivated at school in a way our other kids aren't (... yet ...) and prides herself on getting straight As. The NJHS induction will be in a few months, and we'll be bursting with pride. 

Her favorite food is Chick Fil A (especially the Chick Fil A sauce, which she hoards at home and puts on anything). Like any self-respecting middle school girl, she's obsessed with skincare (not makeup) and anything Lululemon. Her favorite color is still yellow, and she currently wants to be a professional Cirque performer when she grows up -- which she's about to achieve at the tender age of 13!

Little Man is our talker, the one who wants to share every funny joke he hears, or have me read a funny page from his latest book. He's getting to be quite the prolific reader, and thankfully is starting to move beyond the graphic novels he's preferred for years. MJ has recently introduced him to the Sharpe's series of books written by Bernard Cornwall, which were MJ's favorites around this age, and Little Man is slowly taking to them. 

Staying organized and focusing on school continues to be a struggle, as Little Man lacks what therapists call "executive functioning skills." But I have a plan for this coming school year, and he certainly has plenty of support from multiple professionals. I keep telling him: he's so smart, it wouldn't be hard for him to get excellent grades if he could just stay organized!

He says he's done with baseball, and wants to go back to tennis. So this fall, he'll start practicing with the junior team at our racquet club. He enjoys coming to hit balls with me and MJ, and he's definitely getting better -- lots of wild shots still, but he can often keep a rally going for a bit, and his shots are noticeably improving. He took a few weeks of tennis camp this summer and enjoyed it, but it wasn't very intense training, so I'm looking forward to him having regular instruction with kids his age.

His favorite foods are cheeseburgers, mac n cheese, and gyoza (Asian dumplings). He has recently discovered he likes mushrooms, which is a revelation! His favorite color is still dark purple, and his favorite activities are playing Minecraft or Zelda on the Nintendo. He's still a cuddler, although less frequently now, and I cherish those little moments when he crawls into bed with me in the morning, or leans up against me at Mass. He still has a bit of "little boy" in him.

We can't wait to see what their 14th year will bring! Happy birthday, Sweet Pea and Little Man!

Camp 2025

This summer, the kids returned to camp with our church youth group, at their request! They each had different reasons for wanting to return there: Sweet Pea said the food and accommodations were better there; Little Man liked the freedom to do whatever activities he liked each day; and CC loves the faith element and being surrounded by the adults from church who she adores so much.

MJ and I were fortunate to benefit from lots of pictures of the kids this time! Last year, we only saw a few glimpses of them in the hundreds of pictures shared. But this year, our kids were more than adequately represented in the album.

From messy games, to trust falls, to balancing acts, to Tarzan ropes, to group wall climbs, to Adoration -- we loved seeing so much of the kids' activities during the week. 

And when they returned home, they had even more stories to tell! And they laughed about our letters to them: MJ's were full of well-wishes (Amber and I miss you, and the house is so quiet!"), and mine were full of details ("I called the school and had your class schedule fixed.") Ha! That sounds about right.

This year CC will age out of the middle school youth group, and begin attending the high school group. But the adult leaders are the same, and she will still be able to help out as a leader with the middle schoolers. I'm so glad these last few years have prepared her well to be open and prepare herself for her next step: Confirmation!

Happy Birthday, Brien!

It was Brien's first birthday celebrated in his new home, and he was full of smiles! Not only was he recognized all day at the facility, but Grandpa and Grandma joined us there for a little party after dinner. We were amused to see he was wearing a crown and a birthday cape.

We brought plenty of cake to share with the staff and other residents, and we sang to him before he opened his presents. I was especially excited about our gift for him -- I'd filled a digital photo frame with pictures of him and family members over the years. It's on his bedside table now, and I'm hoping he'll enjoy seeing all the pictures rotate through.

Cheers to many more birthdays celebrated with him! (The kids weren't with us this time, because they're at camp this week. Pictures to come.)