The Zorio Family

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Clayton’s 6 Year Old Interview

Clayton's 6 Year Old Interview

Clayton turned 6 last week, and we completed his 6 year old interview!

Three years ago when Clayton turned 3 years old he got to take his first "birthday interview." With each of the children I have started asking them the same 20 questions on their birthday each year starting at age three, and it is so fun to see how the answers change each year. Now the big three kids love for me to read their old interviews to them and laugh about the answers they gave at younger ages. So, here are Clayton's questions and responses to his birthday interview at age six, and I've included the answers from age 5,4, and 3 too so we can see how his preferences have changed or not.

1. What is your favorite color?

Age 6: blue

Age 5: orange and blue

age 4: blue and black

age 3: green
2. What is your favorite toy to play with?

Age 6: Dirt Bike!

Age 5: Lego sets

age 4: LEGOS, Darth Vader Lego guy, Spiderman, Batman, my batman mask

age 3:trucks and dump trucks and fire trucks

3. What is your favorite fruit?

Age 6: Oranges

Age 5: grapes

age 4: GRAPES and little oranges (he loves little cuties so much he would eat them all the time. His siblings tell him he should enter an orange eating contest! Hah!)

age 3:grapes

4. What is your favorite show?

Age 6: Paw Patrol

Age 5: Go Dog, Go

age 4: Spiderman

age 3:Octonauts

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Age 6: Cookies! (Lots of laughs after thinking of cookies for lunch, then he answered more seriously) Pizza

Age 5: Grapes, oranges, string cheese, and a cheese sandwich (so basically he picked cheese and fruits! Haha)

age 4: grapes and apples and bananas! (apparently we were still on the fruit kick from question 3)

age 3:Chicken

6. What is your favorite thing to wear?

Age 6: My Bobo Morgan Shirt (this is a long sleeve blue t shirt that Clayton has that matches Dawson and Carter and it has a dog on it that they think looks like an overweight dog at the shelter named Bobo Morgan-he loves the most random things like this)

Age 5: Pajamas (this is so true, he would have a pajama day every day if he could here lately!)

age 4: my batman shirt! (I have to hide this shirt sometimes just like I typed last year about the Dollywood shirt! This boy has his favorites and I think he would wear only those items all the time if I allowed it.)

age 3:My digger shirt from my birthday party and my Dollywood shirt (this is so true-he wears his Dollywood shirt all the time! Sometimes I have to hide it in the laundry room after I wash it to keep it out his sight for a few days, but he always goes looking for it.)

7. What is your favorite game to play?

Age 6: Zelda, matching game, stomp rockets

Age 5: Mario

age 4: Riversurvival (a Wii game that he likes to play with his older siblings because 4 can play at one time so it's perfect!)

age 3:Sharks

   Me: What? Sharks? What game is that?
   Clayton: Haha (laughing) I actually like to play Kerplunk (he loves to use the word actually)
8. What is your favorite snack?

Age 6:Scooby Snacks

Age 5: animal crackers

age 4: APPLES (again with the fruit!, he does love fruit)

age 3:Snacktime I like snacktime

Me: Yes, you love snacktime. But what is your favorite thing to eat at snacktime?

Clayton: Crackers!
9. What is your favorite animal?

Age 6: Zebra and Duke and sea creatures

Age 5: Giraffe or DUKE

age 4: Oreo (Oreo is Aunt Emily's dog that the kids LOVE) or a giraffe

age 3:Donkey (HAH! I have no idea where this came from, but he gave this response without hesitation!)

10. What is your favorite song?

Age 6: Paw Patrol Theme Song and Gummie Bear

Age 5: Gummie Bear

age 4: Who Let the Dogs Out, Crazy Train, or Fear Fear Get Out of Hear! (Can you tell he has a wide taste in music?!)

age 3:Who Let the Dogs Out AND the Dollywood Song that I dance to (translation: You don't know you're beautiful--he heard this song at Dollywood in September and danced to it and loves to watch the video of himself dancing to this. Now he regularly asks Alexa to play this song)

11. What is your favorite book?

Age 6:Ones from school that I can read by myself (these little readers that Mrs. Burttram has been sending home, they’re not very interesting but Clayton loves them because he can read them on his own!!)

Age 5: Jesus (he means his Jesus Calling For Kids Devotional that we read every night. He calls this “reading Jesus”)

age 4: my Superhero book or my Spiderman book from the library

age 3:My Trucks Book...with all the trucks in it

12. Who is your best friend?

Age 6: Jude, Heath, Ruby, our whole family even the pets

Age 5: Jackson, Cooper, John Thomas, Ruby

age 4: "no one...just our family!" (As a disclaimer Clayton has lots of friends-probably his most played with friends are Ruby and Cooper, however, Clayton really does love playing with his siblings so I can see why he would respond this way)

age 3:My birthday cake friends (I think he means the friends who came to his party last weekend?) Then he said "RUBY!"

13. What is your favorite cereal?

Age 6: “remember that elf on the shelf cereal we got at Christmas? That’s my favorite.”

Age 5: “That green one that turns your milk green, but you have to wait!” (This is the new leprechaun Lucky Charms for St. Patrick’s Day that we have. It’s meant to turn your milk green)

age 4: Green Cheerios (translation apple cinnamon cheerios...they come in a green box)

age 3:Lucky Charms

14. What is your favorite thing to play outside?

Age 6: Dirt Bike, Stomp Rocket, Tag

Age 5: Jump on the trampoline

age 4: driving the princess car or riding my bike or laser tag

age 3:play on my scooter

15. What is your favorite drink?

Age 6: Orange Soda (not the Beverly from Coke Museum)

Age 5: Orange Fanta and Pepsi (laughing as he says it because these are big, big treats if he gets orange Fanta and he never really gets Pepsi)

age 4: Gatorade or Sprite or (super silly, sly laugh) Coke (laughing because he knows he is not allowed to have Coke)

age 3:Sprite (sprite is a special treat and he knows it, he smiled so big when he said sprite...so sweet)

16. What is your favorite holiday?

Age 6: “My birthday.” (Meanwhile, NK yells from another room, “that’s not a holiday!” To which Clayton responds, “Yes it is, and it’s my favorite.”)

Age 5: “Christmas and my birthday!!!!!” (Said with much excitment)

age 4: uhhhh I don't know

age 3:Easter Eggs

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

Age 6: Reindeer Blanket, whale, doggie

Age 5: Blankie

age 4: Blankie Spankie

age 3:(Smiling mischievously) My blankie spankie (laughs) Then says more seriously, "My blanket" (he's been being silly lately and calling his blanket his blankie spankie haha)

18. What is your favorite food to eat for breakfast?

Age 6: Cinnamon Rolls!!!

Age 5: Strudels and Daddy’s waffles and pancakes (Clayton’s favorite meal is probably breakfast. Every night as we tuck him in bed, he asks what we are making for breakfast the next morning.)

age 4: waffles and oranges

age 3:Eggs and waffles and strudels and eggs

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?

Age 6: CAKE!! (Lots of laughter) Then responds, “My favorite dinner is no veggies and more cinnamon rolls”

Age 5: CAKE!!!

age 4: cake!

age 3:A Cheezits in a BIIIIIIIG box! (Haha, I have no clue)

20. What do you want to be when you're a grown up?

Age 6: “An aquarium person…or a vet.”

Age 5: “I don’t know. Maybe just what Dawson’s gonna be-a farmer” (I think he picked an easy answer an was loosing interest here because one day last week he told me randomly that he wanted to be a scuba diver.)

age 4: "nothing. OR I would work at Polaris."

age 3:A digger or a space man or a dump truck

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Nora Kate is 8 AND A HALF

Our sweet, feisty, kind-hearted, caring, opinionated, strong, fast, free-spirited, cartwheel turning, trampoline jumping, beach loving, and fun girl is now 8 and a half!! Nora Kate turned 8 and a half on Valentine’s Day! She seems much more grown up than she did at 8, there must have been a lot of maturing over the last 6 months. As we have entered the final half of her 3rd grade year, I love to see her love of reading. She’s recently gotten into the Babysitters Club book and I love to see her enjoying them as much as I always did.

In addition to reading this girl likes anything that keeps her moving! She loves running on the soccer field. She played soccer in the fall (season champs!) and is playing again this spring! Goalie is her least favorite position. She like to be able to run all over the field. She also continues to love gymnastics. She takes an hour class each Thursday morning. In addition to that she’s always practicing flips and the like on the trampoline and her bar and beam she got for her birthday. She spends hours on the trampoline and the bar. She really is a strong 8.5 year old girl!

Nora Kate loves her friends. She spent an entire weekend making bracelets for all the girls in her class. Nora Kate has a sweet gift-giving heart. She loves to surprise us with little gifts too (things she has made). Some of her favorite friends to play with include Madalyn from our street, friends from school like-Madelyn, Tiffany, and from our small group-Annie, along with friends she makes just about everywhere. She has always been our kid to see other kids playing and ask if she can play with them too. I love this about her. She’s also awesome at remembering people’s names.

At 8.5 Nora Kate continues to be both free-spirited and opinionated. She is free-spirited in that a mess or something half-done doesn’t bother her (even if it’s her shoes half way on or her coat half way on), but if she’s doing something fully she has an opinion on how it should be done…she also has the confidence to let others (namely her brothers) know that she thinks something should be done differently. Haha!

Nora Kate has been in a big nail polish phase lately. We very, very, very frequently have to change her finger and toe polish. She pretty much keeps them polished 100% of the time. She has also been into doing her hair different ways lately. Buns, two buns, pony tail with scrunchie, pony tail with a part of her hair braided and wrapped around the he pony tail holder (the I dream of Jeanie), all down with nothing holding it back, head bands, and of course “the normal way” as she calls it. She’s also into changing her earrings frequently…especially to her pearls or dangly earrings. Basically I need to give us about 10 extra minutes every morning to meet her hair and earring requests. :)

Nora Kate has gotten into playing Pokémon recently too. I wasn’t sure if she would like this but she loves being able to battle her brothers. I think they all enjoy Pokémon a lot because they always have people to battle.

Other random thoughts about our wonderful girl at 8.5-

-loves drawing and making bracelets of string and beads.

-loves Duke and wants to be a Vet when she grows up.

-doesn’t like making food for Rolo (the lizard) and claims her hands are allergic to it.

-loves riding her Kiki, hoverboard, bike, scooter, and roller skating

-cartwheels everywhere

-loves swimming

-loves the beach

-loves to bake!

Hard to believe that our sweet girl is already 8.5!! Here are a few pictures of Nora Kate from between age 8 to 8.5!

Nora Kate playing games at our Halloween party. She was Princess Leia…here she had removed the wig.

Nora Kate soccer rocker

Nora Kate loves the lake and tubing.

Nora Kate with her brothers and Duke on her half birthday.

Nora Kate always seems to get a hole in one when we putt putt. This was putt putting in Dothan in November.

Nora Kate with Pink Flamingos at the Nashville Zoo in October

Nora Kate loves to build legos!

Nora Kate is learning to play the recorder at school

Nora Kate’s school picture

Nora Kate making bracelets

Nora Kate reading Christmas stories

Nora Kate with friends at the Halloween Party

Nora Kate our soccer girl!

Nora Kate as Princess Leia at Halloween

Nora Kate in The Gulch in Nashville

Nora Kate in our happiest place-the beach/ocean

Nora Kate with friends at our Halloween party

Nora Kate having Madalyn over for a fire pit evening

Nora Kate with her brothers participating in the Nailed It Live Event

Nora Kate and her pup

Nora Kate at the last Trash Panda game of the season

Nora Kate at the Botanical Gardens

Nora Kate on a hay ride…with Duke of course

Nora Kate tubing with Dawson

Nora Kate’s team-season champs!

Nora Kate at the beach

Nora Kate after soccer with Tiffany

Nora Kate cartwheels everywhere

Nora Kate loves hair chalk

Nora Kate is EIGHT AND A HALF!

Thursday, March 3, 2022

February 2022

February absolutely flew by. We started the month by wrapping up the basketball season for Clayton and Carter. In Clayton’s age group they did not have a tournament but had (I think) an extra game or two in their season. Clayton did great this season. He played so aggressive (in a good way), and although he didn’t score any baskets during a game, he was a stellar defensive player.

After his last game

With his team

GO SUNS!

Duke loves to be with the kids. In fact, he thinks he is one of the kids.

Carter played GREAT this season! He had numerous baskets and great defensive plays too.

His team had their regular season then won in round one of the tournament. Then they lost in the second round but it was close game! So fun to watch and cheer for him. GO JAZZ!

I’m always so proud of how he puts 100% into every sport.

Dawson loves art and I’m always impressed with the things he creates. He painted this beautiful canvas with a sunset!

We had cotton seeds leftover from our visit to the cotton gin back in the fall.

Dawson, ever the gardener, decided to plant them indoors.

So we are growing cotton inside…I’m not sure how it will work but it will be a fun little experiment.

Dawson had a boy scout camp out at Camp Westmoreland on a super cold weekend. I was worried about him going and being cold so had him pack allll the warm things…an air mattress to stay off the ground, two sleeping bags, hot hands, etc. He came home and said it was great!! This was him right after getting picked up from freezing cold camping—all smiles in the truck with John.

Clayton is super excited that he’s now big enough to help with the mopping chore. Mopping the hardwood will only rotate to him every 4th week. The big kids are excited that now they don’t have to mop every 3rd week, but every fourth and Clayton’s so excited to be big!

He requested I take his picture mopping.

John had work to do at home one night and decided to do it on the patio because it was semi-pleasant out for February (with the help of the patio fire table), Duke felt like he needed to supervise.

NK requested braids

And the requested pictures of her braids.

I love braiding her hair but the key is to do it when her curls are wet!

My sweet Clayton. He always loves to snuggle me-here he and Duke are snuggling me while watching Encanto.

Still requests a before school selfie with me.

Nora Kate had her friend, Madalyn, over for a sleep over.

Lots of giggles, nail painting, watching Encanto, popcorn, and more giggles.

Sleepover

NAILS

We had our friends the Houghs and Wayes over for the Super Bowl.

The kids Valentines Gifts…gift cards for an outing to Altitude, a pack of Pokémon cards, and two kinds of chocolate!

Valentine’s Day picture…Duke posed himself.

Lolly sent the kids a hearts with things she loves about each kid on it. There was one to put on their door for each day in February leading up to Valentine’s Day. Here Clayton is with all his hearts.

The big boys with all their hearts.

I think NK enjoyed this more than anyone else!

Then the kids surprised us by putting things they love about us on our door.

SO SWEET

Nana and Grandad sent the kids heart shaped pizza on Valentines Day!

Roses from John.

School is going great! Clayton LOVES it!

We got a new Ranger this month. Nora Kate found this fun vehicle when we were picking up the new Ranger!

New Ranger trailered-up and ready to take home!

Clayton and Carter are both playing baseball this Spring!!

We had evaluations for both of them in February.

Spring sports are coming soon!

John and I enjoyed a date night to Wildwood Deli for their Friday Supper—-so good and a special treat!

Then somehow we ended up at Lowes.

We had a couple really beautiful sunsets this month.

Dawson has stayed super busy with Boy Scouts. In one weekend this month he had a volunteer project then to do flags at early and late service at church on Sunday.

He really enjoys scouting.

On one oddly pleasant February Sunday afternoon all 6 of us headed to the golf course for the boys to play golf.

Dawson had his very first social this month! The middle school had a social for grades 6-8. He had a great time! He said the highlight was that the fog machine set off the fire alarm! Haha

A girl and her dog.

We ended the month with a really fun trip!

For Christmas Lolly gifted the 6 of us with a trip to Atlanta along with tickets to the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coke. It was such a fun weekend.

The aquarium was SO good! The favorites front he aquarium were the dolphin show and the sea lion show, the sharks and sting rays (including a manta ray).

World of Coke was a lot of fun! The kids’ favorite there was trying all the kinds of Coke from around the he world….the Beverly was the nastiest by far.

Another highlight of the trip was the hotel pool! It’s always fun to swim in February when we can’t swim at home.

Beluga whales!

We ate lunch at the famous Varsity.

What’ll Ya Have, What’ll Ya Have?!

World of Coke

Coke Bear

Checking out the tall buildings front he hotel window.

We had to board Duke while we were gone, but he had a great time. We got several pictures of him with various dogs, but they said he enjoyed these puppies the most!

Hotel fun

Gas was 3.99 in Atlanta.

The dolphin show at the aquarium was great!

Clayton has been doing a project for school on African Penguins and we found one! Then after this picture we actually found a lot of them in an exhibit!

WOW

In the aquarium

HUGE

Aquarium

Beluga whale

Moving sidewalk thought the aquarium

We made a few random stops on the way home from Atlanta.

We found some great shops and the kids were thrilled to be treated to ride on these Zoo Scoots! They’ve always wanted to do them at Opry Mills but its always too crowded. This outdoor mall in Leeds, AL was perfect for riding the Scoots.