Corban's 7th Birthday

It has been almost 2 months since Corban's birthday and I've had these pictures sitting in this file waiting for some comments. . .

The boys both had BIG birthday parties last year (backyard water party for Corban and Trampoline park for Gabriel).  I told them that this year we were going to scale it back.  Corban has been asking for a couple years to have a party at the pool, so he invited a couple friends and we did just that a week before school started.  He wanted to invite his friends Evan and Britton from school and Aela.  Since Evan and Britton both have siblings in Gabriel's class Corban said that we should invite them also.  We ended up with a fun group of kids (even though we had to last minute move things from the Aquatic Center to the Frog Pond pool since that Aquatic Center changed their hours).

All the party people, except Gabriel back behind his friend Luke

We had originally planned to have them swim at the Aquatic Center and then come back to our house for pizza and cake.  The kids were having so much fun though since we were outside at the Frog Pond, so Taylor went and picked up pizza.  After everyone was done swimming and eating we loaded them up in our cars and drove them to our house for cake because Corban was insistent that he was getting an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen this year and that wouldn't do well at the pool

Gabriel with the partyware

Corban with his ice cream cake

After we brought people back to the house Taylor headed off to get some work done and the kids played outside and all around the house.  It was a little loud but they had a good time and once one of the moms picked up her kids I took the others home

Evan and Britton eating their popcorn like dogs apparently.  I was impressed
when Britton got out the broom and cleaned up after they made a big mess

Corban's actual birthday was the Sunday after school started, which presented a challenge since Taylor was leaving that morning to go and take a class in Michigan for the week.  So, we all decided to celebrate Corban's birthday as a family on the first day of school, August 18th.  Corban chose Mellow Mushroom for dinner and we went home afterwards and he opened his presents.

These days Corban is into Minecraft, all kinds of pretending, swinging on the rope swing in the backyard, Sonic, Narnia books, cats, and most of all Legos.  He can sit and entertain himself with Legos for any length of time.  When he gets home from school he often wants to go into his bedroom and just play with them alone for a while.  We were trying to think outside the box and get him things that weren't Legos for once, especially since everyone in Taylor's family pooled their money and got him a huge Lego set that he really wanted and we knew that was coming in a couple days.

Tails (from Grandma Cheryl)

Eggman Robot (from us)

Link sword and shield (from the Bergerons and us)

Always love a good cat stuffed animal (from the Spears).  He has actually created an entire "world" in his bed that he calls "Cute Land."  Most of his stuffed animals are involved in some way and there are arranged accordingly.  Apparently they sleep all day while he's not in bed and party all night while he's there.

On his actual birthday morning we got up and got ready for church.  He wanted doughnuts for breakfast so we did that.  Taylor left for his trip and we went to Sunday school and church.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, Corban worked on his huge Lego set from Taylor's family, and we ended the night like many Sundays with the three of us home with pizza and a movie.

Huge Ninjago Bot that divides up into different vehicles

Corban got to pick the movie but I can't remember what it was

Happy 7th Birthday to this snuggly, silly, energetic boy! 

Start of School 2022

Since we are just finishing up the first quarter of school today I guess my "start of school" post should get done.

Corban started the 2nd grade and has the same teacher that Gabriel had in 2nd grade.  We LOVE Mrs. Carr.  She is the perfect combination of discipline and grace.  Gabriel thrived under her structure and patience and we were so happy that she could teach Corban this year.

His class lost a couple students this year, so there are only 6 of them as of now.  Due to that as well as a huge kindergarten and 1st grade group, Corban's class had their lunch and recess times moved to match that of 3rd and 4th grade.  We weren't sure what would happen with the boys having recess at the same time, but they actually both seem to do their own thing and play with other friends most days (which is good -- they see each other and play together plenty at home)

We asked Corban if he wanted to play a sport this fall and he said "no".  The boy his age across the street is playing soccer and his mom is coaching.  They asked him to join them and he thought about it for a few days, but then declined that as well.

Another boy at church a little younger then him started Cub Scouts this fall and his mom was telling me about it.  Corban heard us talking and got curious and got so incredibly excited to try it himself.  The pack is run by another couple from our church, so Corban is now a Wolf in Pack #44.

In addition to Cub Scouts he also is still taking piano lessons on Tuesday afternoons.

Gabriel started 4th grade and his teacher is Mrs. Mashburn.  She has a very different teaching style and structure than he has had the past couple years, but I like that she is really encouraging them to take responsibility and keeping them accountable to do little, important things.  For example, Gabriel actually failed his second spelling test of the year (the class has two spelling groups and he's in the advanced one).  He's never failed anything, but she took off points if she couldn't read his handwriting (when he rushes you can barely read it and when he takes him time it looks great).  She also takes off points when there is no space left between words because you can't tell what it's supposed to say.  In addition to that, they go over their spelling words on Monday and then they don't spend any more time on them in class until the test on Friday (there isn't even spelling homework every night). She also gives them their homework for the week on Monday and just expects it all to come back on Friday.

Gabriel actually told me last week that school is seeming more stressful this year, and I can understand why he would say that because this is the first year that everything wasn't "easy" for him.  We have had to go over his spelling words with him a couple nights a week (something I have never done with him before because the words were not a challenge for him).  He's also one of 4 other kids in his class doing 5th grade math this year.  He hasn't seemed to have a problem with it, but he's certainly not breezing through it and getting a 100 on everything.

Besides the academic part though, Gabriel has some really good friends this year that he made last year. There is a really energetic and creative group of boys in his class and he really enjoys each of them for different reasons, and has two boys that he would call his "best friends."

In addition to school he is still taking violin lessons once a week (and was so excited to get a bigger violin a couple weeks ago).  He is also playing Christiansburg Rec baseball and has loved having Taylor help out with the coaching some.

 

Summer 2022

As I look back at the pictures from the summer I realize that I didn't take very many :)

The summer was, as it tends to be, full of things.  I'm trying to think of the things that don't have pictures below. We went to the pool and played outside a lot, the boys went to Georgia with Taylor and stayed with his parents while he had Presbytery meetings, they went to soccer camp at VT, baseball camp at the high school, basketball camp at the rec center, went to "Harry Potter STEM camp" at the children's museum, the boys went camping at Claytor Lake with Taylor, and I took a trip with them to Georgia to stay with my mom and see cousins.  Now that I type that out that seems a little crazy, but some of those things were only for a few days.

We were so happy to have $2 movies back this summer.  We went to see several (Lego Ninjago, Secret Life of Pets, Space Jam, How to Train Your Dragon), some with friends and some with just us.

Our Chick-fil-a is now open all the time inside.  This doesn't seem like it should be a big deal, but it is.  Just this past Saturday (it's October) the boys did an in person Saturday project at Home Depot, went to Barnes and Noble, and then had lunch at Chick-fil-a.  Things that we did many Saturdays years ago but haven't been able to do like that since pre-covid. This picture also makes me think that the boys are still really into playing games and Taylor is happy that they have enjoyed learning "Killer Bunnies"

Taking pictures for the summer photo scavenger hunt for school

We debated what to do about vacation this year.  The past two summers we have gone to the same beach condo and loved it, but the condo was sold this year.  Gabriel has been wanting to go to Washington DC, so we decided to do that.  Amtrak goes from Roanoke to DC and was very affordable, and then we stayed pretty close to the heart of the city so that we had access to walking to sites and the metro.  I think that the boys enjoyed all of the modes of travel most of all.  Amtrak was nice because we could relax and move around (the boys thought the cafe car and Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches were really exciting) and the Metro was fun because they could stand while it was moving and stopping.

Amtrak

The day that we arrived we walked our things to our hotel (you would have thought from the whining that we walked 5 miles) and then went to the American History Museum.  It was a bummer that the entertainment section was being renovated because they wanted to see C3PO from Return of the Jedi and the Ruby Slippers from Wizard of Oz.  They still had fun exploring though.

The second day we were there we took the metro and then a bus to the Air and Space Museum in Chantily (the one is DC was currently closed).  I'm glad we made the trip because there were so many neat planes to check out.  On the way back from that we went to the National Archives and saw the original Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.  We had shown the boys National Treasure leading up to the trip and Gabriel said very loudly while there "We're going to steal the Declaration of Independence!"  The Archives were neat because they had a kids section with copies of different documents from different states and interesting books for them to read.

I apparently didn't take any pictures the next day when we took the Metro to the National Zoo, probably because it was so HOT.  We went to a bird show and saw lots of animals.  Corban picked out his trip souvenir, a small stuffed red panda that he now sleeps with and calls "Red."  (Gabriel chose a small copy of the Declaration of Independence for his souvenir).  After we left there we were so hot and tired so we went back to the hotel and they swam in the pool and then watched "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy", which they discovered they really liked.  The random things you do on vacation.

The final day there was very busy.  We had a guided tour of the Capital in the morning (which was really informative), then went to the Museum of Natural History (they love "Night at the Museum"), went paddle boating in the Tidal Basin, and then walked to the Washington and Lincoln Memorials

Duck and her babies at the reflecting pool

At the Lincoln Memorial Gabriel kept tracing the memorial stone to MLK from
where he gave the "I have a dream speech."  He seemed captivated by that

And then we were back home for the last few weeks of summer.  In the picture below the boys are at the pool with their friend Aela.  We have known her since kindergarten and I really think that they both see her as a sister.  Corban wanted her at his birthday party this year and they both really enjoy playing with her

Doing his favorite thing - building with Legos

Duck pond with Aela

Corban grabbed one of the baby ducks.  The mom was not happy. 
Aela succeeded too and the mother pecked her

Gabriel did a free camp for a few days called "Youth Experiencing Science" that the VT Chemistry Department does for kids 8-12.  The chemistry grad students work with the kids and do fun science things and also teach them about their research.  At the end of the week they present what they have learned at a local Blacksburg Festival called Steppin' Out.  Gabriel really enjoyed the experiments and getting to sit in a college lecture hall

Grandpa Gregg and Grandma Debbie came to visit for a few days so we took them on a hike at the Cascades.

Birthday party for Gabriel's friend, Bentley

Touch a Truck was also back this summer.  I took the boys and we stayed for a couple hours but it was really hot and they didn't want to wait long enough for most of the trucks.  They have seen many of them before and they were more interested in going to vendor booths and seeing if they could get free candy.  They still had a good time though and Gabriel spent quite a while asking questions and talking to a SWAT team member.  He was showing the boys various types of armor, shields, and tactical things.

Panda Express after the trucks

The boys wanted to try growing some things again this year.  The okra and watermelon did really well last year but this year our harvest wasn't so great.  We got a few beans and cucumbers.  The thing that surprised me though was the corn that we planted.  It grew so fast and so high and required very little maintenance.

Reading before church

 That wraps up everything that I can think of about the summer (which is good since it's now fall).  I will try to make another post soon about Corban's birthday and the start of the school year.