Isaac

So, we are moving on to Isaac, but not without first mentioning that it snowed here yesterday....on June 10!!!

Isaac just completed 5th grade and will be moving to the middle school next year. He will be 11 years old next month. Several years ago we had a wonderful older gentleman working in our meat department at the store. His name was Isaac, but he went by Ike. Since that time our Isaac has taken to calling himself Ike, and most of his friends and family have followed suit. So do not be surprised if you find that I call him both names in this blog.

Ike is ALL BOY!!! Short for his age (I wonder where he got that) he is solid and muscular with black hair that he wears in a buzz cut, although for the past several years he has taken to shaving his head completely bald three or four times a year. People tell me he looks just like Mike...I don't see it, but he definately favors the Walters side of the family...I think he looks like Mike's brother, Pat. He is a good student, scoring extremely high on all of his standardized tests. He enjoys geography, math, and science. He does not particularly like to read, although he is a good reader. I think his biggest problem is finding something to read that he is interested in. His big accomplishment in school this year was his perfect attendance record for the entire year.

Ike is all about anything that has to do with sports. He can usually spout off all the names of the Seattle Mariners players, their jersey numbers, and where they bat in the line up. The same can be said about the Gonzaga men's basketball team and several NFL teams.

At 5 years old Ike started to wrestle for the St. Maries club team. This team has members from 4 years old through about 8th grade. Within a year he (and our family) was hooked! He absolutely LOVES to wrestle. He has continued to wrestle for the club team and in the past two years has wrestled freestyle as well. Last year he placed third in his age and weight division at the state freestyle tournament, which earned him a place on Team Idaho, the national freestyle team for the State of Idaho. This enabled him to compete at the Western Regional tournament in Oregon...I have a funny feeling that many family vacations for the next several years will focus around wrestling. :)

Ike also plays Little League baseball in the spring. For the past two years he has also earned a spot on the All Star team that competes in July. Although he does not seem as fascinated with baseball as he does with wrestling, he does well, enjoys it very much, and continues to improve each year. In previous years he has played both 1st and 3rd base. Last year he spent time behind the plate as catcher and this year they have used him sporadically as pitcher also.

Isaac is the funniest kid! He is constantly hamming it up, saying or doing something crazy that makes us all laugh. More often than not, our dinner table ends up erupting in uncontrollable laughter over something that Ike has said! Very often he will pipe up with something that no one would ever have thought he would know. When you ask him where he heard that or how he knew that obscure fact, the answer is usually "The Weekly Reader", "The Guinness Book of World Records", or "Ripley's Believe It or Not".

His likable personality makes him very popular amongst his friends. Almost all of the kids in his circle really like him and want to sit with him, play with him, have him spend the night at their house. I have always worried that this type of attention might make him cocky or prone to being mean to other kids. However, he continues to be a very sensitive, empathetic kid, many times attaching himself to the outsider, the younger kids, or the kids who are being picked on.

His plans for the summer include spending time at the pool, All Star baseball, and church camp. He is very good at keeping himself busy. It is not unusual for him to leave the house when he gets up in the morning and stay busy all day in our neighborhood...but he always comes home when he is hungry, and that is OFTEN!!!

We enjoy Isaac very much, even his sisters enjoy him MOST of the time. He is a happy, funny kid who is fun to be around. I cannot, however, figure out how he managed to get old enough to go to middle school so fast. Time flies!

Cassidy

As I suspected it was a very busy weekend. We tend to get quite a few graduation announcements each year and try to make it to as many parties as possible. This year the parties were spread out quite a bit geographically, so we didn't make it to as many as we would have liked.

So, we are moving on to Cassidy. There is so much to say about Cassidy. She is 13 1/2 years old and just finishing up her 7th grade year at St. Maries Middle School. In a nutshell Cassidy is a DRAMA QUEEN. She challenges us every day with her huge personality and social nature.

Cassidy is a great student and enjoys school. She is capable of getting straight "A"s but her socializing sometimes gets in her way. This year she took a class called Publications. It is a class that specializes in desktop publishing. They put out the monthly school newsletter and the yearbook. She found that she really enjoys this type of thing and is looking forward to taking it again next year.

Cassidy has tried almost every sport the school and community has to offer. The best I can tell, she has not fallen in love with any of them yet. In elementary school she played soccer and basketball and continues to play basketball for the middle school.

When she was in her late elementary school years Cassidy often wrestled (the sport, not just play) at home with her brother to help him practice for upcoming meets and competitions. We found her to be very strong, very competitive, and a quick study when shown what to do. Shortly thereafter she began asking if she could wrestle. Both Mike and I said no, in no uncertain terms, should a girl wrestle. We had a myriad of different reasons that we were against the idea. When she hit sixth grade she wore us down and we finally decided that we would let her try (we knew she wouldn't like it and figured that once she knew that it would be over). Well, guess what? She has wrestled for the club team and the middle school team for two years now! I know, I can hear some of my friends gasping in horror from here!

Interestingly enough, wrestling has been a very good thing for Cassidy. She is VERY social, has a ton of friends, and has the tendency to be a follower. She wants to do everything her friends are doing and nothing that they aren't. Making the decision to be the only girl in town who was wrestling, while her friends were doing other things, was a very big deal for her. She struggled most with that part of it. What has come of it is that Cassidy has gained some confidence and realized that she can step out and be her own person and it doesn't matter that her friends are not signed up for the same activities as her. A hot-tempered kid, she has also had to learn how to control her emotions...sometimes she succeeds and sometimes she doesn't. She has also had some success in the sport as well. She has brought home a handful of medals and now holds the record for the fastest pin in St. Maries Middle School history at 3 seconds (I personally think that the kid she pinned was so surprised that a girl knocked him down that he just laid there!).

She recently tried out for cheerleader for next year and made the squad. One of the rules of cheer leading in the middle school is that you can only do one sport. Although I believe that she is leaning heavily toward basketball, I don't know that she has decided.

Besides school and sports Cassidy enjoys anything that is social. She like to hang out with her friends and talk on the phone...and TEXT! Good grief! About 9 months ago we made the decision to get rid of our home phone and go exclusively cellular. Financially, this was a good decision. At the time we got cell phones for all of our kids. We limit their talk time each month, and although we have unlimited texting, we have some pretty strict rules about the phones...no phones at school unless you are in high school or have a school activity, no phones during meals, on family days, or after 8:30 pm. Cassidy is our kid who likes to push the boundaries of these rules, although she is learning that it is more comfortable for her to follow the rules than be without her phone because she didn't.

Every two years one of the middle school teachers organizes a summer trip to Washington DC. The kids fund raise for two years, then go on this trip. Cassidy has been involved with the group for the past two years and is looking forward to leaving in the early morning hours of June 10 for her trip. They will fly to Washington DC and spend several days there sightseeing. Then they will bus to Philadelphia, visiting an Amish community on the way. After a day or so in Philadelphia they will leave for New York City. It is a 9 day trip and she is really looking forward to it. Kaittlin was able to go when she is in middle school and really enjoyed it.

Cassidy is planning on attending church camp this summer and spending days at the pool. She loves to spend and have money, but is not particularly interested in working for it. This is an area that we are working on with her. I hope it is the age...I do remember thinking at one point that Kaittlin was the laziest kid in the world and now I am very proud of her work ethic. Cassidy does have a couple families that she enjoys babysitting for so may have the opportunity to do more of that. She also spent a couple afternoons with me recently scraping the old linoleum floor from our kitchen and dining room and seemed to enjoy the process. She is a "messy" so I am trying to entice her to clean up and organize her room with the promise of new paint, flooring, etc.

All in all, Cassidy is our most outgoing, outspoken, opinionated, and challenging child. However, I believe that her personality traits that sometimes make me crazy right now, will mature into traits that serve her well in adulthood.

The picture attached is from last summer in our yard. Until next time...

Kaittlin Picture

Wanted to include a picture of each kid with their post, but forgot before I published. Here is a picture of Kaittlin last summer in our yard. I have other pictures, probably better ones, but they are still on the camera....maybe later...

Kaittlin

Ok, I will start my family update with Kaittlin. She is 16 years old and just finishing up her sophomore year at St. Maries High School. In elementary and middle school she was a quiet, studious child who was apt to be found immersed in a book. She also tended to be a target for bullies. During those years she played T-ball, basketball, and soccer but had to stop all of those sports due to severe leg and foot pain, which we found out later was due to a flat foot issue which is now being treated by Shriner's Hospital.

During her 9th grade year Kaittlin took a weight training class. She excelled at it, breaking a school record within her first 3 months of taking the class. Her weight training teacher was an amazing man who drew her out of her shell with positive feedback and genuine interest. The result has been a unique transformation. She is now confident, goal oriented, out spoken (sometimes a little too much), and afraid of nothing. Sadly that particular teacher has left our district, but he really did change her life.

In middle school Kaittlin discovered volleyball which she fell in love with. Treatment and weight training has made her foot pain bearable and she has played both school and club volleyball ever since. She has recently made the decision to not play volleyball any more. The sport is a very important one here in St. Maries and is highly competitive and very political. She feels like she could better enjoy her high school years without the pressure and drama that seems to come with volleyball.

In her 8th grade year Kaittlin tried track. Her upper body strength, along with the weight training has made her a natural at shot put and discus. She did well both her 8th & 9th grade years and was on track to a state berth this year, but was sidelined with a shoulder injury. She was able to participate in the district tournament, but it was her first meet back after 3 weeks off and her performance suffered. She has also participated in the long jump, which earns her some teasing as she is likely the shortest girl in the entire high school.

Recently Kaittlin was selected to receive a scholarship to the largest throwing camp in the United States. It is located at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington and is a one week long camp during the month of July. The scholarship will allow her to attend free of charge. We are all very excited about that!!!

High school has not come easy for Kaittlin. She really has to work hard and study for her grades, but she has a goal in mind. She is very interested in attending college after high school to earn a degree in secondary education. She would like to teach science or math.

As soon as school is out Kaittlin is looking forward to starting her second summer as a lifeguard at the city pool. She really enjoys life guarding. She is also looking for a second job this summer to fill in the hours as the lifeguard job is only about 20 hours per week. She does a FABULOUS job of saving her money, most of her paychecks go into her savings account for college, she saves very little out for spending money. She is a GREAT example for her brother & sister, who tend to spend as soon as the money arrives.

Kaittlin has her driver's license, but no car. Therefore, she is most eager to run errands for me or transport the younger kids to their events :). She and her dad are planning on stick shift lessons this summer. We would like to find an inexpensive car for her, but have not located one yet.

All in all, Kaittlin is a compliant, eager to please young lady who is quite responsible. We are very proud of her. She is a teenager, though, and during the past year we had some issues with her not being where she said she was, not doing what she said she was doing. She is learning from that experience that once trust is broken is takes a long time to regain it. It is a valuable lesson for anyone to learn and I think (I hope) that she is learning it. We think that Kaittlin is going to be an absolutely wonderful young adult and can't believe that in two years she will be on her own. Gosh, I pray that we have done, and continue to do what we need to do to get her ready.

So, those are the "Kaittlin Highlights". We will move on to Cassidy in the next several days, although it is graduation weekend so it might take a while.

Oh, yes...Kaittlin wanted me to mention that she HATES the color pink and is quite put out that I chose a blog template that is pink...(I think I will leave it that color until she stops complaining!) :)

St. Maries

I am posting again today simply because I am trying to figure out this site. After my first post I went home & attempted to access my blog. I managed to do that, but cannot figure out why there is not a way for a visitor to leave a comment. I have messed around with the settings & to the best of my knowledge have everything marked the way it should be to allow comments, but no change.

It occurred to me that perhaps I changed something that needed to be changed but it does not affect any postings that have already been done. So I am going to try this post & see if it fixes it.

I said that I would try to catch you all up, since it has been a really long time since some of you have heard from us on a regular basis. Before I make my way through the family members getting you all caught up I thought I would update everyone on where we live.

Nine years ago (yes, nine) we moved from Plummer to St. Maries. Mike had changed jobs a couple years prior & began working in St. Maries. As most of you know, I have worked here for a very long time. We bought a house up on a hill near the nursing home here in town. It is on a loop road which is not on the way to anywhere, which makes traffic very light.

The school system here is excellent, a bit bigger than we were used to in Plummer...about 100 graduating seniors each year. The kids are involved in school, sports, & other activities.

For those of you who have not been here, St. Maries is in beautiful country. At the confluence of two rivers the scenery is mountainous & very "North Idaho". Although we live within the city limits we regularly have deer in our yard & once a moose ran through. The community is very volunteer & service oriented which fits our family very well. There are tons of opportunities to be involved & help other people.


It took a while to "fit in" when we first moved here, however, after a couple years I decided that most of the problem was an attitude problem on my part...I wanted people to come to me & accept me as part of the community rather than going out & involving myself. Once I fixed the attitude I have really enjoyed it here.

All in all we are very happy with our move to St. Maries. I am going to post now & see if the settings I changed fix my problem.

Beginning

This is my first blog post...I don't know how this is going to go, but have decided to give it a shot.

I have always viewed a blog as an online diary of sorts, where people share their thoughts & feelings, etc etc. Being a relative private person I always thought it was kind of weird to have a blog, why do I want everyone to know what I am thinking & feeling?

However, about 2 years ago a friend of mine was dealing with breast cancer. Her husband began a blog to help keep people updated on her condition. It became a favorite of mine, I checked their blog each morning when I arrived at work before I even checked my own email. After her death almost a year ago he continued to blog, sharing his grief & his struggles & giving us a window into his healing process. It was very healing for me to read his blog.

Recently I logged onto the blog of another friend of mine. A homeschooling mother of 8 children, she uses the blog to update family & friends on her family's activities, etc. I went back to the very beginning of her blog & read all of the posts (about a year & a half worth). I absolutely LOVED IT! Although we do not live a long ways away from each other, busy lives intervene & we do not see them nearly as often as we would like (Tracy, if you are reading this congratulations on your sweet new baby!). As I was working through her posts I came across the one where she posted her Christmas letter...the same one I received in the mail. That is when this idea was born.

One of my biggest guilts over the years has been my inability (unwillingness, laziness???) to get a Christmas letter out. Christmas comes at a very busy time of the year!!! :) That is when I decided that if I posted a blog that I could update more often than once a year perhaps I would be more successful in keeping the people I want to keep updated...well, updated!

So, here I am making my first meager attempt at blogging. I hope that I can manage to somehow keep up. I will spend the next several posts trying to get everyone updated on the progress of each member of our family. Stay tuned.....