the kids right now

Around here...

Emily seems to always be stressed these days about school tests and projects.  She puts a lot of pressure on herself and I don't know why.  She loves swim team and can't wait to go to her first EFY camp later this month.  She is a great example for her brothers.  Most 8th graders drink coffee.  it's kind of the cool thing to do around here.  on the 8th grade Disneyland trip a few weeks ago, every morning, they would stop for coffee, and Emily would be the only one to ask for something else.  The high school choir director came to the middle school to listen to each 8th grade girl.  She announced that she was starting a new after school choir for next year, and selected one 8th grader (soon to be 9th grader) to be in it.  It wasn't Emily.  But afterwards, when Emily went up and congratulated the girl who had been chosen, the girl thanked Emily and said that Emily was the only girl from choir who had congratulated her instead of saying something like, "I wish it was me.".

silly string fight in the backyard

Trent

If Emily is the loud one, and Jake is the silly one, then Trent is the quiet and serious one.  He loves being in the chess club at school.  He loves his monthly boy scout campouts.  This month, to the Ape Caves at Mount St. Helens.  He taught a lesson on Sunday all by himself about prayer and did a great job!  He hates to read.  At school they are reading a novel and discussing it in class together and it's torture for him.   He's begging to be allowed to watch more movies.  Since turning 12 and becoming a deacon at church with the other 12 and 13 year old boys, it's all of a sudden become clear to him that most of the boys have seen and love to talk about a lot of PG-13 movies he's not allowed to see.  like all the batman and spiderman movies.  So we've been making compromises.  Lately, he's been making funny baseball videos, acting out how various types of people would catch a baseball. 

Jacob

 is not liking his new glasses.  Yesterday in church, he leaned over and asked if he could take his glasses off, saying, "My eyes can't breath.  They need air!".  He loves yu-gi-oh cards and swim team.  He would swim all day if I would let him. It hasn't been a great baseball season.  So far, they've lost every single game.  He just did an awesome How-To speech at school on how to do yo-yo tricks.  His room is a mess.  partly because he hates to clean it, and partly because he collects little "treasures" and his room is full of junk that he can't part with. 

Two and a half more weeks of school!  we can't wait for summer.