My Two Buddies

I can't believe how fast this school year is going...already 1/3 the way over!!! This week is parent teacher conferences so Nolan had no school Monday and half days the rest of this week, next week Nolan has the whole week off school, then he's got a couple weeks off in December! Can't wait to celebrate the Holidays this year!
Today was Nolan's parent teacher conference. It's fun to see and hear how much Nolan has learned and progressed in just a few months. His teacher was so amazed at how smart he is especially for being almost the youngest. I really do love his teacher this year! I like how she focuses on all the positive things he's able to do, rather than the 1 or 2 things that he struggles with, like holding his pencil the correct way. :P
Nolan is also doing very well in gymnastics. I've really enjoyed watching him progress over the last year and a half or so. His upper body has really become stronger. Today Nolan was on the bars and rings doing all sorts of tricks. He's able to pull himself up forward and hang above the bar and do a flip and and he can flip himself up backward to where he's hanging upside down and holding it for a while before doing a backward flip to get down, not sure if I worded that correctly, but you get the idea. Pretty cool! If you come to my house and notice the slip covers of the couches all hiked up, it's because Nolan's been practicing his gymnastics... :P
On Sunday when Nolan got sung to for his birthday in Primary, they were describing the kind of kid he was. Some of the older boys said that Nolan would make a great prophet someday! Hmmm, it kind of made me think. I guess you never know. I wonder if the moms of the prophets these days would have done anything different if they knew their son was going to be a prophet someday. I have no doubt, Nolan could grow up to be someone just as amazing!
Annika is getting to be such a big girl! When Nolan's home, she wants to be doing whatever he's doing. If Nolan's doing homework, Annika wants to do her "homework." If Nolan is playing outside, Annika is outside doing whatever he's doing. At night time, Annika likes to snuggle with Nolan in his bed before he falls asleep. She is getting good at saying her own bedtime prayers, even though the last few nights she ends her prayers by saying, "Boo!" I think because she is lifting her head up and catches me peeking at her. I'm also noticing a similar sense of humor in her that Nolan had at this age...hmmm. Annika is ALWAYS getting hurt! On Sunday once again, she fell and hit her mouth on something hard, causing her to split her lip open. Then, during Sacrament meeting, she hit it again and split a different part of her lip open. She had a fat lip for a few days. :P Annika is always wearing Nolan's shoes. I think she prefers them over hers now...they're only a few sizes bigger. :P
I'm so thankful for these two wonderful kids! They bring me so much joy!

Nolan's 11-11-11 Birthday!

I can't believe it's been 6 years! Actually, it feels like Nolan's been around forever! I just can't remember what my life was like without him. Pretty boring, really. Everyone needs to know a Nolan to brighten up their life!

Our day started around 3:00 this morning. Nolan came in our room...I can't remember what he came in for in the first place. One of the times when I was a little more awake he said his room "looked a little unusual." I thought, huh? So, I got out of bed and walked him to his room. He seemed a little scared. His night light hadn't been on. I turned on his light. There were streamers I had hung from his door upon his request. :) I think he thought they were spiders or something. Once he saw what they really were, he went back to bed. I think he woke me up a couple more times, but I don't really remember.

So, he must have finally fell back asleep cuz he didn't actually wake back up until after 8:00 or so. :P

Nolan was excited to have a birthday party with family and friends today! Every year previous we have had a party with family, but this is pretty much the first year we've invited friends. Nolan has lots of fun kids in primary with him. Up until a couple of hours before the party, I thought only 3 or 4 kids would be able to come. Which would have been fine. Then, I got a couple of last minute calls saying, they had just checked the mail and found the invitation, etc etc. :) Then, we thought, hmmm, well maybe these people didn't check their mail either. So, we called them. They hadn't. So, it went from being a small party to quite a large party. At one point I counted at least 12 kids. The more the merrier, right? Lots of siblings and parents came to stay as well.

Nolan wanted a banana for breakfast. And that was it. I think he was a little excited. What do you think?





It's not a party without playing, "Doggy, doggy, who has the bone."



Annika was very attached to Grandma today. I think she's finally figured out who she is! :)



We had the party at the catering so we could have the kids make their own personal pizzas. It was nice to have lots of oven space.



Recognize this pinata? We finally got to use it! Someone gave it to Nolan at that Penn Valley craft fair thing a few months ago. The kids went on a treasure hunt and the pinata was the treasure. Rather than having candy fly all over the place, I put the same amount in each little bag before sticking it in the pinata.



I missed the actual shot where Nolan blew out his candle since I couldn't find the camera. But, he was happy to pretend to do it again! Nolan decorated his cake with oreo bits.



Nolan received many nice presents.











The kids had fun with these sticky hand things.



This picture below makes me laugh. You can see the green sticky hand flingin around Nolan. :)



Happy Birthday Nolan! We love you!

My First Grader

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist buying Nolan's first grade picture this year. I knew I'd be kicking myself later if I didn't. Sorry, this isn't scanned, just a picture of a picture.

Dora