9 Years Young

James turned 9 on Monday, March 16. His birthday included a room reno so stick with this to the end. 

9 Year Old Checkup Stats:
Appointment date: Friday, March 27, 2026
Weight: 71 pounds (74 percentile)
Height: 55 inches (83 percentile)
Doc Witt mentioned that in the last year, James has gained 7 pounds and grown 2.5 inches. Man he can pack the food in now, I can only imagine what the teenage years will be like.

On his birthday, James brought chips to his class for his birthday treat. For dinner, he picked mashed potatoes and gravy with chicken. (We ended up using up a turkey we had in our freezer.) He asked if we could go mini-golfing at Fat Cats. We had a free mini golf coupon and only had to pay $10 for 3 of us to go. It was a glow in the dark mini golf course and not to make this about me, but I had 3 hole in ones! We had a Sunday birthday dinner for James and George at my parent's house and James requested stroganoff for dinner with rolls, mushroom bacon salad, and an ice cream cake. James and George's birthdays are back-to-back days.

Sunday, March 15

Monday, March 16

My parent's started a new idea this year which is to have their grandkids over for a birthday sleepover (when they are school aged). James went to their house over the weekend. He had the best time picking out a book at Barnes and Noble, eating "the best burger of his life" at "5 Guys," making a giant banana split with BYU creamery ice cream, playing a game, and getting donuts in the morning.

Friday, March 20

BIO

James has one of the biggest hearts. He loves to think about others. You should hear him pray. It is touching. He prays for people I'm worried about by name and checks in with me regularly to see me if they still need prayers. I couldn't ask for a better big brother. James is so sweet with little kids, especially his sisters and cousins. He likes to learn and asks to go to the library to get books about topics he is interested in. Recently, space has captivated him. James can do anything he sets his mind to. He needed to score xx amount of points during his basketball season for a prize and bam! Points scored before the season was half over. To be in the 20 club at school, he needed to read all the Battle of the Books and did that with months to spare. James is an avid reader, writer, and Lego builder. Piano isn't a chore but a hobby that we have to limit at times. He has progressed through piano levels at an impressive speed.  James has become a friend guy and I'm so glad he gets asked to lots of playdates and birthday parties.

PRESENTS

James enjoyed the mini foosball table he got, Legos, a kodama from grandma, a drone course, game, and more.

Our gift to James was re-doing his room. James asked for sky blue walls and we decided to go with an animal theme since squishmellows hold a big place in his heart. I painted his room, and let me just say that my kids are the best cheerleaders. They watched me and kept coming back to see the room's progress. "Mom, it looks so good!" "I didn't know my room could look this pretty!" I learned James is handy during this process. He removed all the switch plates from his room as I taped and prepped to paint. I didn't show him how to do it either. The wall color we picked (after trying 4 samples) is called "Soar" and I am very pleased with it!

James' room has become the popular hangout place among the kids. I often can't find James for long periods of time only to discover that he is reading on his bean bag or building Legos on his desk. He really wanted more space to play and mission accomplished. It was time for an upgrade!

BEFORE

AFTER

DEETS

The hardest part of this renovation were the light fixture, curtains, and bed! I returned 2 other ceiling fans. The first fan Andrew put up broke within 2 days due to its poor and cheap quality. Finding the right curtains was tricky. I returned 3 sets before landing on the perfect ones. We tried one other color for the curtains (sour cream) but liked the blue best. I ordered the wrong size hence the multiple returns. The bed is awesome and a dream come true for James, but mounting it to the wall took skills. Andrew ended up getting anchors to attach the bed to the wall and now it is much sturdier and less wobbly.  Thank you Jessica for helping the design come together so beautifully! She knows what looks good and helped a lot.

Ceiling Fan from Amazon for $49.42 (35 in)

Bean Bag from Grannie (from Amazon) for $64.46

Bed/Desk/Dresser from Amazon for $315.62 + Full sized mattress $107.32=$422.94

Hammock/Net from Amazon for $10.72

Panda Duvet Cover from Amazon for $53.13 +White Duvet Insert $26.85= $79.98

Panda Rug from Amazon for $29

Green Mushroom Lamp from Amazon for $42.97

White Sheets from Amazon for $15.57

Black Curtain Rod from Amazon for $17.15

Blue Curtains from Target for $45.13

Green Tub from Target for $6.88

Hookrack from Target for $26.86

3 Wood Frames from Target for $19.34

Black Folding Chair Walmart $35.39

The grand total for James' room was: $801.35.

I told Andrew that for our birthdays, we should re-do our bedroom. We've done our kids! I have big ideas but probably should have waited a few days/weeks/months before brining up another project... ha

Happy Birthday James!!!

Victories

My kids deserve some shoutouts!

James

Meet the new James... He got glasses!  He is eager to show them off to everyone he sees. It was so cute watching him the first day he got them. He kept taking them on and off to see the difference. His teacher brought up his eye sight at parent teacher conferences. I guess James struggles to see the board and has had to move seats because of it.

He looks extra handsome and studious with his new accessory and is taking very good care of his glasses.

Friday, March 6

James had another excellent basketball season! This time, he wanted to earn a new water bottle! He had the exact brand, color, and style in mind. (He requested a blue Gatorade bottle like someone in his school class.) In order to earn the water bottle, James had to score 50 points this season. I guess we could have set a higher goal because he scored 70 points this season. His team was not very good... In fact, they lost 5 games, tied 1 game, and finally won their last game today. I told James they won because of him. They were down and the other team had more than double their score and then James decided to turn it on and made 16 points.

Game 1: Saturday, January 24: James scored 10 points

Game 2: Saturday, January 31: James scored 14 points

Game 3: Saturday, February 7: We missed because we were in Idaho

Game 4: Saturday, February 14: James scored 8 points

Game 5: Saturday, February 21: James scored 8 points

Game 6:  Saturday, February 28: James scored 14 points

Game 7: Saturday, March 7: James scored 16 points

Thanks Coach Jason

My parent's came and supported almost every game and James had the biggest fan section and cheerleaders. One week Papa was even the scorekeeper.

Isabelle

I'm proud of Isabelle. She has bad genes. Both me and Andrew were nighttime bedwetters for awhile. We borrowed the "pee machine" from a friend (thanks Meagan) and Isabelle has been dry for over 30 nights! She conquered bed-wetting which is not easy! She's happy and so are we. She can now shower at night instead of having to in the mornings which is so nice. She mentioned to me that she's glad to be done with pullups because peeing made her get a rash which was uncomfortable.

Saturday, March 7

For completing 30 days on her "dry" chart, I took Isabelle to get a haircut and we went shopping. We loved our girl time! She wanted bangs which I had to talk her out of with her curly hair, but we she did get some face framing. She loves to have pieces of hair hanging out of her ponytail. She also got glitter in her hair-do. She chose some darling outfits! She picked out a dress, sweater, and pants. I wish the purple pants come in my size.

Both our kids are in the Chinese Immersion program and we loved watching their annual program. Isabelle was front and center and lead her class well knowing all the moves perfectly. I didn't know she could shake her butt so much. I guess the years of dance are paying off.

Thursday, February 19

Penelope

Penelope is in daycare full time for the month of March. I took a long-term subbing job for 4 weeks. What was I thinking!? More on that later. This is supposed to be about Penelope. The daycare was thrilled to hear Penelope was moving to full-time daycare. She is beloved by all. This week, I heard she played "princesses" with everyone and did their hair. She demands that she wear a princess dress daily right when she wakes up. I also heard that Penny was singing "I Love to See the Temple" a lot at school. She comes home singing all sorts of songs or quoting books. "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, won't my mommy be so proud of me?" They must read the book "Brown Bear Brown Bear" a lot because she knows that too.

Penelope is miss social butterfly and often asks if she can go again or go back to school right as we're leaving. We're thrilled to be past the diarrhea/stomach bug she picked up at daycare that lasted over 10 days. Not joking. I'm looking forward to spending more time with my girl in April! Looking at the daycare app throughout the day brings me joy because she's so cute.

Proud of my sweeties! Bummed to say a temporary goodbye to basketball but delighted to stop buying pullups.

Birthday Week

Birthday week has come and gone.

Birthday #37

BambooHR gives employees their birthday off of work. Yahoo! Andrew didn't have to work on Friday, February 20. I skipped subbing and we went on a day date.

The kids and I surprised Andrew first thing in the morning with Chick-Fil-A breakfast. We sneakily got it while he was at the gym.

Andrew and I went to an endowment session at the Oquirrh Mountain temple.

We also  went to a restaurant we hadn't tried before for lunch-- Mooyah's. They serve burgers and fries. We thought it was good, but not the best burgers we've had. The fries were awesome and yes, we had leftovers.

Check out Andrew's new shirt! A bday present from me.

We even had time to sneak in the newest episode of "The Pit" before the kids returned home from school. On Fridays, the kids get out of school early.

In the afternoon, we went as a family to Airborne the trampoline park in Draper. At first, Penelope was very timid and I regretted bringing her. She warmed up and was in heaven. She made friends and was daring down some big girl slides. Andrew was doing all sorts of tricks, flips, and obstacle courses with the kids. So much so that he paid for that for a couple days with some soreness...I happily took pictures.

For dinner, I made Zuppa Toscana soup. Andrew requested lunch lady peanut butter bars for dessert. We hardly had room for more food. My sweet grandma also brought over cinnamon rolls for Andrew's birthday which are his favorite.

That night, Andrew invited a couple friends (Nick and David) to come over to play board games.

My parent's gifted Andrew a Netflix subscription which we are already happily utilizing! Andrew's mom gave him a Texas Roadhouse gift card. Andrew is spending his birthday money on a Brandon Sanderson kick starter book... I bet you couldn't see that coming.

Birthday #33

My birthday was on Wednesday, February 25. Andrew made me breakfast in bed- scrambled eggs and a smoothie. He makes the best scrambled eggs. He wrote me love notes and sent me on a scavenger hunt throughout the house with gifts. I went walking with Jessica and my mom on the Jordan River trail. It was delightful! We all had to take our coats of because it was so nice. George and Penelope insisted on holding hands during the walk which was adorable. Then, we ate lunch--Cubby's. That maple sauce with the fries hit the spot.

I always feel awkward about this part....but I was spoiled and have the best people in my life! I don't say this to brag but to remember.

• Becky brought me a cookie from Local Cookie Co. 
• Jamie brought me flowers.
• Gigi brought me a Crumbl cookie and a Mi Ranchito giftcard. 
• Kira dropped off soap.
• Krista made me cookies.
• The RS gave me chocolate.
• Grandma L sent me a card and money.
• McCall took me out to lunch at Mi Ranchito.
• Brie and Kirsten treated me to Zupas.
• Valerie gave me a journal and pens.
• Jessica gifted me her favorite mascara.
• Jill sent me a book.
• My MIL got me an Old Navy gift card.
• Alison gave me a cookbook called "Let's Eat Cookies."
• My parent's got me 2 new kitchen chairs.

• I got myself a shelf from Costco to organize the basement. Almost nothing beats organizing. Happy birthday to me!

Not to mention the countless texts from other family, friends, and yw. I'm overwhelmed and have a lot of thank-you cards to write. I love my people!!

We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and to the play Fiddler on the Roof. Our dinner was free (thanks to Grannie's gift card)! Our babysitters were free too (thanks Mom and Dad). Our play tickets were pretty cheap. $58 total. We went to the newer Nathan Ruth Theater in Pleasant Grove with the Boones. 

Fiddler was so fun! I laughed a lot! The singers were phenomenal! Our seats were so close we were basically sitting in the action. I had to unbutton my pants... I guess I ate one too many rolls. 

The scene including the dream about the grandma was a little over dramatized. The fog machine could have stopped much sooner.

I'm hoping this play was memorable enough for me to remember... I had forgotten that I saw "Fiddler on the Roof" with my grandma 2 years ago at Hale center theater. Clearly it made an impression. We thought it was well done! It was a great way to end the perfect birthday.

James' birthday is around the corner and I'm working on the design plans to re-do his room so stay tuned!