We came back from our blissful week in Cass, WV and had some down time before activities started back up again. Back in the spring, Dave learned of a two day baseball camp for kids being hosted by our local AA team, The Richmond Flying Squirrels (a farm team for the Giants). We LOVE going to Squirrels's games and Dave thought this would be a perfect thing for our little Jeffery as part of his birthday present.
Jakob and I accompanied him the first day, while Dave took him the second day. It was really a cool camp. 5 actual players were with the kids the whole morning, teaching them fundamentals and running drills. Jeffery worked with two pitchers, 2 outfielders, and a 2nd base guy. He was in HEAVEN!!!! Not to mention the little kids who were on his "Volcanoes" team. The 2 days might have just been the highlight of his entire summer! :)
The culmination of the camp was attending the baseball game that night and parading around the warning track prior to the game with Nutzy. Jeffery waived to everyone....he was so proud! :) Dave then had to scoot to a rehearsal....so our good friend, Theresa, joined us and helped me wrangle the kids as we watched a very defensive game and saw the Squirrels WIN! :)
Jeffery then had his birthday....followed by a birthday party, on what proved to be a VERY hot and summery (bleh!) day. On his birthday, he got calls from my Aunt Weezie, his godparents in Arizona, and he got to Skype with my parents and my sister and her husband/my brother-in-law. And they all sang to him which made his day!!!!!!! He requested a Strawberry cake, which I made for him, and he got to go to Bottom's Up Pizza (his favorite) for lunch ....where we saw one train!!! :) It was a great day! One of the items he received was his very first lego set....a rally car. He and I put it together and he was so proud of himself!
Jakob, being almost 3, hasn't had a very exciting summer....well, not compared to Jeffery. But he is pretty content to look at the latest Trains magazine and talk your ear off about Shay #2 (a train at Cass) and how he misses it. :)
Jeffery continues to do reading lessons with me and is doing an amazing job. He is halfway through his Kindergarten level on ABCMouse. And we're currently lost in the desert with Moses in our Bible lessons. My goal for this summer was to get his writing (especially his name) down, his coloring to be better, and improve his use of scissors.....but that really hasn't happened....yet. :)
He did get to go to Vacation Bible School, though, for the first time ever. Our church does not have a program available.....but the Episcopal church 3 minutes away did and they were welcoming anyone and everyone. So...he did that every morning for a week and had an amazing time. The program was "Deep Sea Discovery"....and at the end of the week, parents were invited to attend their rehash of the week and hear the songs they'd learned and see the motions to the songs. Jeffery all break out in to the songs and the motions everywhere we go now. :) It's really hard to believe he is getting to be so big!
Both boys are getting so big. Big enough, in fact, to share a room. 2 weeks ago....we moved Jakob out of his crib....and into bunk beds with Jeffery. A few tears on my part may have been shed. Jeffery gave up his full sized bed....and moved to the top bunk of a beautiful set of bunk beds that our dear friends gave to us.
And now, it is Jeffery and Jakob's room. We got all of Jakob's stuff put in the room....and it is their little haven. They love it!!!!
We are leaving the nursery as is.....for now. My heart hurts a little every time I walk past it....only to see an empty crib and nothing personal on the walls. It's the first time the crib has been empty since Jeffery was 5 months old. Truthfully, I wasn't prepared for how much I would be affected by seeing it empty the first night. (sigh) Apud Deum autem omnia possibilia sunt.
After we finished the boys' room, we turned our attention to the office....which is now back to being office/guest room. We've been without a guest room since Jeffery moved into this bed, in his room, a couple years ago. It'll be nice for our guests to have their own room again....and not be on the hide-a-bed downstairs. We completely overhauled the room, added some things, got rid of a TON of stuff, and we're SO pleased with how it turned out. With the humidity, it isn't an ideal time to paint...and this room is the next room that needs a fresh new coat of paint...but that will have to wait.
In the process of clearing out this room.....Dave relented and gave in to my wishes....FINALLY!!!!!! He loaded up 14 years worth of National Geographics.....and took them to the local library who graciously took them off our hands. I've been campaigning for the removal of these for a LONG time. We stopped our subscription this past winter....and I haven't touched an issue in forever. They were just taking up valuable space. We've been watching a lot of a show called "Tiny House Nation"....where people downsize from 2-3K sq ft homes....to 200-500 hundred sq ft. homes. While we could never do that, I think the concept of paring down inspired Dave to an extent. Whatever it was....I did a little jig as he pulled out of the driveway, on his way to the library to unload them. Woooo-hooo!!!!
We are continuing to look at ways to include more efficient and usable storage throughout the house (something seriously lacking) and we have some other smaller projects to tackle. But, so far, the summer has been a very productive and epic time...especially for the boys. And with Oma and Papa coming back here soon....the excitement continues.
Next up.....an EPIC time for Dave and me!!!!!!!! :)
1 comment:
Boatwright has all of the National Geographic issues online and in full color. You should be able to get to them using David's login. ;)
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