Happy Birthday Joel

 On Saturday this boy turned 7.  We weren't sure that would happen a few days before because he threw a fit when he was told he wasn't getting a 3DS for his birthday. We said he could save his money like Colin did and buy it himself.  He refused and insisted that his birthday would be terrible if he didn't get it. I told him we didn't want him to have a terrible birthday so we would cancel it and treat it like an ordinary day.  Then he cried about having to stay 6 forever and never turning 7.  But he came to his senses and has now added a 3DS to his Christmas list! He has half the money already in his piggy bank but he doesnt want to use his money - he wants us to buy it for him!  But mommy and daddy aren't giving in so we will see if Christmas happens for him! 

This boy.  He is the sweetest and kindest boy when he wants to.  There is a sweet side of him that Colin doesn't have.  He wants to always get stuff for other people and even bought Pokémon cards with his own money this year for the kid who was picking on him on the bus because that kid didn't have any.  He comes home from school with candy to give to Norah.  But he has this stubborn side to him that you cant make do anything he doesn't want to.  Life is always interesting and unpredictable with Joel. 

 We were supposed to have a swim meet on his birthday and Joel didn't like that one bit.  He didn't want to have to wake up early on his birthday (so says the boy who wakes up at 6:30 every morning)  But they moved the swim meet to Monday night so our day was free.  He had been saying for weeks he just wanted to play with Nathan and Noah on his birthday so that's what we did. And despite not getting a 3DS he had a really great birthday and kept thanking us over and over.

 Colin was beyond thrilled that out of everyone Joel wanted Noah too so Colin had his best friend for the day too - we joked with Colin later that it was like his birthday too. 

 We always see the pirate cruise when we are at the beach so we decided to take the kids on the pirate cruise.   And I'm so glad we did.  It was so much fun. 

We took the early cruise so it wasn't too hot and it wasn't full so the kids had the run of the ship and got their own water cannon for the whole cruise. 

 They did a great job entertaining the kids and we even veered off course for a little to follow some dolphins.  Norah loved that part. 

We were waiting for the ghost of Blackbeard to come and Joel wasn't so sure about that at first - but it was just a guy inside a mask on a little boat. 

 Norah thought the guy was hilarious and showed no mercy to him with the water cannon.  Nathan aimed right for his mouth.  Towards the end (the 'ghost' kept circling the ship so all the kids could squirt him over and over) Colin  said felt a little sorry for the guy inside the mask.  The kids showed no mercy. 

We loved it and would highly recommend it.   After the cruise we took everyone to pungo pizza and let the kids play in the arcade. 

Sweet boys have been friends since they were 6 months old I think.  I'm glad Joel picked Noah and Nathan too! 

 Then Ant Ant, Grandpa and Ma-Ma-Maa came over for dinner and more birthday celebrations for Joel.  

Happy Birthday sweet boy!  Your sister thinks you are the greatest thing ever and always tells me "Joel's my best friend"  and Colin adores you as well.  Sometimes being the middle child is hard but you have the best of both worlds right now.  You can easily play with Norah and Juliauna next door making potions and mud pies or you can play with Colin and the older boys playing soccer or nerf wars.  You are well loved by all and even the 9th grader next door will ring the door asking if you can come out and play.  We are so glad you are apart of our family.  We love you so very much!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! 

Our city does fireworks on July 3rd and it was all Norah talked about for days. She would count down the days until fireworks and tell everyone how many days left there were. The boys didn't really want to go - Colin wanted to go swim laps at the ymca instead! I really hope this boy makes All Stars this year. Joel wanted to stay home and watch a movie but Norah was so excited about the fireworks so we all went. 

Joel found these science goggles when they were cleaning their rooms and has worn them nonstop the past few days.

One of the glow sticks exploded on him but at least I could find him in the dark. 

Norah couldn't wait for them to start.

And then they started...

She spent the next twenty minutes rocking in the fetal position in my lap begging to home. Poor girl.  The boys loved every minute of it. 

Everyone keeps talking about the firework display one of our neighbors puts on each year and we are going to try to get Norah asleep before that happens tonight.

Today we went to watch the parade.  We checked the weather last night and there was only a 15% chance of rain. So when we woke up to no rain, a breeze and cooler weather we were excited for what we thought was perfect parade weather. Usually we are dying from the heat. 

Ten minutes after we got to the parade route it started to sprinkle. 

Brent went across the street and bought a few umbrellas - which we needed anyways because the boys umbrellas never made it home from school this year. 

And then it was a heavy downpour the rest of the time!  We were soaked and I think it will take our chairs a few days to dry out. 

But the parade went on and the kids didn't mind getting wet. I was surprised how many people were there watching the parade in the rain. We will always double check the weather the next day after this! 

Swimming

We have really been enjoying swimming this year.  The boys are at the top of their age groups and doing well.  And having a lot of fun.  Norah plays with the teenage girls during the meets and loves all the attention.  And they love their little cheerleader cheering for them at the end of the lane. 

 Colin has made it to Divisionals once and in our league after Divisionals there is the All Star meet.  He is determined to make it to All Stars this year and to do well he needs to swim at least an 18 second butterfly.  But his goal is a 16 second butterfly. Right now he has a 22sec so he's so close but those last few seconds are really hard to take off.   I have taken him a few times to the ymca after dinner to give him another practice.  Its fun to see him so focused.  We got their ribbons the other day and its never been better.  Very patriotic with all red, white and blue ribbons (blue is first, red second and white third place)  Colin got a purple 4th place ribbon but he noticed that his time on that 4th place ribbon was 3 seconds faster in breastroke so he didn't discount it like he used to.  Its all for times right now.

He does need help on his dives.  The ymca wont let us practice dives so I might look for a private swim lesson just to give him more practice on his dives.  Joel needs work too.  They did fun relays at the end of practice the other day and the kids had to bellyflop and I think that was Joel's best dive so I might tell him to do that in the swim meet. 

Its been really fun for the kids to watch the Olympic trials this summer and not to brag but my cousin was swimming in them! 

So fun to see my cousin on tv! 

We've watched her race several times already! The kids cheer loud every time. So proud of you Hannah!! The kids are in awe. Colin's worst stroke is backstroke and he had to swim it in a race the Tuesday after Hannah swam. I told him he was part Gouger too. He went and got second and was just 0.15 behind the kid who got first. 

She swam on Monday and that Saturday before Colin would tell all his fellow competitors behind the lanes that his cousin was swimming in the Olympic trials.  Nothing like a little intimidation to psych the other swimmers out. 

We have three more weeks of the regular season and then hopefully two more after that if we make it to divisionals and all stars! 

First week of summer

The boys had their first swim meet of the season.

Joel got 1st in his relay, 2nd in free and 3rd in back

Colin got 2nd in a relay, 2nd in 50 free, 1st in breast, 2nd in fly and 3rd in a relay

We are off to a great start! 

This weekend we swim the neighborhood behind us and the boys are so excited to see friends from school. Brent and I are excited that we can leave the house at 6:50am and not 6am! 

The kids love swim practice and the meets and I'm glad. Practices are now from 1-2 in the afternoon and so far we really like it. It's nice to have lazy mornings. This past week we had friends over and then ate lunch and went to practice. We usually run an errand afterwards and then they play until dinner. It's a nice change of pace. 

Last Saturday we went to mom and dads for dinner after the swim meet. The kids continued the airplane flying contests we did last summer. 

Between the swim meet and mom and dads house I got a text from our friends saying they were driving through and asked to stay with us that night. They live in Texas and we haven't seen them in 11 years. We saw them thanksgiving and then this past weekend. So twice in a year is such a treat.  It was so fun. I'm glad it worked out. They got in late Saturday night and left Sunday afternoon so a quick visit but really fun. 

We tried to talk them into moving here. They tried to talk to us about all the hail Texas gets! Ha! One day perhaps but it's really fun when the kids all play well and the parents can talk and hang out. 

So much fun and a really great surprise! 

We've also been dog/house sitting all week which has been fun for the kids. They have several birds, rabbits and reptiles so that's kept us busy taking care of and playing with the pets all week. 

And our neighborhood had a kickball/ root beer float night one night. It's been a busy week but a good one. 

The boys have been building Legos for hours and Norah is adjusting to having to share me during the day. Today she asked me when school starts again so the boys can go back to school! 

I was folding laundry and Norah sweetly told me that if I come to her room I could hold a baby! (meaning her baby doll) but she said you love babies (which I do) and reminded me how cute baby Addison was last night when I was holding her (We had my friend Stephanie and her girls over for dinner) I left the laundry and went and held the baby. 

Sequins

It's important to wear sequins when helping daddy change a tire 

Schools out!!!

Today I officially have a 5th grader and a 2nd grader.

Its hard to believe that last year this time we were packing up and leaving out house to live with mom and dad for what we thought was a few weeks but ended up the whole summer.  I keep thinking back to last year this time and what a crazy time it was. But I'm very grateful for where we ended up.


Colin's teacher was AMAZING! Its no wonder she was teacher of the year for two years.  I am very sad she wont be moving up to 5th grade with Colin but I keep begging her to!  I can't say enough great things about her.  She is wonderful and Colin really loved it.  His only complaint this year was the early alarm and has requested black out curtains (that I'm working on) so he can sleep in late all summer.  Now if Norah and Joel can get on that it will be wonderful! 

Colin got straight A's all year (which earned him the superintendents award) but he was never bored in class.  What most people take several days to grasp, Colin can get it the first time and then helps the others.  His teacher told me that she could always count on Colin to "get it" when no one else did and to explain it in terms that his classmates could get.  Colin has tested into the gifted program and I am a little nervous because he has done so well and has grown in confidence this year. But we are just praying for a great teacher again next year.  It also helps that one of the gifted classes is right next door to his current class so his teacher has said she will keep an eye on Colin next year.

 I love this picture because you can tell how well loved Colin is by his teacher

 And the other teacher was a resource teacher that pulled kids out and worked with them.  Colin didn't really work with her but she clearly loved him as well.  She mentioned tropical storm Colin to him and Colin thought she meant a tropical fruit stand - which made everyone laugh

That was his card to her 

He received the PE award, Math award, and superintendents award - so proud of him

Colin's teacher had all the kids write down attributes of each other and then gave these to the kids. His peers described him perfectly. 

Joel had a harder year.  For one he had trouble on the bus but things got better when we started driving him.  His teacher is really very nice but very no nonsense.  Which is a good thing but I think he saved up every ounce of strongwilled power for home and we had some very rough months.  There was a few weeks that I was almost ready to pull him out but kept him in and am so so glad we did.  He started to really thrive this spring. Its hard to describe the change but I'm glad it ended well. And I'm also glad we went through a few rough months with him because I feel like I've learned (at least for now) how to read him better.  He talks more about his days than Colin did but I learned when it had been a rough day he would start to act out at home. Not listen and whiny and complaining and then really not listening.  So instead of sending him to his room when he would get in trouble I started sitting down with him and hug him and it made a huge difference.  He is very sensitive but when things bother him he acts out. So we learned a lot and I'm glad to learn all of that now than later when its too late.  I will have to say I hated homework with Joel.  He had an incredible amount and some of it was ridiculous.  It was hard to motivate him most nights to do it. Every 1st grade class had the same amount.  My neighbor and I would send texts at night about some of it and we were both so excited when they stopped homework the last two weeks of school.  I think the kids were surprised at how excited we got talking about no homework!

His teacher gave out personal awards and it was fun to hear what she gave each kid.  She gave Joel the Thorough Thinker Award because she said he doesn't speak up very often but when he does she knew it was always well thought out.  That's Joel.  I was very surprised when he was really sad this week about school ending.  Thats when you know its worth it all.  I am also amazed at how well he is reading.  He could barely read hop on pop books last summer and right now he is nose deep into a big chapter book.  I think he is even reading at a higher level than Colin was at this point. 

 Joels class put on a play for all the parents. Everyone has a part in a story and that was Joels favorite thing to talk about when he came home each day.  They would read a script and everyone would get a different part.  It was fun watching it - he was so worried that I would miss that part.  Both Colin and Joels awards ceremonies, field days, and end of the year parties were all on the same day same time. Brent can usually pick his schedule (perks of owning your own business) but that day he had to be at work - go figure - so Norah and I went to Colin's in the morning and Joel's in the afternoon. 

His school also had a fun run to raise money for the school and Joel ran 35 laps.  I pledged per lap - I didnt know you could just give a flat donation!  haha but was very proud of him.  They had dance parties and pep rallys the whole week leading up to it.  The fun part for me was that a college friend's daughter also goes to Joels school so we've been able to see each other at all the school events.  Well another friend of ours (that I haven't seen since Brent and I were first married) walked in with her.  A fun surprise for me to see Brie and hang out with her that morning! 

not the best picture of us but it was a great surprise

So long school!  I'm so excited to have all my kids all day long for the next few months. 

Swimming

There is nothing cuter than a kid in goggles and a swim cap

She was so proud to get her own cap

Swimming has been a little rough with the late night practices and then 6am wake up times for school. I've given Colin and Joel an option to go since they still are in school. Joel has surprised us with begging to go every night. He was the same kid we had to bribe to swim each event last year. He is loving being in the 7-8 year old lane.

Last night Colin was exhausted from school. They had field day, an awards ceremony and a carnival all on the same day. Joel had both those too but he begged to go to swim practice. So Colin stayed stayed home and went to bed and I took Joel and Norah. 

We got to swim practice and Colin's best friend on the team, a boy named Isaac, came running up to us asking where Colin was. Now Isaac mom told me last week that he had been devastated to miss one night of swim practice because Colin would be there and he wouldn't get to see Colin. She said he was in tears. 

So Isaac is looking around for Colin and I told him Colin wasn't coming but before I could say anything more Joel pipes up. "Colin's not coming. He doesn't want to swim anymore. He's never coming back" and then ran off to play with friends.  

None of that is true and Joel had no idea how much Isaac looks forward to seeing Colin at practice.

I'm still laughing about that this morning. 

I did tell Isaac that Colin would be there tonight and assured him that Colin was still on the team. 

Swim team

This little girl has been waiting years for her turn to be on the swim team. Wasn't she just this tiny toddler??? Poor thing has sat for years every day and every Saturday in the summers watching her boys swim in the water. 

This year she is finally old enough

Swim team started Tuesday night. I wasn't sure if they would have guppies (which is the group Norah is in) so I emailed the team and found out that afternoon right as our neighbors middle schoolers got off the bus. Norah ran outside and yelled to the whole bus "I have guppies tonight!" And then ran back inside while the boys were left wondering what guppies was.

After dinner Norah started to get a little nervous and started saying she didn't want to go but I told her I would sit near the pool next to her and she would be fine. 

She only got out once right at the beginning when it was chaotic (the first week is always chaos figuring out skill level and where kids should go) but I made her get right back in and then she loved it. 

She has guppies every Tuesday and Thursday. It's going to be nice for me to be able to sit and talk with the other moms for longer than a few minutes because I'm usually playing and chasing after Norah.

The boys loved it too. Colin begged to go last night but we skipped it.  He is taking sols this week and the bad part about swim is we can't swim until 8-9 at night because of pool times and we don't get home until 9:30. So there will be some late late nights until school gets out. 

Joel was convinced he is now 7 because he swam in the 7-8 lane. It took me an hour to convince him he was still 6. He's been swimming for two years and we also did conditioning practice all winter so he is well above the 6&under skill level. It will benefit him this summer in the meets. But sadly to him he is not 7 yet. 

Colin swam 100m and then talked to all his friends. We have the same assistant coaches but a new head coach so the head was getting to know the kids swimming abilities so they didn't do much swimming. That was just fine to Colin as he basically had a social hour!