Anna and Jack are 18!

Jack and Anna are 18! It was an odd birthday this year; they vacillated on what they wanted to do and ultimately it was more of a combination of little things than one big birthday celebration. It started on  Monday with Crumbl cookies for Anna. Anna also picked most of the meals last week (taco pizza, hot dogs with Caesar salad, enchiladas and I still owe her chili). This week, I am making some of Jack’s choices—beef stew and 5-can soup. Friday was their actual birthday. Anna and Kara skipped school, Thomas and I worked in the morning, then took them to lunch at CiCi’s Pizza (Anna’s choice). After lunch, we went to the Boot Barn to get her chosen gift—cowboy boots. Jack went to school, there was no football game that night, so they had a long band practice, but Jack left early, and we went to dinner at Cracker Barrel. The waiter was very nice and gave them each a free piece of coke cake. Then, we stopped in at Academy Sports to grab Luke a first baseman’s mitt and Anna found some Teva’s on clearance. She had been wanting a pair and they were marked down from $80 to $27, so that was a nice birthday add-on..

 

We were too full to eat the cake I made, which Anna chose—pumpkin spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Jack said he didn’t want to pick his own cake this year and he would just eat whatever Anna wanted, but he does want me to make him an apple pie sometime in the coming weeks. They opened gifts from their siblings (for Anna: a star projector and cd player, as she is trying to move away from her Alexa and for Jack guitar strings and a table for his record player and records). Jack asked us for records and Thomas got him two vintage Beach Boy ones. They were the same records Thomas’ Aunt had when he lived her and they are what evoked Thomas’ lifelong love of the Beach Boys. Jack also asked Thomas and I for a (historic) necklace, but we gave him a raincheck so he can pick something out at the Relic Room when we next visit Tennessee.

 

Saturday, Anna had two of her besties over. That night, we took her to Waterford Lakes to collect some free birthday goodies—lotion from Bath and Body Works and a bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes. We had dinner at Chick-Fil-A and Anna and Kara checked out Plato’s Closet, which they had heard of, but never been in. Meanwhile, Jack was at a surprise birthday party for one of his good friends.

 

Monday, we made Halloween monster cake pops, another J&A birthday tradition. And, I think that officially concluded the spread-out birthday celebration.

It was fun to spend time reflecting on Jack and Anna the past few weeks. I looked through pictures from past birthdays and read their (sparsely populated) birthday journals and old blog entries. It brought back lots of great memories. We have had some amazing birthday adventures! Jack and Anna almost always chose an outing instead of gifts or parties and we’ve done Yorktown, Busch Gardens, Valley Forge, Great Wolf Lodge, a cruise, etc. But, I think my favorite birthday trip was Dutch Wonderland when they turned 6 (see blog from Oct 2013 for a short video) it was just an overnight, but they were so excited and we had so much fun.

 

Many aspects of their personalities have remained the same, like Jack’s love of history and Anna’s sense of humor. They were both super high-energy kids, which made their younger years mostly fun, but sometimes challenging. When they were little and people asked me the best thing about having twins, I always said it was watching them interact with each other. From tiny babies who would roll over into one another to little kids who would defend each other to the death in preschool, now to teenagers who generally get along. It’s been a fun 18 years. I am sad to see their official childhood come to end but I am excited for this next chapter of their life.

Flashback to their first birthday:

Goodbye September

Kara has been busy the last few weeks with lacrosse and driving. She is ready to get her license and I am sure she could pass the test, but we aren’t ready for the insurance jump. She is taking lessons and drives frequently, mainly to her 3x weekly lacrosse practices. Lacrosse is going well. She has been playing goalie, which is not her favorite position, but no one else wanted to do it, so she reluctantly volunteered. She is hopeful that the regular goalie will return when the high school season starts. 

Anna has been busy studying for the SAT and unfortunately is not enjoying her senior year. She does not like her classes and is both ready to graduate and not quite ready to be done with this chapter of her life. Both she and Thomas ended up doing another night at HHN with Kara and me. This is the first year they have gone more than once and I wonder if maybe Kara and I are converting them to frequent attenders in the future???

Jack is busy with band, clubs, tutoring and college applications. He has something going on almost every day and it feels like we don’t see him much. 

Luke was a guest player in a baseball tournament this weekend. He played first base and did really well on both defense and offense, including an over-the-fence homerun! School is going okay for him. He has already missed a lot of days this year. Some were unavoidable due to his mouth surgery, but he has also been ‘sick’ a few times (and it’s only the first quarter!). I don’t think he is faking it, but I also don’t think he’s too sick for school. However, it is hard to judge, so we err on the side of caution and hope that he isn’t developing bad attendance habits. 

Thomas and I came close to applying for open positions in Bremerton, WA. They told us if we got the positions, we could wait until the end of the school year to move and Kara was onboard with having her senior year someplace new. Ultimately, we decided the timing wasn’t right. The kids have the Bright Futures scholarships and we are both licensed in Florida. We still feel like our jobs are not very secure and if we do get fired, it seems better to be in a place where we can work in our field (and have a lower mortgage to worry about). I would also feel bad leaving my sister as the only one helping my dad. We just have to hope that two more positions open in a couple of years. Ugh, the chances seem so remote that they will have two positions open, in the areas we are qualified for, on the schedule we need. 

Hmmm, something positive to end on??? I finished a puzzle. Luke did it with me. Normally, I like 500-piece puzzles, as they fit better on my puzzling surface (and they're easier). But, this one was a 1000 and it was still fun.

That wraps up the month of September.