Six years young...

Talan has been waiting for several months to turn 6, and that day finally arrived. To him, six is less of a little kid and more of a big kid. I think I agree. 

He charged in my room at 6am. I pretended to be asleep until my normal wake up time of 645am while Talan spent that 45 minutes laying quietly and calmly next to me and getting up and running full speed into the dining room to look at and make sure his pile of presents was still there. They were....every single time. He had his favorite toaster strudels for breakfast, put on his best birthday outfit and headed down the hill for school. 

At lunch Aunt Tanya, and Gramps showed up for a surprise visit with Talan's favorite lunch. A cheeseburger with ketchup only, apple slices and a chocolate milk from Sonic. 

After lunch Syphr and I brought brownies to Talan's class. Talan came from a school that celebrated no birthdays, to a school that makes a really big deal for the whole day. He wore a birthday crown all day, there was a banner, a present on his desk from his teacher waiting for him after lunch, a toy of his choice from the prize box and treats! What could be better than that!

One of the 50 things on Talan's birthday wish list, that he got, was a snow cone maker. It was set up and waiting for him when he arrived home from school. The perfect treat after the high percentage of humidity, and a walk home from school up our beast of a hill. 

He spent the rest of the day opening presents, bug hunting with his brothers outside, making forts in the basement, eating his choice of hot dogs and chicken nuggets, and watching an episode of Caillou.

TALAN'S BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW:

1. How old are you?  six
2. Where do you live? Ummm. On the top of the hill.
3. What is your favorite color? green
4. What is your favorite animal? Zebra! Because he has stripes. Ohhh! Knock knock. Whose there? Zebra. Zebra who? Zebra with stripes on. (He doesn't quite get jokes yet)
5. What is your favorite thing to do? Play Wii and Playstation all day!
6. What is your favorite thing about school? That I get to play games inside sometimes.
7. Who is your teacher? Mrs. Beam. She is nice.
8. What is your favorite thing to do with your brothers? Play Wii and Playstation! I always like to do that like every day.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? ummm. A guy who studies rocks, or a video game maker, or maybe a policeman. I don't know. I just want to do everything. 
10. What makes you special? That I'm a nice boy. Ummm. That I love sports. Umm. That on my birthday I get to tell Ashton what to do and STOP PLAYING WITH THAT ASHTON! IT IS MINE!

Even though this kid drives me crazy on a regular basis, I'm so glad he is part of our family. He is funny, smart, thoughtful, sweet, and incredibly lovable. 

Its the most wonderful time of the year!!

Back to school time. I love the school supply shopping, doing last minute fun things, setting school year routines, and knowing that soon I will once again have a bit of a break to run errands, have a quiet house for more than 3 minutes, and maybe be able to shower without someone banging on the door or claiming to be dying of starvation.

Ashton is gracing 6th grade with his presence this year. His official last year before he heads to the craziness of middle school. He won't admit it, but he was really excited. Even though he tries really hard to keep his joyous outbursts contained, I could tell he was ready to go back.  St. George has mixed grades, so his homeroom is made up of 5th and 6th graders. He has the same most excellent homeroom teacher, Mrs. Carlson, and all the same kids that were in 5th grade last year in his class. The 7th graders moved on, and some new 5th graders moved in. 

I don't know what to do with this kid most of the time, but I do know to expect that I'm going to have to take several 'Ashton style' pictures before he can be expected to be any form of serious. I hope he always has this personality. He keeps us entertained. So, here is the big time 6th grader:

Once we got to school  I told the boys I wanted to take their photo out front. I knew as soon as we walked in the front doors Ashton would sneak away as fast as he could. I was hoping for smiles, but I'll take what I can get. 

The last glimpse of the big kid as he makes his way down the hall. By this time we had walked through the front doors, and if he knew I took this photo he might have died of embarrassment. 

Talan is a big time Kindergartner again this year. He is so much more mature, and while I'm still glad we sent him last year, he is absolutely ready this time around. His teacher is Mrs. Beam, Talan thinks she is beautiful, and she just might be the absolute best fit for him as a teacher. His preschool teacher once described him as having such a big personality in such a little body. I think that is spot on. He is going to be great this year at an incredibly fantastic school that has made the decision to go nut free starting this year. A sigh of relief, and less worry for me, and a less outcasting school experience for Talan. 

Talan also shares Ashton's issue of having to take a series of silly pictures before he can be expected to smile. 

 Syphr was not pleased that summer came to an end. He pouted on the walk back to the car, all the way home, and for a while once home. Once he came out of his pouting mood, he made a microphone out of a plastic golf club handle, and a fox finger puppet. I was supposed to sing about the fox jumping. Apparently my made up song was not on the same level of creativity and awesomeness that Ashton usually provides, so pout mode was reactivated once more.

 Syphr was overjoyed when his brothers came home. He made them play an entire days worth of games in 3 hours, and was glued to Ashton for the entire night. The next morning he learned there was more than 1 day of school. Poor guy.

 We are 6 days into school so far, and all is well. Ashton loves to learn, and the school loves to teach, so he is excited to start learning in detail about the Revolutionary War this week. Talan excitedly brings home new papers ever day, is making new friends, and is loving every second of school besides the long day. Syphr has learned that when his brothers are at school he can play with whatever he wants without constantly having to have his guard up. There is much less pouting.

It has begun

One of the neighbor girls who is the same age as Ashton has been over the past couple days to hang out. Ashton in no way objects. 

When she comes over Ashton goes into complete show off mode.

Here he is trying to impress her by being as gross as possible:

It is totally working. Looks like eleven is when girls lose their cooties. 

Nursing home, here I come!

Recently, all three boys have discovered their life calling. I'm scared.

Ashton, who has been talking about being a scientist since he could speak, decided his desired career path would now be worm trainer. WORM TRAINER. He will train them to dance. I've seen Ashton dance. We should all be very scared.

Talan, once determined to become an astronaut, would now like to trade that in to be a professional video game player. I'm not talking about the kind that get up, go to work, create the games, and test them for the market. I'm talking about the kind that don't get paid to sit on their basement couch surrounded by pizza boxes and empty soda bottles radiating smell because they haven't showered in a week and a half. Dream big buddy.

Syphr is the only one that refuses to change his career path. He would like to somehow become a race car. Not driver. He thinks when he is big he will  morph into an actual race car, and gets very defensive when anyone tries to hinder his big plans.

These are the kids that will take care of me when I'm old. I think they have been out of school too long, and maybe have been watching too much Netflix and playing too much playstation.