Janning & Febbing

 Addie isn't a fan of the opposite sex. She finds them irritating and beneath her. This is mostly boys her age or close to it. I'm not sure where this came from. My guess is that she's smarter than the average 9-year-old and older than most of her class since she has a November birthday. And she is an old soul, mature for her age. She understands grownup logic. She's never felt intimidated by people decades older than her or several feet taller. She will strike up a conversation with anyone from 3 to 90 years old.

So, as a result, her patience for young boys is extremely limited. She did say there are two or three nice boys in the 3rd grade like the Chinese exchange student who is "very quiet and polite." But mostly, she tries to avoid pretty much all boys at school.  

When she arrived back at school after Christmas break, her teacher had switched the seats around and Addie found herself in a desk group with 3 rowdy boys. The teacher has the kids arranged in groups of four, two students facing two students. I can just picture her, hands over her ears, eyes on the ceiling, stewing at her desk =)

She told me after she got in the car the first day back from vacation that her teacher put her with not two but three pesky boys. My response was something like, "Uh oh, what did you do??" To which she responded, "I went up to the teacher's desk and told her I can't live like this." The teacher gave her a questioning look. Addie pointed to her desk group where the boys were goofing off and being extra crazy." Her teacher gave her a nod and replied. "Ah, okay, I'll see what I can do." The next day Addie was in a new group with one girl, her favorite Chinese exchange student, and one other tolerable boy. She was satisfied with that.

The other day, as I was dropping Addie off at school, I said, "Have a good day sweetie! Be nice to the boys!" Addie responded, "Ugh, can't I just ignore them??!" Not sure what to say to that, I laughed and said, "Sure." 

What can I do? Hopefully one day boys will grow on her. I have a feeling it's not going to be before college.

Above. One of the many selfies Winter took with my phone when I wasn't aware =) I secretly love them. I always act annoyed because I don't want to encourage selfies because they often turn into sexy selfies and I hope that whole fad ends soon although I doubt it. 

Our fave SB fam came to visit the station last Sunday. It was super fun hanging out with them as usual. Dan got to show Jason all of his firefighter toys including axes and chainsaws so that was nice for him.

If I don't comment, it's another stolen phone Winter selfie...

Addie's just hanging out, balancing on Winter while she waits for her to finish her homework so they can play barbies.

Dan taught the girls how to make burgers from scratch. You know, from ground beef with all the seasonings and egg and bread crumbs etc. I have no idea what goes into them but Mya made little sliders for dinner the other day. The kids loved them so I guess she knows what she's doing =)

A playdate... although I don't think you call it a play date in Jr. High even though all they do is play.

Getting ready to pray around the flagpole before they head out to Jr. High Winter Camp at Camp Ponderosa. Mya said it was very impactful and important. So I'm glad she and Winter both got to go.

Addie started gymnastics again for the first time since Covid. She's in the beginner class with the 6 and 7-year-olds but at least she's the same size. She'll move up soon I'm sure. She's very serious about it.

Dan and I got away for a day and night to our favorite spot, Newport Beach.

For Valentine's Day, we had our fancy dinner again. We started doing this a few years ago. I got the idea from someone else. I can't remember who, so if you're reading this and you do this too, it was probably you. That was a lot of rhyming =) And thanks!

I told the kids to go dress up if they wanted to for our Valentine's dinner. Angus misunderstood...

A fancy table...

And a fancy family =) Dan cooked since my cooking isn't really fancy. It's more like Elementary cafeteria food.

"Mom, this is what a sassy sweet girl poses like."

Doing homework on the floor with Otter.

This is exactly what Dan envisioned when he thought about having a bunch of kids. Look how happy he is. =)

Sleepovers at Mya's bestie's house are the best. And her mom cooks and makes things fun.

We had our Christmas party in January since I got Covid in December. It was really nice. I was more laid back than I've ever been since we weren't in the midst of December craziness.

Have you tried these? I know they've been out for a while, but wow. They really taste like chicken nuggets. And I've had like 20 different brands of fake nuggets so I consider myself an expert. If you're trying to cut down on meat for whatever reason, give them a whirl. I got these at Costco.