In the Midst of Summer Fun........

 


Dear Joshua and Luke, 


Two!  Four! Six! Eight!  Who do we appreciate?  VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL!!!!!  It was another awesome week of Vacation Bible School.  Both of you  learned so much at Vacation Bible School this year.  You had a lot of fun  in your classes, made a lot of crafts, sang songs, and so much more.  The sweetest thing was listening to Luke at Joshua's baseball game the other night.  Luke was telling a sweet, little boy that Jehovah was another name for Jesus.  Luke was trying to teach him something new.  I was so proud listening to him.

Luke and I celebrated Grandma Nichols's 84th birthday with her this week. She was so happy to have so many of us with her.  Heather, Christopher, Kaitlyn, Tina and I went to the June birthday party celebration with Mom at the nursing home.  She looked so happy!

Happy 84th birthday Grandma Nichols! 

 It was a difficult week for Aunt Tina and I as we began packing up the things in her apartment to move to the nursing home.  It is such a final move.  We hoped that the open heart surgery would have helped Mom to get stronger, but it did not turn out as well as we had hoped.  She recovered from the surgery and worked very hard in rehab, but everything just is not working as well as we had all predicted.  She is getting around in a wheelchair, and she has more difficulty remembering things all the time.  The good news is that she smiles a lot and seems content. 

Dad and both of you went to your first Cub Scout camp - four days and three nights!  It was so hot, but so much fun!  You guys spent four days and three nights under the very warm stars and had an awesome time!   You went with about five families from your pack.  There were scouts from each of your dens.  You spent the days swimming, BB gun shooting, leather crafting, shooting bows and arrows, boating, and so much more.  Joshua learned some important information about first aid as well.  It was a jam packed four days, and a time you will never forget.  The only thing that we all hope is forgotten is how hot it was, and how uncomfortable Dad was sleeping in the tent.  Hopefully, he forgets about that before sign ups for camp come out next year!

Joshua passed the advanced swimmer test! 

Luke's arrow went crazy!  When he shot it, it turned all the way around and ended up sticking in the opposite direction!  That may never happen again!!!!! 

There are only a handful of games left in baseball.  It has been a great season.  We have seen a lot of growth in your skills this year, Joshua, but I am not sure if you will be playing next year.  You did not practice near what you could have done.  I really think you like to play, but are not as interested in being on a team.  That is OK, too because you have so many interests in other things.

Both of you have joined a swim team to keep you busy.  You both seem to love it.  There are four practice days each week so it involves lots of practice, but you both seem to enjoy it a lot.  Your strength and endurance is increasing all of the time.  You can start signing up for swim competition as soon as you are ready.  We will definitely try a few meets this season.

Next week should be a little slower-paced week!  Thank goodness!

I love you to the moon and back.

Mom 

#1 Dad

Fun while fishing!

 
Dear Joshua and Luke,

Happy Father's Day, Dad!  Thank you very much for all that you do for our boys every day.  We all love you so much, and we are happy to celebrate with you.  Our Father's Day celebration really started Sunday afternoon.  We met Grandma Bonny and the boys at Dairy Queen.  The boys spent the night with Grandma the night before.  After a fun dinner (the boy's choice), we went fishing.  Well, actually both of you went fishing.  Dad spent most of his time putting wiggly worms on your hook, untangling fishing lines, giving lessons on casting your reel, ~ and reeling in fish!  All eight of them!  It was a fun night of fishing, and together you both caught eight fish!  We did not take any home.  It seemed better to leave them in the lake, since the most fun was actually reeling in the fish!  It was a great way to end the evening.

The first big catch of the day! 

Woo!  Hoo!  Fish #2!

 

Hold your ears! 

 This has been a great first full week of summer vacation.  Last weekend started with a visit from your cousins from South Dakota.  There is nothing better than getting to play and hang out with your cool cousins!  You all swam in the neighborhood pool.  Both of you love swimming!  You took them on a three mile hike with the Cub Scouts.  Dad organized the hike for the pack, and it was at one of your favorite parks!  We all attended church together which is always special for or families.  It was also special that Grandpa went along with us.  Sunday brought a visit at Fort de Charters for the Rendezvous.  We ate a picnic lunch, then walked around to see demonstrations and look for treasures at all of the booths.  It was so cool to explore the fort, and imagine what had taken place there many years ago.  So many people were dressed up in character.  Watching the actors march into battle ~ shooting cannons and rifles.  It was very exciting!  Not to mention getting to spend a great weekend with your cousins!

 You both had a couple of lazy days at home ~ complete with lots of TV, DS games, and Pokemon battles.  This was much needed quiet time after so many busy days!  Dad took you to a movie with some friends one day. Then, you spent the afternoon playing at a water park.  You two have so much fun!  Joshua played another awesome baseball game.  He even scored a run!

Miss M reading us a story by the campfire!

 

Fun in the kayak!

Friday night was a load of fun with Joshua's Cub Scout pack.  We camped out with the boys on one of the pack leader's family's house.  It was a blast.  All of the boys from the pack attended the camp out which made it extra special, too. After Miss M prepared a huge feast for us, there was lots of time for fishing, kayaking, games, and another hike around the lake at 10 pm at night!  Miss M also prepared a deluxe breakfast the next morning.  For some reason, food always tastes better in the outdoors.  Not to mention Miss M is an awesome cook!  The boys also had fun with a scavenger hunt, more kayaking, and shooting BB guns.  What a great day!

The only thing that made this day even better was church with Grandma and a sleepover at her house.  You had a movie night which is always a favorite activity, then on to see How To Train Your Dragon Part 2.  Time spent with Grandma is always so special.  You are both so lucky to be able to spend so much time with your Grandma.  And after the movie......we met you at Dairy Queen.  We missed you so much that we were both anxious to see you Sunday afternoon.  What a great first full week of summer vacation!

Did we mention that Grandma & Miss Sarah went to a Cardinals game with us?

In case I have not told you lately, I love you both more today than I did yesterday.


Love.
Mom

Goodbye First & Third Grade

Luke & Ms. S

Dear Joshua and Luke,

The school has come to an end.....finally.  I think we were the last school district out this year!  Even though the last day of school never seemed to get here, there was a small part of me that never wanted it to end.  You both had the best teachers to match your learning styles and personalities this year.  Both of you grew so much!

Joshua & Luke playing football with their friends.

Luke - You just completed first grade.  The A's all across your report card do not accurately reflect your awesomeness this school year.  You have become an avid reader - devouring Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House books like crazy.  You are manipulating math numbers wherever you go.  Not just addition and subtraction, but multiplication, too!  Wow! You are a math wizard!





You have learned a lot in Atrium, too.  Your faith is growing all the time.  Listening to your sweet and thoughtful prayers for others speaks volumes.  You also thoroughly enjoyed playing basketball this year.  I know you are missing baseball right now, but you can definitely play next year if you choose.  You are riding your bike so well.  Your confidence in yourself has grown leaps and bounds. And then there are friends!  You have so many friends at school.  You treat others with respect and you are thoughtful.  You are always surrounded by friends.   I am so proud of the young man you are becoming!

Luke & his buddy playing Go Fish at a sleepover.

Joshua - This third grade year has been your year.  You devoured the entire Harry Potter series in a few months.  And loved every second of it!  In fact, your whole family is full of Harry Potter fans now!  Also, you won second place in third grade in the Young Author's contest.  You wrote a book about living with food allergies.  It was full of good information, and it was written straight from your heart.

Joshua spelling his first word at the Spelling Bee.

At the end of this year, you participated in the spelling bee.  I heard some kids say that they were not studying for it because they were not required to do it.  I was proud of you for wanting to be a part of it even though  it was not required.  You studied a good amount of time in the beginning, but not very much toward the end of the competition.   My focus for you was the fact that I was so proud of you just for studying and trying because I knew kids who had chosen not to do it at all.  Dad and I made a very big deal about that. But you ended up being one of the top three winners from your class who went on to compete in the Third Grade Spelling Bee with twenty other third graders.  With very little studying......you were one of six children left when you misspelled a word.  The best part of it was how well you took it, too.  You learned so much from this experience.  Even Miss A commented how well you took it during the class competition when you misspelled a word.  You are often very used to easily getting all of the answers, so this was a challenge for you.  But as usual, you surpassed our goals for you!

Joshua & his Young Author's ribbon

Besides all A's on your report card again, you ended the school year with earning the most Reading Counts points in third grade.  You received a nice certificate, a gift card to Barnes and Nobles, and a Reading Counts t-shirt.  Wow!  A lot of those points were thanks to Harry Potter.  Although you do love to read most anything!  You played on basketball and baseball teams this year while maintaining your love for playing the piano.  I love to hear you play, "Let It Go" and "Hedwigs Theme."






 One funny story about Joshua, Luke, and the Spelling Bee......

 Eric and I commented to Joshua several times how proud we were of his motivation to study for the spelling bee.  I even commented that the spelling list was difficult because a lot of the words were science and social studies words ~ words that were not even on the weekly spelling tests.  After Luke had heard us say this to Joshua several times, Luke reported that his class was having a "Spelling A" that only included the words that had been on weekly spelling tests throughout the year.  He added that there would not be any additional words on the Spelling A .   Luke mentioned the Spelling A a few more times before the end of the year.  I talked to Ms. S about the Spelling A.  Even though she was not sure what a Spelling A was either, we both had a good laugh.  Even though I always try to make sure that I am talking to both of you about your studies and school work,  it reminded me to make certain to ask you how the Spelling A was going........ 

Joshua & a friend with Reading Counts certificates

I could not be more proud of both of you!  You are both growing into sweet young men.  I love you both more today than I did yesterday.

Love,
Mom