Happy 16th Birthday, Taylor!

First, let me start by saying that there is no way that I am old enough to have a 16 year old! Ok, now we can continue...

Taylor did indeed turn 16 years old today. I made him his traditional birthday pumpkin pie and he gave me a hug when he saw it, like he does every year. He is such a kind and sweet boy.

I hate to jinx things by putting this out there but I am really enjoying parenting teenagers. I think it helps that parts of my development were stunted at age 13, like my taste in music but there are so many things we enjoy doing together and the conversations alone are quite entertaining...:)

Taylor has 5 AP classes this year and so far is doing really well. He loves a good challenge and is a great example to those around him. We are so proud of him!

Taylor has worked really hard to develop that bicep...:)

Happy Birthday, T! We love you!

Meili Goes to Preschool.....sniff, sniff.

Here's a picture of Mei in the preschool parking lot on the Saturday before school started, heading into the school to meet her new teachers. She looks excited, right?

Here she is in front of the preschool, still doing ok...

Once we got into the school, Meili wasn't so excited anymore. She didn't cry, but she didn't speak or make eye contact with anyone either. I took a couple of pictures, but I deleted them. It was just too hard to see her crawl back into her shell again.

Just two days later, it was time to send her to school. I was a nervous wreck and wondered how many weeks/months it would take before she was comfortable in her school environment. I had to turn in registration papers and in the 'What should we know about your child?' section, I included a lengthy paragraph about her tendency to be slow to warm up to new situations, particularly if they resemble an 'institution.'

Turns out, I should have left it blank. On the first day of school, Meili went with me to the boys school and had breakfast with them. She was so happy to see her friend, Emily there who is going to Kindergarten this year.

Next, it was time to drop Meili off. She did AWESOME!

Her teacher is blocked by a kid here, but she immediately went to her and started talking to her about her family picture. I don't think she even said goodbye to me but that's ok. She didn't cry!

She is having such a good time at school and asks me every morning if it is a school day! I was so worried...and all for nothing!

1st Day of School

Today was a big day in the Bouton house! 5 kids in 4 different schools this year.

Meili is going to Pre-K on Tuesdays and Thursdays...


Xander is in 2nd grade...


Noah is in 5th grade-his last year in elementary school!

Audrey is headed to 8th grade-one last year at the middle school!

Taylor is a junior this year. He will need to leave the house every morning at about 5:40am for early morning seminary (too early for mom to get up and get a photo so he escaped it this year.) Let the adventure begin!

Lifebook is Done!

While I may never finish our China Travel Video and am well aware that the header of this blog does not yet include the child that has been a part of our family for 2 years, I thought I'd share that Meili's lifebook is complete...for now. First and foremost, I have to thank the fabulous M3 at the Salsa Blog for inspiring me with her 'Lifebook as Rough Draft' format. Until recently the whole lifebook thing was so overwhelming that I couldn't even get started. Then I discovered M3's brilliant idea to put the lifebook together in a Word document, then print it out and put it into sheet protectors in a three ring binder. If a page gets destroyed by three year-old hands, no problem! I just print out a new one. If I come up with a better way to explain a concept later, then I can do that! And when Meili is ready for more detailed information, I can just add to this basic book. Better yet, she can help me do it! The Aha! moment I had about the format, plus a peek at M3's table of contents and a few of her pages was all I needed to get out of the lifebook quicksand. I was able to bust this out in a few hours.

I let Meili pick out the binder and she is really loving it! She asks almost everyday for me to read 'Meili's China Book' to her. I've even caught her 'reading' it to herself a couple of times.

Anyway, in the interest of paying it forward I hope that this might help someone else get their lifebook crossed of the To Do list!

My Girls

Taylor

He posed himself this way. I had nothing to do with it. Promise.

Audrey

Noah

I think Noah enjoyed the photo shoot the least but was a good sport. He'll do anything for his mama!