End of the Year Happenings

End of the year activities for the boys kept us quite busy the last few weeks.  Here are the highlights.  This is a long post.

Soccer 
Soccer kept us quite busy.  I coached all the boys and thankfully the conflicts were minimal.  No pictures since I was on the sideline.  Shep had a pretty good year in U8- got a goal.  The team was awful and I think I learned that I am not cut out to be a U8 coach.
Hunter and Ashton both had a great year.  Ashton is the clutch player that every coach wants on his/ her team.  And Hunter's leg got stronger and stronger each game.  We lost in the playoffs 2-1 to the 2nd placed team.
My goal is to take the fall off from coaching.  I would like to just sit on the sideline and take pics of my kids again.

Chorus/ guitar program.
I will be honest, his guitar song with the two other "advanced" (I use this team very liberally) students was mediocre at best.  haha- the teacher this year was not very good.  That being said, he did learn to strum this year and there was improvement.  I hope it sticks with it.

"If I Had a Hammer"

He has gone back and forth on doing chorus next year.  I am trying to gently encourage him to stay with it but the decision is his.

The Soaring Singer... Hunter is top middle in blue.

Fishing Rodeo
This is not school related but church fun.  Though we dont go to ARP on Sunday mornings anymore, the boys and I attend Sunday night.  We have some dear friends there and we want to stay involved.  We went to the Fishing Rodeo at a church members home.  The boys had their first real taste of fishing.  They have piddled with it before but they each caught multiple fish.  Chad didnt go so thanks to the guys (Jay, Jonathan, Clyde) who stepped up to help my  kids (I dont fish- it seems so painful to the worms and fish).

Shepherd got the first catch of the evening.

Bennett getting some practice (thanks for sharing your rod Carly)

Hunter reeling his first one in.

One of Ashton's many catches.

Jay brought extra rods and then helped the boys for a couple hours.  

The youth pastor, Jonathan, helping Hunter out after a catch.

ARP also had a end of school year bash.  But, I was helping with the middle school so I didnt get pictures.  But, fun was had.

Club Larne
The boys look forward to Club Larne every year.  Basically, it is a behavior incentive that leads to a dance party on a school day.

Hunter and his crazy friends.   

Ashton and his good friend Ricki with a couple girls from his class

Shep and his best friends.

 School Awards Ceremony
Ashton's program was yesterday.  For his class, he was awarded the Leadership Award.  For specialty awards, he got the Music Award.  I almost laughed out loud on this one.  Do you remember here where I was slamming him for not being able to keep the beat?  Oh, I love irony!  I also love that he got this award as it reminds me so much of Grandpa Gordie.  He would also sing so loud and though he wasnt always 100% on key, it didnt matter- that is Ashton.
Ashton also finished up with all A's.  He had the highest Math MAP score in his class and either the 3rd or 4th highest in 2nd grade.

Receiving his class award from the principal.

Ashton and his 2nd grade teacher, Ms McGinnis.

Hunter's awards program was today.  He received the Historian Award for his class award.  He also received all A's award for Social Studies for the entire year.  He stayed on the A/B honor roll the entire year as well.

Receiving his class award

Mrs Eaton and Hunter.  Another great teacher for Hunter.  

Shepherd didnt have an official awards ceremony but he finished up the year super strong.  The kindergarten program was in May on the same night that H and A had a soccer game and Chad had football so he wasnt able to go.  He is beyond ready for 1st grade.  Dont know what his reading level is but based on the readers I have, he is reading a solid 2nd grade level.

All the kids also did AWANA this year through First Baptist.  They loved it!  Shepherd was awarded Kindergarten Clubber of the Year.  Hunter and Ashton had to miss a good bit in the winter because of basketball so I knew they were not going to be able to earn any "big" awards..  They all worked hard to  memorize and learn their verses.  Thumbs up for AWANA!

This is from the first day of school but with no awards ceremony I never got a recent one.  We loved Ms Brewer though.  She went above and beyond to keep Shep challenged.

Field Day

Field Day was well done this year.  Chad's football players have come to help the last few years and he had a great group of guys come and lead the stations this year.  

Only got this one picture of Shepherd's class... oops

Ashton's group getting some instructions before dodgeball.

Hi five

Moving to the next station

Hunter sack racing

Getting ready to tricycle race

Extras
Here are just some things they did at school at year that I liked or wanted a record of.  The first semester stuff that I am keeping has already been filed but thought this was another good way to record some of my faves.
Hunter
He doesnt have as much because, I guess, as you get older, you dont give your mom your papers anymore.

I love this especially since we are related to Ben Franklin (many many great uncle)

Hunter has zero time or patience or love for art but I thought this owl was cute.  He also 

Owls must have been a theme.  He made this in art and it is now used to hold my rings.  I love this little guy.

 Ashton
Ashton hates art so most of his stuff is writing.  His quirky sense of humor comes through his writing and laugh out loud a lot reading his stuff.

He wrote/ typed this about his dad.

Writing piece on the 100th day of school.

Persuasive writing.

Opinion piece on why football is the best sport.

 Shepherd
Now this kid loves art.  He constantly makes me pictures that show how much he loves me.  Being that Hunter and Ashton dont express love like this, I must admit, I bask in the sweet notes he gives me.  As I mentioned before, kindergarten was easy for him.  His writing got so much better this year, he is quite detailed oriented.

Love this.  The one on the left is from the 1st day of school.  The right is from the last week of school.  So different.

Shep still will flip some of his letters (especially c's).  "My favorite part on field day was the race course and the snow cones because the race course had a lot of details and the snow cones just because." It continued on the back.

"On Mother's Day I will build a castle with all my legos and put it in her room."  He knows the way to my heart- legos.

 It is understatement to say how proud I am of each of these guys.  I am of course proud of their grades, love watching them excel at things they love to do and cheer them on when they work hard to master something they struggle with.  However, I am most proud of the compliments that I hear from their teachers and the parents of their friends.

Boys continue to "ponder the way that is blameless and walk with integrity of heart" Psalm 101:2...  continue to "be kind and tenderhearted to others, forgiving just as Christ forgave you" Ephesians 4:32... continue to "be wise in doing right and stay innocent of any wrong" Romans 16:19.

Congratulations on a great year!  I love you all!

1st, 3rd, and 5th grade... here we come!

Books for Boys

I LOVE books and thankfully my boys really like to read as well.  With summer break just a couple days away, I thought I would mention a few good books that my boys have really enjoyed.  The book recommendations go from Bennett's favorites all the way to Hunters.  Though I titled this, Books for Boys, I enjoyed them as well. So, if you have girls, I think they could probably get lost in these stories as well.

*** All book titles in post are links that will take you to amazon (in most cases) for deeper description.

The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak
  Sometimes it is just fun to be silly.  This book is so much fun to sit and read to kids.  From Bennett's age (3) to Hunter (10)- everyone has a smile on their face when reading this fun book.

The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Dieson
All the kids love or have loved this book (as well as The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark.)  I think I almost have them memorized.  The expression of being a "pout pout fish" is used often.  The book is funny and has a sing songy style to it that can make pouty little boys happy.

Dazzling Diggers by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker
This currently Bennett's most requested book.  We actually accidentally stole this book from Ashton's 1st grade teacher last year.  How do you accidentally steal?  Well, it gets buried in a backpack and then is not returned for a whole school year.  Once Bennett tires of it (which it has been a year and he still loves it), then I will give it back.... i think.

My Friend the Enemy by Daniel Smith
  Great Book!  I love being surprised by a good book.  We picked this up at the library last summer.  Set it in WWII, this realistic fiction book is about a boy's struggle with " moral dilemmas of war."

My Brother's Secret by Daniel Smith
  Havent read this one yet as it just came out recently, but if it is half as good as "My Friend the Enemy", then I will recommend it.

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Hunter was given this box set at Christmas by his cousins.  He (and I) started reading them separately.  Hard to beat anything by CS Lewis and I have no doubt these set will exceed expectations.  He is about half way through book 1 and I am on book 2.
  Side note, I didnt know that the Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe was actually the 2nd book.

Mr Benedict's Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
  I have sung these books praise before, but seriously... great read.  Hunter. Ashton and I are about 1/2 of the way through Book 2 and we was love it. It has quite a extensive vocabulary, so it is a good group read.
  Since the last "review", I have read the prequel of how Mr Benedict became Mr Benedict and it is just as engaging as the rest of the series.

Amulet Series by Kazu Kibuishi
  My older two loved these books (they read them in 3rd/ 1st grade).  I honestly only read the first one (I will read the rest...eventually.)  They are comic style (thus the reason I havent read them all yet).  Fun read.
  The 7th book just came out and Hunter and Ashton have already flown threw it.  It ended in a cliffhanger so they are excited for Book 8 to come out.

Star Wars Head to Head by Scholastic
All my boys love these books.  The link will take you to the first one but there are others.  Basically, it pits different Star Wars characters against each other to see who would win.  It is not my cup of tea but they read these all the time and will have in depth discussions with eachother as to why they agree or disagree with the books answers.  Hunter just ordered his 4th off of Amazon... Hunter is a tight wad with his money so if he spends money on something, then I know he loves it.

Harry Potter Series by JK Rolwing
  When this series first came out, I thought "when I have kids, I will not let my kids read that.  Witchcraft and magic- no way."
  As I have gotten older, my love for reading has multiplied.  I decided that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and so I read the HP series a couple years ago.  I loved it.  At the time, Hunter was in 2nd grade and I wanted him to read it but struggled with knowing if the magic was going to be a hindrance for him.  Then, I started thinking about all the super hero and fairy tale world and the magic that goes into that.  I realized that it was my responsibility to help the boys understand pretend from real life.
Anyways, I read the series to Hunter during his 3rd grade year.  After each book, we watched the movie.  We had some really good discussions during this process.  I have promised Ashton that he and I will go through the series next year.

Percy Jackson Series and Heros of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan
  Both of these series are great.  Hunt and I read Percy Jackson (5 books in series) over the summer and then we started the Heros of Olympus series in the fall.  I would go as far to say that it is semi-educational as well as you learn quite a bit about Greek/ Roman life and the mythology.  Hunter has mentioned a couple times, "I learned that in school." or "I told my teacher about that."  We are on the second to last book (book 4) in the Heros of Olympus series.

The Action Bible
This is the Bible for kids .  It is comic style and fun to read.  The pictures are great and the content is spot on.  Both Chad and I have learned things from this Bible.  We have read through it at least 5 times over the past couple years.  Great night time Bible story read.

The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth N Taylor
Though we love the Action Bible, it is a deep and wordy.  On a normal night, Hunter and Ashton get the Action Bible and Shepherd and Bennett use this one.  Shepherd enjoys the Action Bible too, but since he and Bennett share a room and go to bed at the same time then it is easier to just use this one.  As mentioned, Shepherd can easily read this one to Bennett which makes a mom's heart happy.

For this Summer

Drawn Into the Heart of Reading
Last summer we had designated time to read.  I used the workbook, "Drawn Into the Heart of Reading."  I highly recommend this guide.  Click the link above if you are interested in a detailed description of the curriculum (it is technically a homeschooling reading curriculum that I use for a summer program.)

Here are some books that I have on the boys "read list" this summer.  Most of these were books that I read as a kid that made an impact on me.  We will not read all of these this summer- these are just some that made the short list.  And of course, they will have many library visits to pick out books that they want to read that are not on "my list"- I mean, I am not a dictator. haha :)
1- Bridge to Teribithia by Katherine Paterson
2- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
3- In Search of Honor by Donna Lynn Hess
4- A Father's Promise by Donna Lynn Hess
5- Medallion by Dawn L Watkins
6- False Coin, True Coin by Lois Hoadley Dick (if I can find it at mom's house)
7- Chronicles of Narnia Box Set (mentioned above).  There are 7 in the series so we have a lot more to read.

Hunter likes the historical fiction, Ashton will want to read any fiction or non fiction book about sports, Shepherd likes mysterys (with a touch of goofy), and Bennett- well, he likes anything with tractors or Paw Patrol.

Oh, and I am sooo proud of my husband.  He is actually reading a book right now as well!!!  I would like to think my addiction to reading is paying off.  (Anna, he is finally reading the Bonhoeffer book you guys got him a couple years ago and he is telling me random facts about the dude all the time.)  He doesnt read often (besides the Bible, his annual read of "The Art of War", and football books) so this is a major victory.

I would love to know of any books your boys (or girls) are reading that they love... and I will add to "the list."

Shep's Half

This past week, Shepherd officially hit 6 1/2.  Shepherd continues to be the sound of laughter  mixed the wailing of pain.  If he and one of his brothers gets into an altercation, Shepherd will sound like he is dying by the end of it.  However, he can get slammed in the face with a soccer ball or trip and fall and bleed and barely make a sound.

I know I just posted this picture, but I love it.

He is goofy funny and appreciates slap stick comedy (of which I have very little tolerance.)  His two favorite shows right now are Pokemon (which I hate) and Uncle Grandpa (which I almost hate).
With our differences in TV programs though, he really is much more my child than Chads.  Chad is very perplexed by the way Shepherd thinks- slightly abstract.  Shepherd beats to his own drummer, to his own time.

Again a duplicate, but this sums up Shepherd's joy (his lip is pretty much pouring blood (I had to edit it to get some of the blood off his lip) and he is goofy smiling)

He loves to draw, color, paint, and write and goes through pages and pages every day making his masterpieces.  My dining room table is normally in a state of disarray from Shepherd's artwork.

My dining table right at this moment. 

He still really enjoys soccer and is getting much better. He is playing U8 this season and has scored a goal and had a really good season.  Because I coach all their teams, I dont have any pics of them, but I am super proud of the way he has played considering he could still be playing U6.

Kindergarten has been a breeze for him.  I had to ask his teacher to send harder homework for him.  So, he was doing 1st grade work and doing it with ease.  He reads really well--- not sure of the level.  He will often read his Bible story to Bennett and me at night.  At night, he (and Bennett) still demand that I give them rapid fire kisses when I put them to bed.

Shep continues to be my happy spot.  Even when in his foulest mood, he will get tickled over the smallest thing.  I love that he laughs with such abandonment.

For our date today, he chose.... Chuck E Cheese... again.   This time, I even got to eat there.  : /  One day, he will outgrow it.... one day he will outgrow it... one day he will outgrow it.  He was really sweet though, he used his tickets to buy his brothers little presents.  He also went to Target and picked out this Star Wars head to paint (you can see it sitting on the dining table picture).


Shepherd, my super surprise baby.  You are like hugging a bear cub (I have never actually hugged a bear cub, but I imagine hugging you is similar).  I love the way you can diffuse situations with your smile.  Parents of your friends always tell me how their kids come home talking about "the funny thing Shepherd did today."  Life should be fun.  Keep your since of humor all the while knowing when to "be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be courageous, be strong." I Corithians 16:13

I love you is an understatement.
Mom

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April 30 has become a wonderful excuse for my whole family, on my mom's side, to get together to celebrate GrandmaDean's birthday.  Remember the surprise party last year.

Yesterday, the whole crew, besides my cousin Stephanie, was able to converge in on GrandmaDean.   There were lots of  laughs, loads of kids, good food... and drink.

Anyone who has ever met GrandmaDean will quickly confirm that she is the coolest.  Very few people can say that not only their mom but their grandma is a best friend.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible women.

The Group Shot.  2 daughters led to 5 grandkids led to 9 great grandkids (so far).  Pretty cool

Here is the day in pictures.

GrandmaDean getting some baby snuggles with Esme' watching.  

The boy cousins stayed BUSY running around.  One of the rare moments they were still.

My mom and GrandmaDean

Miss Shelby supervising the chaos.

Ms Esther, seriously the most social cat ever, takes a nap with all the noise.

Sometimes you snap a picture of your child and it takes your breath away... that is this picture.  He wasnt mad, he was just trying to be serious.  He burst out laughing, see picture below, immediately after.

Shep and Hunter being the ever goofy selfs.

Stoic Bennett.  He had a rough time as his fingers got stuck in the storm door.  He was grumpy for the reminder of the party,  nursing his injured hand.

Spencer, my cousin Anthony's little girl, getting used to all these boys running around.

Caelum enjoying some time alone.

Pretty little Eva... the sweetest baby

Ashton cheesin it up... this is what happens when I ask for a serious picture.   Maybe I will ask for more serious pictures if this is the result.

haha- She will kill me for posting this.  Love you mom.

Anna!!!! Look at how beautiful.  A mom with her girls. I will send you the file for this one or maybe I will print it for you since I doubt you will... haha :)

The 2013 "babies" hanging out.  

The grandkids (minus Stephanie) with the best grandma.

GrandmaDean, hope you know how special you are to me.... to all of us.  We love you!!! Happy Birthday.

Ashton's Half and Surgery

It is time for those half birthdays to start cycling around.

Ashton is officially 8 1/2 today.  Second grade has been good to him. He has grown up (not so much physically - still skinny as a rail, but mentally) this year  He is still dramatic and mouthy but he doesnt act out as much when he is tired.  He used to be the one that if he didnt get a FULL nights sleep, then he was a MESS the following day.  However, now he copes much better.  Though he and Hunter go to be between 8 and 8:30, you can normally hear them talking until after 9.  Chad will sometimes tell them to be quiet, but I let them talk.  Hunter and Shepherd cringe when I kiss them, but Ashton will still kiss me every night.  I love it.  :)

Ashton still dominates on the soccer field.  He is still the youngest on his U10 team and he shines out there.  It is good thing he is athletic because he doenst have a lick of rhythm.  Coming from a family/ extended family that has some semi-musical people (on both sides), Ashton inherited my dads lack of musical ability.  Maybe it will click one day or... maybe not.  He cant clap on beat and almost always sings a word behind.  haha- Hunter is quite troubled by this.

For our annual half birthday date, Ashton and I hit an early dinner at his favorite place, Panera, after his soccer game on Saturday (where he scored and played an incredible game). (Let me brag on all kids - they all scored a goal in their games this weeken).  We, then foolishly, hit Carowinds (on a Saturday).  It was so crowded, but he didnt seem to mind.  He really loves one on one time so he talked my ears off.  It was a lot of fun.  He really is cool kid.

Carowinds date.

As for his surgery... I mentioned in my March Recap post that he had an extra tooth that was blocking his front tooth from descending.  He had the surgery about a month ago.  The tooth was freaky huge, looked like an animal tooth.

The tooth on the left is his "extra tooth), the tooth on the right was his baby front tooth that fell out in December.  

The surgeon wasnt sure if his permanent tooth was going to come down on its own if Ashton will have to go back and have it surgically pulled down. :(  So far, there is no sign of the tooth coming down so he may be going back.

Three hours after surgery, out riding his bike.  Kids are so resilient.  Look at his poor weak eyes though.

 They had to put him to sleep. I tried to prepare him for the feeling of getting gassed.  He was very funny after the surgery insisting that he never even went to sleep and that the surgery did not happen. It wasnt until I asked him about the stitch in his mouth that he looked perplexed.

Ashton, you are a really neat kid.  Kids at school love you, teachers always comment on how kind you are to others and how you are a leader.  Leaders have much responsibility, so lead well/  make good choices.  And continue to be Awesome Ashton.

Love ya sweet boy
~Mom