Soccer Stud

Sutton had his first ever soccer game and was such a stud!  He scored a goal in the first 2.5 seconds and went on to score five more!  He was so proud and it was hilarious to watch his celebrations.  I can't wait to watch him develop over the rest of the season.

 Go Blackhawks!

Sutton-logy

Whenever Sutton plays hide and seek and he is the seeker, he counts and then immediately demands everyone needs to "make a noise!"  If everyone doesn't do as he requested he gets pretty mad.

Chad took the boys to see Captain Marvel.  It was a 3:45 showing and Sutton hadn't taken a nap.  He fell asleep early into the show but when he woke up near the end he whispered to Chad, "I'm just working really hard to keep my eyes open.  I'm not sleeping!"  This has happened SOOOO many times. He will never ever admit he may have fallen asleep.

One night everyone was taking turns giving/getting massages.  Sutton kept talking about "parmesan." It took us forever to realize he was trying to say "massages."

Sutton slept over at my parent's house.  In the morning my mom was asking him what he wanted for dinner.  He didn't say a word but walked over to the pantry, looked up at her with a mischievous face, and gently tapped on the Bisquick box.  That boy loves pancakes and knows Grandma is his best bet for making him his breakfast of choice.

Sutton sees everything...or at least that's what he sees.  Any time we ask "Sutton did you see...?" He always answers in the affirmative.  "Yep!" "Yeah I've seen that lots of times."  If you take his word for it he has seen unicorns, aliens, tornadoes, and basically any other random thing the boys can think to ask him.  He will NEVER admit he hasn't seen something and he never even cracks a smile.  It is a hilarious game to play!

Sutton was a little sick of swim lessons.  He had to go 10 days and on day 8 he asked, "So what would happen if you were sick and had swim lessons?"  Nice try bud but if you pretend-sick now you still have to go to swim lessons.

Out of the blue Sutton asked me, "If I love you and you love me, can we get married?"  He melts my heart!

Every once in awhile I refuse to grocery shop until we haven't eaten those items in the fridge and pantry that no one seems to want anymore.  One week the boys were really complaining because I wouldn't buy more cereal.  In my defense we still had some cereal as well has other breakfast options they just didn't want.  Sutton went in the kitchen and told Chad, "Give me whatever cereal Mom says we have to have.  And give it ALL to me."  It was way more than one serving but Sutton was determined to put an end to the nonsense.  Since he took the bullet I let him pick the next cereal.  LOL

Keller was asking Sutton how his meet-the-teacher was.  He asked, "Are you teachers pretty?"  Sutton casually replied, "Yep. But not as pretty as mama!"  I just love that boy.  Chad has trained my boys well!

Reading Lessons

We hit a HUGE milestone in our family today. I have used the same book to teach all of the boys how to read. 7 years later it is literally falling apart and torn on the edges. Today Sutton and I finished the 100th lesson. My last reading lesson ever!!!

 The big boys were sweet and patiently listened to him read his last story.  He is so proud of himself and wants everyone to hear him read.

 As a family we burned the book to celebrate.  It was oh so sweet to watch those pages burn!

 

 This is the page of the last lesson.  To say it has seen better days would be an understatement.  I refused to buy a new book with Sutton and though it may be tattered, it did the job just fine!

 Sutton also had a trip to the toy aisle and picked out some hard-earned monster trucks.  

Teaching a kid to read is one of those things I absolutely dread as a mom...more than nighttime feedings or potty training. 300 lessons later I am hands down the most thrilled to be done but I know it was worth it. I am so proud of my good readers and proud of me too

Back to School

This year our school district has made some huge changes which has created some extra excitement and nerves.  Previously, elementary school was K-6, middle school was 7-8, and high school is 9-12.  In order to better accommodate for growth they added intermediate school which is 5-6 so elementary school is just K-4.  What this means for my kiddos is Keller was rezoned to a new elementary school and Vance is attending the same school building but it underwent some serious construction to become the new intermediate campus.  I am actually really excited for the new changes.  I like the idea of splitting the kids up a little more and think the intermediate campus will be a great transition to middle school.

The first of the back to school events was for Mr. Keller.  Keller's school does a really cool thing.  The week before school starts a group of teachers visits every single students house!  It was a really nice gesture since Keller is going to a new school and probably has a few more nerves.  Their theme for the year at school is "Better Together" so they wanted to take a picture of him holding two things that go together so he got a toothpaste and toothbrush.

 Chad was on meet-the-teacher duty because I had to take Vance to volleyball practice.  He said his teacher seemed nice and the boys loved the free shaved ice.

Next up was Vance's meet the teacher.   He is at the age where it is definitely not acceptable to take pictures with teachers so unfortunately no pics.  We were most excited to see all of the new changes to the building.  Everything was really nice and the school felt new and high-tech.  I snapped a few pictures of Vance's favorite parts: his STEM room, the Hub and the stairs.  He likes the stairs because the wood part is for plugging in your electronics and kinda hanging out.  Vance has a good schedule with classes and teachers I think he will enjoy.

Sutton's meet the teacher was last.  As expected he was a little shy, but I think he will have a great year.  It usually takes him a couple months before he will really talk at school.  Haha!

Finally the first day of school arrived!  Keller was the first drop-off and the nerves had gotten the best of him by the time it was time to leave.  He started to cry so we gave him a big love and lots of reassurance that everything would be okay.  By the time we got to school he had calmed down a little.  At all of the school they make the first day extra special with volunteers from the community to greet you, sidewalk chalk with encouraging notes, fun music playing, and photo opps for the parents.  It really makes the first day special!

 Next up was Vance's drop-off.  A quick picture in front of the school and my boy was off to a new adventure!

Sutton's school didn't start until the next week.  I'd love to say he just loved every minute at home with me but it all honesty he was a little bored.  I tried my best to entertain him but I think I bored him into naps each day.  Haha!

He was thrilled when his day for school arrived!

Here are all the traditional back to school photos.  Vance requested we actually take them the day before the first day of school so it would be less stressful.  It made me laugh but in his defense, it did make for a much more relaxed picture experience.  Haha!

 Love my crazy boys and am excited for the adventures a new school year will bring!

Epic Church Camp

Vance has been waiting all summer for church camp to arrive! He worked hard to earn the majority of the money and I think that made him even more invested.  When we pulled up to drop him off I could not believe how many kids there were.  Over 600 kids from all our church's campuses went to this camp!!!  I knew he would have blast and he was not nervous or scared at all.  In fact he would've sprinted to the bus and never looked back if I didn't demand a quick picture.

 I have to admit I was a little nervous to have him go.  He has been away from Chad and me longer than five days but only with family.  This is the first time he was really away without a parent type figure and just camp counselors to be in charge of him.  To say I was worried about his hygiene is an understatement.  I talked to him SOOOO many times about brushing his teeth, showering everyday, and putting on deodorant.  LOL.  Boys can be stinky!

 He did a great job of looking at the packing list and checking all of the items off.  It was so nice to not have to do all of the packing for him.  I snapped a picture as the 10 (yes 10!!!) buses departed for camp.

 This was his group at camp - all boys going into 6th grade.  The boy holding the "I'm a happy camper!" sign is his friend from school.  They ended up in the same electives and everything I know Vance felt more confident having at least one familiar face.

 Everyday they would post some pictures and I would scour them looking for Vance's face.  I just wanted to see him!!!

Here is the stage and screens they set up.  Every morning and night they had a little lesson/devotional and worship music.  Vance said he really loved the music and that the band was awesome.  He came home with no voice from all the yelling and singing!

 See the stars and stripes hate? That's my boy!

 This is the worship team and the people who did the skits and stuff.

 The camp was on a lake and they had so many fun activities and lots of time to play.  

 They had a zipline kinda thing where you let go and landed in the water. Also the giant inflatable thing looked like so much fun.  One person sat at the end and when someone jumped on the other end it bounced them off.

 I also think the thing they are climbing on looks awesome.  Once you get so much weight on one side the entire thing flips over.

 They also had kayaks and a pool with a few water slides as well.  Vance loved getting to play so much gaga ball (in the picture below he is to the far left in the stars hat).

 He just looked so big walking around with his friends. I don't know where all of the time is going!

 This isn't his cabin but it is the only picture from camp that showed where they slept.  They had like 20 kids in each room.

 Him and his buddy captured a little snake in the those two plastic cups.  You have to look close but it's definitely there.

This is Vance digging something out of the mud for some challenge against the 5th grade girls.

 Here is Vance and Maddox when they got home.  I was so happy to see them!

 I drilled him with questions and like the good boy that he is, he answered every single one of them.  You could hear it in his voice what a great trip it was and he is already excited for the middle school camp next year.  He made some new friends and even got their numbers so maybe they will even stay in touch.  It sounds like he had a positive attitude and he did admit to missing me that first day when he didn't really know what was going on.  He also said there were lots and lots of farts...boys are gross!!!

His camp counselor sent him him with a note.

I'm relieved that it was a good trip and glad he is home...even if his "temporary" hair color is still showing over a week later!