Happy 10th Birthday Zoë!!!

10. Double digits.  Two hands.  TEN.  What in the world happened?  I blinked my eyes and ten years have flown by since you were born.  I can't even comprehend how that can be possible.  How can all of the memories we have amassed and all that you have accomplished possibly have happened in TEN years? 

Lover of spaghetti (fav food for four years), hockey, playing Uno Flip, snuggling with her pups, devouring a book and then the entire series that follows, school and learning, tap
, singing broadway showtunes, her brother (most days), swimming in the pool, and camping.

This year you:

-ran for and were elected ASB secretary at school

-played in 10u hockey, scoring a 10u hat trick in the fall

-started playing the recorder in music class

-went on your first BIG roller coasters at California Adventure and Universal Studios and loved them

-went to summer camp ON YOUR OWN

-experienced the death of a pet for the first time (RIP Joe)

-performed in your first dance recital in several years

-saw Wicked

Zoë, you are still my wondrous miracle.  I am in awe of the patience in which you react to those around you and the situations you find yourself in.  You have always been an observer first, carefully taking stock in what is happening around you and then reacting or acting.  This continues to be how I would describe you but now it additionally inclues measured way you respond to be fair, patient, caring, and thoughtful to others.  You take after your Dad in this regard.  

You and your brother continue to be the best of playmates.  You still play with Samantha, Samantha, and Laura regularly, build forts in the family room whenever I let you, enjoy snuggling on the couch while watching Lego Masters, and build or create whatever secret and silly games you love to play together. Your after dinner shows are becoming fewer and farther between, which makes me sad, but we spend a lot more time after dinner playing games or watching a show together than we used to.  While you agreed to be roommates with Oliver for at least another year while Ilkay is here, this has not proven to be as easy as you previously thought.  I expect that by the end of the school year you'll be excited to be sleeping by yourself for the first time in four years and having your space back to yourself.  You are now, after all, a tween and deserve some privacy.

Hockey is still your first love.  You enjoy every minute you can get on the ice, only every once and a while becoming overwhelmed with your schedule and needing a night off.  You have become so much more aggressive over the last four months on the ice and still have the uncanny ability to stretch the amount of time you have with the puck before an opponent gets in your way and you pass it right in front of the goal.  You have the best coaches and the best team and the joy you feel doing this activity brings ME great joy. 

Tap has become your second after-school activity favorite and you are so good at it for only doing it for the past year! I tried to convince you to continue with the conservatory classes (including ballet) but you wouldn't have it and committed only to tap.  You're dedicated and know your limits.  I love that about you!

You are still a spectacular student.  School is your happy place and you are successful and extremely bright.  You work harder than most and are so kind to your classmates.  It's no wonder that you were elected ASB secretary.  You are a quiet but effective leader.  This year the highlights of fourth grade so far have been learning the recorder in music class and having the "job" of helping in the lunch room during the K-2 lunch on Tuesdays.  You get to see your brother and help at the same time.  I'm tickled that I get to spend recess with you Tuesday through Friday and you still run to give me a hug every time you see me.  I wonder if (and cross my fingers) that will last through fifth grade.

I have, more than ever, enjoyed your milestones of this past year.  While they seem quieter and not as showy as learning to walk or talk or ride a bike, they are milestones I see you accomplish and my heart swells with pride.  They are the milestones of a girl who's learning about the gifts she can share with others. You are growing into the most beautiful young woman, inside and out, and I am proud of you every day. You are a wonder, my Zoë Bowie.  

Happy 7th Birthday Oliver Boliver!

It's your birthday sweet boy!  Seven years have gone by in a blink and I swear you went from a toddler to the boy you are today overnight.  You are officially too heavy for me to carry you from the carseat when you're dead asleep to your bed, or really in any fashion unless it's a piggy back ride.  You are nearly as tall as your sister who is two years older than you.  You still wear your clothes backwards on occasion, are the messiest eater I've ever seen, and love to walk around our house in your undies or, more regularly, completely naked, so I guess we've still got a little boy on our hands in some regards.  

Oliver, your favorites include: gnocchi, Pokemon, baseball, baseball, baseball, riding bikes in the cul-de-sac, playing soccer at recess, reading graphic novels, playing baseball on the Switch, snacks, singing loudly to musical soundtracks, drawing, Star Wars, Marvel heroes, and snuggling.

This year you:

-played your first season of baseball, coach pitch

-performed in Annie at the Tacoma Musical Playhouse

-went white water rafting

-went on two backpacking trips, carrying your own stuff both times

-turned into a fabulous reader

-started your FIRST FULL YEAR of IN PERSON SCHOOL in 1st grade

-learned how to ice skate

-rode most of the scary roller coasters at Disneyland, California Adventure, and Universal Studios

Sports have become one of your favorite things and you have lived the last 9 months for the start of baseball season again.  You had such an amazing experience last spring playing your first season of ball and even got to play up with the bigger kids to do coach-pitch.  You are fantastically gifted at picking anything up quickly and making it look easy and did the same with baseball.  We were so lucky to have you placed on such a nice team of kids and coaches and I'm tickled you get to play with the same team again this year, but in player pitch.  You have your heart set on being a pitcher; we'll see if you get the chance to do that this season.

Your request in the fall was that Dad coach your soccer team, and thank goodness for him and his patience because your team was a handful! You should have been playing up a year in soccer, too, but were placed with same age kids and you were really great at being patient and not hogging the ball.  It helped having your dad as the coach and you two spent more time after each practice just kicking the ball around together.

Your sister continues to be your favorite playmate. It's so wonderful to see you two disappear for an hour or two each day on the weekend while you happily play together with Samantha, Samantha, and Laura, or preparing a show to do in the living room, playing with you dollhouses, or playing with your Lego guys or some other figurines.  You have an admirable imagination and you put it to good use with your sister.  Sometimes I'll even walk into Zoë's room (you're still sleeping in there with her!) and you two will be reading quietly side-by-side. There have also been times when the two of you have had QUITE ENOUGH of each other and the bickering begins.  But it never lasts for long and you two are back to playing together again!

Oliver, this year you have honed your stubborn digging-in-your-feet skills and also your negotiating skills (ANYTHING from 5 more minutes on video games to another treat to another bedtime story). There is no one that can throw a tantrum like you and derail family plans.  We are working on taking breaths and moving past problems but it's definitely been a work in progress.  You always come around but it definitely takes a while.  You're also a MASTER negotiator.  You love to ask for your "treat of the day" because treats are the only reason you eat anything healthy (that's not true...but it feels like it sometimes at dinner time).  You have also started to eat like a little boy and will have three or four healthy snacks AFTER dinner some nights because you're still hungry.

My favorite, FAVORITE thing is that you INSIST on giving me hugs and kisses before I leave for school in the morning, often yelling from upstairs "WAIT! I have to give you another kiss!!!" and thundering down the stairs to catch me on the way out the door.  You also don't mind me stopping in your classroom to give you a hug and saying hi to you (and your class), or coming into the lunchroom to hug you and take a bite of your corndog.  You give the best hugs and kisses and your demand to "snuggle, please?! Pleaaaaaase?" at bedtime will always sucker me into ten more minutes laying with you.

You have such a sweet and caring heart for your sister, your family, your friends and I love to see your care for others grow.  I hope you remember to have the same care for yourself and remember that you are so loved and appreciated in our family.  We love you SO much, Oliver Finn, and can't believe that you are SEVEN!

Happy 9th Birthday Zoë Maxine!

Zoë bowie.  How in the actual heck are you 9?! I look at you and I see such a strong, independent, smart, kind, and fierce young lady.  I was told last week that you're officially a 'tween'.  Oh MY.  

Your favorites include: spaghetti, singing (loudly) the Wicked soundtrack or really ANY broadway musical soundtrack you know the words to, putting on shows in the living room, reading, snuggling with your pets, writing stories, cooking, playing games, and hockey-anything hockey.

This year you:

-went IN PERSON for half of your 2nd grade year after doing the first half remotely

-started third grade IN person (yay!)

-ran your first and second 5k race and won first place in your age group!

-joined two hockey teams and scored your first goal in the first game you played

-started new dance classes, trying out tap and jazz in addition to ballet

-went white water rafting

-took two backpacking trips

-performed in Annie at the Tacoma Musical Playhouse

-were elected as a class representative for ASB

-transitioned to being a "teacher's kid" at school with patience and a helpful heart

School has continued to be a joyous space for you and since you got to return to in-person learning last February, you haven't changed your mind!  You're spending your second year in a row with Mrs. Rucks and she is an amazing teacher for you and you've been challenged and grown so much.  Her classroom is calm and quiet and it's a fantastic space for you.  I'm so thankful I get to peek in every now and then in your classroom because it's very special and I can understand why you love it.  You are our voracious reader and have been working your way through the Nancy Drew series, continued to love Harry Potter (one per year because Mom is a meanie), and any mystery you can get your hands on.

This year your biggest activity by far has been your hockey teams. Your Rockets team is the 8u team of co-ed kiddos and you. love. it.  You look amazing in your uniform and have been working on aggressively playing wing (that's usually where you're placed on the ice) throughout the season.  You are a stellar skater and I love to see you push other kids up against the boards (gently) to try to get the puck.  Last weekend you even had your debut as goalie for the time.  In addition to your Rockets team you play for the Firestreaks, the 8/10u girls only team.  It's fun to watch the Firestreaks games because watching all girls play is totally different than the co-ed team.  We spend three to four days a week at the ice rink! You've made a lot of good friends, had fantastic coaches, and overall a great experience.  You tell us that you'll be playing hockey for life.  

Being a big sister is not always an easy job, but you tackle it with grace and patience and are always willing to play with your brother.  Oliver loves you to pieces and the two of you love to put on a show in the living room.  Your recent obsession that the both of you share is Pokemon.  Evee is your favorite! The two of you will talk about Pokemon ALL. DAY. LONG. You play Pokemon Go, watch the TV shows, battle with your newly acquired and built card decks, pour through the Pokemon book you have to read about new ones you catch, and snuggle with your Evee stuffies at night. I'm so glad you can enjoy sharing something you both love so much.

Your love of cooking really blossomed this year with your Radish Kids subscription.  You have cooked so many delicious things and, though a 50 minute recipe typically takes you twice as long to prepare, really enjoy the entire process.  The plating and making your food look beautiful is your favorite part.  You are a MUCH more accomplished cook than your Dad or I was at your age.  We all love cooking in the kitchen with you!

 It is truly hard to describe and not sound like I am bragging about what an incredible young person you are.  You are patient, kind, thoughtful, introspective, full of grit, hard working, silly, creative, responsible, smart, helpful, inquisitive and more.  I have enjoyed being at school with you this year, even if I don't get to substitute teach in your class.  I can still sneak in and peek at you every now and then in class and my FAVORITE part of nearly every day is when you run across the entire playground towards me when I drop my own class off to give me a leaping hug. I have never met another 9 year old like you and I can't wait to see what you accomplish this year.  I'm so proud of you, Zoë Maxine. 

Happy 6th Birthday Oliver Finn!

 
Oh Oliver Finn. What a year this has been.  You are such a whirlwind of energy that sitting down to write about you helps me appreciate all of the little things I love about my six-year-old red head.  

This year you:

-learned to read

-played base
ball, continued gymnastics at The Little Gym and did online jazz class with Miss Kaeli (waiting for the day in-person dance classes open up again)

-started Kindergarten virtually and then eventually in-person, mastering finding your Teams meetings on  your own from your Outlook Calendar, navigating Google Chrome like a pro, and properly muting and unmuting yourself with the best virtual meeting etiquette

-made two best friends in your class, George (also on your baseball team) and Jaxon (also in your Little Gym class!)

Virtual Piano Recital

-started piano lessons with mom and had your first (Zoom!) recital

-became an expert camper and hiker (even in the pouring rain)

-took several fishing trips with Dad and Dedo and fished from a float tube

Oliver, you can test a parent-imposed limit one second and then bat your eyes and give a hug to redeem yourself the next.  You can throw the most incredible hyperventilating tantrums and have the hardest time expressing your anger or fear or embarrassment in words.  But we know you're trying so hard to use the skills you learn from Miss Smith's lessons at school and we see constant improvement.  Being the little brother is hard sometimes, we know.  You have an amazingly big heart and you'll share your last bite of a yummy treat with me nearly every time.

Using the breathing ball to calm down

You are still sleeping in your sister's room (more than a year after Isa left) and insist on finding her in the middle of the night if she happened to have crawled in with us due to scary dreams.  You are finally waking to use the bathroom in the middle of the night but INSIST that you have merely had a scary dream and quietly (this part has taken a while to learn) sneak in between your dad and I to them fall fast asleep and knee both of us in the backs for the rest of the night.  Your bedroom is used for merely a playroom for you and Zoë and a place to store your clothes (that are typically just thrown into your closet on the ground)...and you ALWAYS LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON in your closet and room when you leave.

First day of in-person school!

Online learning without any distractions at all.

Reading The Jedi Academy

Your kindergarten year has been-despite it being in the middle of a pandemic-a success.  Your love and respect for Ms. Keil has saved us on many occasion and, while you did a good job being an online learner, you have THRIVED being in person with your peers, as I knew you would.  I always said (pre-pandemic) that the only reason I needed you to go to kindergarten was to socialize with other kids, and it's so true.  You are a STELLAR reader, LOVE listening to stories (we're currently in the middle of the Chamber of Secrets, just finished reading The Wild Robot together, and you love reading Elephant and Piggie and other books aloud to anyone that will listen), think doing mental math problems is SUPER fun, and, as expected, rush through your schoolwork and need reminders to slow down and do things well ("Ms. Keil says THREE colors are needed for coloring").  You have had balls taken away on the kindergarten playground because you lack the impulse control to keep from throwing them on the roof.  Thank goodness for your patient teacher.  George and Jaxon have become your two besties at school and you call the three of you "The Three Musketeers".  I'm pretty sure you don't know what a musketeer is, but you can figure that out later.  Hearing about the friends you made ALL ON YOUR OWN without them being the little siblings of Zoë's friends, is super-duper cool.  

5 year old pictures, summer 2020

Despite it being over a year long romance, you are still Star Wars obsessed and prefer the Dark Side (surprise, surprise).  Playing video games is super fun, and heading up to the skate park to ride your skateboard or scooter are the BEST. TIMES. EVER.  Also, kicking the soccer ball or throwing the baseball in the backyard are constant requests, too.

Zoë is still your best playmate and you two play so well together, though the bickering has picked up lately.  You can disappear for a couple of hours playing Samantha and Laura together.  I hear the two of you pretending to be their parents and tuck them in, get them dressed, tell them to share, etc. and it's fantastic.  Egging each other on while playing games is a favorite until someone cries.  Your favorite game to play is still Mayhem, though you say you love Uno Flip (?!).  

We are looking forward to a fun-filled year this year with more school, more public appearances, more time outside of our house with others doing fun things.  But this past year at home watching you learn, play, and grow has been a year I never thought I needed and would appreciate as much as I do.  You are a fiery, stubborn, empathetic, energetic, and big-hearted boy and I'm so proud of all you've accomplished this year.  You are a wonder!

Happy 8th Birthday Zoë Maxine!

EIGHT.  Eight birthdays I have counted and seen fly by.  EIGHT years I have watched you grow and flourish.  EIGHT times I have said, "I can't believe you are this big".  And this year has been the most surprising, heartbreaking, and growth filled year yet.   

We started out your 8th year with lice and are ending it in a global pandemic.  How's that for bookending a year?  This year has brought so much uncertainty, disappointment, change, and frightening news and through it all you have shown the resilience of someone much older. You have always been our even-keeled and thoughtful girl and this year has been no different.  In March schools were shut down and the last few months with your beloved first grade teacher, Mrs. Halstead, looked much different than we expected. You worked SO hard on schoolwork that did not bring you the same joy it typically did, because Mom telling you to do it was not NEARLY as motivating as do-no-wrong Halstead. She spoiled you with nearly weekly drop-offs of thoughtful things like matching class bracelets and ABC countdowns for the end of the school year.  As devastated as we were to miss time with her (Mom was disappointed too...helping in class is one of my favorite things), the spring with nearly any other teacher would have been a much harder pill to swallow.

 

You spent the summer doing a LOT of swimming at home, since most things were shut down (including parks and playgrounds) and were thrilled when we had one person at a time to come swim (most notably, BFF Bailey).  We did a LOT of camping, borrowing Grandma and Grandpa's trailer so we didn't even have to use public bathrooms while we were out.  We quarantined for two weeks at a time several times to celebrate Mom's, then Baba's, then Dedo's birthdays, and then you spent the night several nights with them, which was fun.  At the end of the summer you started going over to Grandma and Grandpa's with Dad and watching the Seahawks games outside in their yard together.

 

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In the fall you started second grade, remotely, with teacher Mrs. Rucks.  She is a great teacher for you.  She challenges you and has an extremely no-nonsense classroom management style which I think you really appreciate, being the rule-follower and conscientious student you are.  You LIVE for book check-out days in person at school and love borrowing her A-Z mysteries from her classroom stash.  Your book reading is voracious, sometimes reading an entire book a day.  Your favorite series that you've read this past year include Bad Kitty, the Bad Guys, Ivy and Bean, and Frannie K Stein. Together, we've read some awesome books this year, too!  We conquered Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Anne of Green Gables, The Boxcar Children, a plethora of Roald Dahl books, How to Eat Fried Worms, and Superfudge, amongst others.  My favorite thing is that after we do bedtime together as a family you will turn back on your reading light and read a different book just you and Oliver together.  It is so sweet and you are so kind to read to your brother.

Your loves include: singing (loudly and off-key, but with the greatest of gusto), singing, doing cartwheels, putting on shows in the living room with your brother, playing with Samantha, Samantha and Laura (a great law firm name, Dad decided), riding your brother's scooter, reading, watching Master Chef Junior, putting together LEGO kits, crafting of any kind, dreaming of DIY fairy garden projects, calling BFF Bailey on Kids Messenger, snuggling a dog, cooking, eating bread, making plans for parties, Uno Flip, & complaining loudly about cleaning your bedroom.

This year you also:

-re-learned how to ride your bike

-completed the Couch to 5K app with mom (and are working on it a second time)

-excelled at online learning and know how to use your own laptop proficiently (it's impressive)

-read the first Harry Potter book TWICE (once as a family and once on your own because you were just dying for more Harry Potter and mom the meanie won't let you read the second book yet)

-excelled at Hockey and practiced with the Lady Rockets, an all girls team at Tacoma Twin Rinks

-took virtual gymnastics, ballet, and jazz classes with your favorite teachers

-went on an overnight backpacking trip with only Mom to Dewey Lake, carrying all of your own gear

-continued to share your room with your brother-you two love to sleep in the same bed still, even though Isa left last February, freeing up Oliver's room again

-pitched in on chores around the house, notably: doing your own laundry and picking up dog poop 

-became dog-crazy & swearing you are going to have four big dogs when you grow up (puppy Charlie helped instill this love of dogs, crazy as he is)

-started to really cook and get involved with meals in the kitchen

-started your orthodontia journey with spacers put in last week and expanders coming next week...

We are heading into a couple more long months of winter here and then, as always, the spring and summer will perk us up and we will get to enjoy some more time with friends outside.  I am so proud of the positive, hardworking, girl you have become and the grit with which you tackle ANYTHING from school to hockey to playing games (patiently) with your brother.  I cannot wait to see what this next year brings for you and to watch you continue to grow into the spectacular young woman you'll be.  You, my Zoë Maxine, are my red-headed, freckled beauty who has brains and heart and grit to match.