Happy Birthday, Elliott!

Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!

Oh my goodness.  That is ELEVEN birthday wishes for this boy, today, on his birthday.

Elliott, you were born bright and early on a Tuesday morning, and are celebrating your 11th birthday on a Tuesday as well.  I remember the day you were born.  It was exciting and scary; emotional and overwhelming all at the same time.  We were so excited to get you here, and so desperately terrified once you got here.  Well, I was terrified.  Dad?  He is always pretty cool.

Now, all these years later, the day you were born and our nervousness about whether or not you were going to breathe and be okay have faded and mom and dad, we are left with the joy (and sometimes frustration) of watching you grow up.

You my boy, you are such a good boy!  I love to watch you grow and learn.  I love to watch you laugh and dance.  I love to watch you sit with the grown-ups at dinner and try to figure out everything that we are talking about.  I love to watch you play soccer and basketball and talk to you about the books you are reading.  I LOVE that I can give you the money and sent you and your brother's into the 7-11 without me and everything will work out okay.  I love that you are learning from your mistakes and making good choices in your life.

I am blown away by how smart you are.  How kind you CAN BE to your brothers, and how much you love babies - there aren't many 11 year old's who dive for baby cousins the second they enter a room to hold and cuddle and get them to laugh.  Baby Brady is pretty lucky to have you as his oldest cousin.

You are getting so tall.  You are getting so mature.  Now, as I gush with all these platitudes about how great you are - I still remember the day a couple weeks ago when, in a momentary lapse in judgement, and a little out of spite, you destroyed all your brothers mine craft homes and worlds and started a brotherly rumble that took two weeks to earn all the screens back.    And, I saw those elbows you threw in your basketball game the other Saturday.  Yeah, I remember that, too.  I'm like an elephant, I never forget.

In a year, you are going to be a deacon and have priesthood responsibilities in our church.  A few years after that, you will be driving and then, in a short sneeze after that, you will be gone.  Whether a mission or college or eventually both, you will jump away from me and it will be so exciting for you.  Being your mom up to this point, it's felt like you will be mine forever.  Something about eleven though - it feels like I've turned the corner and my time with you is S L O W L Y ...starting to shrink.

I love you (and your brothers) so much.  I feel so lucky everyday that I get to be your mom.  That I get to watch you grow, be your chauffeur and your teacher and your cook.  As sad as it feels for me to see you growing up sometimes, I just cannot wait to see all that is in front of you.

You, Elliott Moyle Howden, have a bright future ahead of you.

10 years old!

Happy Birthday, Elliott.

Today, you turned ten years old.  One whole decade under your belt.  It feels so old to me, you being ten.  It also makes me feel old, especially because I'm fast approaching the end of my third decade.

A couple weeks ago, on the short drive home from church, we were talking about food, as we are apt to do.  I told you that Sunday dinner at Grandma's was going to be a pot-luck affair, and that we were in charge of the potatoes.

"What kind of potatoes are we going to make?"  you asked.

"The yummy scalloped ones," I replied.

"Can I help?"

"Yes, you can help, but dad's doing the potatoes, all I'm doing is sauteing the leeks?"

"Oh.  Okay.  I love to saute!" you said with a grin.

Some days, it feels like you are twenty, not ten.  I mean, how many ten years old's regularly saute?You listen to adult conversations, have opinions about grown-up matters, and really try hard to follow the conversation at the grown up table at Sunday dinner.

You have a strange sense of humor, and are the funniest person you know.  You are the most helpful ten year old around, helping even if you don't want to.   You help around the house, clean toilets, take good care of  your brothers, and like to sit by me at church.

Sometimes, your emotions get the better of you...you've always had a problem with losing to your brothers in general, and losing to your dad at anything.  As you are maturing though, those fits of rage are fewer and further between.  You are however, a bad looker, regularly losing things that should be lost like shin guards, i pods, church shoes and your favorite books.  In fact, dad and I have started charging you big bucks ($5) to find your lost items. We usually find them in minutes, and handing over that money just about kills you.  It's hard to watch you struggle sometimes with stuff, and friends that have stuff you don't (or newer versions of things), and your desire to always fit in.  But, you are kind and well liked by everyone, especially Sister Lonni across the street.  I think she's got a crush on you and for all that good behavior, the occasional freak out is acceptable.

Reading though - reading has become one of, if not, your more favorite past times.  During a Grandma Camp adventure to Barnes and Noble in the summer, you picked up the first of the Harry Potter books, and proceed to NOT read it for a month or so.  Then, on a summer day in August, as "punishment" for a violent three-way brother brawl, you were banished to your room with said book for quiet reading time, and weren't allowed to come out until you had read the first chapter and could tell me everything that happened.  Well, an hour later you emerged, with the book a quarter of the way done and you haven't looked back.  We've been borrowing books from Aunt Karen, but you got your own full set for Christmas (and a H.P. Griffendor scarf for your birthday) and are currently on book five, which is nearly 900 pages.  I am beyond impressed that you are knocking out such a lengthy read.  When we watch the movies you curl up in a ball on the couch and just smile (even though the films are creepy and spooky).  You've managed to get Quinn obsessed with the Potter kid, too and it's fun to see him make fun of you and say you like Hufflepuff.

You excel in band and soccer.  You have become the Dennis Rodman rebounding machine of 4th grade Junior Jazz.  With Dad and Coach Karl at the helm, so far your team is undefeated with just a few games to go in the season.  It's so fun to watch you play your favorite sports, but let's face it, I'm partial to basketball and this year, it's really gotten fun to watch.



I love that dad and I can pretty much always count on you to be even tempered, happy to help, and generous with your time and talents, especially to your brothers.  It makes me so happy to see you lead and guide Wyatt and Quinn, even though I know that you don't know that's what you are doing.

Ug, you are just a good kid.

I'm glad we're friends.

Love,
Mom

New Year, new season

Basketball is in full swing at our house.  University of Utah games and Elliott and Wyatt are both playing junior jazz this year.  Both boys are having excellent seasons. Ross is coaching both boys teams and Coach Karl is helping out with Elliott's.

Wyatt is still playing in the "developmental" league, so no real practices until next season.  No score board, either.  But, the kids do a pretty good job of keeping score all on their own.  Wyatt's team is pretty good and he has managed to score during every single game.  And, he looks good.  He always makes sure that from head to toe - hair to shoes, he is on fleek.  (Is "On Fleek" still a thing?)

Elliott's team is doing great this year.  So far, they are undefeated in their league, and seem to be the team to beat.  Uncle Willie gave him some Dennis Rodman socks for Christmas and they seem to be bringing him a lot of luck.  He has become a rebounding machine and not a single kid that defends him knows how to stop someone who shoots a left handed lay-up.  One game before Christmas was pretty intense and Coach Karl yelled at the opposing coach, "Shut up, Dude!" but otherwise, good sportsmanship abounds.

It's fun to watch the boys play every Saturday and I am one mama who is very happy her boys LOVE basketball!

Elliott plays soccer!

Elliott has been playing soccer now for so many years, I've lost track.  Like the other boys, he's been playing since he was 4 years old and he just loves soccer.  Lucky for him, he's a really good soccer player.

Elliott's season runs fall and spring.  This past spring, the leagues across Utah changed their rules and decided that teams would be made up of kids in the same birth year, not the same school year.  Unfortunately, this meant that the team he had been on for the last year which was made up of kids from his school class would be dissolved.  And, all the kids would have to find a new team to play on.  Oh man, it was a stressful couple of weeks.  Ross and Elliott knew that he wanted/needed to play at a more competitive level, but to do that, you have to try-out and make a team.

The first frantic try-out was a bust.  There were about 70 kids trying out for maybe 3 spots on a team.  It was a disappointing mess.  The next try-out was smaller and luckily, Elliott made the team after a couple rounds of "auditions".  He was excited.  His dad was excited.  An entry level competition team seemed perfect for him.

Well, the fall season is nearing an end, and so are the bad news bears.  There have been a few more downs than ups - one kid broke both of his arms, another just up and quit the team, a few kids are pretty sporadic practice and game attenders....but, my kid has persevered and I'm proud of him.  He LOVES to play soccer.  There is a level of aggression that comes out of him that is pretty interesting to watch when he is on the field.

I tell the boys, especially Elliott, that all that matters at the end of the game is that he (they) did their best.  That he (they) needs to be able to walk off the field, regardless of outcome, and know that a good game was played.  I don't get soccer at all, but I'm really happy to watch my kid(s) play so well.

Back to School :: 2016-17 School Year

Well, as of today, the boys have been back to school for a whole week.  They returned to dual immersion Spanish and new grades, Elliott 4th and Wyatt 2nd on Tuesday, July 26 and we had back to school night a couple days after.

Back to school is pretty uneventful, mostly because it was just three weeks from when the previous school year ended.  Elliott's English language teacher, after the second day of school was hospitalized and he finished out the week with a substitute.  We received a letter from the administration yesterday that his teacher of two days, had a stroke! and had resigned her position.  I feel so bad.  We never met her, Elliott was unable to describe what she looked like, how old she was, or anything specific about her so she will forever remain a mystery.  A new teacher has been hired and will start on Monday.  I look forward to meeting her.





Otherwise, we've fallen quite nicely into our routine.   The boys keep growing up faster than I'm ready for.  Quinn starts school in two weeks and then I'll have two hours, three days a week where I will be completely by myself....whatever will I do?  Probably mope around and be lonely.

3 weeks of summer

As much as I complain about year round school, the reality is that in a lot of ways, it really works well for my kids.  I found myself, the whole month of June, pining and whining for days off, ready to just check the boys out of school and be done with it.  But now, as we have only a few days left in our summer, I'm really tired and realize that I don't know what I would do with the boys if they were home for 3 full months.

Elliott starts 4th grade on July 26.  Wyatt will start second grade.  But, they only go for three weeks and then, we have summer number 2.  But summer number two will be without cousins and grandma's and uncles because they will all be back at work and at school.  But, at least almost every where we go, will be empty.

Anyway, in three weeks, we have crammed in a lot.

Fireworks.
Summer NBA games.
2 days of grandma camp, with no moms
Lagoon.
This is the place state park.
Swimming in the day.
Swimming in the night.
Soccer practice.
Cub Country.
Parade float preview.
Lots of lunch (lots of little Caesar's pizza).

We've got a few activities left to complete before summer #1 is officially over, and then we will put the list on hold for a couple of weeks for round two.

An update :: Elliott

Well, third grade is almost in the books.  It's been a good year, for a good boy.  I mean, the first, oh, seven years of your life were pretty challenging but I have to say that when you turned eight, and since January when you turned NINE, you have become a delightful young man.  We are getting along pretty well these days and it probably has a lot to do with how responsible you are, and how much more I can leave you alone and let you manage on your own.

Independence has always been your thing.  It suits you, my boy!

I guess no post about your current status in life would be complete without the story of the Fit Bit Charge.  It has defined months of your life and taught you some important lessons.

At Christmas, you got a fit bit.  It delighted you to no end, but as soon as you got back to school after winter break, a lot of your friends had fit bits, and fancier ones at that.  As with most things, you talk to your Grandma Judy before your mom and dad, but we knew that there was a fit bit talk coming.  You wanted a new one.  A fancier one.  One that tells you the time and exactly how many thousands of steps you take in a day (you average 100,000 plus steps a week, by the way, that's a little over 14,000 steps a day.) and your heart rate.

Finally, you decided to talk to me about it after school one day because, your buddy Yoshi having something you didn't was eating you alive.  You made sure to point out that Yoshi's dad bought it for him, just because, and were implying that I do the same.  Much to your disappointment, that was not the case.  Instead, I talked to you about goals and planning and saving your money.  We figured out that if you do all your jobs each week, you earn $5 and how long it would take you at $5 a week to earn the money for the fit bit of your dreams.

That was not good enough for you.  It wasn't FAST enough.  And even though you wanted mom and dad to buy it for you, you buckled down pretty fast to go on a money earning rampage.  For a little over three months, you worked your butt off for your dad, for me, for Grandma and even doing some jobs at Great Grandpa Huber's house.  You volunteered for jobs you'd normally run out of the room for.  You did anything your dad asked you to if there was an extra dollar as a reward.  Throughout it all, your attitude was pretty good and you really impressed me with your determination.

You faltered once, when you were so close to your goal, thinking that you'd give up on what you really wanted in order to get something else, faster.  But, we talked you off that ledge and pushed through the last couple weeks of money earning.

When that dumb fit bit came in the mail from Amazon, and I presented the box to you across the kitchen table on a Sunday night, I've maybe never seen you so excited.  You were beaming and glowing; giddy and jumpy.

You are a good boy, with a lot going on in your little nine year old life and you are handling it like a champ.  It's so much fun to watch you grow up and get better at making good decisions every single day.

A Dapper Trio

Over the weekend we were shopping at the Salt and Honey Market, mostly to check on my inventory because I was a vendor at the show.  While there, Wyatt decided that he wanted a bow tie, as part of his birthday presents.  We obliged.

On Sunday morning, he started to get dressed and then Quinn decided to jump on the bow tie bandwagon and, thanks to the last couple years of dressy Christmas presents from Grandma Judy, we were able to find a bow tie for Elliott, too.  I must say that these boys of mine, especially when the big boys have fresh haircuts, end up being a pretty dapper trio.

And as we all came down stairs ready for church, I realized that we were all dressed the same - navy blues, so it warranted a front porch selfie before we left the house.

The end of Basketball

Elliott and Wyatt played basketball this year.  Wyatt's was a learning league, and was chaos almost every week.  But, he had fun, made some new friends and did a great job and made at least one basket in every single game.  Elliott was in a third grade team league and it was a little too intense for a bunch of 8 and 9 year olds, but he really improved and in his last game, scored 6 points (two of which were free throws) and had at least 10 rebounds.  A regular Dennis Rodman.

There isn't much else to say, but I did take pictures with a real camera at each of their last games.  Enjoy!

Elliott is NINE!

Happy Birthday, Elliott!

Let me start by saying that I thought EIGHT, was your best year ever, but NINE?  Holy cow, it's going to be huge.  As I think about the last year, I really can only think about how much I loved you being eight.  In your eighth year, you and I became friends again.  We didn't fight as much, or yell at each other like we used to.  You like to talk to me, you like to show me the things that you've drawn, or made, or built in Mine Craft.  You ask me really hard science questions in the car.  And, if I'm really lucky, you'll sit next to me on the couch, on purpose, and sort of try to sneakily lay your head on my shoulder.  That, my boy, makes my day.

Eight was also the year of texting!  Heaven help us that you bought your own ipod and can text Grandma and Dad whenever you feel like it.  And, with the fit bit and accompanying app you got for Christmas, you can text me, too.

You are growing up so fast.  You are getting so mature.  You are smart and talented and have a lot of friends and kids that look up to you.  You have great hair, do your homework, are a terrible speller, and make your bed every day without me having to remind you.  You survived a butt-head baseball coach in the spring, had a great fall soccer season and you even, all on your own, decided to join the band and have become quite a good trombone player.

I love to have your help in the kitchen, and with your brothers.  It made me so happy a couple of weeks ago when the car died and I had to go and rescue dad,  that I knew I could trust you to be in charge at home, just you and the boys.  I was only gone 20 minutes, but that was a big deal and I was so proud of you for being in charge.  Though there are occasional lapses in thinking, you are so responsible and careful.  Your dad and I always tell you that, because, like us, you are the first born, there is a lot of pressure on your shoulders to blaze the trail for your brothers, do the most jobs in the house, and to be an example.  Elliott, you do all those things and more.  We are lucky to be your parents, and your brothers are lucky to have you.

You earned your Wolf in cub scouts months ago and were so excited to start with the bear group this week.  You are always whistling lately.  Let's face it, it can be a bit annoying, but at least you whistle good tunes.  You will only wear skinny jeans.  It's your thing now.  The best skinny jeans also happen to be the most expensive - we can no longer buy you clothes at kid stores - they now must come from the Gap.  For such a skinny kid, there never seems to be enough food for you to eat, and eat you do - some days all day long.  You love your grandmas, and any time you can hang out with grandparents far trumps time with mom and dad, especially if said grandma time is without your parents.  And, like your dad, just in the last few months or so, you are passionate about music and the Wombats is your new favorite band, like your dad.

It's fun to watch you get nervous.  When you get nervous, you talk.  You talk A LOT!  You plot and plan and repeat things over and over again.  Grandma and I were talking a little while ago and think that when that #1 uncle of yours appears at the airport in a few short weeks you might just melt into a puddle of goo and we will have to mop you up and put you back together.  I cannot wait for your best buddy to get home and see how grown up you are.  You will blow Willie's mind.

I love you #1 son.  Forever and ever.  Even if you wipe boogers on the wall.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

On Sunday night, it snowed.

On Monday, it snowed.

On Monday night, it snowed.

On Tuesday, we had a lot more snow.

Children, mine included, love the snow.  They seem to forget the fact that they are cold, have frozen snot on their faces and soaking wet pants and socks because....SNOW!

Yesterday, when the big boys got home from school, they geared up and headed outside with their little brother.  I dare say, they frolicked, they had so much fun.  When they came inside, they were laughing and having a great time.

Snow, for as much havoc as it wreaks in the lives of adults by way of commuting, shoveling and snow blowing, is truly magical for kids.  Quinn, in particular, has really loved the snow the last couple of days.  I guess this is the first year he's really old enough to play and trudge through knee high snow and last year, we didn't get any so this is pretty amazing to him.

I need to remember that magic the next time my boys are driving me crazy.