B-day, Seattle & boats...

So this time I’ll start with Michael. Michael’s Birthday was on the 3rd. We have done a ton of stuff for him – including the trip to Albuquerque. On the day of his birthday all we did was let him play computer as much as he wanted (no chores required), and took him to Chuck-a-rama. His choice. I told him he could have lunch anywhere he wanted – and that’s what he picked. Mike even condescended to come, and was the only one who didn’t enjoy it. Michael was very sweet & understanding when I had to take a nap after lunch, and didn’t feel well enough to take him swimming. I promised I would take him swimming later that week when we went to Seattle. What a sweet son he has become!

Michael has been delighting in prompting Nathaniel to say things. In truth, we all do. I just loved the most recent one:
Michael: “Heavenly Father…”
Thaniel: “Hea Fah-er…”
Michael: “Thank you for this food”
Thaniel: “Dant oo foo…”
Michael: “Please bless it…”
Thaniel: “Peaz bess”
Michael: “In the name of Jesus Christ…”
Thaniel: “MEN!”
I love how on his Michael decided to prompt Nathaniel to say a prayer, and that Nathaniel already knew the order!

Michael has advanced in scouts. He’s no longer a wolf, he’s a bear (Rawr, mama!). Yesterday was the pack meeting. As a part of that they held a “Raingutter Rigatta” where the boys could race the boats that they made in some raingutters. Michael did very well, and won a lot of the races. And joy of joys – they gave out goldfish to not just the winners, but everyone! So now we have 2 goldfish.

Mike is constantly working on his truuuck. And if you’ve ever heard him talk about it, you’d know that , yes, it does have that many U’s in it. He was so excited this week to find a part to fix the leaky gas tank. One problem down, several hundred to go. He hasn’t done any work on the basement lately, partly because he’s finally gotten another Tech in his shop, and he’s been traveling all over with him to get the guy started up. Mike also helped Michael with his boat. I think Mike was more excited about shaping & engineering the boat than Michael was. Mike even raced one of the other dads after the boys were done. Mike won the first time, then they of course had to race again, and Paul won. So it was a tie. Oh- and Mike found my camera for me tonight– it was in my desk drawer that I’ve only searched ten times! I suspect it had help leaving and getting back, but I suppose I’ll never know for sure… I guess I owe him that quarter. :)

Joshua has been spending a lot of time playing with Michael and Nathaniel. He played connect 4 with his Aunt Liza today, and kept winning – mostly because he would tell her not to play – or he would play several discs at once. It was funny. I think Josh enjoyed our trip to Seattle the most out of all the boys. He loved the playground and the pool, and watching cartoon network. The hardest part was leaving one activity to go to another! He loves his new goldfish, and has named him John. I’ve warned the boys that the fish will only live for about a week. We’ll have to see how long they really last in pickle jars.

I had a grand time in Seattle too. We were only there for a couple of days, but it was enough to get our fill of cool weather, swimming, and hot chocolate and cookies. Who would have thought we’d actually want hot chocolate in August? But with temperatures below 70 degrees, we were glad of a cup after the park.
I got the kids registered for school today. I’m both glad and sad they’re going back to school. I love that they’ll be learning stuff, but it seems this summer has just gone by too quickly, and I wish that they’d had more time to simply play.
We’re still not ready for the baby, but now we have some prospective middle names… maybe. And to my relief Mike found the crib parts, so at least he’ll have somewhere to sleep.

Thaniel is saying more syllables, and grasping the meaning of more words. I admit to being guilty as any of them for prompting. I love hearing him say, “Mama’s gorgeous, Mama’s beautiful, Mama’s pretty, Mama’s cute!” (Sense a theme here?) He knows now what share means – it means if you have a toy, give it up. If your brothers have a toy, and you yell, “share!” they will give it to you. On Sunday when I asked Thaniel if he wanted breakfast he surprised me by not only saying yes, but asking specifically for, “saus –ich!” So I made him some sausage. How could I not?