T-minus two weeks, baby! I am ready to kiss some heads, give some hugs, and watch some boys walk out my front door for 7 blessed hours! School here starts the 28th, and this seems crazy late to me. The 21st seems much, much more reasonable. I won't even be able to bring doughnuts for Ollie's bday! Ollie is pretty excited, then pretty sure he doesn't want to go back. Although, he is quite into new things, and it's that time of year! New shoes, a backpack full of glue sticks, crayons, and pencils, and some clothes in the closet. He deliberated forever in the underwear aisle of walmart in search of the perfect new pack. Seth does not seem one bit excited. A bulging backpack and new items on hangers are not speaking to him quite as much.
We've had some real good chunks this summer and I'll catch back up on them at some point. We went to Camp Buckner, a family camp in Burnet, TX the last part of July and the first few days of August and had an absolute blast. The bigs wanted to do it all this summer: the zipline, the waterslide, the blob. We had some fun new experiences with the boys, them being a hair older and heavier, thus being able to snuggly wear a harness. I did try to talk both of them out of the zipline though, convinced they would get to the top of that platform and have a change of heart. Seth had a major deer in the headlights look; I'm not even sure he could hear me or process what I was saying while we waited. Ollie jumped up and down beside me and asked every possible question that came to his mind about the whole ordeal, which I answered very honestly mostly to the tune of, "Yes, it will be very scary and you will have butterflies in your stomach, but you will be safe the whole time." In the end, Ollie was all hooked up and ready to go and was working on sitting down on the platform so he could just scoot off, but instead he accidently fell before he was ready. (This makes me chuckle, just thinking about it.) I'd say that was for the best, because then he didn't have to psych himself up to launch. Noey was a peach as usual, and loved having room to roam, sand to dig in, and he also loved swimming every afternoon. This has not always been the case with him this summer. He has been much more interested in exploring the area around the pool when we have gone swimming in Lubbock, so I was glad to see him enjoy swimming so much for a change. Maybe being in Jon's arms rather than mine made all the difference. He was also extremely content practicing his stair skills on the front porch for long chunks of time as well. That may have been his favorite camp activity. Oh! He also found out about the love of dum dums at camp. His worldview has been rocked forever.
Noey has loved being around Seth (Deh) and Ollie (All-uh) more this summer. He is dipping his toe into the tantrum pool, learning that a big cry can quickly yield his way with his big brothers. He is mostly such a happy lil guy though, and loves to be on the go. He wants to run, climb, and throw whenever given the opportunity. (Or not given the opportunity.) He is so blazing fast on his little bike that he scoots around on. Then he gets to a wall and gets off and steps up and balances perfectly on the tiny little seat with out-stretched arms. I do not enjoy this part of the trick. It is also so crazy to Jon and I that Ollie, at the exact same age as Noey is now, had yet to take a step. He talks up a storm, maybe 40 or 50 words, with the vast majority that only three people in the word can understand (Noey, mom, and dad) (example: ta tan for trash can). He's a precious guy that is the best to come home to, running full speed and yelling immediately for you to pick up and hug. He also still refuses to sit in the bath tub. He imitates everyone perfectly, trying to sit on the couch with his legs out stretched to the coffee table, or walking behind Ollie putting a toy in the same spot or position Ollie just did. I wish he ate more and put on another pound or two, but he sleeps good all night and takes a daily 90 minute nap. He is incredibly interested to be involved in all cooking opportunities and any garage work. In my opinion he has conquered the swing set ladder much, much to young. We mostly just love to love him and sit around delighting in what he enjoys.
Ollie, while frozen at five in my brain, is about to be 7. What on earth? Ollie is growing up so quickly with preferences in music, clothes, and friends, yet is such an easy kid to connect with. He loves talking, really about anything, and is curious about how so many of the things of the world work. He is the best to take on errands; he delights in going anywhere especially some place new. He has enjoyed working hard with his basketball team this summer and if I don't get to go to his game, I always ask him the same thing when he gets home, "Did you get to touch the ball?" Forget about scoring, he is happy to have made contact. "Oh yeah!! Lots of times!" is usually his answer. He has idiosyncrasies that sometimes amuse and sometimes test my patience. (He is kinda germ-a-phobic for instance, and sometimes at the park we have only brought one water bottle. I have been know to snap, "Just take a drink or stop complaining about how thirsty you are!" He will then make the most resigned face, look away from me while he wipes the mouth of the water bottle on his shirt for 5 minutes and then takes a minuscule sip. I alternate between trying not to curse or bust out laughing, depending on my mood.) He also really wants to share a room with Noey, but can't stand for Noey to break up what he is playing with. Ollie really is a good brother though, both to the big and little. And now about to be 7! Truly, I'm not wrapping my brain around it quite yet.
Seth has had a pretty rough stretch in the spring and summer where his temper and big feelings often get the best of him. He really desires to be such a helpful kid, trustworthy, someone you can count on, then shoots himself in the foot. I'm not sure what third grade will hold for him. On one hand, his best chunks of summer have been more structured (camp invention, vbs, etc.), on the other hand, he typically has a hard time adjusting to being back at school in years past. He has gotten really into Legos this summer, for which I am so thankful. He also has done great with his horse riding; he is really proud of himself for learning to trot and control Dakota. We are praying hard for Seth and growth in areas of regulating emotions and behavior. He's got quite a team of people working with him these days, for which we are thankful. He continues to be the family animal expert, and our resident inventor. Our good friend Jennifer also tells me he has grown a foot this summer. She is probably right.
Man! Turns out I was feeling like typing and typing! I suppose my next post will have to be a big photo dump.
Cheers!
