As I expected, Chase is filling out. He hasn't gained much more in height over last year, and I think other than maybe an inch or two nore, most of his growth will be thickness from now on.

Soccer is still his big thing, but he's working now as the sheer volume of trips he wants to do is more than we can afford. Of course, the money is still spent on his social life and his clothes, but he's getting better about it and putting more effort into fundraising as well. Girls are the thing, and we have to be fairly annoying and keep on top of his schoolwork. He has grown much more responsible in the last year, and he finally sees that when he does what he's supposed to do, we're more inclined to let him be more free with his time. I'm impressed with him, but don't tell him that... he still tries to take advantage of us when the chance permits.

He has an old beater truck that our neighbour basically gave him, but it needs some work. It's a good thing that his dad is a mechanic, because I don't have that skill set. Yes, he gets his learner's license in about two weeks, but I don't think he realizes that he won't be doing a heck of a lot of winter driving until he masters the basics of vehicle operation. I don't want to explain skid control in the same breath as shoulder-checking when changing lanes...

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Donald has shown the most change over the last year. Not only has he sprung up more than his brothers (he's my height now), he has also continued to fill out. Yes, the glasses are new, and I think he appreciates having them now. He was reluctant to wear them all the time, but after a couple of weeks of good vision, we don't see him without them now.

Donald is still working hard on his school performance, and pulled off an A this semester (albeit in gym). He puts about twice the time into his homework as the other kids in his class, and he is progressing well. It will still be a struggle for him next year when he starts high school, but he has more confidence in his abilities now. He still has a hard time with his spelling, but his teachers are just blown away by how much he loves to read. The more reading he does, the better his spelling will get naturally, so we're all for it.

Still quiet on the girl front, but that's OK. That will start soon enough, and he still needs to keep focused on his school work. We're still scratching our heads about activities for him as he tends to spend his spare time in front of the tube or his gameboy, but he loves swimming so maybe we'll encourage him more in that direction. He has a lot of upper body strength, so he could be really quick in the water.

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Thomas is still Thomas. He has a good command of vocabulary, and he blows me away with some of the things he comes up with. He has these moments of insight that make me shake my head because he can grasp abstract concepts, and the next moment, he's greasing his hair with sunscreen... go figure.

His reading is progressing well, and it looks as if he'll be the one boy that find reading easy. He is still a little on the wild side at achool, but with two much older (and annoying) brothers it's just natural that he would be more physical in his responses.

Teeth seem to be a problem though... He loses them in combinations that makes it hard for him to chew properly, and it was fairly humorous the first couple of weeks after he lost his two front ones listening to him talk.

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