SIX!

Warning:  This blog post may have an inordinate amount of pictures of our birthday boy. 

 

Ollie's had the month of August wrapped around his finger.  The last few years it seemed like birthday and back to school in the same week was too much excitement for Seth and Ollie, so this year we spread the love.

 

We had a birthday party for Ollie at Safety City, which is a little, bike-sized town in one of our parks.  To put it mildly, it did not have an auspicious beginning.  I got there around 8:45 to set up and get a few things ready for the birthday boy and party goers, only to find that a huge padlock was baring access to my plans.

 

Long story short, Jon saved the day with his city of Lubbock contacts and got someone out there to unlock it.  We had settled on having the party at nine, they had it written down as ten.  The kids squeezed through the fence upon arrival and ran around like, well, kids at a birthday party, so I don't think they even noticed the bungle.  In the end, they gave us our 100 bucks back and Motsingers are nothing if not cheap, so maybe it was all a win. 

 

Anywho, back to the birthday festivities...

 

 

 

 

Somehow the notion of having a parade during the birthday party came up and Ollie really latched on to this idea.  The boys wanted to throw out candy and goodies, so I had them clean out their closets to find loot we could throw.  This, dear reader, was parenting gold.  We got rid of junk, cleaned, and I didn't have to buy party favors. 

 

Our plunder plus a bag of tootsie rolls.

 

The parade participants lining up.

 

Eryn and Ollie discussing the parade route.

 

Guess what?  A birthday party parade is actually a hair brained idea.  First of all, what kid doesn't want to be in the parade?  There was virtually no one to throw candy and spoils at.  And those few kids that did want to catch parade candy were taking their very lives in their hands.  It may come as no surprise, but kids ages 4 to 8 cannot in fact look down to their goodie stash (cups that I had tied to the parade bikes), grab said goodies, and then throw goodies all while keeping their eyes on the road. But fun was had!  No one died!  A few close calls just got more adrenaline flowing to add to the party vibe! 

 

Then it was time for cake!  Seriously, if you heart chocolate, or cookie dough, or yummy desserts in general, try these recipes.  They will not disappoint, take my word for it.   

 

 

And that was the end of early august festivities. 

 

About a week later, these gems arrived in the mail from the M&M's.

That's right, roller skates!  Good thing he got that new spiderman helmet! 

 

A few days later we got another birthday package, this one most perplexing, filled with bandaids, athletic tape, and gauze.  My first thought was that Mimi regretted sending Ollie roller skates and decided to send along a second box to help with any mishaps.  Nope!  We found a note in the bottom and realized it was supplies to play athletic trainer from our good buds Juke and Lubal.  (Ha, always.)  We changed it up to suite our interests and have played doctor, ninja, and ninjas at the doctor over the past few days.  

 

Ollie:  I think you are going to need to use a wheel chair after this.  But don't worry!  People will teach you how to use it and be able to do things.  Like dance!  People will teach you how to dance in the wheelchair!

 

Then on to his actual birthday, Krispie Kremes in Kindergarten! 

 

There's Ollie, and Alba LaRue and Bruce!  These names! 

Not sure about boy in green shirt, I'll have to ask Ollie.  Its probably something far out there too, to fit into this picture.  Perhaps Enoch?

(edited:  it's Cody, Ollie just told me.  Bummer.)

 

(Side note on names:)

Ollie:  Mom, what should we name Noey when we adopt him? 

Me: I think we are going to stick with Nolan.

O: Well, that sounds like a baby name.  What are people going to call him when he's a grown up or like a teenager?  They can't call him Nolan!

Me: (silently) uhhhhh...... you realize your name is Ollie, right?

 

Finally, birthday at home with family and Jennifer.  Here's the dessert choices when your love language is sugar.  Left over doughnuts from school, friendship bread cupcakes, and Klondike bars.  

 

A last package from grandma and grandpa!  Thanks for all the bday love everyone! 

 

Ollie, we LOVE you! 

Summer Wrap Up

Everyone just left for day three of school.  The number one thing that makes this morning a success:  No one was up at 5 am dressed, ready to cross the street.  Hallelujah. 

 

It really does feel like summer is over.  We had a terribly hot June, but August has been unusual too, in that it has been so cool.  In fact, as we speak my windows are all open and it's raining.  Plus Jon is walking around with a dreamy look in his eye talking about the start of the football season.  Fall is here! One of my favorite times of the year!

 

Here's a quick run down on the last of our summer activities. 

 

Snuggles with Noley Poley.

Ollie: I'm just so sorry, Noey!  You are gonna have to stay home with mom!  You are just going to miss me so much!

 

I went all out and did a day of cooking so there would be 30 meals in my freezer.  The idea had been percolating about in my brain for a while, but we recently bought a chest deep freeze for pecan purposes, so the time seemed right.  Ollie was a help for all of 7 minutes.

 

This did end up being the best marinara sauce I have ever made. 

No recipe, just winging it with tons of fresh basil.

 

There was an insane amount of dishes to wash at the day's end.  We've only pulled a few things out of the freezer so far, so the jury is still out on whether this was all worth it.

 

Jon playing Stork.

 

A cutie pie.

 

Some summer lunch dates with my favorite 7 and under crew courtesy of Mimi and Momo's gift card magic.

 

A Rockin with Rhett concert with Buckner friends.

 

Future drummers?

 

Only if we always live in a house with a basement. 

Otherwise my ears and brain say nope.

 

Bounce houses water park style.

 

Altitude Jump Park. 

If you ever visit us in Lubbock, request to come here.  This was insanely fun.

 

One last bday for Sam and Seth Christenson.

 

Seth telling Nolan about all his ideas.  Sometimes Seth can really go on and on about a topic so lately he has taken to sitting in front of Noey to talk freely. 

 

Our first visit to Chuck E. Cheese.  The boys participated in a Bible memory challenge at church this summer and were entered into a drawing for a gift card.  What do you know, Seth won!! It was crazy over stimulating when we first walked in; Noey burst into tears immediately.  Once you got used to the overall in your face with lights, sounds, and games aspect, we actually did have quite a bit of fun.  It helped that we met some friends there and my buddy Logan and I got to chat while S, O, and E made their way through tokens, games, tickets, and pizza.   

 

Some yummy grill pizza.  This makes my mouth water just looking at it.  Much, much better than Chuck E.'s

 

Noey has graduated from having his bathtub in the kitchen sink to having his bathtub in the normal bathtub to try and contain the water splashage.  That baby loves him a good splashy bath.

 

Here is the other thing you must request to do if you visit us.  Trapped!  We tried out an escape room with some friends and it was such a blast!  We got out of our room with 19 minutes to spare and got second on the wall of fame.  We were feeling pretty proud of ourselves as it only had like a 31% success rate. 

 

And finally we attended open house.  Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Seth and his teacher.

 

Kinder Ollie and Mrs. C!

Seth's Lunch Break

2nd day of school, 30 seconds after walking in the door. 

I'd say a break at lunch is just what this kid needs. 

Another First!

Oh man.  We are so cute, if I do say so myself. 

(Also note Noey grabbing Ollie's hair.  All. The. Time!)

 

This kid is in kinder!

 

And our big 2nd grader!

 

Mot bros, ready for action.

 

The 'yay school!' pose. 

 

The long walk. ;) 

 

 

 

Seth and Mrs. Cole 

Seth hasn't talked too much about school, although he was so excited this morning to go back and see Mrs. Cole.  I've had some ominous feelings about him going back to school and getting overwhelmed, but I was so excited for him and proud of him this morning.  He really was so pumped! 

 

Ollie and Mrs. Castanada 

Ollie was brave and confident this morning, but you could also tell he was slightly nervous.  It was perfect for me because he didn't know the procedures so I loved that I got to help him when his teacher was busy with other parents, but he wasn't overly nervous or worried.  I was so proud! 

The tears came for me after lunch.  This year Seth is coming home for lunch to try and give him a break during the day.  The first few days I am going to sign him out in the office until we get in a good routine and he can walk home by himself.  Before I signed him out, I went to say hi to Ollie in the cafeteria and bring him some chocolate, (of course).  It did my heart good to be able to check in on him during the middle of the day.  He was already having the time of his life, chatting with friends, eating his apple slices.  He was so happy to see me and tell me about his morning. 

 

Then I met Seth in the office and it did my heart good to see him as well.  He talked non-stop about all the things he is going to invent someday, it kinda seemed like he was holding in his monologue all morning and it was all just spilling out.  He was in a great mood and even remembered to tell me a few things about his morning before resuming talk about LED lights and how he is going to make a jet pack.  After he ate his lunch, we went outside for a few minutes so he could ride his bike before he headed back to school. 

 

As I watched him walk back in the front door of the school, I got all misty eyed.  I was so proud of both boys!  They are so brave!  Confident!  They were so chatty and happy to tell me all of their news! It was a pretty sweet mid-day visit with both of them. 

 

Then Noey and I went back inside to resume his learning...

What's the deal with this baby?  Rolled over the day he turned 3 months and now, not even 6 months, thinks it would be a good time to try his hand at crawling.  He's in that stage where he gets on his knees and rocks back and forth trying to get it all figured out.  Sometimes he launches himself, like a long jumper after a few rocks back and forth.  Then he belly flops and is bummed it didn't all work out a little better.  He is also getting pretty frustrated because he will see a toy he wants and tries to go get it, but only can go backward at this point.  Baby drama!  So cute!! 

After school we came home and made puppy chow and then went outside to ride bikes.  Coach Serna from PE left quite an impression on Ollie.  After he dug up a whistle from the basement he decided he would probably be a coach when he grows up, abandoning his idea of being a Taxi truck driver.

 

Excited to see what day 2 holds! 

Our Little Gentleman

Do they come any cuter?

 

Our dear sweet lil Noey!  Man, we love to love this kid! It is hard not to go on and on about him when I'm talking to people, but what is a blog for if not going on and on, right?!  He has started this really high pitch, baby bird, coo.  It seems so very expressive.  He also has a breathy coo which is easy to for me to imitate.  He loves it when I do, so and we take turns, making a real sweet conversation. 

 

His eyes have finally settled on a deep hazel.  They flirted with a steely blue gray for the better part of his life, but they have gradually changed.  And his hair no longer sticks up at all!  Even when I give him a Mohawk after baths, it still lays back down!  Because of this I've had to give him a few haircuts because he literally had all this side of the head hair getting in his eyes.   

 

How life changes in just a few short years, from when you have a 2 and 4 year old to now an almost 6 and 8 year old.  Life is chaotic with little littles, each day a marathon without anytime time to think or breathe.  Now I have big(ish) boys!  Boys who are so helpful!  Boys who love to love Noey.  Every day I hear the sweetest things come from their lips, such loving declarations to our Noley Poley.  I really feel like we have made it through the most chaotic/disorganized years.  (Moms who have teenagers, don't feel like you need to dispel me of this notion...)  I have two children who do their own laundry, and fold napkins and baby clothes weekly.  Children who can now empty and (mostly) load a dishwasher.  Lovely big boys who can pull up blankets on a bed and hang a towel.  They can throw toys in a closet and dress themselves and brush their own teeth, complete with occasional attempts at flossing.  If I man the broom and continue buying food and putting it on the table, what more is there?  I'm proud of them for a multitude of reasons; seeing their blossoming little selves is just one of many. 

never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them