Teenagers

I love our teenagers!  It seems that you often hear about how difficult teenagers can be:  how they become rebellious and deal with hormones and want to pick a fight with their parents over just about everything.  So as my children started to move from single digits to double, I started to get a bit nervous.  My fears were unfounded.  I have so much fun with my teenage kids!  And not just them--their friends are great, too.  On Saturday, Taylor worked on his Eagle project and we had several teenage boys around our kitchen table.  They are brailling games for kids who are blind.  They identify the important words that are printed on game cards, numbers for dice, rubix cube sides, etc. then braille those onto sticky paper and attach the sticky paper to the correct place in the games.  It is a great project that will be very beneficial to visually impaired children and their families.  It was great to see these young men working together to serve others.  (It was particularly fun to see how amazed the other boys were when they watched Conner use the brailler.  He's so fast!!!)

All five of our teenagers (and if you think five is a lot, wait for March of 2018, when we will have NINE!) have wonderful friends.  It's fun to have them over at our house.  It's fun to see our kids growing up and enjoying so many teenage activities:  dances, movies with friends, basketball on the sport court until late, just hanging out, giggling girls up in the loft.  This is a good time of life for Christi and me.  

Now, they're not perfect, and it's not perfectly easy being a parent to teens.  They are definitely wanting (and needing) more and more freedom to make their own choices.  They sometimes push back when they disagree with our policies or choices for them.  But it is fun to see them growing in their ability to analyze the pros and cons of different situations and then make informed decisions.  Sometimes they make great decisions.  Sometimes they provide themselves their own learning opportunities.  But it is fun to watch them grow and prepare to become adults.

It's also kind of terrifying.  Graci graduates from high school next year. initiating a mass exodus from our home.  Eight kids will graduate in eight years.  Wow!  So we're trying to take things a day at a time.  We try to savor as many of the small moments as possible.  All too soon they will be gone and our home will only be full for family reunions.  But for now, it's very full, and very fun!

Apples to Apples has a LOT of cards!!!

Sophi figured she could share the snacks:)