bryce is 15

15 is a funny age.

15-year-old stats:

Height: 5'5" (28th percentile)

Weight: 132 (64th percentile)

Blood pressure: 110/60

Things to note about his growth.  He grew FIVE inches last year!!  In his words, FINALLY!!  This was definitely a big deal!!  He had on a sweatshirt and a belt and had his phone and air pods in his pockets on the scale.  I'd say that number was skewed a little, ha!

Jason took Bryce and a buddy up to Wintergreen on Saturday for one last snowboarding hurrah for the season.  Now we're ready for baseball and warmer weather. 

Bed head and no shirt are the best way to start your birthday.  And presents too!

Since Christmas most of the gifts Bryce has wanted are out of stock.  I've done plenty of internet stalking for the past few months and luckily have been able to deliver on some of the coveted items! 

We went out to lunch with the family after church and then everyone came back to our house for donuts to celebrate our favorite boy!

The youth group went bowling tonight which was a fun way to celebrate Bryce's birthday.  Even Jason got in on the action!

Close friends are the best friends. 

Today starts the countdown until Bryce can start driving.  He can take his test for his learners permit in 6 months.  WOW!!

valentines day and excalibur

We had a sweet Valentine's Day.

I love spoiling them with festive treats.  

I spoiled Jason too.  He didn't make it in the pictures. 

Emmy had spirit week this week, so she had free dress for Valentine's Day.  We went to her 12-year-old well visit after school and then to Starbucks for a treat.  I'm loving every minute of this tween stage.

Bryce and Avery exchanged gifts after school and we ordered festive pizza for dinner. 

This weekend was meet weekend in VA Beach.  We headed down Saturday morning and did some shopping along the way.  After we checked into our hotel, we stopped at one of our favorite beach front restaurants to fuel up for a late evening meet. 

Gymnastics is a tough sport physically, mentally and emotionally not only for Emmy, but for me too!  It's been a tough season of working a difficult vault and adding more difficult elements to her bar routine.  Even when a routine feels good and looks good, the judges have the final say.  The scores were hard to swallow at this meet, but with a small scoring group at this meet, Emmy came out with 2nd on bars, 3rd on beam and floor and 2nd all around.  This sounds great and anyone should feel proud with those results, but she felt pretty defeated with her scores on these events.  Just more motivation to make next time better!

Emmy and a sweet teammate.

Emmy has endured plenty of Bryce's baseball games, but he has found a way out of most of her meets.  He spent the day living his best life snowboarding at Wintergreen.  He's hoping to get one more trip in this season. 

It was a cold but calm morning at the beach.  I snapped this from the balcony before we headed to breakfast and back home to reality.  Thankfully the kids are out of school tomorrow!

Now we're just waiting for the warmer weather to arrive so we can really enjoy this view!

emmy is 12

We kicked off a week of celebrating Emmy on Saturday!

She has made some sweet friends in middle school, and it's been fun to watch their friendship grow.  One of her friends wasn't able to make it over to celebrate, but these three had fun.  

We had the family over on Sunday to celebrate.  

She got lots of goodies and gift cards that immediately were burning a hole in her pocket, so we went shopping that evening.  

She is the epitome of a tween girl and I love it!

Tuesday was her actual birthday, and we had a quick celebration before school.  

I dropped off Chick fil A lunch and she asked me to bring home all her loot from her friends. 

Taylor spent the afternoon with Emmy afterschool, and we stopped by Crumbl for a birthday treat. 

Nana and Paul took us out to dinner and Emmy got a Stanley!

Again, tween!

We wrapped up the celebrations today with a new piercing.  A second hole!

No tattoos!  The only ink they got was to mark where to poke the hole, ha!

I'd say it was a wonderful week of celebrating!

Well visit stats:

Height: 54.5 in (4th percentile)

Weight: 69.6 lbs (6th percentile)

Blood pressure: 100/60

remembering

This week marked one year since Jason's dad died.  How is that possible?  

Last Sunday we went to Brunetti's for lunch and MeMa bought a round of hot fudge cakes in honor of PaPa.  This was one of his favorite desserts and we indulged in his honor!

Monday was the one-year anniversary.  Our preacher dropped off donuts for breakfast.  Such a nice gesture and they were devoured!

We all had things to do on Monday, but we came together at the end of the day and had chocolate ice cream and a banana split in memory of PaPa.  Boy, do we wish he was here so we could enjoy his favorite treats with him!

Emmy had a wax museum project this week.  Our sweet friend Barbara made her some accessories to dress the part and I popped in to school to show my support!

We rearranged Emmy's room last weekend, and she got some new bedding for her birthday this weekend.  She's growing up and getting rid of things.  It's like the end of an era getting rid of these massive stuffed animals she's had for years!