8 Years

Corbyn's 8 year stats:

Weight: 60 pounds, 10 ounces (66th percentile)

Height: 53 inches (87th percentile)

He was not excited about wearing a gown for his well child visit and this was what he thought of me taking his picture! 👇At his appointment we talked about how his asthma is a non-issue anymore, how we haven't had any cashew or pistachio incidents lately (knock on wood!), and how he's healthy and strong. 

Corbyn at 8 years:

*Is just a good, easy kid. I was telling him recently how he used to be hard when he was a toddler, but now he's easy, so we are hopeful one day Logan will be easy too.

*Loves video games and is very good at them. I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed, so I'll be proud. He would play them all day if we let him!

*He often tells us he's a carnivore. He loves meat! He's a much better eater than he used to be, but he still has a lot of fruits and vegetables he doesn't like. Most notably he doesn't like apples and watermelon which are pretty widely liked, so that always puzzles me a bit. He does not like zucchini and squash and watching him eat his allotted pieces of those at dinnertime is pretty entertaining/concerning because it involves a lot of near throwing up. 

*Is still a messy eater. It's impressive how messy his face can get after eating something that you wouldn't think of as messy.

*Is a good reader and is good at math, but he really struggles with spelling. His teacher said he uses "inventive spelling" in her comments on his last report card. We've been working on that this summer and he is making a lot of progress.

*Really likes Star Wars. I wouldn't say he's obsessed with it, but it is his favorite thing right now. He is very excited for Star Wars Land to open at Disneyland next summer and even though I'm not a fan, it will be fun for me to see it through his eyes. (Assuming he still likes it in a year. I'm sure he will.)

*Has been reading the Geronimo Stilton books for almost a year now and I'm so grateful he likes them because there are so many of them!

Corbyn's 8th year in pictures (in no particular order):

Continental breakfast at the Del Sol Inn at Disneyland. He came up with this donut sandwich on his own. 😂

Jedi Training at Disneyland. I love his expressions in the next two pictures.

The kids discovered they could balance forks on various parts of their body one day and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Chipmunk Corbyn.

He's a pretty boring sleeper these days, so when I found him asleep like this (head at the bottom of his bed), I had to take his picture!

He got this game for his birthday last year from a friend and it has been so fun!

Same climbing wall, two different visits to Wippersnappers.

Reading at the library park. This was right after he discovered the Ricky Ricotta books last summer and he was obsessed!

He accidentally put on Logan's pajamas one night. It's kind of amazing he could get them on. He's definitely my tall and skinny kid!

Those skinny arms are great for blackberry picking through the fence!

With his favorite cousin, Blake.

Dressed up for his 100th day of school.

Rog decided it was time he learned how to cook mac & cheese. He was really into it for a few times. Then he was over it and hasn't made it since.

He tried basketball for the first time this winter. He liked it enough to say he wants to play again next year although I don't think it will be his sport.

He played baseball this spring and sadly it was probably his last year. He got a late start with baseball and knows he isn't as good as the other kids and just doesn't care enough to practice to get better. I'm proud of him for sticking it out to the end of the season and never complaining once about going even though he didn't really enjoy it.

Got dressed in the car and ended up with all of his clothes on backwards. 😂

He designed a contraption at school for an egg drop and this time his egg survived.

He just randomly decided he wanted to wear these socks to school one day and I let him. That's kind of huge for both of us!

Family Pictures Fall 2017

Family Pictures Spring 2018

This was the picture we used for his baptism announcement. I love it so so much! A real smile and Mt. Hood in the background. 😍

This one was a close second. I'm hugely biased, but it's he so handsome?!

Oh how we love this big kid! It sure is great to be 8!

Second Quarter Reading

This quarter was a dismal quarter of reading for me personally (at least by the numbers). I spent at least half of the quarter reading Still Me and Surprise Me. Both are new and pretty popular right now, so I could only check them out for 2 weeks at a time and I couldn't renew them. So I made slow, choppy progress through them. I just finished Still Me, so that will go toward my third quarter reading total. 

Excellent

1. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. My book club decided to pick a book we could read and then watch the movie and this was the book. I had read it before (back in 2014), but I hadn't seen the movie. Such a sad, beautiful book. (The movie was good too, but not as good as the book.)

Great

2. First Comes Love by Emily Giffin. 15 years ago, two sisters lost their only brother in a tragic car accident. Now they both find themselves at a crossroads and must finally confront that loss and the painful secrets surrounding it. I randomly picked up this book on CD when I was needing a book to listen to while I quilted. I had never read a book by Emily Giffin before, but had heard of her and figured I'd finally give her a chance. I enjoyed it so much I immediately started listening to another of her books, Where We Belong, (and I should finish it any day now).

Good

3. The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman. Mrs. Pollifax is sent on her second mission for the CIA halfway across the world to aid a defecting agent. I started listening to this one soon after finishing The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, but kept getting distracted by other books I was reading/listening to and finally finished listening to it this quarter when I had to drive to North Portland to get my bottom, permanent retainer replaced one afternoon. 

Books We Listened to in the Car

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. Claudia and Jamie Kincaid run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is one of my favorite books ever and it was so fun to listen to it with the kids!

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. Chester Cricket unexpectedly finds himself in the Times Square subway station and makes 3 new friends. This was a fun one to listen to. There are 7 books in the series, but unfortunately the first book is the only one available to listen to.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry. The story of how Peter became Peter Pan. Corbyn loved this one, but Peyton did not. I missed some parts of it along the way (because Corbyn was always so eager to listen to it even when I was not in the car) and I always struggle to continue to listen when that happens. 

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. Harriet is a spy who writes down everything about everyone in her notebooks. One day one of her notebooks falls into the wrong hands and causes major trouble for Harriet. This one is a classic for good reason. I remember reading it as a child and loved rediscovering it with the kids.

Corbyn's Picks

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin go on an adventure through space and time to search for Meg's father who disappeared while working on the tesseract problem. I remember loving this as a child, but found it a little too weird for my liking as an adult. Corbyn and I saw the movie together and I enjoyed the movie more than the book (a rare occurrence for sure) while Corbyn enjoyed the book more than the movie.

Toy Academy by Brian Lynch. Grumbolt is a misfit toy who goes to the Toy Academy to figure out who he is and where he belongs. Corbyn's friend, Emery, loves this book and lent it to us to read. It was a little too dumb for me, but the kids liked it.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R.A. Spratt. Nanny Piggins is a fabulously sassy and impeccably dressed pig who is also a nanny. She is as untraditional a nanny as can be and with her around, there is never a dull moment for the Green children. There are 8 books in this series and I am sure the kids will insist I read all 8 to them. I don't mind too much.

Peyton's Picks

Changes for Kirsten

Meet Josefina

Josefina Learns a Lesson

Josefina's Surprise

Happy Birthday Josefina

We finished the last of Kirsten's books and then moved on to Josefina's books. Josefina Montoya is an American girl growing up on a rancho near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1824.

Christmas

Instead of cookies, we leave out a slice of Christ's birthday cake for Santa.

We decided we would spend Christmas morning at our house, so we didn't have to worry about taking all the presents to Colorado this year. It was our first year doing Christmas morning in Oregon.

All of our kids got the same "want" and "need" presents this year. For their "want" they each got a Kindle Fire (our iPad died this year and we found a killer deal on them) and for their "need" they each got a case for their Kindle Fires. And in their stockings they all got slingshots with felt balls. I almost bought one for Corbyn in Greece, but didn't and he was disappointed, so when I saw a deal for them on Black Friday, I decided to buy one for all of them.

Logan's big Santa gift was a basketball hoop. Santa also brought him a couple Water Wow books and a puzzle and then in his stocking, Mickey and the Roadster Racers cars and mini Toy Story figures. He got a pirate hat, eyepatch, and pirate cape for his "wear" and an interactive Peter Pan book and a couple mini Look and Find books for his "read." From Grandma Lori and Papa George he got a Mickey car track and Pop the Pig (a game).

Grandma Dixie and Grandpa Mike got him a Buzz gun and the big talking Buzz. Both have been a big hit!

Peyton decided at the last minute she really wanted a Hatchimal from Santa. We lucked out finding one at Walmart otherwise she wouldn't have gotten one. That was her big Santa gift. 

Santa also brought her some play makeup and a few Magic Velvet books and in her stocking, a unicorn tape dispenser, nail polish, and an Ariel Lip Smacker. 

She got a fairy dress for her and Samantha as well as a fairy wand and crown for her "wear." For her "read" she got the Elephant and Piggie activity book and The Cookie Fiasco. From Grandma Dixie and Grandpa Mike she got a Trolls boom box and a princess art set. Grandma Lori and Papa George got her Just Dance (a Nintendo Switch game), the Enchanted Forest (a board game), and an Etch a Sketch Freestyle. 

Corbyn's big Santa gift was the Nintendo Switch. It was originally going to be a family gift from Santa, but then gifts got shifted around when Peyton wanted a Hatchimal at the last minute. The other two didn't realize it was a lot more expensive than their Santa gifts, so it worked out fine. He couldn't have been more excited about it!

Santa also brought him Mario Odessey (to play on the Nintendo Switch) and in his stocking, a Stikbot Gorilla and Pokemon cards. For his "wear" he got punching gloves and for his "read" he got the illustrated Harry Potter 3 and a Star Wars Look and Find book. From Grandma Dixie and Grandpa Mike he got a big Nerf gun and a Voltron figure.

From Grandma Lori and Papa George he got Sleeping Queens (a game), a Plants vs. Zombies set, and a couple Star Wars Lego sets (that he started building right away).

Santa brought me a new vacuum, a new Cupco cup, and the Disney Short Films Collection and in my stocking, a bread razor, a Wendy's Frosty key tag, and Princess and the Frog Tsum Tsums. I got a Belgium waffle maker for my "want," a Thomas Kinkade Disney calendar for my "need," a whole bunch of Stately Type shirts (purchased at 40% off on Black Friday) for my "wear," and Secrets of Disneyland for my "read." From my parents I got a new wireless printer (old one wouldn't print wirelessly anymore) plus some money and from Mike and Dixie I got an Amazon gift card.

Santa brought Rog new sheets for our bed and a new pillow and in his stocking, razor refills, fun work socks, and a Wendy's Frosty key tag. He got a SNES for his "want," white dress shirts for his "need," Stately Type shirts for his "wear," and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for his "read." 

From my parents he got a griddle, Rummikub, and some money and from his parents he got a beautiful Phillips Family Tree.

After presents we had breakfast - Cream Cheese Lemon French Toast with Strawberries, Holiday Fruit Soup, and hot chocolate or wassail to drink. Corbyn's Stikbot Gorilla got posed on one of our mugs.

And by then, Peyton's Hatchimal had hatched.

Then it was hurry, hurry, hurry to get ready, finish packing, and get to the airport. Parking at the airport was full, so we had to take MAX to the airport.

With the snow we got on Christmas Eve, we were a little nervous our flight would be cancelled, but we didn't have any problems. After all our rushing, we had time to spare and ended up killing time waiting.

We made it to Colorado in time to eat a late dinner and have a quick Ugly Sweater Party with the whole Ririe family.

Flying on Christmas saved us some money and it wasn't terrible, but I don't think we'll do it again in the future. It just didn't feel like Christmas at the airport.