But wait, maybe Elle does too because she does NOT want to graduate. She reminds me of me my senior year. I was so in love with it…the friends, the dances, finally knowing what the heck I was doing…I had no desire for it to end. I remember driving up the canyon with my friends on graduation night listening to “Forever Young” with tears streaming down our cheeks.
Little did I know that college is even better! She’ll learn that soon enough.
When Elle surprised us in such close succession to Max we had our work cut out for us.
One more to go, and we’ll see where she will be heading next year in the spring.
Dreading but exciting too.
In bad Elle news, this happened:
This is how Jenna (our beloved car) fared after Elle hit into that other one.
Her friend ran over her phone.
It still worked for a few days, like this:
…and then she had to go get that screen replaced.
She also got a ticket for not having her front lights on when she had to borrow someone’s car.
They say bad things come in three…hoping that is three and that we’re done with the bad stuff. Poor girl, she is honestly so dang responsible, so all this stuff was extra sad.
Needless to say she is lucky she works her tail off to earn money that so sadly has had to go toward these things. That girl is studying her heart out for finals right now in the midst of her part-time babysitting job, and a slew of family photo shoots.
Let’s just not talk about pending graduation again for a little while and just soak in this girl of ours for as long as we can.
Sure adore this senior of mine!
Our first two ended up being 18 months apart, and only a year apart in school. It's so hard to "lose" half your kids within a year! And then we moved, and no one knew we had those 2 older girls. It was really difficult – except I knew BYU and Ricks were far better options than University of New Mexico or UNLV. I feel your pain.
which colleges has she applied to?.. such a fun time… maybe more for her lol
having my kids get licence is going to be such a scary thing.
Such great memories that you are making this year and kudos to you for always documenting them here! Merry Christmas
Don't tell me this! My one and two year old are only 16 months apart and I already feel like it's all just going by too fast!
Oh I wrote this so quick this morning I think I may have made it come across that she didn't take responsibility for those unfortunate things. But she sure did. Her heart was torn apart about all three. (I just changed the wording a little to hopefully show that.) She is ultra responsible and is also usually a very conscientious driver….these things have sure made her more-so! I guess sometimes the best "consequence," aside from the hefty ticket fines, is sorrow. And she's sure had a bunch of that over these sad things and has learned a lot in the process! But the great thing about Elle is that she just picks herself up and tries harder. Dang it, even writing this is making me so sad we have to let her go next year! So now I'm leaving with the thought that there are times when natural consequences are all kids need to learn serious lessons. Life is just one giant lesson don't you think? I'm still sure learning all kinds of things myself and have so far to go!
The consequence is elle pays the ticket and her insurance goes up and there is a ticket on her record. Parents don't need to add to it. She is old enough to drive and the world provides the consequences. Her driving is a contract between her and the community. It's great she had an accident while living at home. Navigating the process is more complicated than getting the license.
Is it typical to help so much with applications? Other than signing the thing my parents did nothing.
Our first two are almost 15 months apart, too, with another 22 months behind. High school is almost within reach, I can feel it. And yes, it is going way too fast.
Oops, too many typos on that last one! Whew! At first when I saw title I thought you were talking about us! 🙂 Love this Elle girl! Just keep reminding her that life just gets better and better, including for us real seniors!
Crossing my fingers that there are no more broken phones and no more banged up cars. I am sure good news is around the corner!
It wouldn't be life without learning! 🙂 My son (also named Maxwell) is 12 mos older than my twin girls, and boy, I'm already not looking forward to back-to-back senior years!
Love hearing how close Max and Elle are though. Hopefully a little peek into what we have to look forward to. ❤️
You should probably blur the license plate of the car.
can you pleeeeaaaase ask elle where her shirt is from? i love it so much!
Old Navy 🙂
thank you!!!
When I found out I was pregnant with my second (mine are 15 months apart) I remembered your oldest two being close and read through old posts telling myself if Shawni could make it so can I
Now my heart hurts a bit thinking about them leaving…. but I have years and years to soak it all up.
I feel like I am reading a post that I may write in around 17 years. Mine kids are 14 months apart as well (Miles age 2 & Hazel age 1) and as much as I have just been trying to kept my head above water, this makes me consider what it will be like when they are older. Excuse me while I go kiss my babies!! Thanks for sharing with us.
I have a brother 13 months older than me. I remember thinking I wouldn't see him much at BYU when we were there together and it turns out we saw each other every day but one. I have so many fun memories.