Our transition from end of the school year to the beginning of the summer has been a whirlwind.  I wasn’t quite ready for school to be over, and wasn’t mentally prepared for what summer would look like. To be quite honest, we’ve pretty much just watch too much tv, drank too much coffee (me, well, maybe Noelle too) and have been too lazy.  Throw in a safe families kiddo and we’re pretty worthless.  But we’re starting to get the hang of our new schedule.

We did manage to go strawberry picking the first week of break.  I did most of the picking, Noelle wandered around and demanded strawberries, and Ethan kept asking if we could be done so we could get ice cream.  After I picked about 5 lbs, we went to the gift shop and got ice cream and berry pie.  My expectations were low, so I consider it a success.

Ethan finished his first season of tee ball and was a huge fan!  Though he spent most of his practice/games kicking dirt on the mound, talking with other kids, or practicing somersaults, he was enthusiastic and excited to go.  He now loves everything baseball and keeps asking when he can get a “hard bat.”

We also signed up for the summer reading program at the library, and they had an awesome “touch a truck” event.  Though it was hot and very crowded, the kids waited patiently to see a Fedex truck, a backhoe loader and a street sweeper.  Noelle loves trucks just as much as her brother!

 

The second week of summer we participated in VBS at the church where Noelle goes to preschool.  Ethan had a great time, learned lots of great old school church camp songs, and met some new friends.  A friend from tee ball was in his VBS class which he loved.  Noelle and I were in the nursery (with the volunteers kids age 2 and under) and got to meet some new friends as well.  We can’t wait to go again next year!

We also set up our pool and have had a few days of fun in the water.  We have had a lot of rainy days, but hopefully we’ll get it play in it more soon!

 

Ethan is becoming quite the big boy, and is very pleased that he is now 4 and a half.  He has been an incredible big brother to Noelle and to all of our Safe Families kiddos.  He has adjusted to each beautifully, and tries his hardest to take care of them.  He does however, still favor his own sister, and sticks up for her if he thinks she is wronged.  It is pretty cute, but we have to remind him frequently he is not the parent!  He is a smart little boy and is always saying something that amazes us.  We saw someone cleaning the fish tank at the library the other day and he said “hey mom, is that a siphon?”  The man cleaning the fish tank was quite impressed, and said his teenagers didn’t even know what a siphon was!

Noelle is still our little sunshine, with a few moments of two year old behavior thrown in.  She is quite independent, but loves her mommy time.  Between Safe Family kids and me working in the nursery at VBS, she has become sensitive to me giving anyone else my attention.  She will say “let’s snuggle mom” when I’m holding or taking care of someone else.  She is communicating so well!  While she is still behind other kids her age, she is speaking in sentences, and amazes us every day with the new phrases she says.  One of her favorite is “notch (watch) this mom!” and proceeds to do something adorable, like eat a bite of food.

Until next time…