Kids Update

Here is a little update on the kids:

Janika is enjoying High School and is having fun with Madrigals (except for the fact that it starts at 6:30 a.m. every other day).  She was also excited to start Carolers last week and we are excited to utilize her beautiful Alto voice.  She likes to learn new hairstyles and wakes up early to do her hair and get ready for school.  I never have to worry about getting her up in the morning -- she is always up before I am.  Like all teenagers, she is very attached to her cell phone.  We don't allow her to bring her phone to school with her or to her room at bedtime and she has been good about respecting those rules.  She has a great group of friends and is always getting together with them to "hang out."  She is very responsible about keeping up with her school responsibilities and does a lot of babysitting for us.  We are so grateful for her!   

Jase seems to be enjoying middle school.  He walks to and from school with his buddy who lives next door.  His dress hasn't changed any but he lets me comb and gel his hair everyday (even asks me to do it) and so that is actually a big step for him -- ha ha!!   Even though Janika sometimes complains about Jase, they actually are very close and Jase is probably her biggest confidant about the idiosyncrasies of her love life.  Jase has also confided in her about a few crushes of his own.  What? Jase?  Who knew!  If Janika wants to go for "walk" to meet a certain boy, she drags Jase along with her.  Jase seems to be enjoying Caroler practice too and I can frequently hear him practicing the songs. School has always come easy for him and it seems like he hardly ever has any homework.  Jase is doing well on the piano too although I do need to get after him a bit to make sure he is practicing.

Jared just started piano lessons.  He didn't really have a choice in the matter and wasn't thrilled about it.  But he has been good about practicing without being asked or reminded though.  He has been walking his piano teacher's dog twice a week to help cover the cost of his lessons and he actually seems to enjoy it (walking the dog, not the piano).   His new thing is flips.  He does flips everywhere -- on the tramp, on the couches, on the ground.  I keep getting after him for doing flips on and off the couches.  I told him that he should sign up for Gymnastics/Tumbling and he is really interested.  I called the studio where Jaiden attends dance to sign him up for tumbling but the class is full.  I put him on the waiting list and hopefully he can start in January when we finish up with Carolers.  Jared seems to be enjoying Intermediate school and regularly checks his powerschool account to make sure it still shows straight A's.  H is also a little obsessed over his hair!


Janelle not only started Carolers this week, but she also started choir over at the elementary school.  So Tuesdays will be really busy for her.  She gets up early for piano lessons before school (which is a bit of an ordeal because she takes a while to get moving) then straight to choir practice, also before school.  Then after school she has caroler practice for two hours, and then practicing and homework.  She seems really excited about it all though!  And of course she continues her love of reading and I sometimes have to take her book away from her to get any work out of her!

Jaiden continues to play, play, play!!  Her fingers have healed so well and are almost back to normal.  She loves her dance classes and is excited to start learning new dances for the Nutcracker.  Every since I can remember she has enjoyed dressing up.  When her friends come over, they dress up in costumes, turn on music full blast (which happens to be the Broadway Version of "The Little Mermaid" right now), and dance around with Jaiden belting the songs at the top of her lungs.  She is also starting piano lessons next month.  It is a bit of a chore trying to get her to do her homework (or her chores).  She would rather be dancing, or riding her bike outside, or jumping on the tramp, or anything else!

Josh is doing great in kindergarten!  I was a little worried with him being so temperamental and all, but I haven't heard any complaints from him or his teacher and so I guess everything is going okay.  I went and helped out in his class on Friday and he did great (although he was just a little loud sometimes).  As soon as I pick him up from school he tells me if he earned a blue stick (which is good) or a red stick (which is bad).  He has only been given two red sticks so far.  If he gets five blue sticks he gets to earn a prize and he is extremely motivated by prizes!!   He loves homework!  As soon as he gets home he wants to dive right in to his homework.  He has even gotten excited about reading his "take home books" and will sometimes read them several times a day.  It has been really nice having him at kindergarten since he and Jenna often bicker and often times he is doing something to make her scream within ten minutes of arriving home!

Jenna is just so fun and adorable!  I can't believe how big she is getting!  She will be three in less than a month and is fiercely independent.  She has learned how to pick her own clothes and get dressed all by herself.  She may have mismatched clothes and shoes on backwards but she did it all herself!  She will change clothes several times a day (and unfortunately every outfit is dirty and so it makes for lots of laundry.)  She insists on buckling herself, opening the door herself, getting out of the car herself, and turning a show on Netflix herself.  Her latest achievement is pouring her own milk in her cereal (eek!)  The other day I found her sitting on the bathroom counter with the water on in the sink washing her feet!  A couple of days ago our little neighbor boy came over to see if she could come over and play.  As I watched her run over to his house with her little blonde ponytails bouncing up and down I just had to smile!  She is a talker and will go on and on.  Her favorite color is "Lellow."  She loves "Top-A-Ramen."  (She adds the extra "A" in there).  She loves to eat non-stop and is very messy!   A couple of her favorite phrases are, " Don't wowwy, mommy!"  and "Just a second!"  (She must get that from me).  She is such a cutie!