Lily Update, or Lilifred or Lillers

Her brothers might as well call her The Terminator.  Let's talk about Lily.  She is now 14.  Let's just say her mom and dad worry about her in a lot of ways.  And she's a great kid, so I don't know why.  I think it has to do with her being oldest (and me being youngest maybe).  I have no idea.  But every more experienced mom I talk to raves about her and says she will grow up to be a great woman.  And I love her lots.  I just feel like an odd mom because my mom always thought I could do no wrong (but maybe that's more in hindsight she sings my praises).  I know we had disagreements, and I was a rotten teen sometimes, and she would ignore me or go on drives to get away from me, but she always said I was beautiful and thin (ha!) and bragged about me.  I just feel more critical than my mom, and I try not to be, but I always things Lily could do this better, or try harder or be more clean, but even if she stayed as she is forever, I love her lots.  I try to bite my tongue when I ask myself would this be hurtful or helpful to say out loud and the answer is NOT HELPFUL.  Lily is so special to me.  She is the one who made me a mom and introduced me, with much fanfare, to a hyper little child who behaved much differently than I did as a child.  She blows me away with her continued willingness to keep trying and putting herself out there.  She blows me away with her confidence and her ability to speak up always, at home, school, church.  I love those things about her.  I love that even if she doesn't get to do high school sports (it is West Ada/Boise after all), she had the experience in middle school because that is a regret I have; I was too chicken.  There is NOTHING chicken about Lily!

She is desperate to reach 6" tall, but I think she might have to settle for a solid 5'11", bless her.  She is not shy about her height, but I will say I am in desperate need of finding longer shirts for my lanky lady.  She has played volleyball and is now starting basketball practice, B team both times, but wow has she improved since last year in volleyball.  I can't wait to see her on the basketball court.  Lucas and I keep telling her to save all her aggression that she uses on her bros when she's home and use it on the court.  She was a little too polite with other players last year.  

 Since her struggles with friends in 6th grade, she has really found her groove.  She stands up for who she is and her true friends respect that.  She doesn't have 1 posse all the time.  She kind of has sports friends, school lunch group, a neighborhood buddy and then church friends, but the variety seems to do her good.

 This year, Lily really has done excellently in her school work.  If she does poorly on an assignment she takes the initiative and retakes it.  She is doing all of this without us having to push her along, and it is FANTASTIC!  She has improved academically by leaps and bounds, and I knew it was in there all along. 

At home, Lily divides her time between texting friends, being the most helpful delightful daughter known to mankind, teasing her brothers and fighting with them, bossing all the kids around, and showing her mom and dad the appropriate amount of 14 year old attitude.  Yes, she definitely has many different skills.  As one would guess, I like when she is considerable and helpful, but no one is perfect, and she is even pretty good about several chores she used to avoid...like the smelly litter box.  

I am so thankful for Lily.  It is still hard to believe that a year or two ago she was just a little girl.  She hardly seems recognizable compared to her old pictures.  Her YW leader said when she was at Disneyland she saw a lady about 10 years older than Lily who could have been Lily's doppelganger.  She said she was elegant, gorgeous and that Lily is headed that way too.  I am so thankful for 'the village' of teachers, leaders and friends her are part of Lovely Lily's support system because there is always 15, 16, 17, and 18 to look forward to, and with her being my first child, who knows what delights await us.

A Little Light Catch-Up: Summer clear until the eclipse

I feel like I have really immersed myself into mothering and such things, and I haven't documented things because of that.  I have taken pictures, done some journaling but my poor, poor blog.  Summer was great but fast.  Teenagers are tricky.  All children will devour as much screen time as you allow (we have officially waged war against it; our kids aren't having a whole lot of tech).  Some phases of life make for ultra-sweet sibling relationships, and some make for a wretched dynamic that involves a lot of fighting, tears, and some pain.  Lucas going to school AND working a job with on-call weeks is rough, mostly for him (but I DO feel sorry for me too).

I think I will do a separate post for each kiddo, but here is a general summer post.

Aside from usual swim lessons, we spent our 4th of July in our favorite place to spend it, Ely.  There was a car incident when I was practicing driving with Lily, but that has been documented quite enough in my personal journal.  Suffice it to say, it was rough, but the positives were realizing we have the most fabulous family.  My MIL, Laura, my bro and sis-in-law, Jim, Uncle Randy and Aunt Lori, wow!  They really showed a lot of love and saved the day when we were in a bind.  We did have another epic waterfight.  Cameras would not be safe in this environment, and generally I enjoy myself so much I don't whip out my phone sadly enough.  It was also a special trip because we met our nephew, Jon.  !!!!  Can't wait to see him again.  He's a smart little cutie and well loved.  The only pics I did take were tired Shawn and Ben lying on the front room floor being some of the first to wake up.

 We managed an after church shot.  I am so glad we go to church together as a family.  It is quite a precious time, even if during the sit still parts the kids can drive me a bit bonkers.  They are learning things at home and at church.  They have teachers who love and care about them, and they HAVE TESTIMONIES of Jesus Christ, God's plan and his love for them and all of God's children.  What more could I ask for?  Knowing that those who go out from our home will be the ones who love others even when its hard, will sacrifice for others and will turn the other cheek but also speak up when there is wrong in the world, that means everything to me. 

 Part of our ongoing house switcharoo projects.  The kids were enlisted to tear off wallpaper in the future Matt's room/guest room which is currently our office.  Lily and Daphne saw it through to the end.  Daphne is especially obsessed and still peels off the last bits lingering behind my computer whenever she can reach them.  I always feel a sense of pride when I see my family working together.  The moments are not as often as I'd like, however.

 A second part of the project is doing our new office in our front room.  I made an ottoman that I quite like.  Bad lighting but you get the general idea.

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

 We have officially installed the floor.  Have a sofa and throw pillows, plus the ottoman.  Still painting, lighting, getting internet in there, trim, and built-in bookshelves/desks, highback chair...the list goes on and it's slow because Lucas is such a hard worker and intense student.  At least the painting I can handle.  The floor was intimidating because me and saws....IDK.

The total eclipse 2017...near total for us.  Lily was at teen swim party down the street having a great time.  I was supposed to be working as much as possible (darnit) so just made sure kids had eclipse glasses on and ran out every few minutes to check progress.  The little eclipse shaped shadows filtering through tree leaves onto the sidewalk were what I'll remember best.  Pretty awesome time to be alive.  God's creations and how they all work is AHMAZING!

 The kids waiting for the eclipse.  I LOVE IT WHEN THEY ARE CALM AND PLAY TOGETHER.  Matt usually leads these pleasant moments.  The chaotic ones are typically led by my eldest, who, obviously was gone a lot this summer.  Teenagers disappear more, but I promise she was around a lot.

In conclusion, it was a fast summer, a good summer. A challenging summer in that Daph and Shawn get on each others nerves at times, Lily and Ben AND Ben and Shawn with everyone just fighting here and there for the heck of it.  I love my kids.  I think they will grow up to be good people.  I hope they will grow up to be hardworking people who always value people (all people) over things.  As Lucas and I said in a conversation this week.  We have the best kids with the biggest hearts and good citizenship skills.  They struggle sometimes because they are rule followers in a flash the middle finger at everyone kind of world, but they know WHO THEY ARE and WHAT THEY SHOULD BE DOING, so they'll be okay.  Big hearts, good kids, but kind of sloppy.  It could be much worse.  I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!