Skyzone for Jackson's Party

After 2 soccer games we went to skyzone (which just opened) to celebrate Jackson's 10th birthday.  The place is huge and the boys had a blast.  They played dodge ball, jumped into a foam pit, and jumped all over the place.  It was a great place for kids to burn some energy.  We had fun with our church family celebrating Jackson!

Pool is Open!

The boys have anxiously been waiting to swim for the first time this year and today was the perfect day for our first swim!  We're looking forward to enjoying it all summer.  And Ty found a frog, I think we have a few of them that live around here. :-)

Bon Fire

Tonight was a great night for a bon fire.  The boys find the sticks and love to make a fire.  I love that we get to do this in our new house!  Life with boys.

Our new pup

After much persuasion, Jeff finally agreed to get a puppy.  We have always said we would get (another) dog one day, and with the land we have at our new house, it seems the time is right.  I saw pictures from a friend of a friend on fb and I wanted one immediately, so today we brought her home.  Mark and I picked her up from Shelby this morning while the older boys were in school and we surprised them when we picked them up in the car line- she rode with us.  They were very surprised!

She loves running around with them, but she gets tired very easily.  We are excited to have her as a part of our family.

Soccer Opening Day

We are very excited for the boys first soccer games!  They both played really well and had a great time!

Sweet Ty

I love this paper Ty did at school.  It shows his innocence and how generous he is.  I love that he is always willing to share and that he thinks of others before himself.  He has obviously heard us talk about our cars (both are getting old).  If only we could buy a car for $100. :-)

AJ at 8 years old

8 sounds so grown up to me.  It's hard to believe AJ is 8!

AJ . . .

continuously amazes me with his knowledge of random facts.  He has a few fact books and he'll remember detailed numerical facts like the speed of light.

is doing great in school; he's above grade level for reading, he excels in math, his weakness is spelling, but taking extra time to study results in doing well on the spelling tests.

has a lot of activities right now.  He does chess club, boy scouts, soccer, and is practicing for the church musical.

now picks out his own clothes before school.

has developed a "teenage-like" attitude occasionally.  When I tell him to do something he will interrupt me and say, "I know Mom!"  I didn't think this started so young.

is very mature for his age and we have to encourage him to just be a kid and play.

loves playing mindcraft.

loves reading, espically Diary of A Wimpy Kid books, I survived books and Magic Tree House.

gets to stay up later than his brothers.  His bed time is now 8:00.

will learn how to do his laundry on his own now that he is 8.

his closest friends are Gideon, Miles, Sadie, Gracie and Juliana.

I am so thankful to see the growth in AJ the past few months.  He is an amazing kid and I am blessed to be his mother.  Wow!  I have an 8 year old.