Author: Jodi

We all packed up and went to a friend’s cabin at Center Hill Lake for a few days. We enjoyed wave runnering, swimming in the lake, and relaxing in the cabin.

The boys and I went to the Smyrna Adventure Center today. We really enjoyed the pool…especially the slides, the climbing wall, and the lazy river. After we swam, we went inside and checked out the different exhibits.

The splash pad in Franklin opened on May 1, so I couldn’t wait to hit it up with the boys as soon as they got out of school. What a great way to kick off the summer!

By God’s grace last summer (in between family vacation, VBS, and Encore), we struck a balance of going on three planned outings during the week and making up the rest as we went along. I was also able to come up with a list of 9 different activities that we could do at home on a lazy or rainy day. The boys each got to pick one a month and loved it so much that I thought we’d do it again this summer. We ended up tapping into our list early this year and had a SnoCone Stand two days after school got out…haha!!!

First, I found recipes on Pinterest for making snocone syrup with no artificial flavors or dyes (it’s basically just fruit, water, and sugar) and made strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cherry, mango, peach, and kiwi.

Then, I picked up a cheap snocone machine from Walmart, ordered some squeeze bottles and snocone cups/spoon straws from Amazon, and we were off to the races. The SnoCone Stand was a big hit, so I think we’ll do it again later in the summer.

We took the boys to one of their best friends’ birthday parties this weekend at a roller skating rink!!! It is CRAZY how much it’s exactly how I remember it when I was a child (the carpet, the layout, the birthday party rooms, the skates, etc.). It made me so nostalgic.

The boys each had a different approach to learning, as they usually do, which was interesting to watch…

Jonas jumped right in, fell and got right back up, with continuous persistence.

Xander reminded me so much of myself as a child when I tried new things for the first time…he hung back and observed…then when he got up the courage to try it (on his own time, mind you), he expected himself to be perfect right out of the gate and got discouraged when he didn’t perform up to the picture he had in his mind…then he froze up and shut down. I kind of have to back off because I see all of the things I missed out on doing as a child because I was so afraid to fail and afraid of what others would think of me if I did…I want better for him and it’s hard for me to tolerate how fear and perfectionism affects him and those around him in times like that. Sigh. Enter Tom. He always knows just how to handle Xander in those moments…he sat down with him and in a few magical moments of Daddy/Xander time…had him up and trying again until he got comfortable.

Roman tried it out, fell and got super frustrated a lot, but stuck with it.

They had these fabulous PVC pipe trainers on wheels that the boys held onto and pushed in front of them to get the feel of things. What a great idea (and a lifesaver for my little guys)!!!

Tom put on a pair of skates and showed off his skills…he even won a race with the other daddies…of course.

All in all, it was an interesting adventure that the boys ended up really enjoying.

Today was the last day of school. The boys were so excited that the Bruester’s Ice Cream truck was parked in our neighborhood to help them ring in the summer. Here they are with their huge waffle cones of birthday cake ice cream…

I was blessed to be able to spend time with each of the boys for their end of the year parties this week. Jonas had a kickball tournament at the park, Xander had a popsicle/ice cream party in the classroom, and Roman had a picnic lunch behind the school.

So….Xander Joseph Seyfried…won the 2nd Grade Spelling Bee!!!!!

We are so BEYOND proud of him. Here he is having a celebratory ice cream with his brothers. Go, Xander!!!!!

It felt like summer this afternoon, so Tom took the boys to the creek for a stomp around…