Johnny: #12!

Our oldest boy is TWELVE!! 

 Johnny has grown so much this past year. His feet are getting huge and his muscles are growing by the day. I'm afraid his height is going to increase in inches overnight and his hands look like teen hands! He made it through 5th grade with success and cannot wait for middle school. He still continues to love animals over people and I find myself laughing with him and his infectious laugh on a daily basis. We are so thankful he's ours!

Here's a little bit about Johnny:

• Fifth grade was another challenging year for Johnny. He did well, but changing classes and having more responsibility remembering what needs to be accomplished in each class each day comes with a huge learning curve. It took some time, but eventually Johnny had it figured out what he needed to do and when-without my help. He enjoyed his teachers and loved the time with all his friends. 
• Johnny is still a typical boy when it comes to academic things....he can read very well, he can write well, and he does a great job at math, but most of the time, he just doesn't want to do any of it. And he will rush through his work quickly just to be done. He struggles a bit with spelling but found out that actually studying the words and working on them helps so much. He doesn't enjoy homework at all and will do anything possible to not do it. He literally will do anything else before homework. 
• Johnny has grown up a lot this year and has really matured.....he has improved so much on picking up after himself, offering to help even more with stuff around the house and just even offering to help John and I with random tasks. 
• He is still a "protector"...if anybody messes with his brother, they better watch out.....if someone is messing with his sister, he's gonna let them know.....if someone is giving his best buddy Simon a hard time, Johnny is all over it! I love this about him so much! He will stand up for anyone and we love that about him- that takes so much courage!
• He has a long "fuse"....but when his fuse reaches the end, you are definitely going to know it. He can get pretty angry. 
• He says he plans to go to the military after he graduates. 
• He has an "old man soul" ....his elaborate, monotone stories are the best and he just fits right in with the retired crowd. He can tell a story like the best of them.....giving you all of the tiniest details.  
• His belly laugh will make anyone laugh and is one of the very best sounds EVER
• He can take just about anything apart and will! He loves figuring out how things work...which usually results in taking things apart.
• He is the absolute happiest when he is riding a tractor, mini-bike or lawn mower and loves them even more if he can drive by himself. He has even gotten to drive John's truck and car many times and does a great job! 
• He can hear a sound from any vehicle and 9 times out of 10 can identify what it is (motorcycle, truck, train, firetruck, bus, etc.)
• He does not like to disappoint adults and it crushes him if he thinks someone is upset with him. 
• Johnny and Winston have a special bond. If Johnny is happy, Winston is there. When Johnny is sad or sick, Winston is there and Johnny immediately feels better when Winston comes around. They also get each other super excited and rowdy! Johnny has been a huge help with Winston....helping feed him, take him outside, gather toys, etc. etc. 
• If he's not really good at something, he easily gets discouraged. If he gets mad about something, he shuts down and needs some time to regroup. 
• He will play with pretty much anyone, but playing with his best buddy Simon and Charlie is his favorite.
• Johnny is still pretty introverted but has learned how to manage it really well. He would rather be home by himself instead of with a crowd of people out and about somewhere. If he does go out and is around a bunch of people/in a group doing something fun, he is fine during the event but then wants to come home and retreats to his room to play with legos or transformers. 
• His favorite shows are: Big City Greens, Star Wars and Home Improvement
• His favorite movies: Transformers, Tron, Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars
• Clothing sizes range from 12-14 and his feet are size 5 or 6 depending on the shoe
• Johnny loves to help out....it doesn't matter what it is, he will happily help you with it! He has continued helping me in the kitchen as often as possible (dishes are his favorite but he loves to help cook too) and really has enjoyed helping John in the barn with the garden, lawn mower, etc. 
• Johnny absolutely LOVES breakfast! He will eat a large breakfast then not eat much for lunch or dinner. We've kind of started forcing him to eat through the day though because he's not real good at recognizing that he is hungry until he is "hangry". 
• Johnny is our foodie.....He will try anything and loves pretty much anything that John eats. 
• He sleeps really well...he is usually in bed around 8:30 and will sleep all night. 
• He is our early riser....he is usually the first one up. He likes to have two ZBars or poptarts if they are in the pantry, while he sits in the recliner and watches a show until it's time to eat his actual breakfast and get ready for the day. If for some reason he doesn't get this alone time, he can be pretty grumpy. 
• His favorite books are: "I Survived" series, anything by Alan Gatz, Hazardous Tales, Dog Man, Hatchet, Holes, Bad Guys and Investi-gator. Graphic novels are his favorite!
• Johnny has developed a love for history, specifically the Civil War, WWI & WWII
• When he wants to (as with all kids)....Johnny follows a set of instructions very well and is usually very compliant with what he's been asked to do
• One of his favorite times is when mama comes home from the grocery store with bags of food....he is really good at helping me get the bags out of the car and carry them inside 
• He still loves to wear a hat and he pretty much lives in Under Armour clothes. Even on sundays to church he is in under armour clothes.
• He truly loves Mellany and Charlie and plays with them very well. He wants to do anything Mellany is doing and loves showing Charlie the "ropes". He and Charlie really play well together and do all things "boys".
• He has really great manners and is very helpful to others-holding doors open, letting others go first, bringing things to people, etc.
• When Johnny does mess up and it requires punishment we typically only have to take away technology time or send him to bed 10 minutes early and the behavior is corrected. He really dislikes being in trouble and disappointing adults. 
• His favorite song right now is "McArthur" or anything by Morgan Wallen
• Johnny still absolutely loves his chickens! He currently has 14.... He checks on them all throughout the day, makes sure they are fed and watered, cleans the coop, gets the eggs, etc etc. He really enjoys having them! He loves to sell them to neighbors in the neighborhood-he's such a proud little entrepreneur.
• Playing the Nintendo switch, iPad and playstation are things he really loves!! And he is honestly pretty good at them (he almost always beats John and I). But, we do have to limit the amount of time he plays on them because when he plays, he is "all in" and it is hard to come back to "reality".
• When Johnny is zoned in on something, he literally hears nothing else....it can definitely be a good thing, but also can be very "trying"
• Legos are one of Johnny's favorite things to do (besides video games). He could sit and put together a lego set all day long if he wanted to 
• Johnny really enjoyed playing soccer this spring. He wasn't a standout player, but he was a great teammate and had fun learning how to really play the game! 
• Johnny is still enjoying 4H this year too. He is in the shooting sports project where he chose shotgun as his discipline. He has also decided to put together another model this year and also enter a leather knife case he made into miscellaneous crafts. He is really excited to show dairy cattle again; he is showing two calves this year.  
• He has such a love for animals that I could see him being a veterinarian when he is older. 

12 Year Wellness Exam

 Weight: 72 pounds (gained 3 pounds from last year)

Height: 4'9.48" (grew 1" in the past year)

It was another exam that couldn't have gone any better! Johnny's health is fantastic! Johnny actually saw our neighbor who is a nurse practitioner so that was fun and exciting. His physical exam went great (including looking at his foot that his dairy cow had stopped on a few days prior) and they discussed his eating, exercise and school. No vaccinations this year but Johnny was still begging for some lunch after-to which I can never say no! 

Birthday Celebration

For his birthday party this year, Johnny wanted to have his friends over to his house to have an ultimate nerf war and bounce house. He also requested pizza and cookie cake. This group of kids is so easy that we were happy to do just that! These kids spent several hours running through the back yard having the time of their lives.

Happy Birthday Johnny! We love you so much!