Random Shots

Here are some random shots from the week:

I have a couple of wiggly boys in my classroom and my student teacher shared a picture of a wiggle chair she saw in action at another school.  I showed the picture to Chris and he made me a custom chair.  This was a huge help for this student and it worked great!  Thank you to my amazing and talented husband for making this.  Now, we need another one!  

Colson flourished in swimming lessons this session at the YMCA!  He was tentative and unsure the first week.  He didn't like to dunk his head and was scared to jump off the side (because he had slipped last time.)  Well in 6 weeks, Colson's confidence surged.  His swim teacher was fabulous.  She was so positive and taught them in a way they could relate and understand.  By the end of the session, Colson was jumping really far out the his teacher, floating on his back, dunking his head without holding his nose, using the kick board independently and beginning to swim on his own!  What a difference!  We are so proud of him! 

The third graders at our school received a visit from the Enumclaw Kiwanas where each of the students received dictionaries.  This was a huge hit for the kids.  (And it meant a lot to the three older gentleman, too!)  The three classes were very well behaved, asked good questions and then were incredibly excited for their dictionaries!  

The sun has been peeking out here and there even though we've had mostly rain this past month.  The boys were able to enjoy some outdoor time and decorated the driveway with chalk!  It's the little things!

The boys playing at the new property with the neighbor boy, Collin.  Collin and Cannon played for hours Saturday.  I think they will be good friends.  

Colson was a tired boy after a long day.  He fell asleep about 30 seconds before pulling into the driveway!  

Enjoying every moment.

New Property

We've been working on the new property...finally!

Friday, Chris and Cannon put a culvert in, so now we have a driveway!  They also started pulling some downed and branches trees out to burn.  Saturday, Chris and Cannon spent the day out there and Colson and I were out there for half the day working on clearing some of the wood and brush.  We had a fire going and I spent three straight hours hauling wood to the fire.  Chris cut down a few trees and he and Cannon pulled out some big stumps.  There is quite a large pile of logs to cut up and take to Mayfield Lake. It felt good to accomplish something there.  We are looking forward to seeing more small changes as we now have the excavator to help us expedite the process.  Cannon is very good on the excavator and would be on it all day if he could.  Now, we just need to sell the Hood Canal place.  Everything will move along after that.  Fingers crossed we can clean up that property soon and get it back on the market.

Enjoying every moment.

Happy Birthday, Colson!

5 years old!
How can that be?
We are so excited to be wishing Colson a Happy 5th Birthday today!

Colson has been excited about his birthday for some time.  He's asked about it for a few months. We've counted down the days.  I love the excitement!

Today we got to celebrate Colson in an extra special way.  Today was his preschool field trip to the Children's Museum.  So I took the day off and got to spend it with Colson.  We all got to sleep in a bit.  I made Colson a big Number 5 pancake for breakfast!  Colson and I had a great ride to the museum and Colson enjoyed running around with his friend Preston.  They played with about everything there was and then didn't want to leave when it was time to go!  After the field trip, Colson chose to go out to lunch at the new Denny's in Bonney Lake.  Chris met us there and we all had a yummy lunch out in honor of Colson!  Then Colson and I spent some time at home snuggling on the couch and just relaxing...being together.

It was a good day.

Colson has a huge personality.  He is a sweet, caring boy at school and a very good student.  He listens well and takes EVERYTHING in.  It's amazing how much he is learning each day.  At home, Colson can be sweet and caring, but his other side makes an appearance.  The side that is impatient, speaks his mind and wants his way, or else.  He is definitely a challenge for us at times!

Colson loves to be read to, still sleeps with his little, blue blanket and would play Minecraft forever if we let him.  He loves to eat donuts, enjoys watching Wallykazam, and is usually asleep between 7:30-7:45 pm each night.  He is a very early riser, often waking before anyone else, sometimes before 6:00 am.  Colson is learning a ton this year at school.  He loves math and has an amazing math mind. He enjoys singing, likes to narrate everything he does and colors great!

We could go on and on about this amazing kid!  We are so proud of him and are glad to call him 'ours.'

Enjoying every moment!

Colson's Birthday Party

Colson insisted on having his party at Station 82 in Enumclaw.  We had attended a birthday party there a few months back and Colson did not forget about it!  I had a number of options for him to choose from, but he was positive that he wanted to have his party here.  He loved that they could play video games, especially Minecraft.  It's a large enough place everyone could spread out and do what they wanted.  The younger kids played with toys.  The older kids played board games.  And I didn't have to come up with any games or ideas to keep everyone busy!

Preston, Colson, Penelope, Evan

  Opening presents...

Cake time!  Colson picked out the cake and colors.

Happy Birthday, Colson!  We are so lucky to have you as part of our family!  We love you!
Enjoying every moment.

YMCA

We sure have been enjoying the Sumner YMCA and the boys are again taking classes this session. Each are only signed up for one class this time.  Cannon is taking beginning Judo.  He is really enjoying it and I think he will continue on with it.

Colson is taking another round of swimming lessons.  He didn't want to, but really needs to.  Colson does enjoy it and we can see a great improvement from his first lesson.  We are proud of him!  He's learning to swim with the kick board, float on his back, kick his legs and move his arms correctly and more.

We've also enjoyed going to the Y just to swim.  The boys love the warm water and often times see friends there.  Cannon could swim for hours!  He tested for the yellow band-the highest you can get-which means he can swim by himself and go in the lap pool.  He really likes swimming with the flippers.  He says when he uses them, he has to make sure his swim shorts are tied tight because he swims so fast!  lol!

Enjoying every moment.

New Excavator

We have a new toy.  Actually, not 'we' but Chris and Cannon have a new toy.  It will for sure come in handy as we clean up the Hood Canal property and as work on the new property where we will build.

Cannon was the first to drive it and did a great job for never being on one before.  He worked on pulling out bushes along the fence line of the neighbors yard.  I think Chris was a bit jealous and he finally got to take his turn a bit later!

Colson even rode on it with Chris and worked the levers.   :)   Of course, all of the pictures are of Cannon on the excavator.  Oops.  I'll get more soon.  Chris and Cannon have been working on extending our flatbed trailer so the excavator will fit.  Hopefully we will be working at the Hood Canal place this weekend!

Enjoying every moment.