First date....PROM!

This last weekend, Josh had his first date and it was Prom, no less! I will be the first to admit that my eyes filled with tears as I saw him in his tux. He looked so handsome and so grown-up. He took his good friend, Jessica Lopez. She looked beautiful! Josh went with a large group of friends. They went to Biaggi's at the Gateway. The dance was at the Capitol Building and they had dessert at the Pulsipher's house after. I couldn't have been more proud of him. From what I could tell, he was the perfect gentleman and took very good care of his date. He played it cool; opening doors, taking her by the arm, carrying her dress...it all seemed to be second nature for Josh (although I know he was nervous!).  I am so glad this was such a great experience for him!

Licensed to Drive!

This is definitely one of those days that I thought would never come and yet here we are; sitting in a big room listening to a digital voice say, "Now serving..." I must say putting your child in a car and letting them have control is one of the most anxiety-filled experience's I've had. Because of my high anxiety, I was promptly excused (banned) from driving with Josh by Chad. I was happy to oblige. Chad did a great job teaching Josh and he is a great driver! While Chad did all the work teaching him, I got to do the fun part...taking him to the DMV to make it official. Things have really changed since my day. Gone are the days taking the written test and road test with some strange person at the DMV. Josh did all that with his driver's ed teacher at the school. He was then given the approval and we only had to go to the DMV to make it official with the eye test and photo. Another change since my day that I am grateful for is that he cannot drive with friends in the car for the first six months (just family). Oh and yes, I love having a willing driving assistant to help me get the kids places...I wonder how long that will last.

One memorable milestone!

I've been sounding like a broken record lately. "Where did the time go," has been said by me multiple times a day as of late. It seems that each five-year increment of life seems to get progressively faster. The first five years as a mother moved along at a nice leisurely pace; story time and mall walks with stops at the sale rack at the Baby Gap and a big pretzel to share filled our days. The next five years started to pick up significantly with more kids in the mix as well as adding in school, scouts and extracurricular activities. The last five years? Some days I'm left wondering if they even really happened at all. Life is increasingly becoming a blur. One day you are doing little league baseball and elementary carpool...the next you are getting ready for dating, driving and wondering if you've done enough to prepare your child for a mission and college. I'm not kidding. All I can do is accept it and work hard to live in the moment. And this moment has truly belonged to Josh.

How wonderful it has been to reflect on Josh and to celebrate who he has become (and working to become). I have loved seeing him thoroughly enjoy this milestone. Sometimes it is nice to stretch out a celebration and this year we did just that. It started last week with a special surprise from Chad. He surprised Josh with tickets to the Dream Theater concert. Spending an entire night with his dad's undivided attention would have been enough...the concert was the cherry on top. A night with dad, a sandwich from Moochies and a concert...Josh was in heaven. 

Wednesday we got to celebrate again by going to dinner with Chad's parents and Aunt Tammi. Grammy's birthday is Oct. 3, so it was fun to have a joint celebration. Josh got to pick the restaurant...Q4U bbq. 

Friday night a friend party was in order...a boy-girl party...his first to host as a matter of fact! After buying the entire junk food aisle with a few veggies thrown in for good measure (the veggies were the first to go btw!), cleaning the basement and creating a photo wall of Josh, we were ready to go. (If you ever want to do something super easy...and special, do this photo collage. It was a big hit on so many levels.) Josh had about 25 friends. They had fun eating, playing games, watching movies...and mostly just hanging out. It was actually really fun. I loved getting to experience Josh's friends. And guess what? He has really good friends! He hasn't stopped smiling since last night. I can't tell you how much I love seeing him feel so loved and celebrated. What a good kid....a very good kid indeed. 

Rockin the jazz band

I think it's been pretty clear that Josh is following in his dad's footsteps with his love of music and guitar. When his friends from school asked him to join the jazz band, he was excited and we thought it would be a great way for him to broaden his musical experience. Twice a week, he has been going to school early in the morning for practice. He mostly enjoys it... except for the getting up early part... and the lugging an amp and guitar to school part. His hard work is paying off. Josh was asked to be a soloist for the Christmas concert. He was really excited and he did an awesome job. The band played some great songs. Our favorite was the Chicago classic "25 or 6 to 4." Way to go Josh, good work!

It was exciting to finally make Josh's Eagle Scout status official. Although he did his Eagle project over a year ago, he still had a few merit badges to finish up...and then there is the board of review which takes awhile. He received his award back in July, but we were finally able to celebrate with his Court of Honor on October 16. We were able to share the night with two of Josh's friends that were receiving there Eagle's as well. I have to give huge kudos to our amazing scout leaders, without whom none of this would have been possible. Glen Thorne is khaki to the core and really knows how to get these boys to earn their awards.

Time well spent...

Megan and Cameron asked to take Josh and Andrew camping with them. They don't have kids of their own yet so this is either good practice or good birth control. Well, actually, for the later, I need to give them one of my younger kids. I digress. After picking up some much needed supplies (Pop Tarts), they headed for the hills of Timpanogos and the waters of Cascade Springs. Megan and Cameron didn't take it easy on the boys...they backpacked in for about a mile. As you can see, they found a beautiful spot to set up camp. This was Andrew's first official camp-out and I know he a great time. Thank you Megan and Cameron!

No coat needed....naturally

There must be an unwritten rule that is not cool to wear weather appropriate clothing to Jr. High. This morning, with snow on the ground, Josh hops in the car "senza" coat. (pulling a little I-talian there) I make a comment and he replies, "I need a coat?? Should I go back and get one?" Pulling out my best "love and logic" answer, I respond, "No, I guess you don't need a coat." I really had to bite my tongue from giving him a lecture. I kept telling myself, if he's cold he will learn and he has to learn for himself (a la "Parenting With Love and Logic"). As carpool continued, I wasn't sure if my mind should be put at ease or I should be more perplexed. One boy we picked up not only had no jacket, but was wearing shorts. As we pulled up to school, we were surrounded by kids with no jackets, shorts and get this....flip flops. Yes, I'm sure of it: there is an unwritten rule that you should dress completely opposite of what is appropriate.

I'm sailing away....

One of my favorite Styx songs is all too appropriate for the send off of my boys "little boy" room. If you know me, you know that I've always loved a good nautical theme for a boy. A little boy. Not a big boy and certainly not a teenager. Yes, my boys are growing up and it's time to let them move onto older themes. sniff sniff  The sailboats have more than done their job...they've been used in three house. It was time to let them retire. I actually had a hard time putting together their room. If you have boys, you know there seems to be limitations on what you can do for a boy. Once they get older, you can't let a theme (ie. sailboats) over take the room and yet, I didn't want the room to be consumed by a boring color palate.

Enter navy, green and orange. I think I found a good middle ground. And can I just say, I love the green on the walls....it's a great green....a boyish green. I have two favorite finds for the room. Can you guess what they are? The lockers and the Times Square photo. The lockers were another awesome KSL classifieds find. Cost me all of $100. They were a minty/appley green...nothing a little navy spray paint couldn't fix. (If you ask me, spray paint can fix just about anything) And that cool wall art, you ask? My beloved IKEA for a mere $60. Love, love it...feel like it brings just the right amount of cool to the room. The metal bookcases (had to saw the legs down to make them the right size) and the navy ledge shelves by their beds (perfect for Ipod and book holding) are other IKEA finds. I also love Josh's little music/lounge corner. I just knew my old paper rack could be put to good use...perfect for holding all his music and magazines. I also love the guitar hanging on the wall...useful art!

Lest you think I'm a ball of energy and just completed this, dont worry.  I did this almost a year ago, but never got around to photographing it! See the "very clean" before photo? Well, I thought of not including that and letting you think my kids rooms are always clean by using only the cropped shots. That's why I never got an after shot...the room pretty much always looks like that and you just can't have a messy after shot, right? So, today, after a big family cleaning rally, I knew my photo-op had arrived and it would quickly pass if I didn't take advantage of it. SOOO....there you have it, the boys (not so) new, improved,  and more grown up room!

"The best day ever."

A couple weeks ago Josh experienced "the best day ever." First, he played in the Jr. High talent show. Before you think, "eh, big deal," it was a big deal. They had to audition and nearly 100 kids/acts auditioned. Only about 30 made it! I was impressed that he had the guts to try out in the first place and thrilled for him when he made it. I was shocked at the level of talent. I seriously don't remember having a talent pool like this when I was Jr. High. Furthermore, I don't think I would have had the guts to get up there. Josh pulled it off without hitch...his father was proud and it was so fun to hear all the cheers for him!




That night, he had a double header in basketball. Josh is playing on a competition level team this year which ups the stress a bit. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the bad luck...things don't go so well when I show up (more often than not, I stay home w/ the other kids). Tonight was different. Josh had an amazing game. It was so fun to see him have some great contributions to the game...like this shot shown below:



Looking back over the years, I think we all have a day or two that stands out as being a day you won't forget. This day was definitely one for Josh. Good work, Josh...you're awesome!

 

With the month of December comes the inevitable round of recitals. Josh and Andrew did a wonderful job...getting better and more impressive each recital. And speaking of impressive, Josh is really mastering the slumped-over-I-don't-care teenager position...love the picture of him "enjoying" Andrew's performance. Sarah recently joined the ranks of those required to take piano. She is taking from our neighbor and my friend, April. She is an excellent teacher...and wonderfully patient with Sarah. A week or two before the recital, I wasn't too sure how her performance would go. I must say, she really stepped up and we were very pleased and proud of her performance.

Happy Birthday Josh...14 years old!!!!

Yea, yea...I know! How in the world can Josh be 14....FOURTEEN???? He can go to church dances now. And dance. With girls. I think there just might be a few girls already lined up hoping he'll ask them for a dance.

It seems with each year, it gets harder to celebrate and gift give. Gone are the days of the dinosaur theme party and a pile of gifts to be opened. The fifty bucks or so that bought several toys now buys ummm, say 3/4 of a cool gift suitable for a teenager. Fortunately,  Josh was just as thrilled with his new cell phone (Celtic green, of course...and no, it's not an expensive phone...we stayed within budget!) and Skull Candy headphones. So glad he "gets it."

However, I am Julie and I worry that I haven't done enough or his day won't be memorable enough. So what do you do?? Well, apparently you spend $20 in doughnuts and candy at the gas station the night before his birthday. (so much for practical gifts and budgets) I thought it wholly appropriate that Josh start his day off right....with a chocolate Dunford doughnut. The candy? I attached a "happy birthday" tag to 14 (get it??lol) packs of Josh's favorite gum and candy. I then asked his friend to distribute the candy to friends who would then in turn give them to Josh. About 8 packs in, it dawned on Josh that it was me that did it. He said it was the font and the tag that gave it away. I wonder what that says about me and Josh that A) he knows what a font is and B) he associates "fonts" with his mom. I digress.

Later that day, G'ma Chris joined us for dinner at the Training Table. (mmmm....thanks g'ma!)We ended the day with chocolate cake, ice cream and a few gifts. Sarah put together some  items she thought Josh would like (ie. very random things gathered from around the house). They were carefully placed in a white box tied with yarn. I love that she did that...Josh loved it, too.  I know Josh had a good day....he hasn't looked up from his new phone. We love you, Josh!!

8th Grade

Is it just me or is he really, really looking older this year?

Spring sports in full swing....

Spending lots of time running from one grassy spot to the next...mostly in the wet and wind. Spring in Utah. The kids are having a great time (mostly). Jenna has taken to soccer more than I thought (look out Aunt Megan). Josh is having a great baseball season...still being a lefty short stop and doing some pitching. Andrew is working hard on defense, working on the aggression...he's had some great blocks!

PS...The "diet coke thing" is having some success. While I have decided not to turn my back completely on it, I have cut back dramatically. Better yet, I have increased my water intake...I try to get over 60 oz a day. I've been saving diet coke for weekends or special treats.

Bringing down the house...

...the church house???!!!

Last night our youth had a talent show. I was thrilled to hear how many of them participated from skits, to camp songs...even a dolsimer performance! I don't know that I would have had the confidence to do it...I probably would have played the "I'm too cool for that" card (ie...I don't have the guts to put myself out there).
Josh has been working hard on the guitar for the past year. In fact, he just got his first guitar and amp for Christmas. It's been great seeing his desire to play push him to practice and improve. I loved that he didn't hesitate at the chance to get a shot on stage (uh-oh...should I be worried?) Whenever he had a free minute, he'd be in his room practicing. Now being Josh, he had to inject a little humor into his performance. Hence the sunglasses. He thought it would be funny to pause before he started and put the glasses on. I think he got a few laughs. This persuasive child also got Chad to follow suit. It's not that my men think they are "too cool for school"...they were just trying to be funny. (I think...I hope). Josh (who recently complained he was born in a time with no good music) played "Sweet Child of Mine." What?? I have a child playing the guitar...and playing songs that I grew up with?? Life is funny. Josh did a wonderful job. During his performance he got little relaxed doing a Jack Black jig and lost his strap...he didn't lose a beat going to one knee to play. Gotta love it. Chad also got the chance to play...so far it hasn't kept him off the stand on Sundays. ;) Love it or hate it, we've got Rockers in the house!

Bravo!

Josh and Andrew had their Christmas recital this morning. As always they were very diligent in memorizing and practicing their pieces. It was especially fun to hear them develop dynamics in the song, something that usually take awhile to get the hang of. For me, the most rewarding part is hearing them play the piano when they aren't under coercion! Love hearing them play on their own. Well done boys!

Last month, Josh reached the Star ranking in scouts. He has been working hard and it's exciting to see his merit badges adding up! He also received a special walking stick for earning the most service beads at scout camp this summer. We have great scout leaders...so grateful for that! At the Court of Honor, it was fun to see Josh conducting. He does such a good job. Keep it up Josh and you'll be getting your Eagle in no time!

Sheesh! I think Josh had the never-ending birthday this year! We had to bring teenager-dom in with a boom, right? Having outgrown party games and treat bags, we had to plan something "cool" for him and his friends. We have an awesome high school team and I knew Josh and his friends would think it was pretty cool to head to the high school for a game. They had a great time and headed back to our place after for dinner, dessert and some "hanging out." No more kid-themed parties. Wow. He is getting older!

Well, two days of celebrating and we aren't done yet! We still have a friend party to do! I think Josh had a pretty good birthday. No doubt the highlight was the cell phone! He has been waiting, asking, waiting and asking! The other highlights were dinner with the grandparents: Pei Wei with G'ma and G'pa Jensen and Red Robin with G'ma and G'pa Medeiros. He loves that extra attention. Josh also enjoyed a special breakfast, after school treat (Sarah was disappointed the party wasn't starting NOW, so we did an impromtu ice cream party), the traditional door signs and doughnuts with the carpool.

13thirteen13thirteen13thirteen13thirteen13

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??
No, really. It can't be. I think I am in complete denial. Josh turns 13 today. We have a teenager. I keep catching myself reminiscing about the day he was born and I have to stop myself so I don't get too emotional. I remember the morning we took him home like it was yesterday. A beautiful, sunny, Sunday morning. Our (awesome) white Taurus. A blue car seat that was much too big. Two new, wide-eyed parents who couldn't begin to imagine what they were in for. As we drove home to our little apartment, we listened to the Jonathan Cain song, "Little River." It goes, "run little river the world waits for you..." I remember laying him in his crib for the first time and Chad and I just turned and looked at each other as if to say, "now what?"

Well...now what?

Now, I take a deep breath. I try to live in the now and not think about how fast tomorrow will come and go. I am trying to ignore the fact that he will be gone before I know it. It's just going too fast.

Josh really is such a amazing young man. He is smart, well spoken, well behaved and an awesome budding guitarist. Nearly perfect except the keeping the room clean part. ;) I have marveled at his ability to teach and talk. When he's been asked to speak at church, teach FHE or a church lesson, he does it with such ease and confidence. I haven't seen many kids that age talk with such maturity, I know I certainly didn't. My one birthday wish for him today is that he will continue on that path. That he will keep his focus and allow his faith to grow and strengthen.
Josh, we are so proud of you. We are so blessed to have you in our family. You are special. We love you.

Esprit, Osh Kosh and Tony Hawk

We've been getting ready for today for sometime now. Still, it's caused me to reflect and feel a number of emotions. I've actually held it together very well...it's seems so strange that this day has arrived for Josh. After all, didn't I just have my first day of 7th grade? As Josh planned his "first day of school outfit" I instantly remember carefully planning my "first day of school outift." Josh wore his cool Tony Hawk t-shirt, plaid shorts and black converse. I wore a blue Esprit ensemble, complete w/ the matching vest (and the top button all buttoned up). Remember how cool Esprit was? Josh took his schedule to his room last night; I'm sure to review and memorize where and when all his classes were. I remember having the same anxiety.

Then, I quickly get over how fast it's all gone for me and I focus on how quickly it is going for Josh. (This is where I start to get a bit emotional) Seriously, it was just yesterday I was able to shop for him at Carter's, Baby Gap and Osh Kosh. You will notice the book in the above photo. This book was purchased at the Osh Kosh store in Castle Rock. I remember thinking how cute it was that Josh was starting school and there was a perfect little book to go along with his new beginning. I can't help but notice how big his belt was on his first day of kindergarten photo...so cute flapping out like that. Now, his feet are bigger than mine. Wasn't he just obsessed with Hot Wheels and dinosaurs? Now, it's music, games and sports. I feel anxious, worried, down right freaked out and excited for what lies ahead for him. The day has come, I hope my seat belt is tightened and we are all ready for this ride: jr. high, pimples, arm pit hair, girls, grades, peer pressure and before I blink an eye he will be gone.