Fourteen

Anna turned fourteen! 

She's grown into such a responsible and insightful person. I'm so proud of her. She works so hard in school and she's become so helpful at home. And she can be so compassionate and generous with her time.

We when skiing the weekend before Anna's birthday,
so she had a little early bonus birthday meal at the restaurant we love to eat at after skiing.

All the staff sang to her. She was embarrassed, but who can resist the sombrero and hat?

Birthday doughnut for breakfast!

Anna chose Olive Garden for her official birthday meal.
And she got this amazing dessert included!

For her birthday party, she asked Dave to take her, Addie, Kate, and Charlotte
downtown to eat at the Milwaukee Public Market and ride on the streetcar.

This boy!

I love my sweet, sensitive, funny little guy so much. 

Last year, when we were in the middle of the remodel, he began to prepare my bed for me each night. He'd turn down my blanket, move the pillow for my head to where I sleep and the other pillows to the side, put a stuffed dog he gave me on my pillow, and get out my socks and hand lotion,

After some time, he got out of the habit, but he recently began doing it again. I think it's his way of saying, I love you, I'm thinking of you, goodnight.

Last night, he left me some chocolate, too, in a very funny little arrangement.

He's going to make somebody an amazing husband some day!

 

Mathematicians

Luke and Ally and I went to the dollar store to get some tutoring prizes and decorations for Anna's birthday.

The prices of everything had gone up to $1.25 instead of a dollar, and I thought it was a big deal. The kids were kind of like, "Mom, i
t's still cheap." So when we left, I told them, "We spent $35 before taxes. I have a math problem for you. Figure out how much more we spent than if things had only been $1."

They asked me, "How many things did we buy?" I said, "I don't know. You'll have to figure it out."

A moment later, Luke said, "I think we bought 27 things... no 28. Right?"

I said, "I don't know." I really didn't. I was thinking in my head... how can I do this without dividing 35 by 1.25. I think I need a calculator.

Ally said, "It cost us $7 more."

Luke said, "Yep."

I was like, "Hold on. Hey Siri, what's 35 divided by 1.25?"

They were right, so I asked, "How did you guys get that."

Luke told me that he knew that every time we bought four things it cost us an extra dollar.

Ally said, "I did it easier. I knew that for every $5 we spent we bought four things."

Holy cats! That's smart. I'm usually pretty good at math, but I didn't come up with either of those methods.

"New Math" for the win!

With their 11 1/2 Birthday Doughnuts

Ally!

Ally had a runny nose last week. To be safe, Dave used at at-home test to swab her for Covid. It was negative. Ally was super annoyed that Dave swabbed her, and she hated how it felt in her nose.

The next day, she was sicker, and the at-home tests sometimes don't often work the first couple days of symptoms, so we decided she had to be swabbed again. 

Ally was not happy about this.

As Dave brought her upstairs to test her, Ally demanded, "Well, can I at least have it done by a professional!"

She did not see the irony of demanding this of her pediatrician father.

I found these selfies on my phone one day.

Our fourth tutor

I tutored a friend's daughter a few years ago and another one of her daughters last year. 

This inspired Kate to want to tutor, so this year, she got a few students of her own.

Then Ally wanted to tutor, so she and I teamed up and have a couple students, too.

All this tutoring inspired Milo, as well. 

It turns out he's the students' favorite, and possibly the most effective of all of us. 

The kids work so much harder when they get to have him watch or they get to hold him. 

It's hard work for Milo, but he's happy to do it.

Lola sometimes helps as well, but only on her terms.