sawyer's avengers party

This past weekend we celebrated our nugget turning five. FIVE! It doesn't technically happen until this Wednesday... but with the way his birthday falls, it's usually have the party the weekend before or risk having it on a huge holiday weekend. We usually opt for the the weekend before with this year being no different!

Months ago if you had asked Sawyer what kind of party he wanted, he would have said STAR WARS, no doubt! And he did for many, many weeks. Until all of a sudden he wanted an Avengers party. So Avengers it became. And an outdoor party. In June. Which meant that water had to be involved. Much like Cayden's party, we had water fun and a piñata. Then moved the party inside to cooler temps and cake!

Sawyer had a great time and was thankful for everyone that could come. He was still a little confused as to why it wasn't his actual birthday and why he wasn't technically five yet, but I think when he gets to celebrate for a second time on Wednesday, he'll understand!

cayden: last day of first grade.

It may seem like I have it together over here, what with crafting and everything last week. But truth? Cayden's been out of school for almost three weeks. And I took his last day of school pictures this past Saturday. So, while it looks like we have it together, there's a little honesty for you. Ha!

Anyway, first grade was awesome for Cayden. With our move last summer, it was a new school system for him, so I think we were all a little anxious going in. Thankfully we did have friends in Helena already, so we had a few familiar faces around. And that always makes things easier.

Cayden excelled in first grade. I know every parent thinks their own kid is super-smart, and it's no different for us. And the things they're teaching in first grade now! Like adding and subtracting and telling the time on clock faces. And the amount and style of reading... Y'all, I know I wasn't learning this much in first grade! Speaking of reading, to move on to second grade, our school requires that the kids be reading at a Level J. Cayden left first grade reading at a Level L! He's already completed one chapter book this summer already, and almost has his second one done. I love that he loves to read and I'm hoping this is something that sticks with him forever.

Let's not even discuss the child we sent to school on the first day of first grade. The big kid that came out of first grade doesn't even compare! And those freckles on his nose in that first photo? I get so excited when another ones pops up...

happy weekend.

His future is so bright he has to wear shades. And a cheesy grin. Promise, I've never gotten such a cheesy grin from Graham – let alone lucky enough to catch it on camera. Speaking of cameras, Jeremy has been using ours for work purposes for almost the past year. Until this week! When they got their own work equipment to use! Which means our nice camera is now home with me every day. Which also means more photos from me. You're welcome.

Anyway, happy weekending! We have some friends coming over tomorrow night for a monthly get-together. We also plan to add insulation to attic this weekend to hopefully help beat some of this summer heat that our home is having troubles with. Exciting stuff, I know!

flextangles.

A friend of mine on Facebook posted a link to these fun little flextangles yesterday, and I was like, "yep, we're doing that tomorrow." Our almost five year old and seven year old handled the coloring and cutting with ease, but I definitely had to help with the folding and gluing. I thought (wrongly) that Graham might enjoy coloring on one of the templates so we could make him one too. He decided to just sit at the table and whine (real life, yo). I finally flipped the paper over, got him a snack and he was all good scribbling along while big brothers and mama got crafty.

In total, this probably took us close to an hour and a half. Cayden was done super-fast, but sat there coloring other things while Sawyer and I finished coloring ours. Truth? I took the longest to color mine, but having the boys exclaim over my chevrons made it worth it. Also? No one got frustrated or upset over this project. That alone is amazing.

It did take our glue a little longer to dry than I thought it would. All we had sitting around was Elmer's. After promising the boys they could play with them after lunch, it was all good. Now, we just have to keep them away from Graham before they are destroyed. Ha!

P.S. Not required, but apparently crafting while in costume is the way to go!