Someone's 9

Dancing up to blow out his NINE birthday candles!

For his birthday, Ollie asked for a bunk bed. I figured since he was getting a new bed, it was also time to re-do his room. He picked a Harry Potter theme, which of course I absolutely loved working on. Go check out this link though, and you can see before pictures of what the room used to look like. It sure looks cute with the old car theme too!

New bed!

We kicked Ollie out and had him sleep in the basement for a night or two and surprised him with the big reveal. To say that he genuinely loved it and freaked out when he saw it would be an understatement. 

A big shout out to Jon for putting together our new Ikea bookshelf and bunk bed while I slapped a fresh coat of paint on the walls. (Man, those walls were grubby and disgusting after 5 years of boy life.) Also, this room would not have turned out without help from my sister-in-law, Joy. She was the one who printed out all the text that I used around the room on her silhouette/cricket thing. So professional looking! 

Lumos, nox, and a supply of invisibility cloaks. 

Diagon Alley

Just look at how Hogwartsy that all looks. I've been know to go sit in there while Ollie is at school.

I bought this night stand for $5 at Goodwill, repainted it white, and tried to make the pulls look like snitches. 

Jon cut a piece of mdf which I coated with Gryffindor red and he hung up with shelf brackets to use as a desk. Magical. 

New book shelf for storage and display. 

We love celebrating this kid!

Looking good in his new clothes from gma and gpa!

Happy, happy birthday Ollie! 

3.5!!!

Oh my word. Time, stop please. I can't believe our little baby SugarBear is 3 and a half. Ack. 

Please never stop cracking us up. And yes, he is 100% asleep.

Nolan, you are the sweetest son, brother, grandson, nephew, and friend. You are so very loved by so many. xoxo

Livin' that Noley Life

Friday play group has been resurrected! New mamas and new kiddos, but a definite 3 year old crowd (ha!). Nolan mostly hangs out with the 3rd grade-Ollie group, so I'm glad he's got his own peeps to run around with. He best friend (and worst enemy) Joe, plus Kein, and Josefina. 

Nolan also started soccer this season, goooo penguins! I am stepping way outside of my soccer mom comfort zone and am coaching the team. We had our first practice earlier this evening and it all seemed a little implausible. I'm supposed to teach these four years olds (plus my own three year old) to listen and behave as a team? Hahahahaha. Good one. We certainly did have fun and get super sweaty. Nolan has a few buds from church on the team, Lincoln and Charlie. Their older brothers are Ollie's age and have signed on as my assistant coaches. So of course we made penguin soccer hats for my assistants. I may not know how to coach soccer but I can certainly find my way around Hobby Lobby. 

 

Nolan and I have been enjoying our time without the big boys during the day, but boy is he excited when they get home. Only a week left until we will both be in pre-k! We better live it up!

Back to School '19

Man oh man, time marches on.

Ollie is growing up, but in the most typical and obnoxious sort of way. He currently prides himself on being the annoying one in the family that can push everyone's buttons. He has such a classic 3rd-grade-slapstick-boy sense of humor. Despite more butt jokes than we know what to do with, he is such a cool kid. It is our joy to watch him grow and learn.

Seth has also shown growth and maturity this summer. We have seen him work on managing his mood in the best possible way and have definitely noticed how hard he is trying. Plus that kid is tall! Over 5 feet and now in the men's department for shoes. We are proud of our oldest!

We had a movie night with Detective Pikachu after Meet the Teacher Night, and I think a new tradition may have been born. I feel like it really helped with nerves because the boys got to re-connect with friends right before school started, plus it gave Seth something to focus on other than school (again, help with being nervous), and finally we stayed up late, so the next night (which was also the day before school) everyone fell asleep so easily. That's my pro tip for you if you have anxious kids. 

Seth participated in a few half days of transition camp this year, so he's got a couple "first day" pictures. 

Another first day of school picture. :)

My turn mom!!

(Nolan doesn't start back until after Labor day so more back to school to come.)

Ollie, 3rd grade, Mrs. Alexander

Hahahaha! This picture is classic.

Ollie: I'm so excited! I'm going to die!!!!!! 

Seth: Everyone is way too loud and way too close to me.

Nolan: If Ollie's excited, I am too!!!

Me: I love these kids, but get them out of here so I can shower. Now. 

Happy first day everyone! 

Smokey's 75th

Jon and his crew have been putting on some bday parties for our favorite bear this year. The big 7-5, time to party!  

Forest-fighter Seth

You don't look a day over 30! (Both of you!)

All the guys! Our crew plus Chris.

Who wore it best? 

MT Wrap-Up

As if you haven't seen enough pictures, here's a few that somehow didn't make the daily re-cap for one reason or another...

Momo and Mimi had all sorts of surprises in the new barn for kids to enjoy. Ollie shot many hoops while were there, plus ping pong, football, and corn hole (or pineapple if you are Nolan).

Someone is testing our ice cream... 

Family Pic at the top of Big Mountain. Right after this my hat blew off. A lil cold and blustery up there! 

Corn's not ready! Wah!

This kid has all the luck and snuck away with Momo for lunch. 

Boat, bird, and bear watching. 

Smore night with some Ohio friends that were passing through. 

Oh so sticky. Oh so delish. 

Stagecoach Express! 

A kid and his (vacay) kitties. Strangely enough, the kitties haven't been seen since the day we left. My best guess is that they left on a Homeward Bound type journey to find Nolan. 

Boarding time! Glad to get back to Dad and Seth, but we weren't as happy to see the 100 degree weather on the other side of this flight.  

Thanks M&M! We all love you so much! 

MT:14

Last full day in Montana, and we decided to do it up right with some proper adventuring. We went to Glacier Highline in Columbia Falls to check out their high ropes course. I was so proud of Ollie, (heights can make him uncomfortable) he was ready to conquer some of his fears by going on the course. We spent a little over 2 hours playing around on various obstacles and ziplines; it was such a blast.

 

Momo and Mimi kept Noey busy on this slide, while Ollie and I adventured.

We ended our Glacier Highline trip by checking out their pond and slide-thingy.

Super fun last Montana day!