Catching up

Doing this post has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now. It's one of those thoughts that won't leave me alone. This post is for me and my family, so feel free to skip it!

UPDATES

Nathan - My sweet kid is going to be 5 next month. That's right, 5. A whole hand. He is a wonderful kid! He is a snuggler, a kisser, and a hugger! Nathan is a very social guy and likes to be in the "mix" of things! He loves being outdoors and doing anything physical (playing on the play set, riding his scooter, throwing frisbees, etc.). Playing Lego Batman or Lego Indiana Jones on the Xbox makes him so happy! He's compassionate and will be the first one to ask someone why they're upset and rub their arm. I love, love, love to watch his little mouth move and his facial expressions when he talks! It's hard to describe. I also love to watch his little bum move when he dances and how he talks with his hands - usually holding his fingers really close together as he's describing something to me. I love that he says "ho-tunnel" for hotel, "gobbles" for goggles and calls packing bubbles "chicken poppers" (we have NO idea where that came from!) I love his little hands and feet and he loves to play with my hair while I hold him. Nathan is very affectionate and tells me he loves me several times a day, out of the blue. He LOVES his Aki (stuffed elephant). Sometimes I just sit and watch him and my heart swells with so much love that I think it will burst! He constantly tries to keep up with Noah and mimics his actions (some good, some not so good). My boy has quite a temper when things don't go his way! Nathan is a great eater and always up for trying something new (he really likes frozen waffles and eats them frozen - ick!. He's a great helper around the house and is independent is so many ways!

Favorites:
Food - cherry tomatoes, pasta with meatballs, mac and cheese (esp. Aunt Jamie's), cheese pizza, and rice
Color - green and red
TV show - Phineas and Ferb
Movie - Curious George

Noah
My Noah is 8 1/2. Where has the time gone? He is in 2nd grade and has come such a long way! He continues to be a voracious reader and is currently working his way through the Harry Potter series. He's also loved the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and the 39 Clues series. He is in the top levels of math and reading and are already well into the 3rd grade curriculum. When he starts 3rd grade, he'll pick up where they've left off. He's made straight A's all year and joined the science club at school. He also takes art lessons once a week and loves it! Last August he joined the Cub Scouts and just earned his Wolf Badge! Last week all of the 2nd and 3rd grade classes had a performance singing songs from "Seussical the Musical". As I was watching him sing it amazed me how far he's come. With all of his sensory issues we've been dealing with for years, he's in a large gymnasium with 180+ kids, plus all of their parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. and noise that goes along with it and he's doing great! I am so proud of him!
He and Scott are into building model rockets and launching them. He attended his first Cub Scout Camporee and discovered he loves archery! This summer he is going to camps for Karate, Science, and Art. He loves diving in the pool for diving rings and jumps off the sides of the pool into the deep end. He creates and builds the most amazing Lego creations! He also takes most of the toys in the play room and builds a maze/contraption where you roll a ball and it hits a toy that knocks over another toy, etc. I love watching his brain work! Noah loves family movie nights, sleepovers with cousins, and reading in our bed with me. He is an awesome joke teller and cracks me up with the ones he shares with me! He continues working on the social parts of life and still struggles with handwriting. He's working with an OT and doing hand exercises to build strength in his hands. We're tweaking his medication and are trying to stay on top of his behavior. I love how Noah sits next to me and just seems to melt into me. I love how he asks me if I want to have a chit-chat and what we should chit-chat about. I love that he loves books as much as I do and that going to the library is a treat to him!

Favorites:
Food - raw baby carrots, cheese pizza, oatmeal cream pies, peanut butter no bake cookies, chicken nuggets
Color - green
TV Show - Survivor, Mythbusters
Movie - Kung Fu Panda

Erin
Erin = Busy and Busy = Erin. I think that's true for most of us, right? I volunteer in Noah's school every Monday for lunch and am in charge of Scholastic Book orders and Box Tops. I'm also on the Book Fair and Teacher Appreciation committees. In Nathan's pre-school I am the Room Mom and do a lot of coordinating and follow-up. I love to get my girlfriends together for Girls Night Out and organize FS orders. I'm thankful to be a stay-at-home mom (although I'm not home that much!) and tutor a couple of afternoon/evenings a week. I'm an avid reader and am in a book club that I ADORE! I've been exposed to books that I don't think I'd ever choose to read and have found that I've enjoyed many of them! The women who are in the book club and amazing and it is truly one of my most favorite nights of the month! Recently I've read Sarah's Key, The Secret Life of Bees, Peony in Love, The Maze Runner, The Help, True Colors, House Rules and Caught. In March I got to meet two of my FAVORITE authors at book signings and I'm so glad I went! First was Jodi Picoult. She read parts of her new book, answered tons of questions about all of her books and then signed books and allowed pictures. She was warm, funny and felt like my friend. Two weeks later I got to meet Harlan Coben! He is a mystery writer and I have a hard time putting his books down once I begin reading them. He was super funny, very sarcastic and genuinely humble. It was a pleasure meeting both of them! I try to keep up with my house, but my house usually wins and I'm learning to let some stuff go. This is NOT easy. I'm also trying to take better care of myself and scrapbook more often. I love being able to run my home, be in the kids schools, go on their field trips, and take care of my family.

Scott
Scott works hard for our family and I'm so grateful to him for that and his work ethic he shows our kids. He is very respected at work and known as a "go to" person when solutions cannot be found. It's amazing to me that he knows so much about so many things! Last summer he was pretty stressed with work and decided to take some time off. During that time he chose to do some projects around the house to keep his mind busy and not thinking about work. We have a downstairs bedroom that we use as our playroom and it has a deep walk-in closet. He built the entire thing out and now we have so much room for storage. Next, he decided to tackle an empty space in our gameroom. He turned it into 2 closets and now we have space to store Rock Band equipment, games, DVD's, the Xbox, and media equipment! Over the last couple of months he has wired the game room (with help from his dad and brothers) for surround sound and installed speakers, etc. that he's wanted for a long time. We need to paint, hang our pictures and then we'll be done! Such a handy guy!
Either last year or
the year before he became certified to launch fireworks. He has 2 good friends who do several shows a year and Scott is like a kid in a candy store when they call him! Last fall he helped with football games at Duke and the 4th of July show at Kerr Lake. He's going to do Kerr Lake again this year. He's also enjoying building and launching model rockets. There was a Boy Scout camporee earlier this year and he taught the Model Rocket merit badge. Apparently, it ended up being a huge attraction for the 800+ people who attended and he has been asked to attend other troops and share his talent. I'm so proud of him!
He has been the Cub Scout Commmittee Chairman since Noah joined Cubs. After the kids go to bed we like to watch a show together and chat to catch up on our day. We're trying to be better about going out on dates, but most of our time together is spent at home.

Ahhh...I feel much better now that I've done this!