A boy and his robot

Our big hearted boy

#30's mom sent me this yesterday… such a sweet boy we have! Make sure you see the progression in the photos.

#30 is new to our team this year, and even though all these boys are born on the same year, Roddie continues to tower over many of them.

According to Roddie he wanted to make sure this kid could see the game they were watching while they waited their turn.

#30 told his mom that Roddie is his favorite teammate.

Proud of our gentle giant :)

A few notables

Well, looks like you were right to be hesitant to cross the border, sounds like it's anything but clear what the next few months will hold with this new variant... the rules seemingly continue to change daily.  While I did respect your decision and feelings on the matter, I must admit I thought you were being overly cautious... I stand corrected :)  It just stinks.  I'd love for you to be able to see Roddie playing hockey - the boys have all grown so much, or Norah and her friends giving volleyball a shot... I saw some hockey grandparents we've seen around for years the other morning and it gave me a little pang.... anyway, on the up side, everyone is safe and healthy and there are plenty of good things going on, I hope for you as well as us!

First one, we are all now fully vaccinated! Roddie got #2 on Saturday and Matt and I got #3!  Such a relief!  The boys had no issues, I got sick again, still lingering into yesterday... feels like a 3 day hangover that won't go away... better than the alternative.

Second one, Norah is pursuing some more volleyball.  Different outfit, another club team running some clinics, but it's closer and they have more of a focus (allegedly) on getting to some game play... it's both weekend days in December and January, which is not like her to do lightly, and she requested it.  Same bunch of girls, plus a couple more (including her BFF Erin), so it should be interesting to see how her school team goes in the spring.  Either way, I think she will have fun.

Third one, she just signed up for this amazing trip: https://www.shesummitsco.com/our-adventures/katahdin-voyagers  - we could not be more excited for her (and maybe a little jealous!)  It's something I left with her a while ago, and she decided she wants to do it and is super excited to go... I feel confident she will love it, and I am pretty sure I'll be OK while she is gone for 2 weeks on her own!  She's too old for camp, and not quite old enough to really work so this is perfect. 

She was also telling me about these videos she watches about things to do each year to get ready for college (clubs, teams etc.) and she is cooking up her plan for next year (*sniff*)  She's also kicking butt at school, staying very organized and on top of her work.  Best of all, it's all coming from her... She loves to tell me about it, but I'm just along for the ride, she's driving... time is definitely accelerating as you promised. 

Both kids had astounding teacher conferences, great on the academic side, but I was also really proud of the reports on how great they are to have in class, inclusive of all classmates, working with others, thoughtful, respectful etc.  Of course, I expect these things, but it's nice to hear that they actually do it, to the extent it's worth their teachers mentioning :)

Don't worry, it's not all roses, there are occasional snotty attitudes, random crap everywhere, too much screen time and dishes/laundry not done but a) that's no fun to talk about and b) they are works in progress and like the first topic above - so much good stuff to be thankful & proud about.

XOXOX

S