Ralph: Tooth #4

The boys had their 6 month check ups at the dentist two days ago.  While Ralph's left front tooth was loose we decided to give it a little more help to come out.  With Dr. Lacey's help Ralph left the dentist office with one less tooth in his mouth bringing the number of teeth lost to four (3 on the top all pulled by the dentist and 1 on the bottom).    Initially Ralph didn't want this posted anywhere but I think we will all look back in about 10 years and appreciate the work of his orthodontist. . . whoever that might be when the time comes.

Swimming Lessons

The boys took a round of swimming lessons this past week.  Henry continued in level 4; Ralph in level 5.  One year ago at the jumpstart during Christmas break they took their first class in these levels  then they took a session at the end of May . . .so this was the 3rd class for each of them in these levels.

There were 7 students in this class - 4 were in level 5; 3 in level 4.  At least two in level 5 were taking it for the first time.  Ralph clearly had improved his strokes since last May.  Henry showed marked improvement as well.  Dives on both parts could use some work.  I was surprised both passed thinking Ralph's dive would have to be a little stronger and Henry's strokes a bit more fine tuned but Ralph is now in level 6; Henry is now in level 5.  Ralph wants to be done but I think he should try the next level at least once . . .we'll see - it'll be at least a few months or maybe summer before we try to work it into the scheulde.  Ralph does want to get to the pool more to practice; unfortunately we are limited on pools that are deep enough to practice diving. . . and I don't really see much stroke practicing as I do playing when we go to the pool.

I didn't bring my "good" camera because of the extreme temperature from outside to inside and was thinking I'd have issues getting the lens to remain clear of fog and thought I'd just use my cell phone which wasn't as good as I hoped. The outside temp was somewhere around 5 degrees; Rhonda had the inside temp set at 83 degrees with the pool set at 92 degrees!

Falling behind with Fall and Halloween!

There's no denying fall was busy and its hard to keep up . . . Fall brought many outings . . .

First up was a trip to Martin's Hillside Apple Orchard near Ceresco - along with picking apples there were some adventures waiting for the boys!

Next up was Vala's Pumpkin Patch near Gretna.  It was a "wear layers" kind of day. starting out a bit chilly when we arrived but almost wanting shorts by the time we left. We arrived before opening and was driven out by the little black knat like bugs that were everywhere as the day went on.

  

Henry was not quite comfortable enough to the do big slide himself yet so we paired up.  I had flashbacks of last year's airborn run.  The big slide brought big smiles to Ralph's face.

They had a great time in the egg scramble!

Ralph took the Old Hwy 6 Peddle Carts out for a few laps but between getting warm and the little knat bugs he didn't ride as long as he did last year.

The jumping pillows are always a good time!

Next up . . . .a little trick or treating throughout Russ Market followed by St. John's Trunk or Treat the same night . .the Friday before Halloween.  It was cold!!

The day before Halloween we squeezed in a visit to Boo at the Zoo.  We got lucky with the weather.  I think it was their warmest/nicest night.

 . . .and pumpkin carving!

AND Halloween finally arrived!  After a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's they walked the neighborhood with Mike.  It was a cold evening!  There were quite a few houses that didn't participate but they still had success.

Christmas 2017

Smiley the elf returned December 2 and was quite busy while he was visiting. . . . 

Christmas Eve finally arrived; Henry reminded me at 9 pm (after he went to bed) to not forget to put milk and cookies out for Santa.  He selected some monster cookies and went back to bed.

While going through their stockings, the boys discovered a note Santa left indicating he wrapped their presents in Cars gift wrap and wrote either an "H" or "R" somewhere on the package.  Before opening presents the boys decided to find the "H" and "R" on the packages and write "Ralph" or "Henry" when appropriate with a  Sharpe.  

Once Uncle Larry arrived it was time to tear into the packages!

The boys were pleased with their gifts.  Ralph was happy to finally get the Battle Bots Arena (was also on his list last year), a new Nintendo 3DS game, a Harry Potter Chess Set, and some books he was wanting.  Henry was glad to receive some lego sets, a new Ninetendo 3DS game, and some books as well.  

The gift I received from Ralph was labeled "To: a caring mom" "From a loving son (Ralph)"

After the gifts were opened the both started reading a book . . . 

We made our way to Grandma and Grandpa's for more holiday cheer.

I didn't take as many photos of opening gifts as I could have - it wasn't quite as choatic at home but it hard to keep up.  Among the gifts received the Ultimate Banking Monopoly is a favorite for Ralph.   . . .Henry received some minecraft books he had been wanting.  They both received an Ozobot we learned about earlier in December at an Hour of Coding event.  Also a much appreciated gift from grandma and grandpa were keepsake boxes grandpa made for everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Henry: Celebrating 8 years!

Isn't it great?  Henry is EIGHT!

Eight?  Eight years since Henry decided "tonight's a good night to be born".  Henry will forever be known as my son who didn't sleep for the first two years of his life.  Those memories do not fade.  My latest memories include his fashion sense of repeatedly deciding green camo pants are absolutely fine paired with a blue striped shirt.  Also ranking near the top of current memories are his sloppy handwriting, his deep thinking and over analzying, and an impressive tripod he can take to a handstand.

Not a ton has changed with Henry in the past six months.  He wears a size 7 pants and S(5/6) shirts.  He tried on a M(7/8) shirt the other day and was still clearly too big.  His shoe size is 13C.  His weight fluctuates a bit each time he steps on the scale but it was 50.2 pounds the other night.

Most weekdays Henry begins his days by giving me a hug and placing his breakfast order then he'll sleepily walk to the couch and wait until his breakfast is ready then make his way over to the table - and not always in a walking motion; sometimes in something more like a duck waddle or other method of getting from point a to point b.  He can drag out eating breakfast with the best of them - he usually has a book with him and, while he might have food in his mouth, he usually forgets to chew - the food just sits in his mouth for awhile.  Henry seems to have a hot lunch at school more often than cold - but not by much.  His evenings are currently busy with wrestling, CCD, and cub scouts.

With the exception of his penmanship (which is teacher is more lenient in grading than last year's teacher), school seems to be going well.  Luckily everything seems to come easy for him so far.  Reading is still a favorite pasttime of his . . .though if he had his choice "screens" would be ahead of reading whether its tv/you tube time, minecraft on the WiiU, or games on the kindle . . or all three at the same time.

Henry chose to have a birthday party for the first time since turning 5.  The party was held at Lost in Fun - I'm happy to report all had fun (as far as I know).

We did the family celebration last Sunday.  For the 3rd year in a row the cake was lego themed - this time Batman Lego!