Caroline at 7 years old

 This is our lengthy post about who Caroline is at the age of 7. So we can look back and remember our girl and who she is at this moment in her life.

Caroline at 7 years old is 3 feet 11 inches tall. She weighs 42.5 lbs. She wears 6T and 6X clothes with t-shirts and shorts still being a staple in her wardrobe. It is rare that she will wear a dress. Caroline likes to pick out her own clothes and does not appreciate when her mother tries to get her to wear something in her closet that she has never worn before. 

Caroline had a great year in first grade despite the following changes: doing remote learning for the first half of the year, her first teacher retiring in October and having to switch to a new teacher and new methods all while trying to learn from a computer at home with dad, grammie and mom trying to help. Her growing knowledge of how to work her computer was amazing to watch as was her confidence in reading aloud to her fellow classmates through Zoom. Caroline has greatly improved in her reading skills and has begun to read some chapter books by herself. Princess in Black and Ivy and Bean are her favorites. Judy Moody is another favorite as well. She is working hard in math but really enjoys science and learning about animals. 

This past week she went to the Miller Park Zoo for a Zookids class about Rainforest Animals. She got to hold a Hissing Cockroach, Millipede and learned about many other animals who live in the Rainforest.

Dear bunnies I am not trying to hurt you I am trying to be your friend

Dressing up like a Dalmatian for the 101st day of school

Due to COVID we skipped AWANA this year. Hopefully we can get back into it for the fall or just go to our church's monthly Kids of the Kingdom program. 

Caroline got to go to her very first church camp out at East Bay Camp in June. This was a day camp where she left at 9 am and got back by 5 pm through our church. She had an absolute blast! It was even better that all of the Walles cousins went too. 

Caroline is also taking gymnastics this summer. She can now do a cartwheel and somersault and is working hard on her backbend and backwards somersault as well. She enjoys being up on the beam and working on her balance. 

Caroline is a great big sister. She plays very well with Lucy and always includes Lucy in play when friends are over. They love to catch bugs but also play 'Mom and kid', hotel and restaurant. She is very sweet with Lucy and while she comes up with the most ideas for their playtime she is rarely bossy. They are really quite good friends. 

Caroline tries to be a good little sister as well. She really likes to make Liam laugh by doing or saying inappropriate things or just being very goofy. When Liam is receptive they can really have a lot of fun together. 

Her best friends are Chaya and Adrian. Adrian lives across the street and is a year younger but they really get along very well. Chaya has been in Caroline's class since she started at Grove and it's been fun to watch them interact with each other through recent play dates. She had both of them over for a birthday party and they all had a ton of fun.

Caroline goes to bed around 8:30 or 9 and is the child who wakes up the latest, usually at 7:30. Caroline's favorite foods are Spaghetti with Pesto meatballs, grilled cheese, chocolate cupcakes and grapes. Her least favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, string cheese and cottage cheese.

Caroline is still our artistic and creative child. She is very good at drawing, painting and thinking outside of the box. When she went back to school in person it was fun to see what she would do in art class. 

We can't believe that she is seven years old already! Caroline amazes us every day with her quirky and thoughtful jokes, her kindness and compassion and her excitement for learning. We love you Caroline!

Interview with a 7 year old

 

What's your favorite color? Pink
Favorite food? Spaghetti with pesto meatballs
Least favorite food? cottage cheese
Favorite dessert? Chocolate chip cookies
Favorite stuffed animal? the dog with the donut purse "Honey"
Favorite animal? dog
What do you like to do the most? swim
Favorite thing to do with Dad? Draw something together
Favorite thing to do with Mom? painting nails
Favorite thing to do with Lucy? play
Favorite thing to do with Liam? Superhero game and hotel
Favorite TV show? Scooby-Doo
Favorite Movie? Aladdin
Favorite thing about school? reading
Favorite place to go locally? to the movies
Favorite place for vacation? Pentwater, Michigan
Favorite book? Princess in Black takes a vacation
Favorite outfit? Unicorn shirt that's pink
Favorite game? Shadows

What are most excited to do now that you are 7 that you couldn't do when you were 6? Jump off the roof or do the monkey bars all the way
What are you most scared of? Getting a shot or Loud Fireworks
What's the best thing about you? I'm funny and kind
Who is your best friend? Chaya and Adrian
What do you want to be when you grow up? Zookeeper or a pet store lady

New preschool for Lucy

 Towards the end of January we transferred Lucy into a new preschool. This is an in home setting with a retired elementary teacher who came highly recommended to us from a few people. In just four short months we have watched Lucy's education grow immensely. She can now write her name, can tell us all about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, writes and identifies many of her letters both upper and lower case and also can write her numbers as well. She sings us a song talking about money and its value, identifies the sounds that each letter makes and which one it is and much more. 

There is no doubt about this being a great decision for Lucy and we are so thankful that she is growing and soaking it all in!

Liam at 10 years old

 Liam at 10 years old is 4 ft 6 in. and 61 lbs. He still enjoys sports with baseball being at the top of his list. We chose not to have him participate in basketball this year due to the pandemic and I don't think he missed it at all. 

He currently is going once a week to a gym where he is having batting practice with a coach. We have recently added pitching practice as well and he will be alternating these until baseball season begins. This coach tells Liam the same things that Evan tells him when they go practice together but since its coming from someone other than Dad, Liam tends to listen better. 

Liam will be playing baseball this season and has decided he really enjoys pitching. It's a lot of fun to watch him doing something that he truly loves. Liam has also decided he is a fan of the Chicago White Sox. His favorite players are Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada. Due to the pandemic he was unable to go to any games last season but he is hopeful that this year he will get to see a few. 

Liam takes piano lessons but is hopeful that he will not have to for too much longer. He still does very well in piano and his pieces are becoming more challenging but fun to listen to. 

This past year he has become fully immersed in the world of Fortnite. He enjoys talking with his friends from school and his cousins while they play together. One of his presents for this last Christmas was a Nintendo Switch and he spends a good amount of time playing Luigi's mansion, Mario Odyssey and Super Smashbrothers. The whole family can play Smashbrothers and that is a lot of fun. 

Liam has Mrs. Edwards for 4th grade. This school year has been very different with most of the fall semester being fully remote. Liam did fairly well with staying on schedule and turning in his assignments when they were due with this platform. There were only a few times when we double checked his work that we had to remind him to make sure to answer his questions in complete sentences and to answer all of the questions in the assignment. 

Liam still does very well with reading and writing. His teacher has been very impressed with his narratives and his ability to tell a story. Liam still enjoys his music teacher, Mr. Myers, and has started to consider which instrument he will be interested in playing in band or orchestra. He is currently leaning towards the trumpet, baritone, violin or cello.

His favorite books still remain The Last Kids on Earth, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets. 

Liam has a very easy-going and social personality. There are about 5 other boys in our neighborhood that he enjoys spending time with. Zach, Jack, Preston, Andrew, Garrett and Lucas all live across the street from us and they enjoy playing nerf gun wars and learning how to fish in the lake. His friends at school, Luke, Sam, Andrew, Garrett and Owen.

Liam's favorite TV shows are Teen Titans Go, Big City Greens, Gravity Falls, Ellen's Game of Games and America's Funniest Videos.

Liam is still a rule follower and tries to help parent his little sisters (or boss them around, depending on who you ask). He can play very well with his sisters but still enjoys trying to wrestle them or make them mad. He is still very good at puzzles and enjoys playing board and card games as well. 

He is very good at playing and training with Archie. He would like to take Archie on walks and sometimes does when I am with them. Archie does have about 15 pounds on him though and we have seen what can happen when Archie sees someone that he wants to say hello to; Liam got pulled through someones yard in a water skier fashion. It was pretty funny. 

There's no doubt about it; Liam has blessed our lives in more ways than we could have imagined and watching him grow up has been an absolute joy.

A conversation with Caroline

 This weekend Caroline has a special slumber party planned with Adelie and Grammie Walles. Caroline and I had the following discussion.

M: Adelie is having a sleepover at Grammie's house and has invited you. Would you like to go?

C: (gasps) YES! Oh that will be so much fun!

M: Yes, it will be very special but please do not tell Lucy yet. She will have her own special time with Grammie and Briggs a different night. But I think Lucy will be sad about not getting to go this time with you. 

C: That's a good idea. I'm really good at lying. You can't even tell when I'm lying.

-Evan and I laughing hysterically-

M: Caroline! You're not lying, you're just waiting to tell her. We can tell her on Friday that you'll be gone. 

E: Caroline, it's not necessarily a good thing to be a great liar...

We're going to continue to work on identifying those positive character traits that each of our children have and making sure they know which of the ones are less desirable. Wish us luck.

The start of In person school....again

Remember when back in the fall we were very excited about the kids going to school two days a week? That was very short-lived as that schedule lasted for only 3 weeks before they got sent back to fully remote again. 

However, we are very happy to say that our district has agreed that K-5 schools can now go back 5 full days. We started last week and the kids have been so happy about it. Seeing their friends, seeing their teachers and I'm sure learning much more in the building than they were on the computers make for happy children and parents. 

We are very thankful that the teachers have worked so tirelessly to provide instruction over various platforms during this whole year but there is nothing quite like being in the classroom. We are cautiously optimistic that this will continue for the rest of the school year. Caroline even took apart her school drawers that held her "reading, writing and math folders" to make room for her art supplies. While I tried to assure her that we are hoping school will continue at school, we also still have to be flexible that there could be a time where she or her brother could be asked to come home again for remote learning. 

Covid is still here in our state but cases are no longer on the rise and science is showing that kids this age are not the super spreaders that everyone thought they could be at the beginning of all of this. 

Cheers to more sound science and discovering more and more about our world!

Interview with a 10 year old

What's your favorite color? Blue
Favorite food? Hot dogs, Grandpa Fink's ribs, Hamburgers
Least favorite food? cheese, oranges
Favorite dessert? cookies
Favorite stuffed animal? Bear
Favorite animal? Sharks
What do you like to do the most? baseball and playing Fortnite
Favorite thing to do with Dad? play baseball
Favorite thing to do with Mom? do puzzles
Favorite thing to do with Lucy? play with her toys
Favorite thing to do with Caroline? play with her toys
Favorite TV show? Gravity Falls
Favorite Movie? Monsters Inc.
Favorite thing about school? reading
Favorite place to go locally? Altitude
Favorite place for vacation? Michigan
Favorite book? Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Favorite outfit? White Sox shirts and sweatpants
Favorite game? Throw, Throw Burrito

What are most excited to do now that you are 10 that you couldn't do when you were 9? 
What are you most scared of? nothing much
What's the best thing about you? my sense of humor
Who is your best friend? Jonathan, Luke, Zach, Preston, Lucas and Jack
What do you want to be when you grow up? a baseball player