Dear Joel,

Happy 11th birthday to our baby boy! No matter how old you get, you are always going to be our baby boy. It seems as though you're still okay with that label and we hope that never changes. Even though you are the youngest in the family, you still have what seems to be the oldest soul. You're quirky and eclectic and have so many layers that we're not sure we'll ever completely unveil them all.

Every single morning you wake up with your sleepy freckled face and your wild bed head and you immediately find the dog to snuggle with. Aside from Nyla, Chief might be your most favorite family member and we can't say that we don't blame you for that. Your other two siblings are complicated. You seem to appreciate and idolize them way more than they do in return. You desperately want their time and attention, but they are usually far too busy with their school work, extracurriculars, or PHONES! Thankfully, you have managed to find your own way this year and have grown to be quite fond of a variety of hobbies.

You played multiple seasons of soccer again this year. We were quite surprised when you hung up your helmet and bat last spring and chose soccer over baseball. We weren't too disappointed though...one hour soccer games vs. two hour baseball games is a pretty good trade off. Plus, you're a rockstar out on the soccer field and the faster pace of that sport matches your energy level much more than baseball ever did. You also blew us away this past fall by joining the cross country team. This team was open to any kids from 5th grade to 8th. You were one of the youngest kids out there, but you ran with all you had and it was a BLAST to watch you grow throughout the season. You finished up cross country and within a month or two, you jumped into another entirely new sport...wrestling. This has also been a school team that takes in anyone from 5th through 8th grade. You are one of the youngest and smallest wrestlers, and you don't have nearly as much experience as the other kids, but you've held your own. In a very Joel-like way, you've given it your all. You watch videos about wrestling and ask for wrestling matches with Dad on a regular basis just so that you can learn new moves and improve your skills. You've only taken part in a few meets and it hasn't been easy. You're a perfectionist and you HATE to lose, so this new "individual" sport has taken some getting used to. You tend to be a bit too hard on yourself and wrestling is helping you learn to give yourself some grace.

When you're not busy with sports, you manage to keep busy with all sorts of other hobbies. You still LOVE fishing and would spend days upon days doing that if you could. This summer, you loved having the freedom to head to local ponds...even though that left Mom in a continual state of anxiety, you loved it too much to not let it happen. You also spend countless hours outside this Spring, Summer, and Fall helping with tasks around the house. You are probably the only family member who looks forward to cutting the grass! You became an expert gardener, know a lot about how to take care of the pool, and are a huge helper with fixer-upper projects. When the colder weather hit and you were forced inside (which is definitely not your element) you managed to find new interests to keep yourself busy. You still love to build and create. You enjoy puzzles and have also become a fan of diamond art....a seemingly tedious art project that keeps you busy for hours! If you aren't busy your with various hobbies, you're likely chatting it up with one of us. Your curiosity leaves you always asking questions. Sometimes they're the most random questions about topics that are so complex and beyond our understanding and other times you're asking thoughtful questions like "how was your day?" or "do you need help with anything?". 

Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall...you live each day to the fullest. You don't waste a moment. You are full of joy and bring fun to any situation. You are Dad's little shadow, Mom's sweet boy, and probably the favorite sibling if each of the other three had to choose one. Your presence makes everyone's day brighter and life is so much better with you in it. We have loved watching you grow from our baby boy into the awesome kid you are today. You've brought us so much joy over the past 11 years and we are excited to continue to watch you grow into the amazing young man that you'll one day become. Happy birthday to you Joely-Joel....we pray that your year is filled with all of the joy and happiness that you bring to everyone who is lucky enough to know you!

Love,
Dad and Mom

Holidays 2022

The month of December was jam packed with holiday fun! The days were exhausting, but worth the memories!

Each kid had a band concert....Joel's was his first one and they did great!

Lamont cookie day made a return for the first time since 2019! We had a blast...despite having to leave Caleb home with the flu :(

It's been so great to finally be back to volunteering at holiday parties. The 5th graders got to take over the gym for their party. It was loud and crazy, but oh-so-fun!

We got in our annual Hanukkah dinner and had such a great time eating some of our favorite Jewish foods....especially the potato pancakes! The kids had fun handing out their gifts to the adults and the adults, as always, loved seeing what was chosen for them.

Alex, our sweet neighbor, was thrilled to get in on the Hanukkah action one night!

We had a blast doing our annual Reindeer Games with the Rojas crew. We also had fun doing our traditional neighborhood scavenger hunt.

The kids were in school right up until the weekend of Christmas. It felt like so many traditions went by the wayside because of how busy that kept us, but we definitely made sure to sneak in some cookie baking! The neighbor kids joined us and we had a great time.

We celebrated Christmas Eve by going to church and having dinner at TiTi's house. Christmas morning was celebrated at our house. That night, we loaded up a giant meal and headed to a homeless shelter about an hour away to deliver a special Christmas dinner. We came home and enjoyed a delicious gas station pizza dinner from Casey's!

After a week of Christmas and birthday celebrations, we wrapped up the holiday festivities with a wonderful trip out to Indiana to visit with our "Florida friends". We had so much fun catching up and ringing in the new year together!

Dear Leah,

 

It's official....you're a teenager! No matter how much we tried to keep this moment from happening, it did! One of the most wonderful things about you has always been your innocence and incredibly pure heart. Our fear has always been that this would fade as the teenage years approached, but that definitely hasn't been the case.

You are still the most imaginative and playful child we have. Though there has been a lot less playing and a lot more FaceTiming and texting these days, we still catch you channeling your playful spirit from time to time. Every once in awhile, you pull out your school stuff and transform yourself into a teacher. You are most likely to use this form of play to help reteach a concept that you've learned in school...it's your built in way of studying and practicing a topic that might have been a bit tricky at first. Or other times, you're in your room cranking up music and singing along like you're a famous star. You are also known to periodically pull out your dolls and spend time dressing them up and doing their hair. This all happens with the door closed since you love to create your imaginary world free of judgement from your brothers (who can be quite critical).

Indeed, you face the criticism of your brothers, but you don't let that stop you from being who you are. Which, by the way, might be your strongest quality as you enter your teen years. While so many girls are SO driven to define themselves by the standards set forth by their peers, you seem to be unapologetically you. You are definitely aware of all the latest trends and fads, and you seem slightly interested in following along, but more often than not, you're totally okay with just being your unique self. You stick to being simple...ponytails, comfy clothes, and no need for the name brands. You're a breath of fresh air in a world of people who try so hard to be someone they're not. We hope this NEVER changes for you!

That very quality is surely what makes you so likeable by so many people. While so many other girls your age are prone to gossip and putting others down, you seem to be one that doesn't have an enemy. You find the good in everyone and they seem to feel the same about you. You are selfless and kind. You are compassionate. You are the definition of a loyal friend. We are so proud of you for not giving into the temptation to be just like everyone else. We hope that you always stay true to who you are and you never let the world tell you who you're supposed to be. 

As you enter into this next phase of life, we are so excited to watch you grow. You are going to do amazing things. You are so hard working and well rounded. You face adversity like a champ. You have an innocence that keeps you young and an emotional maturity that makes you wise beyond your years. This world would be a much better place if more people lived the way you do. We don't know how we got so lucky to have a daughter like you, but we are thankful every single day that God chose us to be your parents. Happy birthday to our little ladybug. We hope this year is filled with all of the joy and blessings you deserve!

Love,

Dad and Mom

Fall Fun

I guess that this phase of life leaves me updating the blog a lot less frequently than in the good ol' days! Though I miss the slower pace of life with little kids, it sure is fun being on the go all the time and watching them do what they love!

Caleb jumped head first into high school life! He had a BLAST doing football and his team ended up with a great season. With over 70 boys, the coaches had their hands full, but did a phenomenal job. He liked his coach so much that he decided to give wrestling a try as a winter sport (Coach Napier coaches Freshman football and wrestling). While football kept him quite busy, he managed to squeeze in some other things as well. He has loved being part of the band and especially enjoys the fact that percussionists get their own separate class. It was so awesome to watch them at the concert doing a percussion-only piece! The traditions of homecoming week were a lot of fun. Caleb participated in the dress up days and became Instagram famous on Adam Sandler day. He had a great time at the homecoming Olympics and also enjoyed going to the dance with a group of friends. The dance helped Caleb land his first girlfriend...until he realized that relationships are just too time consuming! Though it only lasted for a little over a month, she was a sweetheart and we are hopeful that he will continue to have a good radar for finding quality girls (but maybe not for a couple more years)!

Joel had a busy Fall with being a two-sport athlete! He played another season of soccer and loved it. He also tried out a new sport through the school. Cross country is open to anyone in 5th grade through 8th grade. He had a wonderful time with this sport and met some great kids along the way. Joel did quite well for his first year and even got to join in on one of the bigger races that is reserved for the top runners. He finished up the season with his 5th/6th grade group taking 3rd place at their last invite and loved that they each got a turn to take home the trophy for a night. Joel's other Fall highlight was finally getting to take his one-on-one 10 year old camping trip with Dad. They had great weather...maybe just a little too chilly, but plenty of fun was had and memories were made.

Leah played another season of softball. There were quite a few cold and/or rainy games, but she had fun nonetheless! She's also enjoyed continuing on with another year of Girl Scouts. They have had several meetings so far and she had a blast at the 80s themed dance! Leah has embraced the transition to junior high quite well. She worked super hard during the first trimester and managed to get straight As. She's gotten very involved in different clubs and groups as well. Band is probably the activity that keeps her the most busy. She does the band class during the school day, but also joined jazz band and pep band. She had one concert so far, and bravely got up in front of the entire audience to introduce one of the songs.

For the first time, Caleb, Leah, AND Joel are all participating in 4H this year. We had a great time at the family picnic. We really enjoy all of the families that are part of the group. One family was kind enough to host everyone for a fun Fall get together where they created a scarecrow for our town's scarecrow stroll. They've also had a few regular meetings so far. Caleb took on the role as the president of the club and Leah is jumping in during her very first year as the club treasurer. 

Nyla is doing great back at U of I. She's all settled into her apartment and is back to being quite busy with the basketball team. We've been lucky enough to visit her twice. The first trip was for her birthday. The kids enjoyed a tour of her apartment building and we had a good laugh when we went back to her apartment and Joel found her wig! We also went apple picking, walked around campus, and ended the day having cupcakes and singing happy birthday with a few of her friends. Our second trip down was for a chilly and very windy football game on Dad's Weekend. Not everyone lasted for the entire game, but it was still so fun to be there together! Grandpa really enjoyed getting to see Nyla's apartment building....especially the pinball machine!