Maxwell is THIRTEEN!

We have a teenager!

I was induced the day after my birthday because they feared Max would be over 9 pounds. He was born at 1 in the morning the next day, weighed 8'4, and he hasn't stopped growing since.

He is getting so tall.

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. We had three birthday cakes in about a week, but no one complained.

 

New socks.

New bike!

He left Monday morning for Scout camp and won't be back until Saturday, and we miss him so. Andrew and James keep asking where he is. He is kind, talented, funny, and fun to talk to. He worries about his siblings and babysits his siblings, mows three lawns and grows faster at the Rubik's Cube (Speedcube) every day. He is learning new household talents (hint: I got him to start doing some of his laundry some of the time), and is going to be in SBO in 8th grade in just a few weeks!

My birthday

Right after Pioneer Day is my birthday, so it feels like two days of celebrating.


JB made the best cake (I think he used more butter than I do and I am fine with that and I am copying that). And these cute children and JB made me feel special all day. I got new shoes and a necklace and Max bought me a new SpeedCube with his own money.

I had to work on my birthday (next year I am asking it off) but we went to Lagoon and then Incredibles 2 on Pioneer Day, because I had that day off work.

While JB was on The Roller Coaster with these boys (his hat flew off and Max snatched it out of the air), I was on the much smaller Puff roller coaster with the other kids.

Millie hated it.

Happy to see her dad. And chicken tenders.

We met cousins there. Andrew and Aaron were walking together and Andrew told him, "We are not going on the little kid rides, we are going on big rides, we are mans."

 

 

 

Millie is TWO

Spunky, sassy, screamy, and sweet Millie is now two.

She didn't want me to pick her up for the traditional kiss the cheeks picture, she only wanted to stay by her cake.

LOVED being sang to

LOVED the cake - "Pink, pink!" (She loves the book Pinkalicious)

And her brothers loved taking over her new princess castle.

 We call her dolly, tootie, girlie and chickee. She is getting quite stubborn about her clothes and shoes and likes to change them. She goes to sleep so much better than in the past, hallelujah. She repeats anything we say. Any word. The boys laugh at her pronunciation. They are enthralled with her.

It's fun to look back at the others at this age. Max was 2 1/2 when I started the blog, but here are posts about Ben's 2nd birthday, Andrew's 2nd birthday, and James's 2nd birthday.

July 5 and 6

On July 5th we celebrated Nona's birthday with a large gathering at her house -- Papa's sister Harriett had her whole family in town, so second cousins all met again (or for the first time) and had a blast together.


A huge slip and slide was the best part of the evening.

On Friday July 6, we took family pictures up near Alta Ski Resort among all the wildflowers. They turned out so great! Will share those soon :)


That was during the evening, then we hurried back down the canyon to change and go over to see the last of the Bees game and watch some fireworks that we missed on July Fourth (they canceled the big show that we used to be able to see from our street).

July Fourth

What a fun-filled July Fourth birthday party for America.

We always wake up and feel like we have to wait forever for the neighborhood bike and scooter parade to start. It seems larger each year. Just a horde of people. I feel like people move away from our neighborhood in order to get a bigger house, but they miss the neighborhood so they come back for the parade and such.

They had some carnival activities afterward, but it was so hot by then we were fading fast.

The Thorntons invited us for lunch and swimming.  Greg has always had great success in building confidence among my kids in the pool. They go from clinging to me, to paddling across the deep end.

Millie however didn't want to leave me. JB took her in a baby float, and she wailed "Back to Mom, back to Mom!" On the bright side, it was her first three-word sentence.

Millie and James also drank too much soda, and had some tummy aches that night.

JB and the boys played basketball.

Ben got a wasp sting. He's smiling here after a mix of baking soda and water soothed his leg.

And JB finally got Millie to rest and nap.

Seattle cousins and BYU roommates

On July 3, my brother Michael and his fun crew came in to town from Seattle for a few hours, on their way to Idaho for a baptism.


I love seeing these cousins together, I have always thought we could all be friends - our combined 7 boys and 2 girls.

 



I miss my siblings and wish we could get together more often. If only states weren't so far away.

James and Andrew had their swimsuits on in the picture, because while Max and Ben were heading to basketball practice, I was heading to a splash pad to see my former BYU roommates. We met at this same place in the past when they came into town for a summer trip in 2012 and in 2015 

Big brothers

Maxwell D and Benjamin J are really good big brothers.

They are often trying to be peacemakers among the younger kids, and only sometimes try to be another parent.

Max also doubles as a perch for watching shows in the morning. (he looks so tall (sob))

Millie loves a good book. Ben reads to her a lot, but he admitted he doesn't get these board books based on Jane Austen and Anne of Green Gables.

She crawled into his lap during sacrament meeting and fell asleep. Afterward, when I took this picture, I almost thought about how he could just stay there with her and miss primary. 

I had to sub in a class. Then Max offered to take her with him to Sunday School but she woke up in the transfer. Afternoon church, amiright.

The big brothers co-babysit for short times when necessary. We have them split up the younger kids into upstairs and downstairs.

And I think their favorite time of night is right after the little boys go to bed and before Millie goes to bed. They try to rile her up to play with them.

She eats it up. "Horsey! Ax! En!"

OWL Camp and basketball

Max and Ben went to a one-day camp at the county library that was Harry Potter themed. But it wasn't as literary as I had hoped, it was more STEM-based (which is also good).

They went through Platform 9 3/4.

Met Professor McGonagal

Entered the Great Hall

And talked to Snape before the sorting (he was one of the best).

Then I said goodbye to them, but did an interview for a news story on the week-long opportunity.

The boys also had a basketball tournament in June. They lost but fought hard.

Summah

Summer has meant almost-daily trips to the park for the summer free-lunch program. They want anyone and all to come, no matter what income, so we keep going back. JB takes them most days right when it starts, but I have been a couple times if I am done with work.

They eat and play, and it is breaks up the day of what can tend to fall into squabbles if left to their own devices.

I try to go for a neighborhood walk after dinner if it isn't too hot. James rested on the grass while waiting for others to catch up. He looks so tall and long here.

We had ice cream at our friends' house to say goodbye to Katie going on a mission.

 The boys recently went for haircuts and a donut after

And they had a day at LagoonA Beach with Max's friend Andy coming along.

We are doing the summer reading program at three different libraries. We fill out the trackers and go back for prizes. One of them is music-themed, and when the younger kids brought home their prizes of recorders, kazoos and maracas I about lost my mind. Now they are under the couch I think.

Most days though are us hanging around the house, making messes and trying to keep kids from fighting.