Deacon Disaster

You guys, Deacon turned 8! As per usual now, we celebrated his birthday in two waves.

Wave One was the family (and friend) party. We had everyone over to the house for burgers and dogs, cake and ice pops, presents and hanging out. This year Deacon invited a school friend, Sean, to come over as well. 

We had a really great time, and were so happy to have spent the day with loved ones.

Wave Two was on his actual birthday. This year, we switched it up a bit and went mini-golfing! 

After a grueling game of golf, we got some McDonalds for dinner, which we ate at home while I made Deacon's special birthday treat - cinnamon buns!

He opened his presents from us that morning, and was pretty well pleased (if his face is to be believed).

When I took Deacon to his yearly check up he weighed in at 61.6 pounds (69%) and measured in at 52 inches (75%). The doctor was impressed to see that Deacon had grown a full 3 inches this past year! They're all getting too big. Is there no way to stop this?!

Deacon is such a fun kid. Josh and I were discussing recently how much Deacon's personality is like Josh's. They both always think they're right and will make sure you agree with them in that. They both will call you out if you make any sort of mistake. They are both day dreamers who prefer to spend time by themselves. They're both artistic people who love to build and are really rather hilarious. It's been so much fun watching this boy grow up, and I'm really looking forward to seeing just what he'll do/say/be next. 

I love you, Deacon! Happy Birthday!

We Will Miss This School

The last day of school was today. As excited I am for summer vacation and all that it holds, I'm a little sad. Since we're moving this summer, today was the last day we will be at the school the kids have been attending here. It's been such a wonderful place to us - great teachers, a wonderful principal, and an amazing speech therapist. I'm sad to be leaving them.

On the 12th, the 3rd grade had a Flat Stanley Day where each class presented a song (or two) from (or about) different places around the world. Afterwards the kids were broken up into groups and did presentations on whichever continent they had been assigned. Zeke did a sweet weather report for Perth, Australia.

The best part was that my sister, Kirsten, was there! (She had come up to babysit for the weekend as we had a wedding and what's it to attend.)

Last week the boys had an award ceremony. They each got an award! Deacon got one for reading:

Zeke got one for math ("I killed my multiplication facts!" he said):

I'm really very proud of both of them.

Yesterday was the day for class parties, and since it was the end of the school year and he's essentially the size of most of the kids in Deacon's class, I brought Finn with me.

He just sat himself down next to Deacon, kicked off his flip flops and made himself at home, fitting right in.

And now, it's over. Take a look at my (now) 4th grader and my 3rd grader, and compare them to how they looked in the beginning of the year.

My, my, how time does fly!

I Have No Real Title For This One

In case you haven't noticed, I've been pretty bad about blogging the past year and a half to two years. Once Zeke and Deacon started going to school full time, our days have pretty much been variations of the same thing - and that's not really anything worth writing about. I've also been super lazy about dealing with my pictures, so that has also hindered any blog-worthy writing. All of this is to say that over the past few weeks I have been working on it. I have been labeling and sorting and flickr'ing pictures. I have also been back blogging post meaning I've been writing posts and back dating them for when they should have been written based on what pictures I have from when. It's...been a process.

I am happy to say that as of right now though, I have labeled and sorted all of my pictures to date. June isn't finished because, well, June itself isn't finished. But everything up through May of 2014 is finished! Not only that, but I have put on flickr all of my pictures through 2014! I have also finished back-blogging through May of 2014! I'm using exclamation points because I'm trying to keep myself excited about my progress so I'll keep working on this while I have momentum going! I really want to get it all finished before we move next month. Did I mention anywhere that we're moving next month? Mayhaps I should tweet that later?

While I've been going through past things, I've noticed a few things that I thought I'd share here while I'm just rambling anyway.

One: I never did a picture comparison of the 3 boys when Finn turned 5. So, here it is.

Zeke (41 1/2 pounds, 44 inches)

Deacon (46 pounds; 43 1/2 inches)

Finn (46 pounds; 44 1/2 inches)

Two: Deacon has gown (aged?) quite a bit in the last year. I came across this picture from last Easter and just look at that sweet "baby" face!

Look at his handsome, not-so-baby face now!

He changed that much in ONE YEAR! What?!?!

Three: I have taken WAY less pictures the past 6 months or so than I ever have. for February of 2015, I have 16 pictures. February of 2013, I have 70 pictures. March 2015 - 12 pictures. TWELVE! March 2014 - 82. One more example, April 2015 - 24 pictures. April 2013? 134! Take into consideration how much easier it is to take pictures these days since I can take them on my phone instead of lugging around my big old camera, and it's really quite the...thing, for lack of a better word.

Anyhoo. It's been fun, and tiring at the same time. I have done rather a large bit of work, yet I still have a large bit to go. Which is my way of saying I'd better get back at it before I have to get the boys from school. I've also been knitting and crocheting a BUNCH of stuff. Maybe I'll write a post about that some time soon? 

He Totally Nailed It!

Finn has been taking dance lessons (or "agility training" as Josh calls it) since December. Yesterday was the big recital. I had no idea how it was going to go since he did this:

during the entire rehearsal Wednesday afternoon. Oh yeah. No amount of bribery would convince him to dance - he said no to both McDonalds AND Dunkin Donuts. That's some serious stage fright!

Day of, I had no idea what to expect. I promised Finn we'd get "special ice cream" if he danced, Finn promised he'd dance. We showed up, realized we forgot the tickets, I dropped Finn off while Josh took care of the ticket situation by getting this note:

After everything was taken care of, the 5 of us (Josh's mom came!) found some seats and waited for the magic to happen. And magical it was. The whole show was REALLY well done. However, my favorite part was this:

He totally nailed it! I am so proud of my boy! After their number the kids had to wait in one of the classrooms until the finale, which is when they were released to their parents. As I pulled Finn down from the stage, telling him what a great job he did, his first words to me were, "NOW we can get special ice cream?" Yes sweet boy, now we can get special ice cream.

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