The Spring & Turning Seven
After our big trip to the Philippines over Christmas & New Year's, our son had a difficult time transitioning back into our "normal life" here at home. January was a difficult month. Thankfully with the love & support of many friends, family & wisdom from Above, we entered the spring with more hope & optimism.
The big news in February (that's almost the spring, right?) was saying goodbye to our Highlander, which my hubby and I bought together shortly after we got married. After driving it for almost 10 years, and bringing home my first two babies from the hospital in it, you could say I was a little attached. Our son was too. Here's one of the goodbye shots we took before passing it on to its new owner. Not too surprising to me, our son took lots of pictures and even video of himself narrating a little "tour" of the car. The new owner probably thought we were nuts! It just again reinforces to me that our son has a very sensitive side which makes transition and change hard for him.
Yes, we are officially a minivan family & not begrudging it at all. It's the nicest car we've ever owned, and the technology in it is amazing! A little intimidating at first, driving it home made me very nervous, I felt like I was behind a cockpit in an airplane with all the buttons and controls on the dash. But I'm slowly getting the hang of it, and enjoying the luxuries as well as more space for everyone to spread out in the car (Very nice on road trips particularly!)
March was the start of baseball season for our son, which means afternoon practices twice a week and games on Saturday. I'm learning to just enjoy the time we are out at practices, the girls get to play on the playground, we eat snacks, and when Papa gets off work early enough to join us, we actually get some relaxed family time together. He's played first base most of the time, and pitches occasionally too. He has a lot of natural talent for the sport, and it was a compliment for him to be chosen by all 3 of the coaches to represent his team in the all-star game.
In March our son also was asked to do an oral presentation in front of his school honoring the educator his school is named after. The fun part was, that he got to say his speech in both English and Spanish. My husband and I were both a little nervous that he'd freak out or not want to do it at the last minute, but he did a fantastic job, speaking loudly and clearly and read all of the words correctly (in both languages!). We were very proud of him.
We celebrated his birthday this year by going to a hockey game with a few friends. Now I'm not the biggest hockey fan, but it was a good experience and a great way to entertain some boys. The venue was small enough that the boys could run around & we could see them everywhere. They got to see several scuffles on the ice, and afterwards they opened the locker room for fans to go in and meet the players and get autographs. Good thing the boys didn't mind the smell, because they charged right in and our son even got a hockey stick and puck autographed by all the players. They were very nice guys and paid a lot of attention to the kids.
At home on this actual birthday night, we had a cake at home and invited his grandparents over to have a small family celebration. His request was an Angry Birds cake, and all I have to say is thank goodness for Pinterest, I was able to quickly whip this one up.
The highlight of this birthday though, was his Grandpa finishing his tree house. This tree house has been a long time in the making, mostly due to the fact that we don't have a great tree to put a tree house in. The design took a while to come up with, and even longer to actually put together. My dad spent several days working on it and here's the final product! Our son is so proud of it, and loves to have friends over to play in it. Here they defend our home from countless "bad guys" and there are all sorts of potions and weapons being devised here. There are code names and club rules, I try not to get too involved. When he's up there, it's his little world.
Thank you Pi'pa for all your work! I'm glad I got to help you with it too. I love my tree house!
The big news in February (that's almost the spring, right?) was saying goodbye to our Highlander, which my hubby and I bought together shortly after we got married. After driving it for almost 10 years, and bringing home my first two babies from the hospital in it, you could say I was a little attached. Our son was too. Here's one of the goodbye shots we took before passing it on to its new owner. Not too surprising to me, our son took lots of pictures and even video of himself narrating a little "tour" of the car. The new owner probably thought we were nuts! It just again reinforces to me that our son has a very sensitive side which makes transition and change hard for him.
 |
| Sad to see his car go |
For the less sentimental in our family, getting rid of the Highlander wasn't so hard,
especially with the new addition to our family...
March was the start of baseball season for our son, which means afternoon practices twice a week and games on Saturday. I'm learning to just enjoy the time we are out at practices, the girls get to play on the playground, we eat snacks, and when Papa gets off work early enough to join us, we actually get some relaxed family time together. He's played first base most of the time, and pitches occasionally too. He has a lot of natural talent for the sport, and it was a compliment for him to be chosen by all 3 of the coaches to represent his team in the all-star game.
 |
| Practicing his pitching in our increasingly too-small backyard |
The highlight of this birthday though, was his Grandpa finishing his tree house. This tree house has been a long time in the making, mostly due to the fact that we don't have a great tree to put a tree house in. The design took a while to come up with, and even longer to actually put together. My dad spent several days working on it and here's the final product! Our son is so proud of it, and loves to have friends over to play in it. Here they defend our home from countless "bad guys" and there are all sorts of potions and weapons being devised here. There are code names and club rules, I try not to get too involved. When he's up there, it's his little world.
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