Happy Eighth, Elijah!

This boy turned EIGHT, last Thursday! It's the same every year, it always feels impossible no matter which child it is, and no matter what age they are turning. Eight seems big to me. Now he's in a whole new age bracket... and only one age bracket away from the teenager one! Eek! You know, 8-12. It's a fun age bracket too, though. I was very excited to put some things together for his birthday, some of which he won't appreciate or fully enjoy until he is much older. But I feel like this age is the beginning of true independence. searching, and a journey into becoming a young adult. I wanted to help him start his journey off right through a few special gifts. 

This is him opening his lego tool. For a long time now he has been using his teeth to separate the blocks, which drives me crazy, so this is a brick separator tool.

This book (above) "The Dangerous Book For Boys," is awesome! Okay, I have been eyeing it for some time, and knew that I wanted it for my boys, but once I brought it home, I almost wanted to keep it for myself! It has a little bit of everything in it from science experiments, to adventure stories, to how to master morse code, and speak Navajo. It has key history stories about our country, games, and poems that every boy should memorize. I realize that it may be a little hefty for an 8-year-old, but I think as the years go on, he will really learn to love it!

So on the very first page, there is an essentials list... things that every boy should have. It gave me an idea to collect all of these things and put them together as a gift to go along with the book. Finding everything on that list was a little trickier than I had first thought, but I got it done, after searching all over town and online. We even found this special lock box, to store it all in. 

Here is what the box included: a swiss army knife (I was a little apprehensive about this one, but we figured since it will be locked up, and rules made, it would be okay), a compass, a flashlight, bandaids, a box of matches(again, I know giving matches to a little boy -eek-)! a handkerchief (I love the idea of this, and all of it really, being so traditional)  a needle and thread, and a marble shooter.

He was so excited about all of it! And really he is a very responsible kid. I'm more worried about his little brothers, hence the lock code on the box.

After we gave him his essentials kit, daddy had a special few words to say to him about what is truly essential and important in life. He read a verse from the Bible, and added it to Elijah's kit.

This is the face of getting something he actually asked for... you would never guess... an electric pencil sharpener. Yep, he's a little quirky. I guess all that manual labor of turning the pencil over and over was really getting him down!

This was sweet. Owen had drawn him a few pictures for his birthday, this is him explaining them. I think he drew Elijah as a panda or something. He really loves his brother.

Oh yeah, it's my birthday! There are way too many candles on that cake!!!Right?! He can't really be eight! Which, it's not really cake, it's egg-free, dairy-free pumpkin bread. I knew Elijah wouldn't mind, I made it so that William could have some, and I wouldn't have to make a separate one just so that he could have something to enjoy, due to his allergies.

He blew out all the candles. He's officially an eight year old!

So, the next night after his birthday, he got to have a camp-out sleepover with his best buds and their dads. I was tempted to stay and spy on them, but instead William and I stayed at parents house so they could have their boy bonding time without a nose-y mother hanging about.

 

They had a great time roasting marshmallows, and twinkies, I am told.And telling stories deep into the night, and whatever else boys do...

Ha ha ha!

Eight. Wow. I feel too young to have an eight year old, but it's true! I think he will remember this weekend forever. And the journey begins!

September HIghlights!

It feels like September came and went with the breeze. It has flown by so quickly with busy-ness and life, that I can't believe we are about to welcome in October. It think it is my favorite month, weather wise, at least here in North Idaho. The mornings and evening are cool, and refreshing, and the afternoons are sunny and perfect for a bike ride or a little yard work. 

Since the month has gone by, so fast, I thought I would summarize a few of our favorite moments.

William is not the easiest one to get to sleep, so daddy usually gets tasked with that job while I read to the older two and put them to bed. On this particular night, however, I had put Will down, but he kept waking up, Martin had fallen asleep on the couch (we do have the most comfortable couch in the world), and I was trying to watch "Downton Abbey," so I asked Will if he wanted to lay down by daddy. He said "yes," and everyone was happy. What could be sweeter? He even gave daddy his baby to cuddle. I thought that was super funny.

Just before school started, I bought this new, very soft rug for our living room. It is everyone's favorite place to lay down. As soon as we got it all the boys couldn't helping laying on it. I especially love to catch William like this... Just relaxing looking through a book. It really does make the place more cozy!

One of the things I cherish, is my time with Owen before Elijah is home everyday. We get a few precious hours together... and it's our last year since next year he will be in 1st grade ALL day! We usually sit at the kitchen table for a while and chat, or work on a project. Many days he likes to go outside and explore. One afternoon, he found this praying mantis near one of our rose bushes, and spent nearly an hour playing with it. He made it a little home out of leaves and grass, he let it crawl all over him, and he talked to it. He is such a joy. 

I love this boy's baby blues! He cracks me up a lot these days as he is learning lots of new words everyday and trying them out. His latest one is sorry, which sounds more like "soddy." My favorite, though is when he says, "okay." He really draws out the "a-ay!" Adorable!

Okay... the pig race at the Spokane fair was pretty entertaining!

Here come those pigs!

William was ready to embrace them with open arms!

It wouldn't have been half as much fun without Papa... and Grandma too!

These bandits are always hanging around my place!

I love this one of Owen with daddy! He looks like he's really about to lasso him!

I couldn't resist having Martin hold up this prop! What fun we had at this photobooth!

 These awesome superhero cars were also at the fair.. so naturally, we needed a picture by them.

I particularly liked the cape for the superman car.

Picture day at school!!! Don't they look handsome?!

Owen looks so grown up here! They like to wait outside sometimes for their ride to school.

September Changes

Goodbye Summer! Hello rhythm and routine! September is here, and for us that means the steady, sometimes chaotic pace of school begins! Today was Elijah and Owen's first day of school. Owen started kindergarten (sigh), and Elijah began second grade! They are both still at an age where this is as good as it gets! School is fun and exciting and they are eager to soak it up, every single ounce!

I like the change of pace. We've been very relaxed all Summer (duh, that's what Summer is for)!By the time September rolls around, I am anxious for structure! Morning routine charts, After school, and bedtime routine charts are in place! It feels good to follow a schedule again, and the boys really do well making their check-marks on their charts! Elijah especially loves seeing what he's done and what he still has left to accomplish. 

This time of year, more than any other, makes me think of my own changes and person goals. Some people do the traditional January new year resolutions, but to me it seems more natural now to make new goals when the year actually has it's biggest transition. For us that is when the school year begins. It has me thinking of what I want to do in the coming year.

The other reason I am thinking about changes and goals is that my 30th birthday is about one year away (and a couple months). I thought it would be fun and motivational to set a goal to achieve before then, or maybe a whole list.

For now here is what I have come up with:

I have always wanted to write a book, and I have worked a few ideas over the years. This summer, an idea stuck with me, and I would really like to see it to the end. My goal is to get the entire rough draft completed before my 30th!

Goal number two is to lose 30 pounds by my 30th!

If it comes down to choosing one over the other... I'm going to choose the book! Wish me luck as we embark on many adventures with this new school year!

Before we did hair cuts!

This mini chef made tacos for dinner tonight! He even cooked the meat!