I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted! I really would like to try to do better because for me, this is actually a family history and so one of my goals this year is to have a history of the things that have happened at least once a month throughout the coming year. Therefore, here is an update of some "noteworthy" events from the Lloyd home...
Nathanael has been very busy with the Academic Decathlon at Lone Peak. He has spent hours studying the material for the upcoming competition. He also had a math competition and his team placed third in their division. Nat is playing basketball with the Young Men and he is doing very well. He has played better than we have ever seen him play. He also received a "chanter" for Christmas which is an instrument that you learn to play before the bagpipes. He seems to really enjoy practicing and is learning to play the tunes quite quickly.
We had a special evening with Lindsay when she was inducted into the National Junior Honors Society. It is a club that requires that you have good grades and they focus on coming up with service activities and projects for the students to participate in at school. She asked the mayor of the city to speak at the program and he gave an excellent speech on what it means to be a leader. The National Junior Honors Society seems to be a good fit for Lindsay. She works really hard to get good grades and she is very service-oriented.
Ethan had a big month! He has been participating in a Lego League competition in which he was part of a team that had to build a robot out of Legos that had to accomplish certain tasks. As if that wasn't enough, they had to do research on a particular subject and then report their findings in a creative way. Ethan got to be a "news anchor" to explain their research to the judges. It was quite a learning experience for him. Next, he did his first science project. His project was all about how different colors can effect the way we feel. It was interesting-but I am so glad that it is over for this year! Finally, Ethan turned 12 at the end of January. His birthday was a busy day because it was right in the middle of the week. We started a new tradition in our family in which on someone's birthday, we have crepes for breakfast. Ethan loved it so much that he took a crepe to school to have for dessert with his lunch. On his birthday, he got some "Lord of the Rings" Legos- which he was so excited about. We were also able to take him to dinner and enjoy the evening. I just can't believe that he is 12!
Clarissa was busy this month getting ready for her first feis (Irish dance competition). Lindsay was able to help her a lot because they do it together. She also read "Anne of Green Gables" this last month. We had explained to her that her middle name, Anne, was from the main character of the book. Her name is "Anne with an "E". She loved it! She told me that she thought that she was a bit like Anne in that she too is dramatic and very creative. I would have to agree!
Zachary turned 3 years old in January. We decided to have a "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" themed birthday. It was fun because this was the first year that he really understood what a birthday is and got really excited about cake, ice cream, and presents. We were all looking forward to his birthday when I wasn't feeling well the day before. By the time the morning of his birthday came, my throat hurt so bad that I could hardly swallow. I went into the doctor and found out that I had strep throat. My lymph nodes were huge and not only causing my throat to hurt but also my ears. I felt so bad that I had to postpone the party to the next day when I had been on medication for over 24 hours so that I would not be contagious. It was all I could do to get the house ready for company but Zac seemed very happy and we were able to celebrate his turning three. Some of my children laughed that Mickey's face on the cake was a little too orange. I just told them that we were lucky that it even got frosted-I don't think that I have had strep throat that bad for years and years. Thankfully, Zachary is young enough that it didn't really matter and he was just as happy as can be.
I must say that I love New Years and all that it stands for. I enjoy the thought of a new year with all of its possibilities. I love the thought of starting over and trying to do better than I did the year before. I also look forward to all the exciting things that will happen in the coming year. Therefore, my "moment of joy" came on New Year's Day. Our family has had the tradition of going sledding on the first day of the year but there has been a lack of snow the last couple of years. This year we were finally able to go because there was finally some good snow on the ground. This was Zachary's first time sledding. He went with Nat and Ethan first but got sprayed a bit while going down the hill and so he was not too keen on doing it again. However, Lindsay finally convinced him to go down with her and he loved it! He wanted to go again and again! My favorite "moment of joy" was actually several moments watching my children sled down the hill-laughing and squealing and having fun as a family. After all, that is all life is really about-family.
Cathy
No comments:
Post a Comment