all about Molly

It's hard to believe we have a teenager!  I just really don't know how that happened.  Molly definitely has her teenager moments but she is a great girl, a real gem.  We are very blessed to have her in our family and to have her leading out as the oldest child.

School-she is so easy when it comes to school.  She desires to do well and because of that, she never needs checked up on as far as grades and schoolwork goes.  She will get so stressed over small things and then realize that, in the end, it wasn't worth stressing over.  She tries her best in all subjects and gets very good grades (all A's).

Church-Molly has always had an inner goodness in her...and it just keeps getting better.  She wants to be good and do good.  When she does something wrong, she is immediately remorseful and wants to apologize and fix it.  I have always felt that she was mature in her testimony and I still feel the same way.  She is so good at preparing Come, Follow Me lessons as well as talks and lessons for Young Women's.  At the end of September, she was put in as Beehive President and when the changes happened at Conference just a week later, she was sad to think that she was going to be released.  She didn't get released and instead was set apart just as "class president."  It is quite the experience to raise a youth in this world and this season of the Restoration.  It is very special and I feel privileged and humbled all at once to think of the job/work ahead of me.

Phones-Molly still does not have her own phone.  She is definitely in the minority.  She has been good about not having one and doesn't complain or ask/beg for a phone, although I'm sure she'd love to have one of her own.  She knows that will get her nowhere.  We still have an old phone that we call the "kid phone" that she has access to whenever she needs it (although she doesn't take it to school).  She gives this number out to her friends for texting and calling and she takes it places when she is going to need a ride home.  She uses it the most with the understanding that it is not hers but the phone for all the kids to share.  It is a good system for us for now and I think Molly understands that a phone will never be given to her just because but that she will either have to work for one or go in on one when she's old enough.  Also of note, I am fairly strict with the phone: I have it extremely restricted on content, have a daily time limit set on it, have a password set on it wherever I can, and they are required to turn it in at night so I can see everything they've done on it in the day.  I just think that a person can never be too careful when dealing with phones and kids.

Soccer-oh, soccer.  Soccer to me is so up and down and I wish it wasn't.  I'm sure in 20 years when I look back and read this, I'll wonder why I let it take up so much of my brain and why I worried about it so much.  I try to keep perspective but I still have moments when I overthink and fret.  Molly actually had a great fall season of soccer.  The new coaching change couldn't have come at a better time.  Molly is a great soccer player but her biggest struggle is just having confidence on the field during a game.  She practices well, scrimmages well, and she plays well on the field during a game but she has this mental block during a game where she is either nervous about making a mistake and getting in trouble or she is self-conscious about parents watching.  I don't know what it is but it's definitely something-even she admits to it.  She continues to train all winter and will play in a tournament in February-and she genuinely enjoys playing and being with her soccer friends.  She often finds old USA Women's matches on YouTube that she likes to watch as well.  She increased in confidence over the fall and I expect it will continue to grow under these new coaches so I think she is in a good place.  Definitely learning lots and lots of "life lessons" so that is always a positive.

Hobbies-Molly always has/needs some creative outlet in her life.  It's been writing and it's been movie making but currently it is drawing.  The schools issued iPads this year to all the students and if you are 6th grade or up, you get to take your iPad home.  It is very restricted but Molly has discovered some drawing program or app that she enjoys.  She probably draws on it every single day.  It's a good way for her to unwind-and she's really good at it!  Again, we are amazed at her creative brain and continue to wonder where it came from.  Look for some of her drawings in a future post.

Work-Yes, I said work.  Molly has "worked" before, but just helping as a coach for her club's rec soccer program.  She did get paid but it was pretty low-key.  Back in October, they had representatives from the Heber Valley Train go to the middle schools and high school advertising for jobs as elves on the Polar Express train during the Christmas season.  Molly thought that sounded amazing and, since they hire 13-year-olds, she wanted to apply.  She went through a couple rounds of interviews and then was hired!  So she did that during December and loved every minute.  She was anxious the first day which made me anxious and I was excited to go pick her up and hear all about it.  I wish I could have seen her in action.  When I would pick her up, she would talk about it the entire drive home and that is how I knew she was loving it.  And she was very excited when her paychecks were deposited into her bank account.  She has big plans for her hard-earned money.

Piano-I sent Molly to a different piano teacher when she started middle school.  She doesn't love it.  I don't love the books she is working out of.  I told her I would love for her to take lessons until high school.  I would like her to learn some hymns.  She seems to enjoy playing songs that she is familiar with-she learned "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" for Christmas.  It wasn't an easy song but I noticed that she would sit down at the piano and play that song several times throughout a day, with no prompting from me.

I've mentioned before that Molly has a very vivid imagination and that is why she is so good at writing and drawing and making movies.  It does have a negative side as well and something she has struggled with for several months is nightmares. She has them often and they make her scared to even be in her room by herself in the middle of the day sometimes. She even sleeps with a lamp on because she can't handle the dark.  I try to be sympathetic while tough at the same time-I feel bad for her, but she has to clean her room and she has to sleep in her room.

Molly spends a lot of her spare time looking for clothes online.  She has a very specific sense of style and wears it confidently.  I don't exactly have the same style as her and, thus, cannot shop for her anymore.  She is kind of picky about what she wears.  She is a lot like Justin-she finds one or two things that she likes and wears those few things constantly.  Then she'll remember something else or be reminded of something else and say, "oh yeah, I forgot about that" and then she'll wear that over and over.  She hates being called a VSCO girl but that is a lot of what she is wearing these days.  She likes to "borrow" clothes from me-with permission, of course, and never anything that's very new.

Molly also likes to spend her free time watching TV and YouTube, listening to music and podcasts, and texting her friends.  She spends a lot of time in her room (when her imagination isn't playing tricks on her).  So, pretty typical teenage things.  She loved the old Full House and has recently been spending a lot of time watching I Love Lucy on Hulu.  Then we got Disney + and she's been watching old Disney shows that she's never seen.  She loves to bake when she has the chance.  She's not great at washing dishes, although she would probably disagree.  She likes to baby-sit and doesn't complain when we leave her home to baby-sit, even though I don't really pay her-sometimes I'll transfer a meager amount to her account if she's done a good job cleaning up.  She has moments of responsibility and moments of irresponsibility and moments of teenager-ness but she's turning out to be pretty amazing and we love her. 

Molly's birthday interview: 

Favorite color: green

Favorite movie: Wait Until Dark

Favorite breakfast: smoothies

Favorite dinner: potatoes

Best friend: Sam (Steiner) and Sloane (Ellingford)(both girls from our ward)

Favorite TV show: I Love Lucy

Favorite scripture story: Joseph Smith history

Favorite book: Harry Potter and Break-out

Favorite game: soccer

Favorite story: Greek mythology/world culture

Other kids think that I am: that I'm way younger than I actually am; that I'm funny-people laugh at my jokes a lot

What do you like about your Mom? She wants me to do hard things and learn new stuff.

What do you like about your Dad? He likes to spend time with me.  I love going to Home Depot with him.

What do you like about Stockton? He's so weird, but in a good way.

What do you like about Brynn? She's so kind and she always hugs people.

What do you like about Ivy? She calls me her buddy and she likes to do things with me.

What do you like about yourself? I can draw.  I'm creative.

When I grow up I want to be: an animator or soccer player.

I like learning about: history

I want to go to: Africa

If I had one wish it would be: to play on USNWT (US Women's soccer team)

Favorite thing to do: play soccer

Favorite song: I Will Survive and Panic at the Disco songs