She’s Loving the Public-School Transit!

Malia has settled into school and now that she can actually get to all her classes without getting lost, she is feeling much more confident. One of the unexpected highlights of her school days are the bus rides to and from school. Not only does she get to talk with her friends during transit, but she really likes her bus driver. He is funny and nice and contributes to the entertainment value of her travel time. His name is Curtis and since we are Muppet fans over here, on the very first day her brain linked Curtis with Kermit the frog and she has taken to calling him Kermit.

Malia enjoys making gifts for people that she likes, so she has crafted a tiny Kermit keychain out of clay to give to her bus driver, who displays other such gifts from the kids in the front of the bus. Her mini-Kermit is even wearing a baseball cap like her bus driver. Her artistic skills always astound me as I can neither draw nor sculp, and I love that she gets such enjoyment out of sharing her talents with others!

First Date, First Dance

About a week ago, Matthew informed us that he was going to Homecoming. We were somewhat surprised as he has never really gone on a date before, but he had a date, a group, and a plan and the only thing he needed was some advice about where to get a corsage. 

Homecoming was last night and the group he went with was entirely composed of band kids. That was kind of a necessity, and here is why. On Friday afternoon, they took their Homecoming pictures and then headed over to the high school to fulfill their pep band responsibilities for the Homecoming football game. Saturday morning found all of them at a marching band rehearsal until noon, after which they went on their day date to Top Golf. The remainder of the afternoon and part of the evening was taken up by a marching band competition which was, luckily, at a nearby high school. Otherwise, all the crazy back and forth travels would not have been possible. After their performance time, they zipped home to change into their fancy clothes and then headed to the dance for a while. When they were done going deaf at the dance, they stopped by their respective houses to change back to casual clothes and then drove back to the competition to be there for the awards portion of the event. (As a sidenote, they took first place in their division as well as the caption in visuals!) The evening was capped off by ping pong and card games at one of the kid’s houses. Matthew’s date had an 11:30 curfew and he got her home right on time. He didn’t get home himself until midnight though because apparently his date’s mom talks forever. 

I know my schedule was just as wacky when I was in high school, but at my current age, it makes me tired just thinking about it! But Matthew has the typical ability of a 16-year-old to function on very little sleep, so he was able to get where he needed to be when he needed to be there and had a great time!

Be True to Your School

Malia has embraced her new school and is exploring what social life looks like now that she has left elementary school behind. While she doesn’t care a whit about football, she has discovered that going to the high school football games is an opportunity to see friends. She has taken to wearing a baseball cap most of the time and now that she is one step closer to high school and knows that her entire school and all her new friends will feed to the same school, she has added a new hat to her wardrobe. Go Sentinels!

Just Peachy

I love fresh peaches. Bottled and canned are alright, but fresh peaches are a delight. Due to their delicate nature though, they are only available around here when they are in season. It is peach season right now and my family and I have been enjoying it wholeheartedly. Kevin stopped in Brigham City and bought a bushel and we have eaten all of them. We have enjoyed pancakes, cobbler, and muffins as well as many bowls of simply peeled and sliced peaches. As we neared the end of the bushel, a neighbor arrived with peaches from their tree as they had more than they could eat. We consumed all those as well. And since I was still peach hungry, another box was purchased so we could continue to enjoy the bounty for as long as the peaches are available. Honestly, it has been heavenly.

Nathan has also been enjoying peach season. As a Logan resident, he is much closer to Brigham City than we are, and he has taken advantage of that. He split a box of peaches with some friends and has been baking up a peach flavored storm of his very own. His version of peach muffins was a hit, and he has peach baked oatmeal nestled into the freezer to be eaten as a quick breakfast on busy school mornings. Nathan enjoys cooking and he loves peaches nearly as much as I do, so he has been having a great time. And Daniel, who cooks so he won’t starve to death and not because he enjoys it like Nathan does (and therefore has a tendency to make meals that require little effort) has been lucky enough to sample Nathan’s creations. I suspect he is going to benefit from Nathan’s culinary enjoyment often.

As peach season winds down, I am already looking forward to next year. We have tucked some bags of peaches in the freezer to enjoy in the meantime, but as mentioned before, they just aren’t quite the same as fresh, unprocessed peaches.

A Teen in Station, If Not in Numbers

Although her official number is still just shy, Malia has entered the realm of teenagers. For her twelfth birthday party with her friends, all she wanted was pizza, ice cream sandwiches, and a movie. So that is exactly what we did. It was super easy for me although it was also a tiny bit bittersweet because my years of planning fun birthday parties for the kids is officially over. We had some fantastic parties and each of my kids has their favorites, so all those years of planning and preparing and sometimes stressing were not in vain. The food/movie/hang out combo is definitely easier though!

Malia did let me make a cute cake when we celebrated her party at my folks’ house. Her favorite cake combo is vanilla cake with raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream, a combination I quite like as well. Since she didn’t really care what it looked like and was not opposed to me making it pretty, I found a simple idea online and dolled up the cake just a bit. Having cake also meant that we could add candles and sing and all that, a part of the birthday experience she eschewed at her friend party.

Last Friday, her cousin Kate came to sleep over and celebrate Malia’s birthday once again. The One Republic concert and subsequent sleepover were right around the time of Malia’s birthday last year, and with this second late August birthday sleepover, the girls have decided it should be a tradition. The entertainment portion of the weekend was not as exciting as last year’s concert, but it was still super fun for Malia and Kate. They went to one of those paint studios where you select a painting, and the studio staff walks you through how to paint it. With Malia’s love of art, it was an activity right up her alley. They had a good time and I think both of them did a great job. Definitely better than I could do, that’s for sure! After their paint session, the birthday treat of choice was raspberry lemon cheesecake. Yum! Due to Malia’s peanut allergy, the only cheesecake she has been able to safely eat is the homemade kind, so she was super excited to be able to indulge just a bit. And honestly, I was not at all heartbroken about needing to bake a cheesecake. 😉

Today was Malia’s real birthday as well as her first official day of school as a seventh grader. Learning to navigate the halls at school was not a particularly fabulous way to celebrate her birthday, but while she was at school, I got busy and made her a super special birthday treat. Her favorite candy is Rolos, so I whipped up some Rolo cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes topped with caramel frosting with several Rolos baked in the center of each cupcake. The fam assured me they were delicious as I skipped out due to the chocolate. Kevin picked up some highly entertaining balloons and the young women in our ward heart attacked our front door in Malia’s honor. Though school was a bit overwhelming, Malia enjoyed her treat and while school is still a stressor, at least she has the first day under her belt and has a better idea of what to expect tomorrow.

Her gift from Kevin and I was a boatload of art supplies-acrylic paints, paint brushes, art paper, fancy erasers, and a table easel. She doesn’t have her art class until next semester, but when she gets that far she will have all the supplies she needs to explore her craft here at home. Kevin’s mom took her shopping last week and Malia picked out some new T-shirts that perfectly match her personality. Kate gave her some pastels and she got her traditional $12 for a twelfth birthday from my mom. I guess everyone knows her pretty well because everything she received was just right.

Having a highly stressful first day of school fall on your birthday is not exactly the best way to celebrate your big day, but overall, I think Malia had a pretty good birthday. If nothing else, she had some tasty treats to fill out her stress eating menu over the past several weeks. Oh, and make sure to note the lettering on her T-shirt. I think it is highly appropriate for a middle school girl. 😂

A Trial Run

This summer has been hard for Malia, very hard. Not only is the transition to middle school difficult, but the big school boundary changes a few years ago put Malia in a different middle school from all her friends, and a different one from where all her brothers attended. She has been completely stressed out and anxious all summer. In fact, the anxiety started about halfway through the last school year when they started talking about middle school schedules and doing orientations with the upcoming 7th graders. We submitted a request for a special permit so she could attend the much closer and more familiar school, but it was not approved. At this point, Malia is resigned but not necessarily happy, although some recent social drama involving many of her friends from elementary school is suddenly making going to a different school much more appealing.

Today was 7th grade day at the middle school. Malia rode the bus to school for the very first time and spent half a day walking through an abbreviated school schedule. This particular school is laid out like a checkerboard where every hall and every block in the school looks exactly the same, so navigation is tricky. We walked through the school last week and located each of her classrooms, but finding her way around is still proving problematic. I know she will figure it out over time, but she is not feeling all too confident right now.

Tomorrow she will be dumped out of the frying pan straight into the fire as all the upper grade kids join the newbies for the first official day of school. Hopefully she will make some new friends fairly quickly. She doubts herself, of course, but she is a very sociable, very welcoming person and we have seen her gather new friends around her very quickly on many occasions. I think that with some time to adjust, she will be ok. Now we just have to convince her that she will be ok. 🤞

His Band Tan is Well Under Way

Matthew just finished up his two-week band camp for the upcoming marching band season. He is excited about this year’s show and feels like they have gotten a great start over the past several weeks. Hopefully he can maintain the same level of enthusiasm as the season progresses. There are a lot of rehearsal hours ahead of him!

Back in the Saddle

When Malia saw the pictures of Daniel and Nathan horseback riding earlier this month, she was instantly jealous. It has been a long time since she has been horseback riding. Her amazing brothers, knowing her love of horses, were willing to reach out to their friend and schedule a time for Malia to go. It was hot and sunny today and Malia had to cut short her outside time as a result, but she got to ride and was terribly pleased!