Mother and Son Sighting

After checking to make sure no one was cheating by standing on their tip-toes,

We confirmed that the boys have not quite grown taller than me this year.

Smile from Nicholas, bonus.

If You Can't Beat the Snow

Go Skiing

Two and half hours to the north and we found the perfect spot for a long weekend.

 

And even this guy lost his inhibitions for a few hours.

And all that gear for deer hunting came in quite handy. 

 

Ben--after finding the poles, just making it out of the shed was a task.  Probably because putting your skis on right there isn't really the plan.  But who could wait?

 

After ski school--still all smiles.

 

Then we hit the lifts.

 

Alida, just like riding a bike, preferred to be alone for a little bit while she figured it all out.  Then she arrived as if skiing since she was three.

 

Ben will tell you he loved it, and he loved falling down the most.

 

Elaine stayed close, as she prefers her dangerous activities to be controlled.

 

Nick--always doing things his own way.

Happy Birthday Nicholas! 12 Years of Smiles and Energy

Technically, you couldn't smile yet, so we'll let Year 0 go.

 

1-Year-old

Smiles and energy

2-Years-old

Smiles and energy

But we had less say on what you would wear by this time, clearly.

 

3-Years-Old

Smiles and energy

But making your own food decisions.

 

4-years-old

Smiles and Energy

But you were going through a no-picture phase then, so this is a bit of treasure right here.

 

5-Years-Old

Smiles and energy.

Oh, oh my the energy.

 

6-years-old

Smiles and Energy

And the beginning of those screens.  Here your first Nintendo DS.  You still have it, and you still play on it

7-Years-Old

Smiles and Energy

And discovery.  Oh man, the love of discovery.

 

8-Years-Old

Smiles and Energy

And chocolate cake.  Nothing but chocolate cake from here on out.

 

9-Years-Old

Smiles and Energy

And doing things your own way, for sure.

 

10-Years-Old

Smiles and Energy

And just a hit of a young-man-to be showing through.

 

11-Years-Old

Smiles and Energy

And guns.

12-Years-Old

Smiles and Energy

And man, we love it when we get these out of you these days as you turn more often serious, sometimes outwardly nervous, and nearly always playing it cool these days.

To brag just a little bit

But mostly to remember someday, in case I misplace these wonderful notes.

 

It is fantastic to have teachers who take the time to compliment from time to time.

Everyone deserves a "well done" now and again.  Everyone.

 

Summer's End: Worlds of Fun

 

All Stubers tall enough to ride the open rides. 

 

 

Get there early enough and you can ride this thing again and again without waiting in line and without waiting for your parents to attempt to keep up with you.

 

 

Classics are always in order and required for Alida.

 

 

Our last ride of the day was the Timberwolf, and that may have put them over the edge to wiped out.

 

 

 

Still their favorite from the day.

Concentration

It's not often I catch you concentrating on your homework.

 

It's a funny thing, you hate it, but you can get it done lickety-split when you aren't distracted.

But you'll find anything to distract you--helping the girls, sneaking off to another room, playing with your pencil, finding a snack, fighting with your brother, basic fidgeting, making up songs with your brother. 

 

Or, um, noticing that I'm noticing you aren't distracted.

 

Yep, that blew it.

 

Now you say you'll refuse to do your homework.

 

My fault.

And so we were faced with another morning where we were finishing it as we ran out the door...

Monkeying Around

At the doctor's office.

 

Nicholas was not so inclined that day.

My Old Eyes

You know it has been too long since there was a two-year-old in the house, when days after, my eyes wander to this only because I happened to be sitting down to take off my shoes and the color caught my eye.

Too long for you too?
No one chased me around the house asking for their bus back.
No one fought over the bus until it hit someone in the face, knocking out a tooth.
No one had a melt down because their bus was lost.
No one accused someone else of destroying their bus.
I hadn't thrown the bus out because I was tired of dealing with the bus.
It was just there, nicely scooted under the couch after our visitors had left. 
It made me smile that morning. And it's still sitting there right now.

Hanging on Every Word

And here you witness reading clicking, much like riding a bike it seems. "discussing," "maurauders," "assassin," "conversation," "apparently" being read by Ben, which is a big deal since mandatory reading was the source of many tears last year. Now, the fact that it is Dungeons and Dragons adventure books that prompted him to sit down and read aloud with his dad for two hours on a Saturday night, foregoing his beloved last television show before bed or any computer game, phases me not. Because watching him wrap his arm around his dad and ask to not stop just yet was one of the most exciting moments of Ben's schooling I've seen so far.

Happy Sixth Ladies

When we asked what you wanted for your birthday, all you would say was a party.

So party we did.

One white cake; one chocolate cake.

We bounced,

we ate,

we aggravated all mothers with a mess of silly string.

What a long, wonderful trip we've had these six years.

Sea World, San Antonio

 Been a long time since I contemplated one of these.

 But when Ben made the height requirement, even I couldn't resist going along for a ride with him on that thing.

The others, the shorters of the crew, didn't seem to mind the viking boat log ride that dumped us from 80 feet in the air to our watery splash-down.

And we saw the Shamu show, which was great except

that after staking out our seats in the splash zone an hour before, this sat down in front of us a minute before it began.  And then Ben was terribly offended that he didn't get wet during the show.

Much more entertaining, their other show.

During which Alida sat down not once.

And late in the day, the Stubers all agreed that a trip to Red Lobster to eat seafood was in order. 

 And that's just what we did.