track fun

for the past few weeks

ben has been training

for TODAY

his first track meet

he ran the 1600m

did the long jump

ran the 400m

and the 800m

where he placed 4th for 6th grade

nice job, ben!!

style

he clearly gets his sense of style from me

love your socks, alex.

sweet dreams ... finally.

tonight is the night ...

the mattress is in ...

and the bed is ready ...

sweet dreams, boys!

so lucky

i didn't have just ONE starbucks date today ...

lunchroom lockdown

alex has assured me that i don't need to worry about money

because he is going to make LOTS of money

he and andrew are writing a book

called 'lunchroom lockdown'

and have plans to publish it

can't wait to see it, alex!

all in a weekend's work

this weekend

ben and drew went on a retreat with EBC to trout lake

we dropped them off at 4:30 on friday and they took a bus to camp

except for a few texts

and one frantic phone call about a possible missing phone

which wasn't really missing but was in his cabin

thankful we put the find my phone app on

we didn't hear from them all weekend

it goes without saying

BUT

there was very little sleep

and a WHOLE LOT OF fun

alex also had a whole lot of fun

living it up as an only child

we wasted no time

and went right to chipotle on a dinner date

his choice

he even wanted his own bowl!

saturday we woke up 

and on a whim decided it would be fun to change the playroom

into alex's room

he and ben like sleeping together

but we figured that as long as they had the bunk bed or full size options

they could still sleep together -

just switch which room they were in

this gave alex his own space for his stuff

we went to ikea

and put stacey right to work

alex was a great helper :)

until he found something else to do ;)

we ended up getting the room ALMOST finished -

just need to wait for his mattress to come in!!

what a fun ... but exhausting weekend!

i don't know how parents of one kid do it ...

i was very excited to pick up drew and ben

so alex could have some entertainment besides me!

they're baaaaack

and this time they brought cars with them!!

third grade fun

our neighborhood is FULL of third graders

SIX of them are one month apart in age

that means alex almost always has at least one friend to play with

and on days like today ...

even more

alex's wax museum

alex was one of 8 third graders selected to participate

in a special talent development

wax museum

for over a month

he studied abraham lincoln

he learned about his childhood

his work in congress and as president

and his death

THEN ...

he put all of the things he learned into a speech

on wax museum day

he and his 7 third grade friends dressed up as their character

other students came to see them in small groups

they would push 'his button'

and alex would tell them

all about himself

(abe lincoln)

i recorded one of the first speeches he gave

BUT he gave the speech over TWENTY times!!

we are SO proud of him!

when he first found out he was chosen he wasn't sure he even wanted to do it

BUT

he decided to try it

and i am SO glad he did!

he did great

and so did all of the other kids!

he was the only kid from his class to do it

so when he got back to class

he got a standing ovation

totally worth celebrating with a frozen yogurt treat 

nice job today, abe

my morning date

celebrating twelve

somehow

at some point

don pablos became a birthday tradition for ben

we don't eat there any other time of the year

just when it's time to celebrate ben

this year was no different -

we just celebrated the night after his birthday

so he and drew didn't have to miss church

feliz cumpleanos, peni!