I took the boys to see a movie today…we were pretty much the only ones there! They love to bring their blankets and stuffed animals and enjoy their homemade treat bags with popcorn and fruit gummies. (I can’t even believe how comfortable movie theater seats are nowadays…I’m surprised I didn’t take an afternoon nap!)
We usually try to keep things pretty simple with the boys, schedule-wise, during the year…i.e. they each only do one extra curricular activity. This summer, though, I wanted to tap into their creative sides with creative classes and lessons. Jonas and Xander love art and are both really good artists. So, I signed them up for a week long art camp (pottery) with Nashville Children’s Art Classes. They enjoyed it! Here’s Jonas with his melting snowman pot and Xander with his upside down hat that doubles as a banana bowl pot.
The boys and I went to the Smyrna Outdoor Adventure Center pool today. It’s pretty fun with water slides, a lazy river, and a climbing wall.
We spent the week at Lake Anna, VA with Grandma and Grandpa Seyfried, the (Northern) Seyfrieds, the Longs, and the Paccassis.
For more pictures, click on the “Lake Anna 2021” picture page to the right.
We’re heading to Lake Anna, VA this week to spend the week with Grandma and Grandpa Seyfried, the (Northern) Seyfrieds, the Longs, and the Paccassis. On the way, we stopped off at The Caverns at Natural Bridge. We’d never been to anything like that with the boys before, so it was super cool to explore together.
We spent the night at a hotel and stopped off at Virginia Military Institute where John Paccassi is a cadet in school. One of his good friends was there and gave us a tour, and we took him to lunch (the perfect thank you for a college student). Check out The Palms, if you’re ever in Lexington, VA…delicious!
Loved this beautiful mountain view…
I took the boys out to the Nash Family Creamery today, a dairy farm in Chapel Hill. On the tour, we visited with the calves (one of them kept trying to nurse Jonas’ finger) and checked out the milking parlor. Afterwards, we stopped in to the creamery to buy some ice cream to enjoy with our lunches under the pavilion out in the fields.
Our church coordinated a day of service for middle schoolers today. I chaperoned and really enjoyed my time with my group of boys (Jonas, Xander, Spencer, and Braden). It worked out great because the boys were so like-minded and close in age (three rising 6th graders and one rising 7th grader).
We started out at St. Philip Catholic Church where we listened to music and a talk by PJ Anderson in the fellowship hall and attended daily mass in the church. We were supposed to clear brush from the property of the new catholic church in Nolensville, but someone had already done that. So, we loaded up and followed three other groups out to Columbia to the 431 Ministries farm, where we helped build a retaining wall around their new office for about 15 minutes.
Jonas had a hard time not chasing the chickens the entire time, so even though it ended up being a lot more driving, I was somewhat relieved (if a little frustrated) when the youth leader asked me if I could take the boys out to Catholic Charities in North Nashville to help out there instead. So, we loaded back up into the van, the boys ate their lunch and cracked jokes, and we arrived at our destination about 45 minutes later. We ended up filling 60 bags for the elderly leaving rehab…it was the perfect job for the boys (and for me). I was so proud of their willingness and their ability to work together to get the job done.
Afterwards, we stopped at a playground, so I could eat lunch. Then, we headed back to Franklin to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream and on to Pinkerton Park for some hang/play time with the rest of the group. It was really fun and really exhausting for everyone all at the same time. I’m so thankful for this opportunity that the boys (and I) had to serve, learn, and grow.
We LOVED our beach trip to Cape San Blas, Florida. We hung out on the beach, swam in the pool, read books, watched shows, played board games, went out for lunch and ice cream, checked out a shipwreck on the beach, sat on the porch, went to the state park, and enjoyed relaxing.
For more pictures, click on the “Cape San Blas 2021” page to the right.
The boys and I love the Patterson Park Indoor Pool and were so excited to get back to it, as it’s been closed for a almost a year and a half due to COVID. Roman was especially excited that he was finally tall enough to go down the water slide!!!
Tom and I took the boys geocaching this afternoon. We found a few caches in the new neighborhood connected to ours and on the trails across from the boys’ school. We also hid a cache, which was fun (our second in Nolensville)!
The boys and I put together Blessing Bags for the homeless today…thought we’d keep the bags in the van…that way we can give them out when we see a need.
We met our dear friends (and former next-door neighbors), the Drinkards, at the Brentwood Splash Park this morning. I feel like all of Mrs. Amanda’s kids are my own…we’ve known Jeremy since kindergarten and Jameson, Josie, and JJ since they were babies. We were (and still are) beyond sad that they moved at the end of the school year, but we’re loving getting to spend time with them this summer.
Here’s a picture of Jonas and Xander with Jeremy…they had a blast. And here’s a picture of Roman…I’m amazed that I actually caught him smiling in this photo, to be honest. He was having a huge sensory meltdown at the time (thus the noise reduction headphones in his hands). Some days I can handle his meltdowns and some days I can’t. This was one that I made it through with him at the time but then needed a BIG break from him once we got home. Ah life…the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. We’ll take it all and be thankful for it. We’re all works in progress.
Xander’s 5th Grade Graduation Ceremony was tonight! It was a big deal for this momma…it was already a big deal because my Xan-Man is going to be a middle schooler next year…but even bigger because of the year we’ve all come through and because we missed Jonas’ 5th Grade Graduation Ceremony last year due to COVID. It was definitely one of those head-shaking, tear-jerking moments for me, realizing once again just how fast time passes.
I totally teared up when Xander came processing into the gym, when the kids sang “When You Believe” and “Hall of Fame”, and when Principal Fuller asked us to give the kids a round of applause for making it through this challenging year. Xander received the Perfect Attendance Award and the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence! Congratulations, Xander!!!
Jonas tested for and earned his second level green belt tonight! Go, Jonas! We’re so grateful for Mr. and Mrs. Mast and for all they’re teaching our boys…even outside of TaeKwonDo.
We picked the boys up early from school today and took them out on the lake to do some magnet fishing…a little celebration for making it through the first week of TCAP testing. We had fun just riding around on the lake, and the boys caught a grill grate, some electrical wire, and a hoop earring to boot. HaHa!
We went to Red River Gorge, Kentucky for the latter half of Spring Break. We stayed in a log cabin in the woods (loved the view and the hot tub on the deck), took a sky lift up to a natural bridge (I was scared out of my mind, but all of the boys…including Tom…loved it), hiked three miles (I’m hoping for more family hikes in the future…however, Roman lost his mind about a 1.5 miles in), and spent time just relaxing (we watched the first episode of the Mandalorian and Raya and the Last Dragon with the boys). It was really nice…I’m so grateful we were able to get away.
For more pictures, click on the “Spring Break 2021” page on the right.
The boys are on Spring Break this week…
On Monday, we ended up just hanging out at home…the boys ate (which they do a lot of…especially on breaks), jumped on our neighbor’s trampoline, raced on hover shoes over and over again across the living room floor, and relaxed/played video games. I picked up, did a ton of laundry, helped the boys pack their suitcases, and quite honestly when I wasn’t doing that I had a hard time fighting the magnetic pull of the couch with my favorite blanket and my bed (these rainy/gray days, man). I’ve been struggling with depression lately…I’m not sure what is going on with me…where it’s all coming from and how to get on top of it. But I was able to drag myself out for a run and through a workout, so I count that as a win.
Today, the boys and I drove out to Grand Ole Golf. The drive over started out a little rough with Roman and his attitude…let’s just say it was pretty quiet the whole way there after I had a talk with him about it. But things turned around after playing 18 holes of mini golf and racing around the go kart track. It was the first time we’ve all been able to go go karting together because Jonas and Xander were both tall enough to drive on their own! Afterwards, we went to Opry Mills…ate lunch in the food court, walked around and checked out some of the shops (it’s so different shopping with boys…we went to Game Stop, the Lego store…Jonas bought himself a new Lego set, and Electronic Express), and played a few arcade games at Dave and Buster’s (Xander and Roman each purchased an arcade card). All told…we had a good time, but we were all totally exhausted and ready to come home and relax afterwards.
Here are some of Jonas’ recent pieces of art work…
Jonas had plenty of time to work on and finish his science project (he’d been procrastinating on) over the snowcation.
Tom disassembled the treehouse in our backyard that he and his dad built for our boys when Roman was a baby. It made my heart a little bit sad, but he repurposed a good bit of the materials and built the boys a fort in the woods. They’re loving it, so their childhood treehouse lives on…
