Sunday, October 13, 2013

Tai and Tag had a birthday!

Tai and Tag had a fun birthday this year.  They were sure looking forward to it for months everyday counting down the days.  Tai turned 8 and Tag turned 5.  They had an EPIC Dance Party for their birthday party and invited friends to come over and show their stuff.  They ate pizza and punch and cake and were out of there in an hour.







Here are a few things about them each at this age.  More for my benefit than anything.  Feel free to skip.

TAI:
Is enjoying being home-schooled.  She started to finally enjoy reading.  She is in the middle of the novel The Yearling.  I've figured out it is more pleasurable for her to accomplish reading a lot of pages than to actually understand what those pages are saying however.  She is practicing writing faster and doing better at that.  She is very detail oriented so she has had a habit of writing painfully slow in order to make all the letters just right.  Just like her daddy!  To this day Mark writes just the way he was taught cursive in 2nd grade.  No modifications whatsoever.  Anyway she practices her typing skills with Mavis Beacon and is finally progressing in math with Khan Academy.  Her greatest interest is in the sciences.  She loves to know how things work.  Mark started to give her piano lessons which she really enjoys.  She is still in gymnastics and had a hard time adjusting to her new gym.  She is getting over her fears though and learned a back flip on tramp (a huge accomplishment for her because of fear issues)  again, got that from her dad:)  Tai loves doing things.  She is never lazy and always producing or busy with something and loves the outdoors.  She loves fashion, cooking, crafts, projects, gardening, making things look good and reading scripture stories.  She has a good heart and is very sensitive to others feelings, is very expressive, has keen understanding, likes to sing, she is cautious, loving, helpful and has a desire to do the right thing.  Tai does enjoy teasing however and has her mama's pride in that she doesn't like to be shown that she is wrong.  She is very good to her brothers and sisters and gets offended if they don't show the same affection for her.  She has an out of control silly side sometimes and goes bonkers even at the age of 8!.  I don't know what my life would be without Tai!

TAG:
Tag is pretty much the opposite of Tai.  He is content to be inside playing on the computer or watch a movie.  He is still learning his letter sounds and slowly putting words together.  He learned to ride a bike a few months ago and was very excited to get a new bike for his birthday.  He is a quick physical learner.  It is refreshing to watch Tag in gymnastics catching on so quick.  He is on the Boys Team and his coach loves his discipline and ability.  His favorite phrase is "I'm STILL hungry!"  This boy can eat all day long.  But at least he will eat healthy now.  He still suffers from asthma and eczema and we are still trying to figure out the best way to manage it.  Tag wants everyone to succeed and is genuinely happy for his brother and sisters accomplishments.  It does not phase him when Tai gets mad at him for looking at her "wrong" during breakfast.  He just continues to be sweet Tag.  He plays well with all of his siblings equally.  He still has his "new joysey" accent but is much more mild now.  His baby blessing said he would bring balance to the family and he has definitely done that.  He loves to give his mom hugs and of course melts mama's heart.


Here are a few other family photos:








And here is another video as we encountered a friend on a family hike in the mountains: