Karalee
This year, Kara saw the end of 7th grade and began her final year in middle school. She loves learning Spanish and was in FACS class first semester. She is a natural at baking, sewing, etc. In her stretch class, her group has been doing mock investments for the past few months, and she has really enjoyed learning about that. Kara appeared as Maleficent in the school play A Tale OF Four Tales, and absolutely loved it. She had such a fun time, and decided to try out for the spring musical. She will be playing Knight #5 in Robin Hood. That should be exciting! She played basketball again with her team from last year, and still enjoys that. She is not afraid to put her body on the line, and has thus broken her wrist and 2 fingers this year. Thanks basketball! She still attends Tae Kwon Do twice weekly, and doesn't plan to stop any time soon. She just keeps improving and that can be nothing but a good thing. She participated on summer swim team again this year and excelled in that as usual. She is so proud to be able to score points for the team. She got to learn how to kite surf when we were in Dominican Republic and took to it straight away. She really impressed her instructor. Kara is still very into anime and manga, and likes to spend her free time watching and reading those. She seriously knows so much about it, I can't even hope to keep up with the stuff she tries to tell me about. She has improved her artistic skills, and I'm always in awe of her talent. She does not like taking art classes at school, because she doesn't want to create within any set parameters. So she continues to teach herself, and is constantly seeking out ways to learn new techniques. She is always practicing drawing and painting. Kara now stands tall at 5'6 1/2". She's trying to catch up to me, I think. She is weighing in at a strong 127lbs of solid muscle. I have begun asking the girls for permission to share their height and weight, and it makes me happy that they not only don't mind sharing, they are proud of themselves and their strong bodies. All 3 of them were eager to weigh in, and wanted it documented so they can see how much they grow by next year. Kara's current dream job is to be a graphic artist. Her goal is to be better at life, specifically to improve at art, and do a better job of turning her homework in on time. The person she admires most is Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of My Hero Academia. The reason she admires him is because no one believed his work would be successful in the U.S., but he worked tirelessly to remake it to create a huge success. He also holds her dream job, so there's that.
Kara's Favorites List:
Color- Sea foam green
Animal- Jingles P. Miller, esq.
Food- Fettuccine Alfredo
Song- Crazy, Noisy, Bizarre Town by The Du
Game- Fire Emblem 3 Houses
Movie- Avengers: Endgame
TV Show- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Best Friend- Ben Rohde
Playtime Activity- Nintendo
Toy- Coolio the polar bear (she won him at Six Flags)
Non-Play Activity- Painting and drawing
Person she would choose to see- Masahiro Sakurai- the creator of Kirby and Smash Brothers
Outdoor Activity- Kickball
Outfit- Pink flannel shirt and jeans
Favorite thing to do with Mom- Go to shows and concerts
Favorite thing to do with Dad- Play nintendo
Food she doesn't like- Beans, green or otherwise
One thing she hates- Animal abuse and Hallmark movies
Kiersten
Kiersten had a fun and full 2019. She graduated from 5th grade, and thus elementary school. She was chosen to read her essay at D.A.R.E graduation, and was awarded a medal. She began attending Selvidge Middle School with Kara, and so far has excelled in the 6th grade. She signed up for choir and her 2 other electives have been FACS, which she liked just as much as Kara always has, and STEM, which she didn't love. At least she learned a lot of new things, though. She has been doing so well at school. She is in advanced math, and all of the available challenge courses. She also is in the Academic Stretch class, which is the middle school equivalent of the CCL gifted program. She has so far brought home only A's, and rarely needs to do homework at night, as she finishes it at school and on the bus. She is in PE at the same time as Kara, which is great fun for Kara, and endless embarrassment for Kiersten. She played basketball for a couple of different teams this year, and continues to get better at that. Her winter team last year won their division, even after being moved up to the harder division a few weeks into the season. Mostly, she just loves having fun with her friends. She is still fencing as well, and getting better all the time. She swam with the Castle Pines Crocodiles this summer and has become a very strong swimmer. She is always so kind, and such a people pleaser. I try to keep an eye out for her so she doesn't get walked over, but she's starting to be a pretty good advocate for herself. It's amazing to watch her personality mature. She had her first few choir performances this semester, and I love her hear her timid but pretty singing voice. She is also an impressive dancer, and I love to see her put on a show. I'm unsure how all of my kids are so much more talented than I ever have been, but I'm glad they are. It's fun to see.
Kiersten is now 5'3" and seems so tall to me sometimes, until I see her friends and remember they've all turned into such tall ladies this year. She's weighing about 98.2lbs, and hopes to keep packing on enough muscle to take down Kara eventually. She still wants to join up with the NFL as a punter, but as that's not a job that will last forever, her other career will be as a fashion designer. Her goal for the coming year is to use handheld electronics as little as possible. Just FYI if you try to text her and she doesn't respond... The person she most admires is her Daddy because he is successful at his job, and always takes care of everyone.
Kiersten's favorites:
Color- White
Animal- Panda
Food- Sushi
Song- Human by Christina Perri
Game- Super Smash Brothers
Movie- A Prince For Christmas
TV Show- Angel of Death
Best Friend- Eva and Karina
Playtime Activity- Nintendo
Toy- Blanky and Purple Bear
Non-play Activity- Sleeping
Person she would like to see- Grams
Outdoor Activity- Soccer
Outfit- Black pants and black heels. She couldn't decide on a favorite top.
Favorite thing to do with Mom- Watch movies
Favorite thing to do with Dad- Play basketball
Food she doesn't like- A strong tie between pork and corn
One thing she hates- People barging into her room
Evangeline
Over the course of the year, Evie has just become more sweet and lovable. She is always a fun person to have around, and we are happy to have such a sunshine in our lives. Even if she is upset to the point of crying, she can't resist making a joke if she thinks of one, or laughing at anyone else that makes one. She is seriously so easy to cheer up, because that is her natural demeanor. She finished up the 3rd grade like a champ. She started 4th grade and got right into charming her teacher and everyone else around her. She loves reading, and always is into several books at the same time. We are constantly impressed with her math skills and the creativity of her thinking. Ask her some time about the numbers' personalities she has created that help her do basic math in her head. It's very confusing to me, but somehow helps her do math at lightning speed. She loved having her cousins stay with us for several weeks, and was very nurturing toward them. She said it was like a more exciting way to play house. She participated in Girls on the Run again this year, which meant I got to coach again. It is such a fun and worthwhile program. She cares very little about her times, and just wants to be running around with all her buddies. Evie is still taking ballet and tap dance, and has recently added hip hop to her schedule. She decided to quit soccer, and is now focusing on her dance and trying out basketball. She doesn't love it so far, but is being a good sport and giving it a shot. She was on the swim team as well this summer, and was one of the oldest swimmers in the 7/8 age group, so that was fun for her to have an advantage. Unfortunately it means this year she's one of the younger ones in the 9/10 group, so probably won't be doing as much winning. Evie did the Marquette cheer camp again this summer and had so much fun. She had an abscessed tooth that was being treated that week, plus swim team, and she was a real trooper. She didn't want to miss any of her activities.
Evie is 4'8", which I'd like to point out, is 7 inches taller than I was told by a nurse she'd be as a grown adult. I don't know why she wouldn't just admit some math got mixed up, but she really kept insisting that she was predicted to only grow to be 4'1". I guess it's time to get over it now, as Evie has clearly proven that wrong. She weighs 81.6lbs. She has decided she'd like to follow in her Aunt's footsteps and become a doctor that takes care of kids. Her goal for the year is to not fight with her sisters. That should be easy, since she hardly fights with them to begin with. She said the person she admires is Mommy because I take care of her and make sure everyone is happy.
Evie's Most Favoritest:
Color- Pink
Animal- Cat
Food- Sweet and sour chicken
Song- Freaks by Jordan Clarke
Game- Life
Movie- Frozen 2
TV Show- LD Shadow Lady (A Minecraft Youtuber)
Best Friend- Lydia
Playtime Activity- House
Toy- Gaffy the giraffe
Non-play Activity- Dancing
Person she would like to see- Grams
Outdoor Activity- Riding her bike
Outfit- Pink dress and white leggings
Favorite thing to do with Mom- Play board games and cuddle
Favorite thing to do with Dad- Go to Six Flags
Food she doesn't like- Ketchup
One thing she hates- The idea of dying
Ben and Becky
As for Ben and I, we had a pretty good year?... Just kidding, it really was good. Ben did break his foot twice, and got a weird infection from a bad tooth, and had a blood pressure scare. I did have breast cancer and a double mastectomy, and an enlarged thyroid and accompanying nodule that had to be removed so that I could swallow again... But we're still standing and we're all okay, and we're going to be okay. The best parts of the year were; having Angie and her girls and Nic here to start the year with a bang, meeting up with Brennon and Katie in Miami, taking a spring break Disney cruise, going to Dominican Republic for a hugely fun week, going on a cruise from London to New York, having Katie and her kids entertain us for nearly a month, having Nancy and her family visit for Thanksgiving, taking Papa to his first NFL game, and then hanging with him for a few more days, watching the Chiefs win over and over, having my mom come take care of me for a week, and spending time in Branson with friends. Whew, see? That is an awful lot of fun things to look back on that I will always be glad we got to do. If forced to pick a favorite, I'm going with the September Disney cruise. It was fun to see so many new places, and I will never forget coming into NYC and seeing the statue of Liberty. I couldn't avoid thinking about my Dad seeing the same statue when he came to the US with his parents and siblings as a little boy. What a lot of great things that ocean voyage led to!
We have such a good life, full of fun memories, and more friends than I ever realized I had, that are willing to help us in endless ways. I can't really ask for much more in the New Year, but maybe, hopefully to all be a little healthier.
We have such a good life, full of fun memories, and more friends than I ever realized I had, that are willing to help us in endless ways. I can't really ask for much more in the New Year, but maybe, hopefully to all be a little healthier.
Jingles
As always, Jingles is doing her Jingles thing. I asked her how she feels her year went, and she just said, "Meow."
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