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

Interview with a 4 year old

 What's your favorite color? Pink

Favorite food? Macaroni and Cheese
Least favorite food? Baked chicken
Favorite dessert? candy
Favorite stuffed animal? Blue bear
Favorite animal? Starfish
What do you like to do the most? Play with my toys
Favorite thing to do with Dad? Hug him
Favorite thing to do with Mom? Stand on her back
Favorite thing to do with Liam? play with him with cars
Favorite thing to do with Caroline? sing
Favorite TV show? Gravity Falls
Favorite Movie? Rapunzel
Favorite thing about school? Building the playing cake
Favorite place to go locally? A mountain, so I climb up it
Favorite place for vacation? Chicago
Favorite book? Mercy Watson
Favorite outfit? dresses


What are most excited to do now that you are 4 that you couldn't do when you were 3? wearing rainbow glasses
What are you most scared of? Having nightmares
What's the best thing about you? I'm sweet and funny
Who is your best friend? Ava at school
What do you want to be when you grow up? a princess

Family pictures

 This fall we decided to update our family pictures. Here are some of my favorites:

Lucy at 4

 Our Lucy turned 4 in November and she had a great day! Since it was a Saturday we really got to stretch out her celebration. With the pandemic still going on and going strong we decided to forgo a family party. Evan still put streamers up and Caroline and Liam also really got into the party atmosphere and ran around trying to put a birthday hat on everyone, including Archie. 

The Sanckens came over to play outside in the afternoon and Grandpa and Grandma Fink came over the next day to celebrate. Lucy definitely felt the love. 

Lucy, at age 4, is still our very social girl. She loves to be around people and talk to them. Being unable to go to church and play with her friends in the nursery has been hard on her during the pandemic. Thankfully, she still goes to daycare/prek and enjoys it very much. 

Lucy is 3 feet 4 1/2 inches tall and 31 pounds. She is still our tallest kid, already within a 1/2 inch of her big brother at age 5! She wears 4T shirts and pants. 

Lucy loves to make others laugh. She is constantly trying to get her big brother and sister to laugh at her during meal times and at times has to be removed from the table for not settling down. She really enjoys running around with the bigger kids in the neighborhood who come over to hang out. Many times they encourage her to be a monster and chase them around the trampoline, she is very good at roaring and has no problem being loud. 

Lucy loves to watch TV. Her favorite movies are Frozen, Frozen 2, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast. She loves to watch Teen Titans Go and Gravity Falls as well. 

She enjoys singing and really doesn't mind if she doesn't know the words. With Christmas around the corner she is very good at singing, "Santa Claus is coming to Town". 

Lucy still enjoys wearing dresses. She really loves to steal her sisters fancy dresses and wear those around the house. She is a girly girl. 

For the last three months or so she has not needed a pull-up at night. She now wears undies to bed and will even wake up and tell us in the middle of the night that she needs to use the potty. She is doing great with that! Sometimes she will wake up just to snuggle in our bed. Sometimes we let her stay and other times we try to get up and take her back to her bed. Most of the time she doesn't fall back asleep when she is with us and squirms quite a bit. When we put her to bed at night we encourage her to stay in her own bed through the night and Caroline tells her that if she is lonely she can sleep with her. (while I do think Caroline means it, I don't think at 3 am she would be at all happy sharing her bed)

Lucy enjoys playing by herself and with others. She loves her toys; Shopkins, Barbies, Princess figurines, Stuffed animals, playing with the kitchen and food and MagnaTiles. She also enjoys playing with Liam's Hot Wheels cars and his legos. 

Lucy no longer naps at home. It is difficult for her to fall asleep at night with many trips downstairs to check on her parents and talking and singing loudly. She has many books that she hides under her pillow that she likes to read aloud to herself and usually has anywhere from 10-15 dolls and stuffed animals in bed with her. On occasion we have had to move Caroline into the playroom so she can get to sleep since Lucy doesn't quite understand the concept of being quiet. At the daycare she does take a nap. So far that has worked fine and we have not noticed it keeping her up anymore than usual. We usually leave the house at 7 am which means she has to wake up around 6:40. I'm sure those days are a bit more exhausting with all of her friends running around, her wearing a mask all day and so nap time at school is ok for now. 

Lucy still enjoys peanut butter and honey sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. She does not eat a lot during meal times which we are trying to fix. She often says she is done eating and then an hour later wants a snack. 

She recently has told us that "we are breaking her heart" when she gets sent to timeout or in trouble. It's very cute. 

We can't imagine our family without our Lucy and thank God for her every day!