Camp Mennoscah--June 23, 2012

This week, something happened that has never happened before.  Oliver went to camp and spent 2 consecutive nights away from home (meaning 2 nights away from me.)  That is the longest we have ever been away from each other in his 8 1/2 years.  I think we were both a little anxious about him going, (probably me more than him.)  We dropped him off on Thursday at Camp Mennoscah, a camp affiliated with our church, and picked him up this morning, with no communication in between.

So, did Oliver enjoy himself, you ask?  Let's just say, he had an AMAZING time!  In fact, when we picked him up, he gave me a hug and his first words were, "Can I come back here next year??"  Really, all the things he did at camp were things that he loves...spending all day outside, swimming, playing in the river, singing, crafts, being around his friends, etc.  I am so thankful that he had such a wonderful time!

 Oliver and his good friend, Chase.  The boys go to church and school together, and were also cabin mates.

 Oliver walking to his cabin with Pat and one of his counselors.

 Oliver in front of his cabin

Oliver and his counselors 

Eli running to Oliver when we picked him up this morning 

 Oliver playing one last game of carpet pool

Eli trying out the swings

Oliver's Baseball Game--June 20, 2012

 

Playing baseball can be a little tiring!  

Pool time--June 17, 2012

 Do you like Eli's pool?

 The boys wanted to play with water outside, and this is what they came up with.  It doesn't provide much room for any lap swims!

 Thanks to last year's Target clearance section, I had a pool for them to use instead!

Happy Haircut #2--June 16, 2012

A few posts ago, I said that getting Eli a haircut was long overdue.  Getting Oliver a haircut was long, long, long overdue!  He wanted so badly to keep his hair long, and I must say that there were times that I thought it looked cute long, but I COULD NOT TAKE IT ANY LONGER!  It was looking so shaggy and out of control, so I finally convinced him to get it trimmed.  (He is also going to Camp Mennoscah (church camp) for a couple of days this week, and I think he finally realized that having shorter hair at camp might be a little easier.  Camp is a whole other story...him being away from home for several days and nights for the first time.  He'll be great.  I'm the one you should be worried about.)

Anyway, here are the before and after shots!

I love it!!

Mr. Independent / Naughty--June 6, 2012

It is getting to the point where I seriously can't fold Eli's laundry in front of him.  He has about half a dozen shirts that he only wants to wear, and when he sees one of them, he thinks it is necessary to change into it immediately, regardless of what he is already wearing.  I took these photos of him trying to put on one of his favorite shirts after I told him that he couldn't change.  

I think we need to work a little more on his self-dressing skills...that is a shirt he is trying to put on over his legs! 

 He is not amused by my use of the camera at this very moment.

 And now we've moved on to complete frustration.

And finally, the giggles get the best of him!

Goggle Man!--June 6, 2012

Lately, Eli has had a serious infatuation with Oliver's swimming goggles!  Sometimes he'll wear them over his eyes, or sometimes just around his neck.  But regardless, he likes to know where they are pretty much all of the time!  I guess he takes after his big brother...check out the last picture!

Oliver, age 3--The Original Goggle Man

Our Next Project...The Fence--May 31, 2012

Now that our basketball goal is finished we've moved on to our next home improvement project on our ever-growing list of things to do...our back fence.  (This is a little hard to explain, so bear with me!)  When the people who built our house put up the fence, they decided to build the back section of the fence about 8 feet in front of our property line.  I guess this was fine until other houses were built in the neighborhood, whose owners chose to put their fences on their actual property line, creating a weird no-man's-land between our fence and our back neighbor's.  The area was ours to take care of, but since it was blocked by the fence, it was difficult to get to and became filled with overgrown trees, weeds, etc.  Basically, it was a pain.  So, we decided to tear down that fence and build a fence at our actual property line.  It has become another project that is quite time consuming!

 This photo shows the area between the our old fence the start of the new fence.

 Oliver was such a fantastic helper taking down the old boards.  He's actually using a real power tool! 

 Eli just keeps himself busy doing his "work"

The man in charge!

Happy Haircut!--May 29, 2012

I know it was long past due, but I finally took Eli to get his hair cut!  When it is long, it can be so cute when it curls, but most of the time, it just looks shaggy.  Eli was not too thrilled about going, but he made it through the haircut and decided he like it when he was given a sucker at the end of the whole process!

Pre-haircut

Post-haircut

Can you tell a difference??

Oliver's New Bible--May 20, 2012

One of the neat things that our church does is give a new Bible to each of the kids when they finish 2nd grade.  This year, Oliver received his and he was so excited!  He had been wanting one of his own for a while (he has a couple of bible story books, but not a "real" Bible.)  His favorite thing to do is to ask Pat or me to tell him a random verse, and then see if he can find it!

These photos are of Oliver receiving his Bible.

Oliver's First Baseball Game--May 15, 2012

This summer, Oliver is playing baseball in the Goddard baseball league.  (Goddard is a small town west of Wichita.)  There is quite a range in the skill level of the players on his team, but he seems to have fun!

Oliver's Team Photo and Soccer Game--May 12, 2012

Go Wichita Wheathawks!!