NaNa's Home!

Justin's HOME! He came to see his birthday girl turn four years old this weekend. There's a new energy in our home now that had been missing. Love having him home.

Bonding

Fifteen year age difference doesn't stop these two brothers from bonding.

College Boy Home

Justin is home for the week and we can't be more thrilled. Loni has even claimed him as all hers. She holds her hand out to Justin and says, "Come on Justin. Let's go play." It's so cute to see.

Honoring Justin's Birth

We all got to video chat with Justin this morning, wishing him a happy birthday. I can't believe this boy is 22 years old! At the end of our conversation, he told me that Grandma Weller was calling him. A few minutes later, Justin called me back to tell me Grandma was taking him out to lunch in Orem, UT. Thank you, Mom, for spending the afternoon with him for us. 

We honored Justin's birth by going to SF. We grabbed some Ghirardelli and walked around enjoying the warm sunshine. After buying some clam chowder from the wharf, we drove to Pacifica to play at the beach. This time, I took everyone to Rockaway beach (for the first time) where we watched all the surfers catch the huge waves. A stream ran down into the ocean, making for the perfect play area for Loni and Daveo. It was a perfect day. Happy birthday Justin. Love you!

Rockaway Beach

Having Fun with Justin

This is Justin's last day with us before returning back to school. We all decided to enjoy the day in Monterey doing our usual activities: Ghirardelli and the Aquarium.(It was too cold for the beach.)

Before heading home, Justin wanted to visit his old Champs manager who was transferred to Monterey. While he caught up with her, Dave-o and Loni had fun trying on hats. Each time Loni put one on, she placed it on her head backwards. She definitely has her own style. I was proud of Dave-o for only trying on true bay area team hats (no A's).

We'll be seeing Justin again for Thanksgiving, so this won't be a long good-bye.

Birthday Celebration

David's home from his week-long business trip. So, we celebrated Justin's birthday. Linnea even flew here for Justin.

Loni insisted on helping Justin with the candles. 

TwentyOne

My oldest child is now twenty-one! Crazy to think about. I feel quite old now.

Justin had to work for most of the day. When he got off, I met him at the mall where I took him to see the new Star Wars movie. It was fun watching it for the second time, but even more fun watching it with someone he hasn't seen it. 

Happy birthday, Justin! Stop growing up!

When I Grow Up

Dave-o has been working on a short film with Justin's friend Noah Todd. After 2 months of hard work it's finally finished. Noah is using this film to get into a university.

Dry Socket

Justin had the stitches removed from his mouth today. Everything is healing well except for his left side which developed into a dry socket. After a tooth is extracted, a dry socket is formed when the blood clot is lost or doesn't form, leaving the bone exposed and the healing delayed. Bacteria begins to grow in the exposed area resulting in a horrible taste in the mouth. Justin told me that he actually contemplated throwing up because the taste was so bad he'd rather taste vomit than the bacteria. Dr. Vehawn rinsed the area out and packed it with medicine. 

Practicing Basketball

After watching his older brothers and father play stake basketball this past week, Dave-o has set a personal goal to be able to shoot and dribble. We spent a fun hour practicing in the church gym today. Dave-o was getting discouraged at not being able to throw the basketball hard enough, but we assured him that with practice his arms will get stronger. 

 Justin is  no longer a teenager! Today he enters the world of twenty year-olds. Unfortunately, most of our family (including me) is really sick. So, his special day was a bit anti-climatic. I did, however, manage to make his favorite meals: monkey bread for breakfast, Panda Express for lunch, root beer pulled pork for dinner, and Texas sheet cake for dessert.

Happy Birthday Justin. I love you!

Another Project Day

Today was another project day.

James and Justin put together the Christmas trampoline.

And David worked on framing the door and stapling chicken wire on the garden enclosure. It's almost done!

They set out to work in the cold California winter morning. It was in the mid forties (which is freezing for us).

School Mumbo Jumbo

 Dave-o is such a willing learner. He has grown and matured a lot since last year. At the beginning of the year 2014, I attempted to teach Dave-o to read. Sitting down and focusing for more than five minutes was impossible for my little guy. But now, he loves learning and doing his school work. We play lots of fun manipulative games for math. For reading, I use "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" with the Bob Book series as a supplement. Holding a pencil the right way is a skill Dave-o is mastering along with writing letters and short sentences. His new obsession right now is Pokemon. So, for art, he has made Pikachu and Charmander.

If you were to ask Kirsten what her favorite subject is, she would tell you Science. This is a different response from last year, which was History. Her 8th grade study is Physics. She's really enjoying learning how machines work. Today's experiment had to do with propellers and Newton's 3rd Law-Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. 

I also signed Kirsten up with a personal trainer at our gym to get her on a work out routine. Today was her first session and she seemed to really like it. Dallas, her trainer, is going to focus a lot on building her core strength. 

Steven's Sophomore classes are through BYU Independent study. He is also taking 6 hours of behind the wheel driving. Last Monday, another season of performing with the San Jose Youth Symphony began. He's been placed in 2nd violin 3rd chair for the concert orchestra with the opportunity to move up.

Justin and James have a full load at West Valley this semester. Both of them should have their Associates Degree by next year. Justin FINALLY got his driver's license yesterday! Now I can check off another item on my list to get this boy prepared for life.