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!)
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…
The boys love going to Defy…I love it too because it wears them out so much…haha. I try to take pictures of them, but it’s tough to take ones that aren’t blurry because they’re in constant motion.
One of the things we love about our neighborhood is the annual 4th of July parade…complete with a fire truck blaring patriotic music, everyone/everything decked out in red/white/blue (including bicycles, strollers, and dogs), and popsicles. This year, Roman got to enjoy it with his best friend, Owen.
My baby got braces today!!!
Roman had a lemonade stand today to raise money for a Nintendo Switch. He spent a good bit of the morning/early afternoon making lemonade, pink lemonade, brownies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and snickerdoodles with me. He had a good crowd and even served two officers from the Nolensville Police Department (he gave them a discount).
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 try to keep life simple for the boys (and for us) during the school year…they each only do one extracurricular activity. Over the summer, though, I really wanted to tap into their gifts and let them explore their creativity with artistic lessons.
Jonas and Xander love art and are interested in pottery, so I signed them up for a one week evening camp in July with Martha Booysen at Nashville Children’s Art Classes. Jonas took art classes with Mrs. Martha a few years ago…she’s amazing. I’m so excited for them!
I signed Roman up for drum lessons. He has always had a special penchant for the drums. When he was in preschool, I brought him to a vocal rehearsal with me in the church…he amazed the piano player by playing the chimes at the beginning and end of the song in perfect time. When Roman and I took piano lessons at home, he would run and get a wooden spoon and a pillow and keep time while I was playing and singing. When he was five, he saw a beginner child’s drum set at a yard sale and asked how much it was…when the man said, “It’s eight dollars”, Roman started crying and said, “But I only have five!” The man gave it to him then and there. I have a video of him playing and singing “We Will Rock You” with the biggest smile on his face. It was that pure, unadulterated joy that made me realize that music…and even more so…the drums were part of his calling.
All of that to say that I totally cried when he started rocking out to “Pancake Robot” right away with his drum teacher, Lael Eccard. It was such a beautiful thing to see him light up and to see his wheels turning and to witness him “getting it”. I’m so excited for him!
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.
So, this is so sweet…
One of the blessings that came out of this school year was that school breakfasts and lunches were free for all students. Towards the end of the school year, a classmate of Xander’s starting putting the unwanted food from her lunch on his desk. He thought to himself, “I’m not going to eat this. I should save it and give it to people who need it.” So, he decided to collect unwanted food from school lunches in his classroom and give it to the Nolensville Food Pantry. Then, he asked Roman to collect food in his classroom as well. (Roman even tapped a point person in each class in the 3rd grade to help out with their collection efforts.)
At the end of the school year, the boys bagged it all up…chips, fruit cups, fruit snacks, animal crackers, and juice boxes. We swung by the Nolensville Food Pantry this morning to deliver everything. When Debbie Noland, the director of the pantry, saw what the boys had brought, she said, “The Lord works in mysterious ways”. I said, “Why do you say that?” She said, “I was just telling someone earlier today, as we were packing fuel bags for summer school, that we really needed individual bags of chips”. Individual bags of chips are what made up the most of what the boys collected. When Xander got in the car, he said, “Mom, that felt good”. I totally started tearing up, and the boys were like, “Mooooooom!!!” Thank you, God, and thank you, Holy Spirit, for moving on our hearts and for showing up in our lives and in the lives of others.
Roman tested for and earned his first level blue belt in TaeKwonDo tonight! Congratulations, Roman!
Roman got a new expansion pack for his favorite game, Exploding Kittens, today. He is pumped up about it.
Here’s Roman and his PRECIOUS 3rd grade teacher, Ms. St. Pierre. I cannot say enough about her heart for kids…especially mine. Any other teacher might have battled it out with him and might have even given up on him. But she consistently reached out to me, to other teachers, and to the school counselor…and let me reach out to her…and communicated like a BOSS. She set him up for success with a very in-depth behavior chart and daily rewards for meeting his goals, always believing and expecting the best of him. I will forever be grateful for the impact she made on his life and on mine. What a difference a true teacher makes!!!
