Day 101 / 95 To Go: AHHHHH!!! Teenagers!!!

Posted by: Cris

Superbowl Sunday...the biggest event of the day right?

In our family, it actually had competition for main event.

Nova pretending to be mommy with her camo hat from the bear she got from Aunt D that sings "I'm proud to be an American"




The Superbowl probably wasn't the most important sporting event of the day for our family as the #1 ranked Buckeye's had a tough test on the road against Minnesota but played great and came out on top.


With the game on in the background, Nova decided to get brave walking along the top of the couch...an instant after this picture she dove headlong onto the couch cushions...letting your children jump on the couch - now that's good parenting!

We did host a few friends for the Superbowl though. The party was more intimate than expected since A) one of my PhD students decided she couldn't come, blaming me for that fact since I'm giving her an Anatomy test and a Biomechanics quiz both on Tuesday. and B) a regular reader of this blog bailed out of attending the get together - we won't name any names but she does have the same birthday as Juneau.

But, Dr. Hetzler (with kids in tow) and Bret hung out with us for the afternoon.

Bret was afraid it would hurt his street cred to be seen with us.

Poor Nova - we stole her table for snacks so she had to make due with doing stickers on her lap.

Juneau and Nova were thrilled to make friends with 9-year-old Halley Hetzler

They loved playing chase around the couch and when they caught her...

made her sit down on the couch and put stickers all over her legs.

Nova loves making a new friend.

Despite all of the fun of a Buckeye's win and a Superbowl get-together, the biggest event of the day was the Birthday that saw my amazing nieces turn the big 1-3!!

We're creeping ever closer to the day they are behind the wheel and not just along for the ride.

Unfortunately, Coral couldn't coax them out 1 day earlier or they could have shared a birthday with Mammaw Nova...

But, they managed the next best thing...

...sharing a birthday with Summit.

Is it possible these weird little girls...

...have turned into THESE weird teenagers?

So, the teenage years are upon us. I will be watching my sister closely to figure out how to navigate having 2 teenage girls at the same time since I'm now only 10 years and 3 months away from the same predicament.

Alex was actually experiencing the added stresses that come with being a teenager 8 minutes earlier than Lyndsey...it was a confusing time for her.

Happy 13th Birthday Alexandra Ruth and Lyndsey Nova! I love you very much and I am very proud of the awesome teenagers you've become. But, there will always be a part of me that sees you like that first time I met you on my trip back to Ohio from California with the Fresno State wrestling team: At the Cleveland Airport waiting to fly back to California - March, 1998