You Don't Skip the Middle Child!

SO I was helping Noah find some pictures for his Kindergarten timeline and, to help me sort out chronology, I used the blog as a reference. AND THEN it hit me: I never posted about his birthday! I completely skipped January through...May. Wow, that's bad. And I was so proud about only being 2-3 months behind!

How did I miss this guy?!

Now I'm going back in time (what else is new?) to make up for it. At least a little.

In January we went to see the Texas coast for the first time. We stayed at the navy base near Corpus Christi and toured the USS Lexington:

These three monkeys had a great time and we all learned a lot.

We went to the beach to say that we did it. Even though it was pretty frigid and windy.

 

Somehow, even after sampling the weather in regular clothes, Ellie still thought it would be a good idea to climb back in the car and get her suit on while we weren't looking.

It was a fun and memorable trip.

Noah's 5th Birthday

 

While waiting for his bus, Noah got a  birthday hug from his favorite sister.

As soon as the door opened when school let out, Noah's class sang Happy Birthday to him. It was hilarious to see his funny, embarrassed walk as he came outside!

Noah had a great birthday.

 

Isaac had some excitement in January, too: his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby! He even won the Cub Choice Award for having an awesome tank that appeals to elementary school-aged boys. 

 

So that was January! If I stay up any longer, this blog will make even less sense. Good night. :)

June Happenings

Now that summer is almost over, here are some things that happened at the beginning of the season.

The boys had their last day of school. They brought plants to each of their teachers with measuring sticks that said, "Thanks for helping me grow this year!" They did grow this year, in so many ways.

 We said goodbye to Ms. Valadez, who taught Noah for her last year before retiring.

Two years ago she taught Isaac. She's an amazing teacher!

 Isaac joined the swim team and enjoyed it.

On a less-cool note, I broke some toes. Wanna see a gross picture of two days later?

Jared went with the scouts for High Adventure and came back looking like a mountain man. He had a blast; maybe I'll steal some pictures from his phone for another post just about that.

Ellie fell asleep at the dinner table (random, I know).

We finally painted our living rooms and put in some nifty new blinds. If you could see the "before" picture, perhaps it would be more impressive. That was a project that felt good to finish. Next up, the kitchen....

After the garden yielded a couple of potatoes, I let some mysterious plants grow. Turns out, they were sunflowerish weeds. But, nothing else was going on there, so there they stayed. Jare took some pictures of Isaac after church there.

We went to Government Canyon for a family hike, but instead attended a snake presentation/exhibition which was really cool. It was mostly about Texas snakes. 

Iron Man was melted in a preheating oven. He was placed there during one of Ellie's pranks and promptly forgotten. Noah was extremely distraught. Some very kind neighbors who'd heard of the affair had pity on Noah's poor heart and surprised him with a new one within a few hours. Did I mention the new Iron Man was about five times bigger? Yeah, that made Noah's day.

 And, randomest of all, this is what happens when Ellie dumps out all her toy bins to make beds for all of her babies.

June happenings, people. Just reporting the facts! July and Aug are going to be more exciting.

Kids Run 2013

Once again, Isaac and Noah participated in Lackland's Kids Run. It's free and it's a good time!

 Running to the track

 Ellie thought she was going to be in the race, too.

 Still, she was a great supporter/spectator.

 Getting on the bibs. They both decided to wear their race shirts after all, so the bibs did a lot of adjusting. So did our eyes! It was hard to find them when they matched everyone else.

 Isaac already had a battle wound from a recent bike accident.

 Warming up

 Game faces

 So serious

 Jumping jacks

 And they're ready.

 Ready and waiting.

 Noah does straight arms when he's in "turbo mode."

  Cheer squad of 2

 

Next year she'll race, too!

 I love Noah's face. It reminds me of Dick Van Dyke when he's laughing while trying to look sad with Uncle Albert on Mary Poppins.

Of course, it's tradition to try the the long jump sand pit afterward.

 The three sibs

Three tired kiddos. There was a shin-dig at the BX parking lot afterward, where we stayed and partook of free stuff/food/drinks. By the time we got in that car, we were all spent.