Our new 5 year old!



Just six short days after C's birthday it was time to celebrate this little guy.  Our little peanut is not so little anymore.  He was so excited to turn "five" (always said with big emphasis on the fact that he can now hold up his whole hand of fingers) and still is pretty proud to tell people his age if they ask.  His speech therapist in Texas used to call him a little ball of sunshine and he really is!  He is the best kid to treat to special things because he just gets so much joy out of it.  And he's so gracious.  I've really never seen another child his age with such a thankful heart.  He is such a fun personality.  He's stubborn and witty.  We call him our little king of the one-liners "You're coffee breath is burning my eyeballs." "Daddy, why you have spiderwebs growing out of your nose?"  He's empathetic and kind and he can also be a real stinker!  And he's FIVE!

 

His birthday was on a Saturday so on that Friday I took cupcakes to his preschool class.  This is how I found him when I walked in.  My sweet little introvert.  He was laser focused on building that airplane and perfectly content to be doing it alone. :)  

 

My big boy...

We had his party out at Grandma and Grandpa's house because...tractor rides! :) 

Our little farmer was pretty happy that night!

It was a great party filled with tractor and buggy rides, feeding goats, and play time with cousins.  Now for a little breather from the birthdays until October. :)

My first baby is NINE!

Hard to believe I've been a mom for nine whole years now.  This firstborn of mine is one-of-a-kind, that's for sure.  An "easy" baby who gave that charade up at the young age of 15 months old.  I can still remember his first fit, his tiny little baby body going dead weight in the middle of the living room.  Starting with a child like C, a strong-willed little spitfire, grew my empathy for fellow mamas by leaps and bounds.  I honestly almost never find myself judging another parent based on their child's behavior.  This child has humbled me.  And he's given a tremendous gift to his siblings by teaching this mama that love is what they all need the most of and lots of it!  He is such an outgoing kid and can make a friend anytime, anywhere...with anyone!  He is bright and inquisitive and deep.  Boy, is he a deep thinker.  I can't even handle some of the theological questions he poses.  We just have to agree sometimes that we can't always have all the answers and that's ok. :)  He is funny and sensitive and thoughtful.  He's old enough to sass mouth his parents with the best of them, but not too old to want kisses before leaving for school in the morning and snuggles at bedtime.  He's brave and wise and one of those strong-willed world changers.  And best of all, he's mine. 

His current obsession is Jurassic World.  No, he hasn't seen the movie!  But, has the video game which apparently has all kinds of quotes from the movie so he can carry on with anyone who's seen it.  (Which he thinks is great, of course)

We were at walmart getting food for the party and couldn't resist matching shirts.  Hubby is going to love it the next time I see him wearing his and decide to twin him.

Getting a talking-to.  He had a few of those that day, every day really.  9 going on 19!

I love the baby's face in this one.  He's like "I'm way too cool for this family." Ha!

I took cupcakes in to his class that week.  He was very cute passing them out to everyone.  Then he conducted them all from the front of the room while they sang happy birthday to him.

What a fun time celebrating our oldest boy!

My Birthday Boys

We had a wonderful time these last two weekends celebrating our August babies.  More pictures to come! 

학교 첫날

First Day of School!

 

Both these kiddos are having a great first week of school so far.  Lil' peanut just loves it when he's there and is so excited to tell me all about the things he did each day.  His mind was blown when he found out they had recess!  Ha!  Even when the change is something fun, change can still be hard and scary for him...so as much as he's been loving school time, he's been a bit of a mess at home.  We've had some tough moments but I'm hoping that as he settles into this new routine he'll be more at peace with his new schedule. 

 

My big 3rd grader is having a good time so far at his new school.  Previously he's been in small schools without a lot of "extras" so he's been enjoying some of the perks of his current school.  He likes eating hot lunch in the cafeteria and the library.  Oh, the library...my little bookworm is pretty pleased with the library.  It seems the only behavior issue that's been noted is having some trouble being quiet in line (not my kid?!) but he's been getting lots of positive points for staying on task.  Hooray!  They do use a color chart and he's been on yellow once "for leaping across the playground equipment"  We told him not to fret over that because basically, you got a warning for being awesome.  Lol.  Hubby said he wants to take him up to the playground this evening and get him to show us what kind of daredevil moves he was doing. :)

 

They both think they're big stuff riding their bikes to school.  Yesterday when I walked up to meet lil' peanut I left a note on C's bike.  When he got home he told me "how I embarrassed him in front of his friends again" all with a little smile on his face, of course.  I won't stop hugging you because you're in 3rd grade C!  I won't!!!

I have a parent/teacher conference next Thursday so I'm interested to hear how things have been going from their teachers' perspectives.  Proud of these two big boys!!!

Bike Race

Hubby and I were in the local bike shop a couple of weeks ago getting the tire for our trailer repaired and we picked up a flyer for the Late Nights Under the Lights kids race series.  Sadly, we had missed all but the last race.  The boys were excited for their first ever bicycle race and they both had a great time.  We'll definitely be doing the entire series in the spring!

 



The two of them had some really sweet moments throughout the evening.  One of them being C giving his little brother a pep talk before his race.  "Are you nervous?  You can do it, just keep pedaling ok?  Just pedal as fast as you can."  Then he proudly cheered for him from the sidelines.

 

Slow, timid, methodical....my peanut.  I don't know what place he got (it was in the double digits though!) but he was so proud of his little self.  "I stayed on my bike the whole time and didn't fall down!"

Now big C's turn.  Unlike his little brother, he was actually interested in winning.

Now let me tell you there are some crazy bike racing parents.  Like, no joke.  I thought I was going to be plowed down going from the starting line to the next vantage point.  There were race dads calling out when to switch gears and moms yelling things like "Who's got this?  That's right baby, you've got this!  Get in their heads!"  That was at the start for the 1-5 year olds!  Seriously people. 

Anyway, C busted his tail on his ol' walmart bike and got 4th place.  We were seriously proud of him, more so of how good of a sport he was the whole evening.  He had to find the winner after it was over to say congratulations.

Fast, confident, and a little reckless....I just love how each of them ended up racing about the same way they live life. ;)

Happy even though he just missed out on earning a medal.

Lil' peanut told him good job about 10 times and then remarked to me how good his big brother did and what a fast bike racer he was. :)

Proud of both of these boys and the sweet spirits they displayed this night.

In-law Vacay 2015

My in-laws usually host a summer vacation.  We haven't been able to go the past couple of years, but we made it up to Lake Michigan with everyone (the grandparents and hubby's sister and her family) this past weekend.  We had a really nice time being together and making memories.  We were all so happy to be back on a beach!  The water was cold!  But, that didn't stop my boys from getting wet and having a blast.  All three of them loved the beach.  I have more pictures from the trip, but this post is dedicated to all our beachy photos. :)

These two jumped right in our first night there.

He's a little goofball usually, but this face....boy is he handsome!

This picture is my new screen saver.  I am in love with it.  These two, playing together, with that much joy on both their faces...it's rare and precious and I want to look at it every day!

One of my favorite moments...having coffee together on a chilly morning at the beach.