School's out, the pool's open, and we are ready for summer!
5th grade came to a close so quickly. Madison and Jackson had high points and low points throughout the year but overall they were very happy about their first full year at their new school. They both played in the band again this year and plan to next year as well which makes me very happy! Jackson is doing very well on the clarinet and Madison is owning the trumpet.
They got to watch the puberty video this year and go to their first dance. Luckily they didn't understand why the other kids were all weirded out by the puberty video. We aren't shy talking about things here so it all seemed like no big deal to them. They went with friends to the dance although Jackson did ask a girl friend to go with him but she said "Well, I'm 10 so I can't" LOL
Jackson's club soccer team (with whom he has trained since he was 5) had a great season this spring. Practices and games were quite tricky with Harrison being a toddler and not wanting to sit still. He had games in Portland, Maine, Braintree, MA, as well as more local. His team has a goal keeper but Jackson had to step in quite a few times and luckily he is pretty good there. My heart is in my throat watching him though. I much prefer to watch him in a field position. He has been playing defense this year and doing very well at it. He does prefer to play forward though.
Jackson has been seeing an orthodontist for a couple years now. He had a palette expander to make some room for his baby teeth to fall out and adult teeth to grow in. He got it out last December and now we are just waiting for the rest of his baby teeth to fall out. I think he still has 4 or 5!
Madison just had her dance recital last weekend. She did a Lyrical class and I love seeing her mature in her body control and confidence. She's been doing great with her guitar lessons. She and her teacher work on learning a song to play then they record it then they record her singing too. She won't let ANYONE listen to them which is such a bummer. Madison has not had to see an orthodontist. Her baby teeth have all fallen out (the last baby tooth is holding on by a thread at the moment) just fine and her adult teeth have grown in perfectly.
Harrison at 21 months has 23 words and uses them a LOT. He makes the CUTEST facial expressions and knows when he's being funny or naughty. Madison and Jackson absolutely adore him and love to play with him every day. They love to chase him around and pretend to get hurt and fall down when he bumps into them. He cracks up. Harrison continues to be a very easy baby. He is almost always happy and if he's not it's very easy to make happy again. He has recently learned that TV has good stuff on it and always hands the remote to us and says "Cuh" which means "Color Crew" a show on the baby channel. Not a day goes by when I don't marvel in how lucky we are to have him.
Exciting news for me is that since my miles were up on my minivan lease I had to look for a new car. I was able to get a great deal on my ultimate dream car. I'm completely in love with it and all of the amazing features it has. It essentially drives itself by keeping it in the lane and keeping a certain distance from the car in front of you as well as stopping automatically if you miss something. If you're looking for a seriously cool, fun to drive SUV I highly recommend the 2019 Volvo XC40 in red :-)
