Back to School 2019

Well, we've survived 3 weeks back at school and work...barely.  Sean had a pretty heavy cold all week and my lovely present this Friday was to wake up with it too.  Aside from that, our school year has started and time is flying by!  We are busy getting adjusted to our new routine and some new activities for the boys as well.

Sean is off to a good start in Mrs. Scott's 3rd grade class!  He was bummed that his best friend Corey has a different teacher than him, but he realized he had a couple of other friends that he would be together with.  Sean made some good strides this summer in reading and finished the summer off at a level L (which is the minimum of what students should exit 2nd grade reading).  I'm hopeful that with reading nightly and seeing the interventionist at school, he can stay at the minimum for grade level if not higher! 

He's going to catechism on Monday evenings like the previous two years, but this year Evan is there too!  Bonus!  We've allowed both of the boys to join Cub Scouts this year, which is new for us.  Sean is in the Bear den and was really happy to realize he has several other friends that are Scouts too!  Wednesday evenings he has soccer practice for his same team, the Panthers and they've won the first two games this season.  I'm amazed at how much better Sean is at soccer this season!  He even scored a goal during the first game.  He's also swimming on Saturday mornings.

Sean is loving playing Clue at home whenever we get a chance.  Him and Evan are also big into playing Minecraft and joining each other's "worlds" in Minecraft and Roblox.  It's fun to see them bond over it!

Evan is in Mrs. Bence's 1st grade class this year!  Sean had Mrs. Bence for 1st grade so it's nice to already know her and have that relationship.  He's been a bit emotional at school over his fear of taking the bus home and having a conflict with a girl in the class, but we're working through all of it.  He says he's worried he'll miss the bus, that Sean will miss the bus, that he'll get on the wrong bus and/or that his seat on the bus changes daily.  We spoke with the bus driver and he now has an assigned seat by the bus driver (his choice!) so hopefully that will help.  Otherwise, he's thriving academically!  He can read the Mighty Robot series really well and is trying Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  He's whipping through his math homework like it's no big deal!  We're so proud of him.

He even brought home an award yesterday from his teacher for his leadership and responsibility in class!

He's starting catechism this year with Sean on Mondays and has soccer practice on Thursday evenings with coach Daddy.  His team is not off to the strongest start, but they'll get there!  They need to work on a few things and it should all click into place.  He's also swimming on Saturdays with Sean and is in the Tiger den at Cub Scouts!  He's been very excited to sell popcorn in the neighborhood and I suspect we'll be selling more this weekend.

I'm so excited to see both of the boys grow and learn this year both in school and in their activities/sports!  Here's to a great school year for all of us!

Happy 7th Birthday, Evan!!

This handsome guy turned 7 on labor day this year and he's off to 1st grade!  It seems like he turned into a big kid overnight.  I can't believe how fast time is going by!

His obsession this birthday was General Grievous.  Both him and Sean are obsessed with Star Wars and Evan has chosen the dark side and more specifically, General Grievous, as his favorite part of Star Wars.  So, of course, the majority of his gifts had to do with General and so did his celebrations!

We celebrated with my parents a few weeks early since they would be out of town for his actual birthday.  We went over to their house for dinner and cake.  Evan was excited to get some Legos and a Grim Reaper costume.  He's always been so interested in Halloween and spooky things!

The weekend of his birthday he invited Shawn and Kellan over to celebrate on Sunday with pizza and cake.  We set up the bounce house, made pool noodle lightsabers, and my mom made Jedi robes for all the kids.  Sean invited Corey to come as well.  It was fun!  The boys had a blast.  We had a General Grievous cake made for him at our local bakery and we used the leftovers the following day on his actual birthday when we went out to dinner at Chili's with Scott's family.

He woke up the next morning, on his real birthday, and we made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  He was chomping at the bit to open his presents.  As usual, he ripped through them in record time wanting to set up his "fitbit" and his MP3 player. 

After a few tries on his skateboard, we were off to Three Cedars for his birthday tradition of cider and donuts during opening weekend.  Three Cedars wasn't too busy, the weather was great, and holy smokes - the cider and donuts were delicious!

We went home for a bit to eat a light lunch and do a little prep for back to work and school the following day.  And then it was time to head to Zap Zone to meet up with Scott's family for laser tag and dinner at Chili's.  Everyone had a great time!

It's safe to say Evan had a great weekend celebrating turning 7!  His Lego sets are built, his room is set up like a shrine to General Grievous, and he's loving his MP3 player at night.  When did he become such a big kid?

Speaking of, he's weighing in around 45 lbs and is about 48" tall.  His official stats won't come in until mid-October when he has his well visit.  He's wearing a size 7 in clothes and a 13 in shoes.  He's still not the greatest at eating and is quite picky, but we've got him trying new foods every day at dinner.  Right now his favorites are buttered noodles, french dip sandwiches, pizza, and breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles. 

He's interested in Minecraft, Pokemon, Legos, and Star Wars (mostly because older brother is quite the influence).  But, he's still big into playing outside and trying out skateboarding and tricks on his scooter.  He LOVES music!  He loves to tinker around on the piano, listen to music on his CD player or MP3 player, and tries to do kareoke on our machine. 

He's really taken off with reading over the last year!  I'm not sure what his level is in books because he hasn't been assessed this year, but he can read short chapter books and leveled readers that are pretty wordy.  I'm really impressed with his love for reading! 

This fall he's doing soccer again with Scott as the coach, he'll start catechism on Mondays, and he's joining cub scouts.  It should be an exciting season for him both at school and outside of school.  We are so proud of his developments, but could do with a little less attitude and sass from him....haha! 

Happy 7th birthday, Evan Jameson!!  We love you more than you'll ever know!