Last Months at LL

Crazy to think it was the last summer for VW at Love and Learn. He has been growing, learning, and playing there since he was 3-months old! Here are the last notes from his final summer:

June 3 - VW has his ups and downs today. He still favors his hand and this is understandable [finger was shut in car door]. He did his worksheet without trouble. Plus, he sharpened my pencils. He threw 1 tantrum. And asked me if I was throwing a tantrum as I rubbed my head with my hands. My response "No I just have a headache." But I was very close. We both shared a quick grin!

June 4- VW had an up and down day (mostly good). We played a game like pin the tail, but we pinned Paul on the road instead. Boy did Paul take an amazing journey.

June 5 - VW had a good day. We only had 6 in class so noise levels were tolerable. Our projects were fun. Our class story is silly.

June 10 - VW had a typical day. The etching was fun but they look similar! He ran around and climbed on the playground like a crazy person. We'll see what happens after nap.

June 11 - VW had a good day. Mr. I has to be the first one done and was true to form. Plus coach game him a stamp. (Always good news).

June 16 - VW had a good day but was bit careless at play (throwing toys). He also bumped his head running under the playground equipment. A cold, wet paper towel took care of it!

June 17 - VW used a lot of aggression at play today. He also spent a lot of time in Time Out! He accepted the consequences well.

June 18 - VW has been a challenge this week. He did nice class work and Coach gave him a stamp for Happy Feet. I still love him, but find myself counting to 10 a lot!

June 19 - VW had an up and down mostly good day. His talking and rough play got him time outs (3)! He asked me if he had a good day. My response "mostly" (as I count to 10).

June 23 - Splash Day was a success. Everyone soaked themselves running throughout the sprinklers. Of course, the boys enjoyed standing over the sprinklers while their suits puffed out in all directions. Vince had a great day!

June 24 - VW had a good day. He listened better and earned 3 stickers. He still has issues walking in line, but he is not alone.

June 25 - VW had a good and busy day. He went right to sleep at nap time. He wrote his words well and made a pretty (yes, pretty) door decoration.

June 26 - Our plans changed this morning. We watched the school kids climb a rock wall. We played outside and in centers. Then we did an obstacle course. VW had a blast and a good day!

July 7 - VW had fun running and chasing friends through the sprinklers. 

July 8 - Other than his slip up of kicking a friend, VWs day went well. He's crashed on the cot and played nicely the rest of this morning.

July 9 - VW had a great day. Again he crashed at nap time. We were talking about good manners and VWs comment was (this was serious) "You can't go to school without your clothes on. That's bad manners!" Yes indeed!! I love this young man!

July 10 - VW was surprisingly easy to keep in line and on task today. Again he crashed at nap!

July 14 - No splash day. We did take a long walk outside. Our projects turned out really good and VW helped put artwork in the folders. He was awesome today!

July 15 - VW was very animated and active today. That smirk and eye twinkle were also very visible.

July 16 - VW was a bit mouthy (not rude) and animated. No stamp from Happy Feet (opps). He is laying quietly on his cot. He enjoyed using rolling pins to flatten play-dough. Our project is a two parter.

July 17 - VW had a good day. He bumped his head on the bookshelf today. He cried for 2 minutes and felt better after 5 minutes of an icepack.

July 21 - VW had a fun day playing tag with the boys as they ran through the sprinkler. Thank you for bringing snack this week! I really haven't made a list this month! VW loves bringing snacks.

July 22 - VW had a good day. Our project was fun but the outcome a bit different than I expected. We wrote words using 'ag'!

July 23 - VW earned a stamp from Coach today. He was well behaved and talked up a storm. His project looks great!

July 24 - VW had an excellent day! He listened and was quiet when necessary.

July 28 - VW was so glad we braved cool temperatures and ran through the sprinklers. He needed the 35 minutes of running!

July 29 - VW had a good day. Some none stop mouth, but that's VW.

July 30 - VW had a good day. He's still vieing for my job, but I won't give it up! And, I have the privilege of assigning time out.

July 31 - VW had a normal day except his excitement level was at the top of the charts! He's been hugged to pieces and wished well by all. We will miss VW very much!

We are so truly blessed to have had such great care for VW over the years. We made Ms. Susan and the directors some gifts for all the love, discipline, structure and learning.

Their generosity and care of our boys is priceless. And the friends they made heartwarming!

Ms Susan's thank you card: Thank you so much for the plants. I love flowers and ferns, any plant life that can grow with water, food, and TLC. VW has been a pleasure and a challenge but he's loved either way. Stop and say hello when you get a chance. Love to all!

Another sweet note from a favorite teacher, Ms. Joanna: I wanted to personally tell you that I am leaving Love and Learn, this Friday is my last day. I have taken a director position at Trout Lake Camps, a Christian camp in MN. As a floater here at Love and Learn, I have had a great opportunity to get to know so many kids and families. And I enjoyed getting to know your boys and family. DG and VW are great boys. I can tell you all have tried to raise them in a Christ-centered environment, it is evident by what they say and do. It was DG that introduced me to Matt Maher. :) It has been fun to see them both grow over the past 3+ years. They have put a smile on my face so many days, I have so many great memories of them both and I will miss both DG, VW and your family! God Bless!

Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle

VW has been teetering and wobbling on his training wheels, crashing near curbs and edge of sidewalks...it was time for these to go!  With a little encouragement from Dad and some bravery from VW, he was off! Go VW go!

 

 

We like to ride in Hs cul-de-sac, as it is safe and has a side benefit of seeing our cousins!

One evening when the cousins were gone, neighbor M came out to share Cousin NRs popsicles. They boys loved them and enjoyed the break!

Then we were courageous parents (or insane) but we took our first adventure around the neighborhood and headed towards a big hill! So big, DG thought it best to carry his bike to the top!

Getting closer and closer to the top...to the point of no return...to the lift your legs up and giggle (and prayer)!

These boys literally fly down the hill, giggling, laughing and screaming, while we sprint next to them, yelling remember to use your breaks and occasionally bear hugging them to stop! Nothing like adrenaline and pure joy for these two boys!

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

Fresh Veggies and Slides

Last summer we never made it out to the Old Market Farmers Market, so this year we decided it was a must. As we talked Friday night about weekend plans we realized school will start in a few weeks and still no Farmers Market. So Saturday morning off we went!

 

The environment was fun and crowded. The veggies, herbs and fruit divine. We purchased some green homemade salsa...YUM and some amazing chicken burritos! I know, silly to get no produce! Oh well! But would definitely go back for more!

 

We paused a moment to people watch and snack! Of course, you have to snack...a regular activity while we are out and about, even though we just ate blueberry muffins before we left! You would think we didn't feed these boys! 

 

Had to rearrange the cap to block the sun!

Then I also had on our summer bucket list to go to the slides at Gene Leahy Mall. Boy, did we all have a great time. We only had one head slammed against the slide, one time we flew off the end, and scraped our knees up the too large steps until Mommy suggested the steps with the handles!

The boys suggested we come back again...many, many times...minus the Farmers Market!

 

 

 

Great times all accomplished in one morning!

Brothers

Our boys are too precious. They fight and brawl, tackle and kick, they stand in each others corner, and protect each other to no end. They build forts and hunt for treasures, play pirates, superheros, store, restaurant, and fly through the air leaping of their swings. Play ball...batter, batter, swing. Ride bikes and giggle. Stay up way too late doing who knows what. DG looks up to VW and VW protects and comforts DG.

They are brothers. They are best friends.

[Fun photo shoot. Mommy got her superhero cap on too. We watched the golfers and "posed".
Ate gummy worms and flew through the air. Capturing their love and joy for each other.]

Top 6 Favorites

VW had the opportunity to spend four nights and five days with Papa K and Grandma. He had Papa all to himself while Grandma worked and boy, did he feel special!

Papa kept VW pretty busy and I think he enjoyed himself as well. VW hasn't quit telling us stories of what they did and we shake our heads on how different grandparenting is compared to parenting.

One day they headed out to hit a round. They got one tee off and it started to rain. They found protection under a tree because it wasn't lightening Papa assured me. Then it stopped so they hit another hole and the rain came again. So they decided to put away the cart and call it a day. VW then starts laughing and laughing as he tells the story...because when they walked out of the garage, the rain had stopped and the sun came out...so they went fishing.

VW was very proud to catch this big catch!

They headed out to the golf course another day! This day was great, but cool (thank goodness Grandma had some great garage sale finds with some warm clothes for him). VW loved golfing, although Papa says he hit and ran to nearly every ball! That is, when he wasn't driving the cart!! Seriously, Papa let him drive the cart by himself! Papa would walk to his ball and let VW drive to his. Once VW hit his ball and then drove across the fareway to pick Papa up, except VW drove under an evergreen and knocked down some dead branches. Just what a parent wants to hear...Papa telling us our son hit a tree with the golf cart and then hearing roar with laughter!  [Who are you? I would have never heard that if I had ran into a drive growing up!]

What a great time for VW and his grandparents. What a fun bonding time to have just each other! VW looks forward to the next time! When we asked him what is one favorite thing was he said: golfing...and fishing...and driving the cart / crashing the golf cart...driving the scooter...going to the library....visiting grandma. Buddy, that's six things!!! That's okay...I'm six! So there you have, the top six things when spending a week with Papa and Grandma.

[DG spent the week home with Mom and Dad. He had fun too and we did some special things eating out, getting ice cream, playing just the three of us. We just laughed how easy and different it was to just have one kid! If we only knew, when we had just one!]

C-O-R-N

Enjoyed our first yummy, scrumptious corn on the cob this weekend. We didn't really get much corn last summer, so was very excited to try some this year. 

VW had to be creative with his loose tooth, but was thrilled to chow down.

DGs technique was also unique...he preferred the licking technique. I think he managed to lick off every last bit of butter and left the corn. Oh, if he only new what he was missing!

Mmmm...corn!