The Past 2 Weeks

On September 1st Josh & I went to parent-teacher conference at Ethan's school.  His teacher says he is a "star student" and he's a little leader.  She said he's always on his best behavior and he's always willing to help out any of his classmates.  We could not be any prouder of him!  The only things that he needed to work on were his accelerated reader quizzes (last year he was top in his class) but this year they have to take initiative to do it on their own without the teacher saying "Ethan, go take an A.R. test" and I don't think he was sure enough to do that just yet.  However, we talked about it and he is now well on his way to being caught up with where he should be.  The other area for improvement is that he writes several letters/numbers backwards.  His teacher said some of them are common for first graders but we believe some of it could be coming from him being left-handed as well.  Anyway, homework is beginning to go a little smoother now than it was the last time I blogged...thankfully.

Our Labor Day weekend at the lake didn't go so smoothly but we enjoyed it anyway.  Our boat battery was messed up so we didn't get to ride the first two days and then it rained the last two days!  My parents had a flat tire while coming over on their motorcycle, and Landen suffered from an ear ache while we were there.  BUT, we did enjoy swimming, shopping, fishing, and just being with family! 

Ethan has had four ballgames in the past eight days so we have been crazy busy running back and forth to the ball park!  He's really enjoying it though and we're loving that it's keeping him active.

                                                                                               

This past weekend we celebrated my mom's 45th birthday and my brother's engagement with parties. I enjoyed every minute of it but come Monday I was exhausted. Luckily, Josh had a dentist appointment before work that morning and was able to take Ethan to school for me. Landen & I took full advantage of our morning to sleep in ...he slept until 10am and I am ashamed to admit that I did too!!

Landen is learning new words every single day now!! There is no way that I can keep up with them all but a few that I know are new are deer ("deah"), balloon ("bwoon"), boat, there it is ("eah tis"), Derek (my brother "Dek"), and Amanda (my brother's fiance's name and also one of my best friend's "Amana" sometimes "Anana"). 

 

Yesterday, I visited Ethan at school and had lunch with a friend.  This afternoon I am grocery shopping (and I'm pretty excited about it since I have my price matches and coupons already...I'm kind of a newby at that).  Tomorrow I plan to yardsale with friends and take Ethan to his ball game.  And this weekend we are going to enjoy a low key, stay at home kind of Saturday.  The only productive thing I am going to do is pull out the boy's Fall clothes and reorganize the bottom of my pantry.  Other than that we are going to play, watch movies, and enjoy having nothing important to do. We are all looking forward to the fun Fall events that October will bring....pumpkin carving, birthdays, costume hunting, deer hunting, our annual Fall camping trip, and Fall break from school!!!

Procrastination

As, I sat down to write this I heard a crash and then the sound of liquid dripping so I ran to the kitchen to find Landen's cereal bowl upside down on the hardwood floor and milk splattered for 4 feet in every direction.  As, I am on my knees cleaning up the mess our crazy alarm clock that will not stop going off at random times is screeching and a commercial on Playhouse Disney says "What a great way to start the morning" in the most chipper voice ever.....I couldn't help but chuckle to myself and think "really??".  But I think I'm going to run with that positive thinking....this is going to be a good day in spite of it's rocky beginning.  We are, after all, heading to the lake this evening for four days full of boat riding (thanks to our wonderful friend and mechanic, Ben), swimming, playing cornhole and board games, and enjoying some down time with our family!  Speaking of which, I really should be packing instead of blogging....procastination at it's finest :) 

While I am avoiding the tasks of choosing, folding, stuffing, remembering, zipping, loading, and stuffing some more I think I will fill you guys in on what's new with the boys.  Ethan is finally getting adjusted to first grade.  He hops out of the truck every morning without any tears now.  One morning this week he did tell me he would miss me but he didn't cry.  I am so thankful for this and have prayed many prayers over the last few weeks that the Lord would help him to adjust and enjoy school again because it was very hard on both of us when he was crying every morning.  Ethan loves his teacher and he was chosen to be "celebrity of the week" last week.  I went to his class on Wednesday and he and I both read his two favorite books to the class.  And then on Friday Landen and I went and had lunch with Ethan and stayed for his "walk of fame ceremony" where he put his handprint on a star, signed it an hung it up in his classroom.  I think this really helped him feel more comfortable at school because throughout the week he was able to share his home life with his teacher and classmates by taking in pictures and some of his favorite things. 

Even though he has adjusted to school, homework in the evenings is NO fun!  I give him time after he gets home to play and have a snack before we do his homework but it is still like pulling teeth to get it done!  Homework that should take 20 minutes takes the better part of an hour because he won't concentrate.  Ethan has a reading log for school to track how much he reads and he LOVES to read so getting him to do that is easy.  Most nights he reads triple what he's supposed to but math worksheets are where we battle.  He can do the problems easily and once I get him rolling he does very well.  But if anything else gets his attention, such as the dog walking across the room or his brother saying something, or even something as simple as a pencil rolling across the table then it takes me 5+ minutes to get him back on track.  He is his momma's child though.....I love reading and English and can't stand Math!  So, we are working on the homework issue and it's getting better slowly.  But I took a picture of him during homework time yesterday and his enthusiasm is evident.....this isn't posed...he had no idea I was going to take the picture...

This is his silly face...looks more scary though, lol!

The Reds (Ethan's Fall baseball team) had their first game on Monday.  The Pirates won but the Reds played a good game and Ethan got a base hit every time he batted.  He also got the and threw it in twice.  I was so proud of how well he played and he didn't seem to mind a bit that his team didn't win, he was too excited about how much fun he had.  And that's exactly how it should be!!!

Ethan has become quite the performer lately...he loves to sing.  Some of his favorites to sing are "This Little Light of Mine", "The B-I-B-L-E", and whatever that Justin Beiber song is that says "Baby, Baby, Oh". But the other night he caught me a little off guard.  I keep the radio in the truck on 96.7 The Beaver (that is, when he boys aren't watching a movie, which is rarely) and half the time I don't even pay attention to what's actually on, you know how it is, it's more background noise to my thoughts than anything else.  Well, Ethan was taking a bath the other night and he said "Hey Mom, listen to this new song....."Does anybody out there wanna' have a cold beer, kick it 'till the morning light, if I have to re-sell (raise hell) all byself I will but ya'll that ain't right".  Yeah, that got my attention!  Guess I'll be monitoring the songs that are on more closely since my son can pick up every single word from hearing a song one time!!!  Thankfully, he really does think it says "re-sell", ha!

Now, that I 've rattled on forever (hey, I did go start a load of laundry in the meantime), we'll move on to Landen.  My sweet, chubby boy turned 20 months old on August 28th.  He is now picking up words left and right.  His new words are "bow" for bowl, "Nana", "hi" and uses it appropriatley, he has picked up "baby...baby" from Ethan singing Justin Beiber, and just yesterday he mocked me and said "pack-pack" for backpack.  He went around all day saying "pack-pack"...."pack-pack"....it's adorable!  Landen has been giving wide-open mouth kisses for a while now but in the last few weeks he has started actually kissing.  He goes around the house now carrying his toys and smacking away (giving them kisses).  He has sat on the pottty  once but doesn't have much interest...we are just taking our time introducing it but plan to try again soon.  He is wearing all 3T's now 2T's/24 months are a thing of the past.  We tried his tennis shoes on him this week (he hadn't had them on since last Winter) and neither pair fit him so we have been browsing the Stride-Rite website for new Fall-Winter shoes.  His foot is so wide that we pretty much have to shop only at Stride Rite because you can get an x-wide there.   Landen is a character and never fails to keep us laughing...

Oh, and pics of Ethan's bedroom makeover, as promised...

Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  I'm off to pack, I don't think the boys would mind if we didn't have beach towels but I would....

Jam-packed Post

Once again I haven't blogged in a month and am having to cram everything into one post!  We have just been so busy enjoying the last few weeks of Summer Break that I have neglected blogging all together. To finish out August, the boys completed swim lessons for the Summer, we spent an afternoon at Lost River Cave in BG with my brother and his fiance' (it was on Ethan's to do list from the beginning of the Summer), and we spent the last Saturday of the month checking out a model train show in TN and then going over to Indian Lakes to see the Smurf movie.  Swim lessons were a complete success!  Both boys are confident in the water now and Ethan swims like a pro.  I must admit I was not looking forward to the trip to Lost River (I just didn't think it would interest me) but it turned out to be a fun adventure and Ethan thoroughly enjoyed it!  He asked questions at every opportunity and is already planning a trip back. 

The model train show was the smallest one we've ever been to so we were a little disappointed but it was nothing an afternoon at the movies couldn't fix.  Landen has been to the movie theater several times but this was the first time that he sat in a seat by himself.  He found those little blue people mesmerizing!

The week before school started back we went to Monkey Joe's with my friend Amanda and her kids.  I thought Landen would enjoy it but he wasn't really feeling the bouncy houses. He just enjoyed running around and having me chase after him, ha!  Ethan, however, had a blast...

 We also took a Saturday trip to The Adventure Science Center the weekend before school began.  We had been to one in North Carolina last year but we had never checked out the one in Nashville.  The boys had such a great time just checking everything out....

That concluded our Summer Break Fun and last Wednesday Ethan began first grade!  We kind of got off to a rocky start but everything is good now and he is enjoying the new "bigger and way cooler playground"! 

 

Both of my sweet boys are learning and changing so quickly!  Landen is now 19 and half months old.  His vocabulary is expanding so very quickly!  His new words are "car (pronounced like "caw"), please, buh-bye, gone (and he holds his little hands up and looks around to add emphasis), thank you (pronounced "tank ewe"), bite (as country as he can possibly say it), Papa, Ethan (until now he has always just said "Bubba"), and "quack-quack".  Landen does some of the cutest things now.  When he's ready to go to sleep he HAS to hold your hand.  I'm not kidding if he's almost out and you take your hand away he will jump straight up looking for your hand.  I love this and cherish rocking him and holding his sweet hand.  When he wants your attention he claps his hands or if he's sitting he will slap his legs to get you to look at him.  And he knows all about the pantry now.  He has realized that there is lots of snack foods in there and his VERY favorite....chocolate!  He will take anyone he can find by the hand, lead them to the pantry, and grunt until you open it for him.  The kid is a chocoholic and we have to endure many meltdowns each day when we tell him "no" to the multiple chocolate requests.  I let him have it on occasion and in moderation but he wants it OFTEN!  Along with chocolate he has fallen in love with Cheerios, fruit chews, ham sandwiches, yogurt, tomatoes and his all time favorite....salad!  I kid you not, the boy will eat an entire pre-dinner salad!  His favorite are Longhorn's but he'll tear into one from anywhere.  Guess that makes up for the chocolate obsession....maybe?!?!?  It makes me feel better to think so anyway :)

 

My two greatest blessings!

Right now we are working on redecorating both boy's rooms.....we'll share pics next time and hopefully it won't be another month this time!

Enjoying Every Second of This Crazy, Beautiful Life...

So, Landen turned 18 months (Yes a year and half already.....seriously!) the day of my last post and I have failed to do an official "18 month post" so I will just summarize.  His 18 month checkup went as well as it could.  We went thinking he didn't have to have any shots and he ended up with three, so that part wasn't fun. But, he now weighs 34 pounds!!!  He is still cutting his canine teeth.  His favorite words right now are ball, tractor, and still "uh-oh".  I expressed a little concern to the ped. that his vocabulary isn't expanding as much as I'd like but he said as long as he's understanding us and expressing himself when needed then he is doing fine.  His vocabulary may just be a little behind his ability to comprehend how to communicate.  Well, he communicates fine!  He drags us by the hand to the fridge, or pantry, or toy box, and points at what he wants.  We are working hard to attach words with what he points at but he just looks at us and nods.  Landen still loves any type of toy automobile and has perfected his motor sound.  He is just too much fun! 

June 28th was also our 8 year wedding anniversary!  My hubby planned a wonderful day for me to go the spa and have lunch with a dear friend.  And then, that night he took me to see "Fast Five" (Yes, he offered to go to a chic flick with me but I love all of the "Fast and The Furious" movies) and then we were supposed to get dinner somewhere nice BUT (here's the funny part) we were so tired by 10pm that we went through the drive-thru at White Castle and headed to Mom's to get the boys, lol!  Now if that's not a sure sign that we are getting old...I don't know what is!!! Anyway, I am so blessed to have spent the last 12 years of my life with such a wonderful man and the past 8 married to him.

No, I am not wearing a coat in June....this was Valentine's Day, lol.

On Friday night, July 1st we met up with some good friends of ours, The Harris Family at the theater to see Cars 2.  I had taken one of the Harris boys, Roddick and Ethan to see RIO back in May and they saw the Cars 2 poster and have been looking forward to seeing it together ever since!

I forgot to mention in my last post that we have added a new member to our family!  His name is Ricardo and he is so sweet!

Ethan earned a new pet by earning 500 points on his job chart, which is basically a program that we use to teach him independence and responsibility.  If you like to check it out go to http://www.myjobchart.com/.

On Sunday July 3rd, we celebrated Josh's 30th birthday along with Independence Day with a cookout complete with good food, great friends and family, corn hole, water play and an inflatable for the kids, and fireworks!  It was a blast!!!  Of course I failed to take ANY pictures but I do have a couple pictures of Ethan & Josh on his new toy...

On Monday July 4th, we headed to KY lake with my grandparents and parents.  During the week, Amanda and her family came over and then for the weekend our good friends The Sanford's and The Ferguson's joined us.  It was a great week filled with lots of fun and wonderful memories!!!

Landen with his Grammy

Josh caught the biggest bass he's ever caught!

Ethan learned to put his head under water

Alera tubed!

Jennifer gave L a mo hawk and Ben kept him afloat

Alera & Echo

Richard took each kid for a ride on the jet ski (here with Erin) .

My little man just chillin'!

Since we got back home, the boys have been taking swim lessons.  Ethan is doing wonderful!  He can now swim underwater like a fish.  He has learned two different strokes and he doesn't hold his nose anymore!  He can touch his but to the bottom and float on his back.  I don't have any pictures of them at lessons because I have to get in the water with Landen but this is what they look like on the ride home...

 

LoL....it absolutely wears them out!

After a middle of the week, last minute trip to Georgia for Josh's job we are all exhausted!  We are hoping things calm down for us in the next few weeks so we can savor the few weeks we have left of  "Summer Break".