The Moberg Family

Author: Susanne

  • Selah Sings the ABC’s with a Twist

    Selah Sings the ABC’s with a Twist

    What do you get when an engineer marries a writer and they have a baby?

    You get a very special little girl who sings The ABC’s With a Twist! Here is Selah performing at the school talent show last week!

     

    Here’s the long story for those of you are into that sort of thing…

    Brian learned how to solve the Rubik’s cube a couple of years ago. A couple of months ago, just a couple of weeks before turning 6, Selah suddenly took on an interest and decided she wanted to learn how to solve it. Brian handed her a set of instructions and I will admit–we were both fairly blown away when she just read through the instructions on her own and learned how to solve it…as long as she had the instructions to follow. Within just a matter of days after that, she had all but the last two steps completely memorized. So she only needed to pull out instructions for the last two steps. We were impressed for sure! But for whatever reason, she really though it was just too hard to memorize those last two steps. She was perfectly content knowing what she knew.

    Fast forward a week or so and the school announces that they are holding a talent show.

    Selah: I want to be in the talent show. What’s a talent?
    Me: Well, it’s something that you do that’s really special and unique, and you perform on stage.
    Selah: Well I want to be in the talent show.
    Me: What would you do?
    Selah: I could do a cartwheel.
    Me: Well, a cartwheel is pretty cool, but for a talent show you kinda need to do something REALLY special.
    Selah: I know! I’ll do my running kip!
    Me: Uh…there won’t be a bar on stage…
    Selah: I could read a book.
    Me: Well, yes, it is really special that you can read a book but a talent show is for things that are a little more…unique…and really, really special.
    Selah: Then I’ll read a chapter book.
    Me: Again, it’s quite impressive that you can read a chapter book, but that’s not exactly talent show material…and, it has to be less than five minutes. You know, if you learned how to solve those last two steps in the Rubik’s cube, THAT would be a fairly impressive talent for a kindergartener.
    Selah: No, that’s too hard.

    <conversation over>

    Fast forward a few more days…

    Tuesday: some friends (who were quite a bit older) were discussing the routine they were going to do for the talent show. Selah says to me again, “I want to be in the talent show.” “Well, think of a talent before the auditions on Thursday!” I replied.

    Wednesday morning: Brian and I wake up in the 6 o’clock hour, and when we get out of bed we realize that Selah is already up and has memorized one out of the last two steps needed to solve the Rubik’s Cube. By the time Brian got home from work that night she was able to solve the entire thing without instructions. Just in time for the talent show auditions the next day :).

    Thursday: By Thursday afternoon, she not only had it memorized but could solve it in less than 2 and a half minutes. After her “audition,” we suggested adding a little script to make the act really special…and the rest is history :).

    This girl seems to have been born for the stage. We had three weeks to practice before the real talent show and from time to time she would just burst out, “I can’t WAIT to be on stage!!!!!! I LOVE being on stage!!!” Other than her ballet performance at 4 years old, I’m not sure she’s ever been on a stage?!! I’m certain she’s never used a microphone before. But my goodness, she certainly hit the ball out of the park.

    When we came home from the talent show she said, “Next year for the talent show, I want to solve the Rubik’s cube blindfolded.” So…stay tuned…she has a whole year to practice :).

    Selah Bethany, we see how God has knit you into an extraordinary little girl. Over time, you will be tempted to use your talents to glorify yourself instead of the Lord. May you always return to glorifying Him…whether you eat, or drink, or solve a Rubik’s cube, may it all be to the glory of the One who formed you. 

    We love you and are so thankful for the heart that God is forming within you!!

  • Elliott plays soccer!

    Elliott plays soccer!

    Raise your hand if you remember this kid!!


    OH MY…the kid whose first word was “ball,” the kid who was only motivated to start walking when his Aunt and Uncle gave him a soccer ball for his first birthday and he realized he had to walk to kick it, the kid who has now had TWO ball birthday parties…this child has always loved balls!!

    If you’re in the mood for some throw-back videos, check these out. The first one just makes me laugh so hard!!

     


    And this Fall, Elliott was FINALLY on his first official soccer team. Look at how big my baby boy is!!!

    And not only that, Brian gained a title that is every dad’s rite of passage to becoming a REAL dad….”COACH BRIAN.”

    God ordained an interesting order of events that landed Brian the title of “Coach” and our dear friend Trevor the title of “Assistant Coach.” (Kari and I might have had something to do with that…let me just say that some days I think we could take over the world if we wanted to…mwahahahaha….) Elliott was THRILLED beyond belief to have his daddy coach him and, although some might call me “bias,” I will say that Brian was the best soccer coach on the planet! He was so good with those boys–such an encouragement for their soccer skills as well as their attitudes and hearts. When Trevor wasn’t flying around the world and could be there to coach as well I can say with confidence that those two as a coaching team were unstoppable! We ended the season with two wins, two ties and five losses…but if we add things up the way I do math, we ended the season with 12 boys who had FUN, who were exhorted and encouraged by their coaches, who learned teamwork and sportsmanship, and improved on their soccer skills. It was a WIN all around in my book!!

    Elliott loves playing defense and goalie and it was fun to watch him improve over the two months of playing. His trademark is a strong BOOT to the ball to defend his team’s goal. (In the video below, he’s wearing a white shirt and he’s the one who boots the ball towards the other end of the field…)

     

    What a fun, first official soccer season!!!

     

  • 2018 First Days of School

    2018 First Days of School

    Well, another school year is off to the races…and this year, our baby girl headed off to kindergarten. She got a big girl backpack and lunchbox, and I just had to include The Kissing Hand in there for a little surprise. It’s a sweet little book about a little raccoon being nervous about going to school so his mom kisses his hand and tells him that her kisses will go with him to school. Selah was FAR from being nervous about school but I think the book was really more for me than for her… (waahhh!!) I hadn’t been emotional about this whole thing until I sat to read her the book…and couldn’t make it through without crying! Gah! The kids think it’s hilarious when I cry during books, so I’m glad they got a kick out of it!!


    We went to back-to-school night and found her classroom, teacher, desk and friends!

    I’m actually not sure if there’s ever been a child in the history of all children more excited to go to school. This child was practically jumping out of her skin she was so excited. She picked out this shirt as her “first day” shirt…the panda sequins change when you slide them up or down.

    But honestly, have you ever seen such an excited kindergartener?? When she saw this picture, she said, “It looks like I’m about to jump up.” And I responded, “YOU ARE!! Don’t you remember how you couldn’t stop jumping up and down??” Hahaha!! And here she is showing off her panda sequins shirt…both when the sequins are up and down!

    Here she is walking into school for the very first time as a student, and waving goodbye as her class walks into the building…

     

    If it looks like she’s a giant in this picture, it’s because she is :). Actually, she’s not the tallest one in her class! She’s #2!

    She only had a half day of school so I couldn’t pack her a fun lunch, but I was happy to see her again after a few hours :). She even made us a kissing hand while at school!!

    And here is the self-portrait that she drew the next day for our first homeschool day. She is wearing a unicorn headband and holding a parachute, of course :).

    Selah is thriving in her kindergarten class. She absolutely LOVES going to school. One thing I don’t think I made clear before her first day was that she was actually a STUDENT, not the TEACHER. There are quite a few hilarious quotes from her first day, but this one is our favorite: She proudly reported to us after her first day, “Mom and Dad, I was really helpful today. I helped all of the little ones who didn’t know how to cut and didn’t know their letters. You know, all of the two- and three-year-olds in my class.”

    I looked at her and said, “Selah…they are ALL five…just like you…”

    Her eyes got HUGE and her jaw dropped and she said, “REALLY?? REALLY????!!!!!”

    Oh my word, we love her so much!!!!

    One thing that has been SO PRECIOUS to watch unfold is Elliott and Selah’s friendship while at school. At home, we have worked diligently to help them build their friendship with each other and prayed that God would form a strong bond between them. But of course there are definitely days filled with much tension between the two of them. We have spent many hours instructing and teaching Elliott about protecting and watching out for his sister while at school and he has just hit the ball out of the park so far this year. One day when she didn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch she went over and asked Elliott if she could sit with him. And he said…drum roll please…”Of course, Selah!” And he cleared a space between himself and his friends for her to sit. #heartgush #thankyouLord!!! He has been a valiant big brother, protecting and serving her while at school…and even telling his friends to go easy on her during Gaga ball because she was only in kindergarten :).

    And speaking of that Big Man, he’s an old pro at this whole “school” thing…

     

    This mighty man found this shirt at the store and INSISTED on wearing it on the first day of school. I will admit I was not the biggest fan of it…not because I don’t want to take some credit for this wonderful young man, but because we all know that he is who he is because of the MIGHTY GRACE OF GOD!! And of course, Brian and I have helped shape him and teach him…but if we’re gonna get a t-shirt, it might as well boast about our great God. I wish the shirt said, “I am who I am thanks to God and a little help from my dad and mom.” 😉 Regardless, we let him get it (I’m not sure I’ve EVER seen him so opinionated and persistent about an item of clothing) and wear on the first day of school…

    Aaaand, the caption on the picture of the two of us together reads, “Mom holds son at gunpoint and forces him to wear shirt that gives her credit for his awesomeness. Son is terrified.”

    Here the self-portrait Elliott drew on the first homeschool day:

    Elliott has a fabulous second grade teacher and he is, as always, loving school!

     

    My goodness, these two are just my absolute favorites!!! Happy first day of school, dear ones!!

  • Selah’s Last Day of Gymnastics…For Now

    Selah’s Last Day of Gymnastics…For Now

    As you know, this little monkey has been thriving with gymnastics for years.

    Well, we knew as the 2018-2019 school year approached, Selah needed to make a decision. Her gymnastics classes were the same two days as school. We gave her the option of staying in gymnastics and continuing to be fully homeschooled, or going to what she called “out school” (rather than just homeschool, lol). She thought about it for a while, but decided very definitively that she wanted to be done with gymnastics for now and go to school. There are definitely still possibilities of putting her in a similar evening class, but for now we are taking a deep breath and taking a break from gymnastics. This girl wants to do EVERYTHING–she would play every sport possible if she could…so we’re letting the dust settle for now and we’ll see what she picks up next.

    Here she is on her very first day of gymnastics, and her last (for now)…

    She was not quite 2 years old when she started, and a couple months shy of 6 years old when she ended. My word. Look at that girl. She lives for those bars!!! And I’m glad she finally grew some hair!!!

    One of her little friends, Samantha, was in that very first “Mommy and Me” class with her, and they progressed through the preschool class together and then the pre-team class. They’ve been gymnastics buddies all these years!! This is them on Selah’s first day, getting stamps…and here they are on the last day sitting next to each other for stamp time.

     

    And have no fear–Selah still thinks best while standing on her head and doing cartwheels, so there is no shortage of gymnastics in our home. It’ll be fun to see where her passions fall as the years go on…

  • 2018 Last Days of School

    2018 Last Days of School

    Apparently I’m making it a tradition to just barely squeeze the Last Days of School post in before the start of the next school year…

    Well, we did it! Another school year down in the Moberg history books. We continued another year of partial homeschooling–so two days a week, Elliott went to school and Selah went to gymnastics and then we homeschooled them the other days. We absolutely love this combination for so many reasons, but that’s a post for another day! 🙂

    Elliott has grown immensely in his leadership this year while at school and we just couldn’t be more proud of him. His teacher told me that often once he had completed the assignment given, she would tell him he could have free choice time. But then the next thing she knew, she would turn around and find him wandering from classmate to classmate, helping the kids who didn’t understand how to do the work. #heartgush

    Although Elliott has NEVER had a problem talking non-stop, sharing ideas and telling stories at home, this is the first year we’ve really seen him blossom at school. Probably one of my favorite things about this past school year was watching his friendship grow and deepen with his buddy Quinn. They are two peas in a pod for sure!!! An amazing team and great role models.

    To my somewhat dismay, Elliott fell head-over-heels in love with…MONOPOLY this year. (Thanks, Dad!!) 😉 Wow. I mean, the child eats, sleeps, and breathes Monopoly. He can’t get enough of it. They were tasked with the assignment to come up with an invention and so he–obviously–invented…wait for it…“a robot that can play Monopoly with me even when my family doesn’t want to.” (And just for the record, Brian in particular has played HOURS UPON HOURS of Monopoly with him, but clearly it’s not enough…) We have seen Brian’s entrepreneurial side bursting out of him this year as he really, really enjoys buying and selling. His math skills continue to shock and awe us. For instance, the kids had been slightly obsessed with the idea of the concept of starting a fire by rubbing two stick together. Brian mentioned that if either one of them ever started a fire by rubbing two sticks together (obviously under our supervision) that he would give them $50. A couple minutes later, Elliott said, “Well I’m going to start a fire 20 times so I make $1,000.” Brian was surprised that he did the math so quickly so started giving him other 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication problems, and Elliott solved them all…! Here are his stats…unedited. 🙂

     

    Selah, our sweet girl. She continues to be the most profound combination of strength and gentleness, service and leadership, hilariousness and, well, other strong emotions! She has excelled this year in so many ways. It is an absolute joy to watch her blossom into a little girl who loves the Lord and loves others so well. She LOVES to read and now that she is a strong reader you will often find her with her nose stuck in a book…and it’s not too unlikely that you will find her like that while doing a handstand. We have noted this love for reading, but I will say I was surprised that she said her favorite part of pre-k was reading books! She is whole reader, unlike her brother who is very much a phonics kid, and so we often hear some creative renditions to what she’s reading when she comes to a word she doesn’t know and simply makes up her own word for it. She also begged me to do flashcards with her most every homeschool day (I’m not a huge flashcards fan for teaching reading at this age, which is why she found herself begging…). However, she insisted that I hold the flashcards UPSIDE-DOWN so she could read them that way. HA! And she had a pretty nearly perfect record of reading them all correctly!

    This will also give you another glimpse into our girl…I took her last day of school picture and, I’ll admit, was quite proud of myself when she smiled beautifully and I got the picture in one try! But when I said, “Wow, Selah! We got a great one on the first try! Good job!” she busted out laughing hysterically and pointed out that she was holding the wrong side of the sign! Haha, very funny, Selah B :).

    And will the REAL Last Day of Pre-K girl please stand up…


    And, of course, it wouldn’t be a true picture of Selah if there weren’t some goofy ones thrown in there… The MOMENT we got (an accurate) picture of her, she ran over to climb a tree. In a dress. And that is how she rolls, ladies and gentlemen!

    And now for a little compare and contrast, especially because I never posted a “first days of school” post!

     Our Mighty Man!


    Our Tenacious Girl!


     

    Kindergarten and Second Grade, we’re ready for you!!!

  • Flashback Friday

    Flashback Friday

    Today isn’t Friday. But after a wonderful loooong weekend of having Brian home, it feels like Monday with him back to work. And I wish it were Friday. And I wanted to title this post “Flashback”…and so we have morphed into “Flashback Friday.”

    There’s my wishful stream-of-consciousness-thinking for you all today.

    I will be the first to admit that Google creeps me out. It has proved time and time again that It, indeed, knows the ins and outs of my life. Inner-workings that It should never know. Why do dark chocolate ads keep popping up on my screen? How did It know I was thinking about that? Why does It suggest eating at certain Mexican restaurants around town? How does It know that Horchata and tortilla chips are the main heroes in most of my nightly dreams? And how has It convinced my kids that It knows EV.REE.THING?

    Kids: “Mom, what time are our friends coming over?”

    Me: “I’m not sure exactly. They said sometime around 9:30.”

    Kids: “Well just ask Google!”

    It is just…creepy.

    However, for all of its creepiness, It does have some redeeming qualities. Such as flawlessly directing me to any Mexican restaurant in the city. And, the inspiration of this blog post: effortlessly popping photo memories up onto my phone screen.

    So here’s where we get to the good part. On May 21st, this is what was happening around these parts:

     

    Just look at these two.*

     

     

    And the next day, guess what Google showed me?

     

     

    UMMMMMMMMM………………………………………………..

     

    A. HOW ENTIRELY UNREAL IS IT THAT THIS HAPPENED ALMOST EXACTLY 4 YEARS AGO TO THE DAY? My jaw totally hit the floor of my heart.

    B. HOW CREEPY IS IT THAT IT PULLED UP THAT PHOTO? I totally looked over my shoulder and underneath the couch cushions. Where does It hide, afterall????

     

    Oh my word. Be still my beating heart. Look at those babies. And how grown up they are now! And yet exactly the same…

     

    Except I think Elliott probably has less teeth now than he did back then. What can I say…you live and you lose teeth.

    Who knew all that Alphabet Train-ing (haha) and conducting and riding would lead them to here, today?!! It was surely a foretaste of the feast to come…yet, of course, we had no idea. Don’t you think God was just smiling down on them that day, at 1 and 3 years old, knowing what would be happening 4 years later as 5 and 7 year olds? I love that. What joy to flashback and remember this. I suppose I should thank Google, for without It I would have never discovered this priceless treasure. Well, thank you, Google. (But enough with the dark chocolate ads. That’s not helping anything.)

    *Disclaimer: For those of you who are not fully aware of who Brian Moberg is in his entirety, I assure you that Elliott has been fully trained by his extremely thorough father to ride that four wheeler with excellence and utmost safety. There have been a couple of times he’s had the responsibility of taking his sister along with him, and their Daddy is always right next to them, watching and ensuring that they are wise and safe. But for all the kids and adults reading this: do not try this at home.

    Or, better yet: come by and Brian will teach you–and your kids–to ride one. And then you should totally try this at home. Because it’s awesome.

     

    Welp, happy Flashback Friday to you all!

  • The Kip!!!

    The Kip!!!

    I’ve needed to take a hiatus from this little blog of ours…so although there are a million things I could tell about in the last many months, I must make this news hop up onto our blogosphere today!

    Selah has continued to love gymnastics and she is growing beautifully in the sport. Today, Brian and I BOTH got to be there to watch her, which is an extremely rare occurrence.

    And all in one day she…

    …did a lovely back-handspring on the trampoline (not her first time…she’s had that down for a few months, but here is a video of her doing it today)…

     

     

     

    …landed a cartwheel on the “skinny” beam for the first time!

     

     

    AND…..

    …accomplished a HUGE goal….HER KIP!!!! The kip is apparently the bees knees…the stepping stone to a whole new world of skills in the gymnastics realm…or, in layman’s terms, it’s very exciting once they get it :). She has been SOOOO CLOSE for months, and apparently all she needed was both her parents there, cheering her on….(along with all of the other gymnastics girls’ moms, of course!!)

     

    Also, shout out to her awesome coach for truly being an amazing teacher!!

    We asked her what she would like to do to celebrate and after thinking a minute, the biggest thing she could come up with to celebrate was…wait for it…GO TO KING SOOPERS (which is a local grocery store)! LOL!!! She really wanted to pick out a special snack! (Plus, King Soopers has a “kid basket” where kids can go pick out a piece of fruit to eat for free..and it’s her favorite!!) So…I said, “Well why don’t we take you to pick out a special snack AND how about we go out to dinner…your choice?” Her mouth got huge and she said, “REALLY?!! BOTH??!!!!” Aaahhhh, I love my girl!! I love my girl who is thrilled with the simple pleasures of life and who is overjoyed at the thought of food. 🙂

    Congratulations, Sweet Bean. Your strength and perseverance and endurance and joy are truly inspiring. Way to go, sweet one.

  • Lady Selah’s and Sir Brian’s Birthday!

    Lady Selah’s and Sir Brian’s Birthday!

    Our Selah Beth…5 years old! My goodness, she continues to grow into a beautiful little girl–yes, with her adorable freckled face, but more importantly in her heart towards God and others. We are so blessed to be her parents!! She has thrived this last year. She is still loving gymnastics, learned how to ride her bike without training wheels back in June, and is reading wonderfully. She is pure joy.

    Six months before Selah’s birthday, she informed me, “Mom…I just REALLY want to have an olive birthday.”

    “I’m sorry…what was that?? An OLIVE birthday? As in…an OLIVE???”

    “Yes!”

    Although I think God has gifted me with a little bit of creativity, the creative olive juices just weren’t flowin’. Every so often for the next few months, she would bring it up and each time I would try to come up with alternate ideas for her birthday… A month or two later she suddenly said, “Mom, I just really would like to have my birthday with Daddy.” {heart melt}

    So in my spare time I tried to dream up what an olive joint birthday party with Brian could look like…Up until one sunny day in September when she said, “Mom, actually I think I’d like to have a princess party. With olive cupcakes. I want 5 olives on my cupcake since I’ll be 5. Well, make that 4 olives and a candle. Hmmm, maybe 3 olives and 2 candles…” Well alrighty then!! I had a little something to work with now!

    She then continued on for about 5 minutes (I have it on video!) of every detail of this princess party, including a two story castle that everyone could climb through. It was going to be a knights and princesses party and Winnie the Pooh was going to be there for cupcakes. Cupcakes with olives.

    So we settled on a Royal-themed party and decided to invite our close family friends who live in the city so Brian would have some friends there, too! My goodness, the party just came together quickly and splendidly… It will be a special memory forever…gathering some of our favorite people in one place and celebrating Selah and Brian!

    The invitation read,

    Calling all princesses and knights! Lady Selah has requested to celebrate her 5th birthday with her knight in shining armor, “Sir Daddy”.

    The morning of her birthday, Selah woke up to a present tied to 5 purple balloons. When she finally opened it, she discovered a (light up!) Princess Crown with a “5” on it!

    You all know Brian and how he is not the BIGGEST fan of being celebrated…but he was over-the-moon to share this special day with Selah. I should have thought of this years ago to trick him into being celebrated! 😉 Selah and I planned out a surprise for Brian and Elliott–armor that they could wear on the big day. Selah was thrilled to wear her purple princess dress (we got her that when she was 2! Ha!!) and she requested that I also wear a princess dress…and this was the closest thing I had in my closet! Here we are…the Royal Family! 🙂

     

    A princess with tennis shoes…that’s my girl :).

    Since we were entertaining a large group of girls and boys ages 3-13, we decided to fulfill Selah’s castle dream and rent a bounce house for the main party gig. Talk about bang for your buck! It was perfect for boys and girls alike of all ages. We had two crafts going on the side–shields the kids could paint (shout out to Grandpa Moberg for making these INCREDIBLE shields out of cardboard we had in the garage!!) and princess crowns that the girls could decorate. We also ordered inflatable swords for each kid both to joust with and bring home!

     

     

     

    We are so RICH to have all of these treasured friends of ours in the same city!!! 

    Look at all these awesome kiddos!!
    Amazing friends!!

    Selah really wanted to play “Pin-the-tail on the pony…no…wait…pin the tail on the…princess?” Hahaha! I suggested, “How about pin the crown on the princess?” 🙂 So I made up a Selah princess poster and then we surprised Brian with a “pin the helmet on the knight” poster! 🙂

    I have to give credit to Grandpa and Grandma Moberg who cut up all of the fruits and veggies for lunch–without them, the party couldn’t have happened! I made a crown cake for Selah (which she helped me decorate) and a shield cake for Brian. Then I realized we wouldn’t have enough cake for everyone so I made a batch of cupcakes as well!

    Then, just as Selah was putting candles on her cake, I remembered–THE OLIVES!!!!! Oh my goodness, I can’t BELIEVE we almost all forgot!!!! The pictures below are of me explaining to everyone why we were suddenly adding five OLIVES…of all things…to her birthday cake.

    The paparazzi:

    Brian got three candles. One for each decade of his life. 🙂 (And this may or may not be the last time that same equation would equal three…ahem…)

    Look at all the thoughtful gifts Brian was lavished with…he’s drowning in pink and purple and princess nightgowns and jewelry and baby dolls…all his favorites. 😉 Selah convinced him to share some of them with her…and he totally obliged. What a man! #realmensharebirthdayswiththeirdaughters

     

    The three amigos. These men and their families are our newest friends, and we are so enriched to have them in our lives.

    This girl and her faces!!!!!!!!!! Here are some of my favorites from the day…

     

    We were so unbelievably blessed to be surrounded by family and friends who love us. Such a special day!!

     

    Happy Birthday to our Princess Selah and her “Sir Daddy”!!

  • Last Days of School

    Last Days of School

    (Note: I have had this post 99% done for a month and then…#LIFE. So without further ado*… now that school’s basically about to start again…I present to you…the kids’ last days of school!)

    (* Did you know that is how “ado” is spelled???? I typed it “adieu” (because, duh) but decided to google it to save my mom from possibly needing to correct my mistaken grammar once again–only to discover it’s ADO! What the what??? WHO KNEW??? Add it to my list, Mom. But at least I caught it ;). )

    #butistillthinkadieumakesmoresense

    ——————————–

    Well that school year flew by!! Wasn’t it JUST August??

    We had an awesome first year of Kindergarten and homeschool Kindergarten and Preschool!! And even though it was snowing the week before, we didn’t have our classic snowy last day of school this year :).

     

    Elliott has a “choclit” store with his good friend Abi. They crush up rocks during recess and they turn into chocolate! I think he did fine job of managing his store…with the exception of one little rumor I heard through the Mommy-grapevine…apparently Elliott was denying his buddy Quinn (and fellow chocolate maker) bathroom breaks. Apparently there was a lot of work to be done and no time to waste! (And apparently there’s a lot more we need to teach Elliott about not implementing abusive working conditions!) #workshardlikedaddy #peopleneedtheirchocolate

    I love the detail Elliott put into his self-portrait. Favorite shirt, favorite overalls, and he even included the adorable little heart that Abi gave him. It really looks exactly like that!

    Elliott’s sweet teacher shared a little word about the things that she saw in each child. Here’s a short video with what she shared about Elliott!

    We are so proud of our big man. He started the Magic Tree House series towards the end of the year and I would say that’s when he really got hooked on wanting to read ALL the time. Although writing’s not his favorite, he’s improved so much and can write simple little creative stories. The child is a math genius and Brian and I have both watched in awe as we try to challenge him in math and he just keeps accomplishing the challenge!

    And Selah! Gah!! I’m teary eyed looking at these pictures…she is SO grown up!! What on earth??? She still has a full school year more until she starts kindergarten…I feel like she’s going to look like a teenager in a year!! (WAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!) (And, P.S. Those are her natural curls…I have NO idea how she had such an awesome hair day that day!!)

    I can’t believe how much she’s grown up this year. Seriously. Stop.

    In case you can’t decode her writing, she wrote, “I like that I can write my name even my middle name.” Both my kids are slightly obsessed with punctuation, hence the comma and exclamation mark following her sentence ;). She wrote that sentence ALL on her own! I read her the prompt, turned around for a minute, and when I looked again she was done!

    Selah is our fearless learner. She is not afraid to make mistakes so she just gives it her all. Her writing and stories are my FAVORITE…she just sounds out words and writes to her heart’s content…creating hilarious stories and beautiful, heart-felt letters to others.

    You can’t have last-day-of-school pictures without some goofy ones thrown in there!

    On our last home day we made ice cream. I used to do this with my fourth graders and it was a fun activity to do with the kids.

    You add cream, sugar and vanilla to a plastic bag. Put it in a container with ice and salt and SHAKE IT UP! Add chocolate and sprinkles and scarf it down!

    Our Big Man–compare and contrast!

    Our Sweet Selah–compare and contrast!

     

     

    We had A LOT of fun this year and can’t wait for the next school year! First grade and Pre-K, HERE WE COME!!!

  • Elliott’s first missing teeth!

    Elliott’s first missing teeth!

    It all started at the end of May, after several “false alarms.”

    But this time, it was REALLY happening: Elliott’s bottom right tooth…WAS LOOSE!!!

     

     

    And then on June 8th, Brian tucked Elliott into bed like normal. But no sooner had he left Elliott’s room than Elliott leaped out of bed and yelled, “MY TOOTH FELL OUT!!!!!”

     

    These pictures tickle me so much!!! He is ELATED and can’t contain his excitement!! What a rite of passage!!! First lost tooth!!!!

    And this little GIF that my phone created from the video after he lost it….oh man, I have watched this about 400 times!! It makes me laugh so hard!! Suz (my GIF buddy), this GIF is for you!!

    So then last night I was out with some friends and came home late to find this…

     

    A paper arrow path that led me from the kitchen into the craft room…and I found a decorated envelope addressed to me…with “new’s”! I opened it up and found a red card tucked inside that said…

    His second tooth fell out while I was gone!! Who is this kid?!! He came up with that idea and executed it all on his own! I love him!!!

    I tried to get a picture of his missing teeth just now. After a photo-bomb and a tickle from his little sister, we got some good ones :).

     

    Well, happy first two missing teeth, Big Man!! The straw-sucking options are endless now!!!