Friends and Moving

This is W and one of his best buddies, D.  They have literally known each other since birth.  W is about 8 months older than W.  

This is W's 3rd birthday party and that's D at the end of the table.  I think they have been at every birthday each other has had.  

Here's some 3 year old shots of the boys at AWANA at church.

D and his family are moving out of state next month.  We are just so sad.  

Here they are at AWANA last week.  This is especially sad, because they are just best buddies and they just get each other.  They share similar quirky habits and love that about each other.  They are opposites in some ways.  Where as D is talkative and very energetic, W is not so chatty and less energetic, but they compliment each other so well.  

They are both obsessed with legos, minecraft, reading lots of books, playing board games, and not sitting still in church.  We have been having weekly playdates to get in lots of time before they have to move.  W will miss him, but I will miss him just so much.  He was a special friend for my boy.  That is a priceless treasure.  They are working on a way to play Minecraft long distance.  We wish them well in their new adventure, but they will be missed.

First Lego League

All year long, J has been participating with a local elementary school in their First Lego League.

Lego has all these competition league and the First Lego League is his division.  It's a robotics competition, but learning about a topic and their core values.  You can learn more about it here.

The topic this year is Nature's Fury.  Our team decided to learn about wildfires since those are prevalent in our neck of the woods.  They have had guest speakers like fire fighters, wildlife management, and water conservationists come talk to them.  They have to present a report and perform a skit about this topic.

Then there is the robotics competition- the reason J is totally interested.  They use the Lego Mindstorms Robotics kits.  The kids have to program the robot to accomplish several missions such as rescue a kitten in some wreckage after a storm.  They have to get the robot to perform and stay within the boundaries.  

J has spent countless hours reading programming books to use during work time.  They meet every Tuesday afternoon plus some Saturdays.  This Saturday is their first preliminary competition.  They are all very excited. 

Mom would be more excited if I didn't have to have him across town at 5:25 AM.  He is riding the bus with the team.  We will catch up with them later at a decent hour.  We are looking forward to watching them.  Not sure what happens after the preliminary round.  We will keep you posted.

First basketball game

J and S had their first game of the season this past weekend.  They both did really well and decided that their is a lot more running in basketball than in soccer.

S played point guard a lot.  He primarily dribbles with his left hand.  He has always been somewhat ambidextrous since birth; however, once he started writing for school he writes with his right.  But he definitely kicks, dribbles, and shoots with his left.

He always had a smile on his face and had a great time.

J had a great first game too.  His team ran their practiced plays.  He even was able to shoot once and was close to making it.  

We massacred the other team.  We have 2 incredible point guards, especially given their respective ages.  They are just playing on a whole different level than everyone else.  The team as a whole is very talented, and I imagine will only improve as the season progresses.

I have to admit it that it is hard for me to watch and not be involved.  I found myself yelling (good things) a lot.  I still get excited by a good game of basketball.  Maybe someday I will coach one of them.  Until then, we look forward to next weekend's games.

Happy Birthday S!

Look at those sweet baby blues!

His eyes are a more grey blue now, but he still has strawberry blonde hair.  You are a very active boy.  You love to give hugs and kisses.  You love to giggle and be silly.  This a good thing and a bad thing.  You love your sister, maybe a little too much.  You love your brothers and always want to play with them, but sometimes you like to push their buttons, too.  

You would be a terrible only child as you love to play board games, play team sports, and have lots of people around.  You are probably the only extrovert in our family.  You love animals and have close to 50 stuffed animals on your bed.  

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Happy 6th Birthday S!

We had a busy weekend.  We celebrated S's 6th birthday on top of starting basketball season!  I am ready for a nap.

Nana and Grandave came down to help celebrate.

Granny Jean also joined in on the festivities as well.  

S still loves all animals and wants to be a zoo keeper when he grows up.  Therefore, we had a wild animal party.  Here's the cupcakes that I made.

 I found a company that actually brings animals to your home.  S was able to pick five animals for them to bring to the party.  We had an alpaca in the backyard.  Baby girl tried to ride on him.

The owner/animal trainer did some education with the kids as well.  Here is the kingkajou.  He was a hit at the party.  It was great hearing the kids giggle watching him climb around.  The kids were able to pet or hold the animals.

  

The kids loved watching the bunny hop around the backyard.

S's favorite animal is a ring tailed lemur.  Sure enough, the company had one to bring.  The only problem was that apparently he had been grabbed by some 8 year old boys too much so he is a little skittish around kids.  The trainer only let the adults handle him.  So here is mommy with a lemur on her shoulder.  I was so not prepared for this.  (S and W were pretty disappointed that they didn't get to hold the lemur.)

We were so thankful to have wonderful weather and to be able to celebrate with his friends.

Ruckus

The boys' received the card game "Ruckus" for Christmas.  This has turned into a new family favorite.

It's a game that all ages can play, although the older ones are a bit more strategic.  It doesn't require any reading.  Some times, we play with teams to balance the deficit.  They love this game.  

S particularly loves playing games, so this is perfect for him.  It also doesn't take too long, so we can complete a game pretty quick, when he is feeling the need for some game time.

We have been keep track of the all time high score.  I had it until tonight.  

Even Miss K likes to think she is playing and steal the cards.  That always adds a new element.  

I would highly recommend this game.  Thanks Grammie!

Basketball fever

It is basketball season around our home.  

J and S are both playing basketball.  

It's a little insane trying to get them to practices, but we manage.  This coming weekend are their first games.

J is not the tallest on his team, which is amazing.  It's his first year playing.  There are two guys on his team that are really good, so we have some good guys to learn from.  

S is on a team made up of kids from his school.  That is really nice to know everyone.  In fact, both boys ended up with Christians as coaches, which is a blessing.

I have to admit that it brings back lots of good memories for me.  I played for over 10 years, and coached for a year.  It is fun to be able to share this with them.  I even thought about coaching one of them in the future.  (It's the mommy chauffeur that doesn't enjoy this so much.  It sure does make me appreciate my mother even more.  My mom was a saint!)

The bad part is that J is now in men's size shoes.  He wears a 7.5 in men's shoes.  Sigh.  Men's shoes are almost double the cost of little boys' shoes.  Let's just say that we spent a few pennies on his new high tops.  At least he found a solid blue pair like these, which is his favorite color.  

We will let you know how the games turn out.