Bits of Adam

Adam's Fort

Eli and Adam have a tree house...though Eli claims it is his tree house, not Adam's. And I am sure you can guess who gets to make ALL the rules about that tree house. Eli. Eli is in charge of the tree house and anything that goes on at the tree house, including who may come up to the tree house. Lately, we have had issues with littles being bossed around by bigger littles. Eli is tired of a certain neighbor taking over and "ruling", "ruining", or "stealing" his ideas, his fun, or whatever it is he wants to do. And, Adam, being the good sport that he is, doesn't usually mind letting big brother be commander in chief and usually he doesn't mind giving other in charge neighbor time too. Till lately. I think he needed a break from being under someone, whether it was Eli or the other in charge neighbor. He was given a bit of wood (under the envious eye of Eli) from a moving neighbor and went right to work building his own place. A fort right in the front yard. (A rather smart place where the mommy police can see what was going on and give some protection.) He was soon joined by his little friend (who also has a big brother) and they finished the job together.

Adam's "in charge" signs...

After the fort was done, Adam went to work to erect a flag he had made and tied to a very long stick he'd had around all summer. It took a bit of work, but it finally stood in the corner of the yard for a day or two, then he moved it over to the fort where it remained...

...until big brother convinced little brother that they could share the tree house again and that it would be a good idea to use that wood up at the tree house.

So, the neighborhood crew got very busy and quickly moved the wood up yonder hill to the tree house and there all the wood would still be, except that other in charge neighbor came and demanded that the black boards belonged to them and just about caused war until other neighbor was peacefully given the boards they claimed after a little mommy talk with Eli who decided he was very willing to keep some peace rather than fight over a piece of wood.

(Thank you for your help with that Eli. It showed that you have grown a lot.)

I hope Eli will realize one day, just how kind his little brother has been to him.

All that is left of Adam's fort... the pictures and the memory.

It was a great little fort. Good job Adam! You are a good builder.

Bubble Bath

Adam loves to take a bath now and then, especially a bubble bath.
And most especially a bubble bath when daddy goes overboard on the soap.
This is Adam fun at it's best.

Hmmm. Maybe I need a bubble bath. It's been a while since I had one.

Biker Boy

Eli has been faithfully and enthusiastically riding his bike to school every day rain, shine, wind, downpour, dark, cold, alone if need be...He loves it. He started riding so he could earn an award at school. He had to do it for 30 days. He finished his task today. He says he wants to keep it up all year. Except, he told me today, when it is pouring rain. He doesn't like that so much.

Good job ELi!

Signs

Someone has been putting signs around my house.

She says "in case someone comes to visit, they can know where they are".

I love kid stuff. It's sweet.

School Busses and Kindergarten

Do you know anyone that gets to ride one of these to school?
Well, if you know my kids, you do. Pretty cool.
I don't know how they do it in the states these days,
but these even come with Seat Belts that the kids must wear.
Eli had never ridden a school bus, till we came here.
I don't think any of mine know how nice they have it. They really like the Bus.

Today I wanted to share with you Kindergarten and the first sweet days of school
as kindergartners through Adam (a little late) and Mary Alice.

First, two years ago on the first day of school,
Adam was ready for Kindergarten and for his first bus ride to school.

Thankfully, we had a super big brother by his side to make sure he got there ok.

The smaller bus stop crew two years ago.

Boarding. This bus driver is my favorite.

After a successful first day, the best treat of all was
riding home on a DOUBLE DECKER bus.
The prize of my boys. Their favorite seats? The front row, of course.

Sweet.

This year, it was Mary Alice's turn.

She was ready.

Happy to see her friend, Lauren, who started kindergarten too.

A much bigger bus stop crowd.

Notice the rain boots, a must have for school (and everywhere here).

Sweet.
I love these kids. They grow up way too fast.

Tour bus/school bus line at school.

Adam's Baptism

On August 22, Adam was Baptized.
We were thankful to have Uncle Brian here for this special day.
I think Adam was really looking forward to being baptized in the fjord,
but that plan was tossed out when it was pouring rain.
Of course the rain stopped when it was time for the baptisms.
My thoughts on that one...they were going to get wet anyway.
It's not the place that counts, though. But the spirit, authority and preparation.
It was a very special day. We love you, Adam. Keep up the good work.

I am sorry that the only picture we have of all of us caught Adam somewhere else.

Where did we leave off?

Oh yea...May. Wow! It sure has been a long while since I last left any word...it's hard to know where to pick up sharing on this blog! I'm so sorry. We had a super summer we'll have to share with you all later. To everyone who came for a visit, thanks for the company! To anyone who still wants to come, it looks like our time here is ticking...we'll let you know more when we know more.

For now, here's what we've been up to this month.

School of course...and homework.
Eli is quite the little student. He love his fourth grade! They get planners in 4th grade and learn a lot about keeping track of homework and what needs to be done that day. He' good at it. His grade gets to earn "Academic Avatar" cards for extra work they choose to do. Eli is riding his bike to school for 30 days to earn one of these cool cards.

This month the elementary classes had Share In Our Learning. Each class had a time for parents to come visit their kids in the class and see what they do and what their class is like. This time I remembered my camera for each visit!

Eli, Showing off his wiggly pencil...

Adam, reading a bit during a free moment. Can you guess what book?

...and showing off his all about me page and fetching a folder from his back pack.

Mary Alice loves her teacher, Mr. Kallenburg. She was upset that she got a "boy" teacher this year. She just knew she should have had Miss Megan, Adam's old teacher. When we went to meet her teacher the day before school, she would not even talk to him. BUT, after the first day of school she came home and said, "Mom, I like Mr. Kallenburg. He's all right and he is funny!"


With school came soccer, or rather, Football here in Europe. I found myself suddenly volunteered to be in charge of organizing Kindergarten soccer. Phew! That added to my plate of - company in town, Dave just finding out we may be moving by Christmas, a kids sale I had to prepare for, girls camp to prepare for (a bit late in the year, but we pulled it off...), a Young Women's activity to plan for (my turn to be in charge) and Dave too busy with work to be home for dinner if at all. How do moms do this?! Thankfully, things are now much calmer and running pretty smoothly? I think.

Older kids are fun to watch, but my favorite will probably always be kindergarten soccer. These kids are so funny! You never know how a game will go. The girls often like to chat more than play, the direction gets confusing and they often score for the other team, there is always one or two crying or upset about....I'm not sure what, and at least a couple that have no desire to do anything with the game or even kick the ball. Last week, a few orange team members were doing stretches and tumbling type moves in the goal box while the ball was rolling by. I wish I had my video camera to catch the fun...

Eli loves to play.

We had to sort of make Adam play. Doesn't that sound mean. It really isn't for some kids. I was sure he wanted to, because he said so until it was time to begin play. He is not a fan of new things....yes he has played before, but a new team and new coaches, new anything, even the first day of school, is not a good thing for this boy of mine. When the season began, he sat in the car and cried. Now, he loves it. And, he gets to earn Wii time when he plays. I'm not a fan of sitting ducks and this is a fun way to get in some exercise. Go Adam!

The highlight of September for Eli, his birthday, of course!
First a celebration with the family - my favorite. We went out for Chinese dinner. It's the only day Dave will ever eat Chinese. Then we came home for cake and presents! It was way cool when we checked the mailbox on the way home and found Grammie and Grand-dad's gift!

This weekend we finished off his birthday celebration with a friends party. Next year....I think we'll just do the family thing. It was fun to have the party, but they wear me out!


Other happenings....

Can you guess what happened to Mary Alice's nose?
She had a lovely fall on the way to the bus stop Wednesday morning and landed on her nose! OUch! There was a lot of bleeding. I carried her back home and we cleaned her up, let her rest and gave her lots of love. Then, she became very concerned about missing her new favorite thing, Girl Scouts (which is after school on Wednesday's). She was ready to go to school right before lunch so off we went and she happily finished her day with her usual smile and fun personality! Good job Mary Alice. I am glad your nose is looking so much better.

The last bit of recent events....

The boys just being boys. I'm glad I was able to catch them on the camera.
Adam started looking through his straw then Eli had to have a look too.

Hopefully, I will take less time for sleep and post more...more often...or find more time during the day. I thought with all the kids in school all day I would find time to do so many more things...ha, ha. Later!