The Cutest Little Blog

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Olive is 15!! (And a half...I am SO late posting)

Olive's freshman year flew by! She had tremendous success at rowing during her novice season and thrived at school & socially, too! Starting with birthday pictures (5/7/2025) and looking back over the year...

First day of Freshman year in August, '24.

Rowing: The transition from middle school rowing to novice season is a big jump. Olive went from practicing 3 days a week and having two regattas a season to practicing 5-6 days per week and having 4-5 regattas per season. But, Olive LOVED it! She and her boats slayed this next step. Her novice 4+ won first prize at the Head of the Hooch regatta in Chattanooga, TN in November of '24. Her novice 8+ came in 3rd. This was a big deal and really set some positive momentum for the next regattas and spring season. (You can see some of her races on her YouTube channel.) During the Spring '25 season, Olive stroked her 8+ all the way to nationals!! There they had a 10th in the nation finish, which was quite amazing and a first for her team. But, Olive is a true competitor and had hoped for even better. She was awarded the MVP award for her squad!

School: Olive started Enloe Magnet High School in the fall of '24. She met lots of new friends, took a Tech Theatre class that gave her opportunities for involvement at school, and worked so hard that she ended the year with a 4.0 (unweighted). This was quite a feat, given that by the end of the school year, she was practicing for nationals twice a day in addition to school.

Friends: Olive has a great group of rowing friends, as well as folks she hangs out with at school. She attended the HOCO dance and Charity Ball through Enloe and Promgatta through her rowing club.

At Camp Cheerio for the last time

Family: We got to visit Uncle Chuck in Chicago this year! And visited Lake Cumberland with the Stemm's & Bratcher's! Plus we had a few beach days in NC!

Miscellaneous: Olive continues to be an avid reader and will run through books at record pace in spurts-- mostly when she is not super busy with everything else. She continues to crochet, be a leader at rowing and at school, and she still loves fruit and to swing in the backyard.

Olive got her permit on her 15th birthday and took off with driving! No fear!

And now for the birthday quiz!!

1. How old are you? 15

2. What makes you happy? Rowing

3. What is your favorite animal? Dogs

4. What is your favorite thing to eat? Pasta

5. What is your least favorite thing to eat? Potato Thyme Frittata

6. What is your favorite thing to do? Row

7. What is your favorite TV show? Temptation Island

8. What are you really good at? Rowing

9. What is your favorite movie? Legally Blonde

10. What is your favorite color? Pink

11. What is your favorite song? Sheila by White Reaper

12. Who is your best friend? Emma Jenista & Quinn Lynch

13. What do you and your Mom do together? Drive & Talk

14. What do you and your Dad do together? Remodel the office

15. What is your favorite sport? Rowing

16. Where is your favorite place to go? Indiana and rowing and school, sometimes

17. What is your favorite book? Sythe by Neil Shusterman

18. What do you want to be when you grow up? I don't know

Friday, February 7, 2025

Leo is 13!! A Teenager!

What?! Another teenager in the house!

School: Leo is in 7th grade at Moore Square Magnet Middle and is doing great! He is taking lots of electives including Robotics, Design and Modeling, and Pet Vet.

Sports: Leo started rowing last summer and has enjoyed it ever since. He is currently in winter training and is looking forward to spring season. He is definitely getting taller and stronger!

Books: Since the school year began, Leo has read the Scythe series, the Ascendant series, and several one off books. He's great at being efficient with his time at school so that he can read more! We've also listened to Ender's Game and he really liked that one.

Friends: Leo has friends around the neighborhood, plays with Luke and his friends online with XBox, and has a group through rowing. Leo's got a good group of friends who sit together at lunch at school, too.

Other interests: Leo is still really into Legos a bit this year and got his first UCS set for his birthday. He has been begging for a dog since Astro died in May of '23, and we finally caved and got a rescue named Teller the day after his birthday this year. Leo still likes to climb trees, play on his Xbox with Luke, Jason, and Luke's friends, swim in the summer, and hike whenever we go to the mountains. Leo loves homemade chicken noodle soup, orange chicken, hot chocolate in the mornings, and hot tea at night. His go-to fruits are blueberries, apples, pears, and mandarin oranges. He also loves chocolate and cherry cordial ice creams. His favorite cookie is chocolate chip. Leo still wears almost all black...but I am trying to get him to budge on that point!

Birthday weekend