Dear Isaak,

You just turned 12 today! Happy Birthday little man!

For Your Birthday You Got: 

Stratego - a board game

Some artsy markers

A room makeover, which was a lot of work! See pictures below! We went with triangles!

 I painted the base coat over the tape to prevent it from bleeding through:

You helped label what triangles were going to be what colors:

We mixed our own tints, to give variety without having to buy more paint. Tape tear off reveal:

All day yesterday you worked on putting your room back in order:

 I'm thinking about making 3 of these (the colors of his room) to go on the blue wall:

You've been acting 12, for a few months now. I remember when Mica was about that age.

Things You Like:

To Draw: Muscle men mostly | You got the Art Award in Beveridge Magnet Middle School

To Talk: You are a talker, sometimes I need a mental peace and quiet break and have Mica and you go for walks | You love to talk on the phone to your girl friends

YouTube: You like to watch prank and art videos

Movies: You've always liked action and superhero movies, but I'm noticing you like romantic comedies sometimes too

Shows: In particular you love that new show on Amazon called Upload, and if Chris Harrison is on with some cheesy Bachelor type show you are glued to the TV

Food: Pizza and Tacos

Pet: You got his first pet this year named Sunny, he's a Leopard Gecko

Piano: An instrument you picked up just this year | We got you lessons, then COVID-19 happened | You got the Piano Award in Beveridge Magnet Middle School

Things You Don't Like:

Chores of any kind, for the most part - Does any 12 year old like to do chores?

Being cold, you wear your heavy duty robe around the house, and coat around when you were in school

You say that you don't like school, but you were really sad when you found out that school wasn't happening for the rest of the year

COVID 19 is messing up everyone's daily routine | We won't do a lot of celebrating because of this! We do plan on having Pizza Hut pizza, and playing games

When people act like jerks

Your hair getting longer, and in those eyes

Overall you are sensitive to other's feelings. You are creative, innovative, charming, and a great son to have!

Love,

Mom

Talking To My Kids About More Than Just Sex

Did I get your attention with that title?

Mica got his first love letter at school. Someone handed him a folded up piece of paper. 

Notice the full heartbeat on, "With You" and the flat line on, "Without You"?

She love - likes him. The little person on the bottom with the heart is cute.

So we talked about it. 

My Advice:

Mica don't ignore her, be nice to her, don't spread rumors, and just tell her that you want to focus on school right now. If he felt like it he could say, "My parents don't want me dating yet."

At School:

He did his best to avoid this girl. In fact he ran from her at recess. She stopped him at different times during the day to ask what she could do to make things better? He said, "Drop it. Drop the whole thing." 

The Dare:

Apparently there is a game played at school where 2 people have to play some kind of game. Whoever looses gets a dare. A girl dared another girl to ask Mica out.

When the girl asked Mica out he responded with, "I think that dare game should be banned at school." Ha! 

She proceeded to tell Mica that other girls liked him. 

I just hope this stuff doesn't go to my 12 year old's head. I don't need a cocky child! 

What kind of advice would you give a 12 year old on the opposite sex?

WW: Grandpa With a Fidget Spinner {Linky}

We had my son Mica's 12th birthday party this weekend. He got a set of Skull Candy Headphones along with another Fidget Spinner.

Here's my nephew Evan and Mica both wearing a Skull Candy ear bud:

Here's the Fidget Spinner Mica got that my 91 year old Grandpa couldn't put down:

I don't think Mica knew what to do to get his Fidget Spinner back. Ha! 

This same birthday party my 3 year old nephew made this Baby Trump happen:  

Dear Mica,

Happy Birthday Mica! You turn 12 today. You're a tweenager for sure.

A month ago we decided to get you your first phone. That's your big present. With walking and riding the bus to and from middle school we figured now is the time to get you a phone. We also lost our land line some time ago, so you needed a phone.

Today I'm giving you a set of lenses for your phone. 

Likes:

• Taking pictures with your phone is your newest hobby.

• Music! You love playing Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Brono Mars the most. You like Peter Gabriel, Bob Marley, and the Village People. 

• Reading! You've been really into this series called Spirit Animals this summer. You read classics like Of Mice and Men, Two Kill a Mockingbird and more. You'll read books 4 or 5 times over again. 

• You still love movies and shows. Grimm is one of your favorites right now. No one else around here likes it. We've been watching The Cosby Show as a family. Yes Bill Cosby has been in hot water, and on the news a lot this year. It's still a good family show. You'll watch any movie really. 

• You got your first "job". You volunteered at the library and helped stock books, and collected zip codes from people for their Read to a Dog program.

• You started playing the trumpet. There are times when you practice where you're pretty good. Other times I don't think you try. You had hopes of playing Sledgehammer from Peter Gabriel, but you quickly learned that Hot Cross Buns and songs at that level would be played mostly. You did get to learn the Star Wars theme song, which is fun.

Your Personality Shines in This Video:

Dislikes:

• You're not a big fan of chores. You had to take over for me when I got an upcycled nose (surgery) hand washing dishes. 

• I've been having you do laundry at times. Last week I had you take up a load, and you forgot to dry it. 

• You still dislike playing outside and sports, but did decided to give soccer a shot in the spring.

Other Things:

• You do this thing where you bend your elbow out to stretch it. It drives Dad nuts. Ha!

• You're more apt to want to be in your room more. That's kind of the reason why I called you a "Tweenager". 

Goofball Photos:

Happy Birthday my soon to be Middle Schooler!

Love,

Mom