Guess who is in town? Kay and Russell
Guess why? NASCAR
Russell has always enjoyed NASCAR, but has never had the opportunity to attend a race in person... until now! Nik got his hands on some tickets and took his dad this past Sunday - so cool, right?
I'm so glad they got the chance to do this!
Here are 3 Jaxen updates for you:
1. Remember when I told you that Jaxen joined the Orchestra and decided to play cello? Or maybe you don't (who knows if I blogged about it!). Anyways - I was so excited for him! And guess what... a year later, he decided he is no longer interested. I kind of saw it coming... but let it play out anyway (secretly hoping he would change his mind). It's official. He has dropped the class. And that's ok. By next year, he would have had to choose between orchestra and choir anyway. So, good-bye cello.
2. So far middle school has been really good. I mean - we are a month in, what could go wrong now?! Haha! When I asked Jaxen what he loved about middle school that was different than elementary school he said (1)lunches are way better (2) more freedom and (3) it's nice to switch teachers.
Apparently you get a bit more food at lunch, it does not taste like cardboard, and you get pizza from a local place every Thursday.
The "freedom" thing is new to us both. I am trying to find the balance of giving him a bit more freedom, but yet making sure he is responsible with that given freedom. Trying to teach but not micro-manage. Trying to let him make choices and watch the good/bad consequences unfold. Parenting is hard, y’all!
Jaxen really enjoys having multiple teachers. In his words (from last year) “that way if you don’t like a teacher you only have them for one hour instead of all day, every day.” True.
3. Jaxen received his football jersey at practice this week. Finally! They had to "earn" it. He was pumped - everyone was! And he loves his number, #12 (his bday and birth year).
He has been playing on the D-line and as a linebacker. Can’t wait for his first game on Saturday!
Nik and I screen shot any "funnies" that we see and share them with each other -
I thought I would pass a few along to you to enjoy as well!
Here are 3 Zane updates for you!
1. He lost his glasses the first week at school. So he is wearing his old, back-up pair. And he is adorable, as always. However, he does.not.like.glasses one single bit! So we are currently working with him on putting contacts in his eyes! We are not close yet... but we keep practicing. He really wants to wear contacts. I'll keep you posted!
Doing homework, while eating a bowl of rice
2. Zane has now lost both of his top front teeth!
3. Zane was picket for Secret Student of the Day yesterday! He was so excited and proud!
It was almost a year ago when I showed pictures of our last new-to-us vehicle. And then I stopped blogging.
Hopefully, that is not the case this time around! Ha!
So we got another new-to-us vehicle. This vehicle was to replace our beloved white "tissue box" Scion. That car has been very good to us, but with over 215,000 miles it became a bit unreliable and started to show signs of dying.
We purchased a Nissan Juke a few weeks ago and it has worked out well!
Yes, we have two black exterior / black interior vehicles. Not Nik's preference (it is mine) but when you are buying used with a budget and other more important criteria - color becomes an-almost non-issue!
Here is our Juke! And guess who loves it the most... Zane! It is so funny - but he loves this car and wants whoever is driving him around to drive it.
"Flag forever" has been my mantra... until it wasn't.
Jaxen and our entire family (yes, it is a family ordeal) has now entered the world of tackle football. And it's a whole new world for us! This summer Jaxen begged and pleaded for us to allow him to play. After many conversations we decided that if this is something Jaxen really wanted to do we would support him. We thought it best to sign him up through a rec league so he could learn before he is allowed to play in middle school, as a 7th grader.
It's hard to see in the pic - but the smile on his face is pretty big! This was taken when he got fitted for his helmet and pads (in July).
They started practice (conditioning) three times a week during the end of July. At that point, it was a few of the hottest weeks of summer (head index was above 100). And it was tough. His coaches do not play around. After every practice Jaxen would calculate how many yards they had to run during practice. The answer - too many! And he wanted to quit every single second he was out there.
Once they got through conditioning they were able to start learning to tackle and running plays. That is when (finally) Jaxen decided he liked it and was having fun. He learned some good lessons through that time and overall he did pretty well pushing himself and giving it his best.
Don't they look so big out there?! It does not help that they are using one of the local high school fields to practice on...which makes it even more legit!
Jaxen's team practices three times a week - for at least 2 hours each practice, until games start in September. That is a long time for him... and me... and Zane. Practices go past when Nik leaves for work, so Zane has to hang with me. And I need to be there for physical, emotional and mental support for Jaxen - ha! (Told you it was a family affair!)
Thankfully, Zane loves it out there. He is living his best life climbing trees, running the track and hanging with his bestie. And now that school has started, doing homework :(
I have come to terms with Jaxen playing tackle football. He is learning all the things to be as safe as possible. Will he get hurt? Yes. Will it be bad? Who knows. He has been pushed, and tackled, and pummeled and has the bruises, soreness, and small wounds that will not heal because they keep opening up to prove it. Nik and I are doing our best to encourage him, help him to stay positive, learn the hard lessons, do the work, help him stay hydrated, work out sore muscles and remind him that he can do hard things!
Will he want to keep playing after this season? Who knows. But we are excited for their first game and can't wait to see all their hard work pay off through the season! Go Bulldogs!
The school year has officially begun! And everyone in the family was happy about it and excited!
Zane is now in 2nd grade. 2nd grade feels "big" to me, for some reason. So far, Zane is enjoying his teacher and really has no complaints about school! I'm so glad...because last year although he loved his teacher and had so many friends in his class he just got to a point where he did not like school and did not want to go.
His favorite things about school are PE and recess. He lives for those two things - haha!
Sadly, when we saw his class roster none of his "besties" were in class with him - but he assured me he still had many "friends". I'm sure the school knew what they were doing by splitting some of those boys up :).
Jaxen is now in 6th grade. 6th grade (here) is middle school and Jaxen was so excited! I thought they did well at the end of 5th grade, getting the kids ready for the transition. They were able to tour the school, meet with counselors and the principal and were able to pick their electives early. A week before school Jaxen had the chance to go to the school and find his locker (practice the lock) and find his classrooms.
The first week or so, they really took things slow. They did a lot of "getting to know you" and "get to know the school". The kids have 3 schedules they follow through the week (which sounds super confusing to me) but the kids seem to understand it and were able to get a good feel for it during that first slow week. They also got a chance to get to know the teachers and the other 6th graders (about 250).
Jaxen loves the extra freedom that comes with middle school. He loves being able to get to school early just to hang with his friends. He loves that he now has some kind of cool computer (I don't remember what kind!) that he gets to use and bring home. As parents, Nik and I are trying to help him balance this new freedom. He is still a kid. He needs to mature and grow in responsibility still - but he is honestly doing really well. We just try to keep guiding him in the right direction and we PRAY as he enters this new season of life!
