summer snapshot - week 7

lots and lots more swimming, of course.
ella hand sewing little purses to clip onto her shirt, she is so creative and self motivated.
taking a break from packing to do a find the hidden picture book with john and ella.
john was very good at finding the hidden pictures, they were really hard to find!

trips to the library - christopher regularly puts books on hold thru the internet.
when we got home, everyone dove into their books without any urging from me.

the three younger kids were in an art camp this week, i think this is their 3rd year doing it.
it was john's first year, they added a preschool this summer and he really enjoyed it.
the older kids get to pick three classes a day to attend, they added some great ones this summer.

on the last day they always put on a show for the parents,
and all of the artwork is displayed around the room.

andrew took karate this year, it was one of the new classes (he's in the back, orange shirt).

and he took a drama class (did this class last year too).
they put on a play, i was very impressed with his voice projection.
he has met some nice kids who seem to choose the same classes he does each year.

he's so friendly and social, and makes friends so easily.
he can go into a new situation without hesitation,
and come out with a new friend every time.
i am so happy for him that he has this confidence, it will help him so much in life.

here are some of the works that were on display from some of ella's classes:
traveling artists class: dragon drawings (china), weaving, totem poles.

ella also took a 'home arts' class that was new this year.
one of the projects they worked on was looming, she is still working the beanie...

christopher finished the last week of basketball camp while the others were at art camp.

he helped me take a carload each morning to the new house and unload it all.

they pass out report cards on the last day of the basketball camp.

here are the ones from last year:

i will post the ones from this summer in my next post (i haven't taken pictures of them yet).

the coaches have really gotten to know the boys over the years, i am so happy about this.

they are such a good influence, to have such great role models is so important for kids.

one of the coaches goes to daily mass, he told the boys he prays for our family daily.

we are blessed to have them in our lives,

guiding (not only with basketball but life choices too) our boys as they mature.

the mad hatter

andrew's class put on a play on one of the final days of school.

alice in wonderland, not the entire thing - but a few great scenes.

andrew was the mad hatter.

to say i was impressed by him would be an understatement.

he was truly amazing.

he has been interested in acting for awhile, always wanting to be in the school plays.

he was in many: in the chorus, or with one or two lines as he was one of the young ones.

but, on one of his last days of the 4th grade it was apparent that his skills had blossomed.

he was so natural, witty and confident - even belted out a bit of a song...solo.
and never once did i see him practicing at home, even though he had about 46 lines.

it was so fun to see him play this part, i was really blown away by his ability.

his good friend, tessa, was alice.
andrew and tessa have been the two since kindergarten who seem to lead the class.

it was great to see them playing these leading roles together -
truly enjoying every minute of it and truly having a real talent for it.

his teacher explained after the play that she likes to give the students this opportunity to be
in front of an audience in a small setting - the classroom.
rather than be in the hall, or the new amazing stage - she likes to keep it simple.
so, that they can be introduced to it and not feel so overwhelmed by the big hall/stage.
what a great idea - they were all so comfortable with their lines.

i met tessa's grandmother at the play and she stopped me afterwards to tell me what an
amazing job andrew did.
it was a great year, and i'm so glad he had this experience on one of his final days.
i can't wait to see what the future has in store for him!

summer snapshot - week 6

the kids started taking lady on walks in the mornings, per my recommendation.

playing games.

i had the boys take down the posters in their room to get ready for the move.

there was a wounded bird that took refuge on the side of our house.
it provided great entertainment for the kids.
for a couple days they would go out and check on it, until it was gone and john said,
"mom, it's not there, a cat must have eaten it"
he was so nonchalant about the whole thing.
the way he said it gave me a good laugh, the boy does crack us up.

ella and i had gotten a tie dye kit back at the end of the school year.
she had her friend over to make some 4th of july shirts.
they did splatter ones and stripe ones, then wore them for the neighborhood 4th of july parade.

4th of july parade - first year we took lady.

she loved it and everyone loved her.

having cousins over after for a day of swim and basketball.

going out to eat downtown then to chris' office to see fireworks = very fun family outing.

lots and lots of swimming...thank goodness we have a pool- really gets us through the summer.

we go in every afternoon and mornings too if we don't have anything going on.

john continues to be a swimming maniac,

jumping off the side and diving board and then swimming to the side.

more mowing too.
the boys have been very good about doing it.
we went over to the new house one evening so the back would be shaded -
andrew mowed the back while the others went swimming.

more progress on the kitchen remodel/addition.
things are moving right along.

summer snapshot - week 5

john john learning how to swim by himself.
overnight, he turned into a little fish - he absolutely loves swimming.
jumping off the side doing a turn cannonball combination, constantly going under -
i just love watching him having so much fun and being so active in the water.

ella and john doing some 'school work' and playing games together.
john is so concentrated when he does worksheets, taking his time to color carefully.
i saw this in the little preschool he did this year (homeschool preschool-still need to post)
his 'teacher' would always comment on how meticulous he was with his work.
i just love how serious and calm he is while doing it...

the boys started a basketball camp this week that they have done for many years.
i think christopher has done it for 5 or 6 years, they love it and it's right down the street.
they go for an hour and a half everyday, perfect for just getting them out for a bit.
i didn't take any pictures of them there this week, so these are from last year.

the boys have been in the same age group for years but this year they are split up.
so, the go at different times - i think this is good for them this year.
last year christopher won the free throw contest on the final tournament day...

going to samurai comics for yu-gi-oh! cards, the boys are little encyclopedia's with these.
they got some as payment for mowing the lawns.

fresh salads for lunch.
christopher and i had blue cheese on ours, they were delicious,
and just hit the spot on a warm summer day.

getting tp'd.
there was a loud long knock on our door around 10 pm on friday night.
we had just tucked the kids in, and opened our door to find this:

we saw the car drive off and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out who it was.
then realized it was our neighbors birthday and he was probably having a sleepover.
so, the boys walked down to tell them we had caught them.
i told the kids we could tp them back, andrew said 'perfect, they're going in the pool now'.
he was dying to do something - and so it went back and forth the next morning too...

then, they caught andrew the next morning -
they had already been down to our yard several times, checking on their work,
adding a little touch - i saw it all from the front window, our kids were still sleeping.
they would see me through the window, and then scooter/skateboard off down the street.

once andrew got caught, he joined their party - he is such a social kid.
they started playing 'chicken' in some of our neighbors front yards -
everyone lays in the front yard in a ball, someone rings the doorbell,
first one to get up is the 'chicken'.

they took john john along too - they had a lot of fun.
i actually loved that we knew right away who tp'd us - it made it so safe and fun.
back and forth in a friendly way, they're all good kids.

demo/construction started at the new house this week.
so exciting and busy!!