Sutton is 14!

 Sutton turned 14 on June 24th!

Photos to come...technical difficulties since I no longer own a camera! They have been taken but lost on a memory card somewhere!

Fourteen...it feels like we have entered a whole new era. Sure, last year was the year you technically turned into a teenager, but throughout the last year is when we have noticed changes in you, almost daily.

You are 5' 7" and around 125 pounds. You are officially taller than your momma! It's so strange to have to look UP to look at my child.

You have an amazing sense of humor. Very dry, like your dad. Actually, like both of us. You always have a quick comeback ready, usually hilarious, sometimes annoying. Teenager sass comes out sometimes. You are amazing though...when you do have a teen moment, you usually eventually see the error of your ways and make it right on your own.

You are developing more of a sense of who you are as a person. You're not completely sure but you're working it out. You have some different views on social issues than your dad and I. You have made your walk with Jesus your own. You have developed interests in a variety of things...space, cars, technology, soccer, science, and I'm sure many more I'm forgetting...and then you do research and explore these things on your own. You know way more than me on a lot of different topics.

You continue to be the BEST big brother. You two fight, don't get me wrong (especially this summer when you're together 24/7), but you are protective and inclusive and seriously just the best friend to Ren. He looks up to you SO MUCH.

You and Dad finally got your 4-wheeler fixed after like a year of it being out of commission. We gave you a bit more freedom and Dad took you out and showed you a way to get to your best friend Brayden's house using only dirt roads. Most evenings, you take off on your 4-wheeler to meet up with him.

This year you have started using your AirPods a lot. Seems very teenager-ish. You listen to music most of the time. You have listened to a couple audiobooks.

You got super attached-at-the-hip with Brayden this year. You got a phone for your last birthday, so that has helped in your social life, though there have been some bumps along the way (texting etiquette and learning to not be annoying and knowing when to stop with texts). You and Brayden have your own language and even weird names you call each other. Your favorite pastime is to FaceTime him on your phone, prop up your phone against your computer screen, and play video games with him online while you talk.

You have always pretty much been the oldest kid out of all my friends' kids, but this year, it seems like you are eons older. You don't play or pretend, you don't watch the kid shows or movies so much, you kinda hang out with the adults a bit these days, though we usually kick you out so we can have adult conversations.

You're pretty open with me, and I think we can talk about most things. Obviously I'm sure there are things I don't know, but I hope our open communication can continue. You know all about periods and the birds and the bees...which just matures you in and of itself.

You started calling me Gin instead of Mom. Our progression went: Momma, Mommy (we stayed there a loooooooong time), Mom (for like two seconds), Bruh (for like one second), and now I've been Gin for like the past year. I think most of your friends think your mom's name is Jen and wonder why you call her by her first name. It all started because Dad started calling me that and as much as Ren wants to be like you, I think you want to be like Dad.

You got all the highest honors at school this year. Since it was your first year of junior high, it was the first year they had honor roll and things like that. You were at the top of your class! It was a bit of a struggle getting used to a different teacher every hour of the day, and also not liking every teacher you had. We had some major issues with a few teachers and even a meeting with the principal! But none of it was about your behavior or grades, more about unfairness and lack of communication within the school...getting used to junior high was something!

You took Wood shop at school this year, your year-long project was a shelf that now resides in Dad's office. You also took Business Essentials and learned some valuable things.

You continue to play soccer. You have played for the same club team (Fusion) the past two years, with your Dad as your coach for this past year. All your teammates are going on to high school soccer in the fall, so we are trying to figure out your path since half the kids in your birth year are going to play at that high school level in th fall. Finding a team with enough young 2010s has proved challenging. 

You always insist that all the boys in your class get along, even if not everyone is "friends." Brayden is obviously your BFF, and Eli is a good buddy as well. You have become better friends with Evan this summer, he is a grade above you. Since you did Cross Country in the fall, you made some buddies in high school, and even GIRLS. You have a made a few new friends outside of school through your youth group and through soccer.

You like to say "bus" instead of "yes."

You ask me 50 million times a day if I love you. Making me feel like a bad mom over here. I had to ban you from saying the phrase "Oh, so you don't love me?" whenever I would say ANYTHING to you. 

Above all else: flaming hot Cheetos and Lipton citrus green tea. You would live on those things. You also love nachos, pizza rolls, baked potatoes, bacon, microwave popcorn, buffalo chicken anything, blue Powerade, Arnold Palmer. You don't like milk so you eat cereal dry. You prefer hummus with your carrots over Ranch dressing. This summer you have not been eating breakfast much at all, you say you're not hungry when you wake up.

You are definitely more of a savory person than sweet. I took you guys for ice cream at McDonald's today and you chose to get a spicy chicken sandwich and fries instead of ice cream.

You still love animals, especially all our cats. Smokey is your best friend. He loves you and you love him. Recently, me and Dad were out of town on a trip and you were staying with your Funk grandparents. You wanted to go back home after a day or so because you missed Smokey, not your parents. You explained, saying we had each other and were having fun (anniversary trip), while Smokey didn't know what was going on and was probably sad and missing you.

You take a long time to poop, so you're definitely a man now. You also sleep in for freaking ever. This summer, wee have been saying bedtime is between 10 and 11, but I'm not sure how strictly you follow that. Anyway, you are rarely up before 9:30, sometimes not til 11am.

Sutton, your dad and I are so incredibly proud of the person you are, and that we get to be your parents. You are an amazing kid and I can't wait to continue to watch your life unfold. 

Ren is Ten!!

 Double digits...REN is TEN!!!

Look at that cutie. We were lucky enough to travel to Copper Mountain to go skiing this year, and we left the day after Ren's birthday. So we got to do his birthday photos in Colorado!

Ren continues to be our hilarious and quirky kiddo. He is unlike anyone I've ever met and I just love his personality so much. He is not only hilarious and quirky, but clever, creative, outdoorsy, imaginative, and one of the most handsome boys I know!

Ren doesn't like sports because he hates competition. But he loves being outside! Hiking, shed hunting, climbing rocks, camping, making campfires, climbing trees, running, and making up pretend games are all things he loves to do. Sometimes I will see him outside just playing with sticks and talking to himself...he tells me that he's pretending to narrate/film Youtube videos.

Ren loves facts. He watches shows like Brain Games and Weird But True, remembers everything they say, and then will randomly pull out these facts in every day conversation. I used to question his validity but after many many instances of googling the things he said and finding they were TRUE, I just trust him now. He has started pulling out facts he learns from school and books now too.

Ren enjoys reading, but graphic novels are his favorite. He has loved the Wings of Fire series (graphic novel versions), as well as Dog Man, Cat Kid, and several others. One of his friends at school recently introduced him to the Spy School series and it is the first series that is NOT graphic novels that he has been excited about.

I believe I have said this in the past, but Ren continues to be one of the funniest kids with the quickest sense of humor that I ever have seen. I just love this so much about him. He keeps us laughing daily and Adam and I are always texting each other anecdotes that Ren said or did.

Ren LOVES LOVES LOVES animals. He is so tender-hearted and is always telling me how cute our pets are. He likes to build the cats forts out of pillows and blankets and he always makes them super cozy. He got a bearded dragon (who he named Journey) for Christmas because he'd been asking for a lizard for quite some time. He is really good about taking care of Journey, which says a lot because Ren is not the most responsible person, nor is he very self-motivated. But he turns on and off the heat pad and heat lamp every day, and he's learning to not be as squeamish about feeding Jojo cockroaches.

Ren loves to eat and is always hungry, but never wants anything of substance. He would live on cereal and ice cream if he could. He eats Maple + Brown Sugar oatmeal on school mornings unless I make banana bread, which I often do. On weekends he gets cereal and his favorite is Cocoa Pebbles.  Chocolate milk and Yoohoo are his favorite drinks. He also likes Mac n cheese, hot dogs, bean and cheese burritos, cheeseburgers, lasagna, spaghetti, creamed corn, and cheese pizza.

Ren's favorite restaurants are Doc Greens and Chic-fil-a.

We have recently discovered that Ren likes shopping. When we went to Colorado, he was very insistent that we go to the village to go shopping. I don't love shopping, so this is a bit of a stretch for me, but we accommodate him sometimes. I think he just really enjoys getting to look at all thee different options and make a careful choice about what to get.

Ren loves playing video games and watching YouTube. He plays Minecraft, Mario, MarioKart, Roblox, and some random little games on his phone. He likes watching videos about playing video games, how-to-draw, and lots of random ones with facts.

One of Ren's favorite things is to have brother sleepovers down in Sutton's room, or in our newly finished theater in the basement. He has trouble sleeping in general, and I think it helps him to have someone nearby as he's falling asleep. We use melatonin to help him sometimes, as well as magnesium lotion. Those things seem to help!

Ren tried out Cub Scouts this year. He really enjoyed it, but we struggled with his behavior during den meetings. There was a lack of structure/discipline in that setting, and Ren does not do well when it's a free for all...it was like he forgot how to be a normal, respectful kid. Since we also do so much camping and hiking of our own, we decided to pull him out after a couple months. He plans to try track here in a few weeks through the school. We will see if he likes it or if it's too much competition!

Ren is so creative. He loves drawing and has aspirations to write/draw a comic and also a flip book. He has tried several times but can't quite get it to be what he wants and then he gives up. Perseverance is NOT his strong suit. He has recently gotten into sculpting with clay too.

As the baby of the family, I definitely tend to baby him. Adam has been (rightly) forcing me to bestow more responsibility on him. So we have been making him do things I normally would do, like making his own plate at family meals, or getting his own clothes out in the morning before school.

On a normal school day, Ren's routine is that I wake him up at 7am. He chores Journey and eats his oatmeal, then he lays on the couch for 5 minutes to just chill. After that he brushes his teeth and gets dressed. I gel his hair and we leave for school around 7:30/7:40. I pick them up from school at 3:20/3:30 and we come home for some chill time. We try to get outside in thee afternoons if it's nice. Supper and sometimes showers. Bedtime is 8pm, but they're allowed to read until 8:45 when it's lights out. On the weekends, they get much more of a free-for-all and later bedtimes.

Ren's biggest struggles are focus and impulse-control. All things we've had to work at both at home and at school. He is easily distracted...we often say he's the definition of a butterfly chaser. It creates some wonderful out-of-the-box thoughts and experiences, but it's also a bit more challenging for him in the traditional classroom sense. I feel like he adapts well and he WANTS to do well in school, so it doesn't seem like a choice he's making to not focus. I really just think his brain works a bit differently and I honestly think he will do amazing things because of it!

Another cool thing about. Ren is that he doesn't care about gender when he's finding friends. He has both girl and boy besties and I think it's so cool. Currently his little group of friends consists of Vayda, Vance, Caden, and Brynlee. 

Ren is tall and skinny! It's a struggle to find pants that are long enough but small enough around the waist. Same with shirts. He could still wear a size 5 or 6 shirt but the arms and belly would be too short.

Ren cannot keep his room clean to save his life. Sutton is the clean kid and Ren is the messy kid.

Sutton is Ren's favorite person. And Sutton is so good with him. I just love their relationship so much. It's not perfect but I just know they will always be a big part of each other's lives.

I figured I'd also include a family photo since we took some while in Colorado as well.

                              

Here's Ren's 10th birthday video: