So Long, Farewell. . . Part 3

The girls were all hugs and sweetness as they said farewell to their pals. Isaac is all goofiness and punches. Still, he made some fun friends in Pinehurst, and I popped in during his class party to get some good-bye pics.

 Stuey Hall--this rascal and Isaac were best buddies---and sometimes little scoundrels :)

 Ms. Stone was a great teacher. She was so good at communicating with us. We had to get creative in figuring out ways to keep Isaac from reading non-stop during school. . . but there are worse problems to have!

 Boys are so goofy!

We love Mrs. Anne!!

Two-for-one!

Phase One: Tooth 1 swallowed during the night after dearly hanging on for life for several days.
Phase Two: Gathering courage to pluck tooth #2 from it's dangling status

SUCCESS!!!

Two front teeth gone before Christmas, resulting in an appropriate chorus of "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" and five whole bucks from a tooth fairy WAY behind on payment!

Isaac

3rd Grade!!

I just realized that we forgot to take a picture of you on your first day of school this year!!! I am so sorry. In all the hubbub of it also being my first day of school and trying to get everyone where they belong, we forgot to snap a picture. I doubt you really minded, but someday you might wonder exactly what you looked like on your first day of third grade. So, I'll sum it up for you: EXCITED!
 You could hardly sleep the night before you headed back to school. You were downright giddy. A few nights before we found out that your teacher was Ms. Stone and the classroom looked great! She is a fairly new teacher, just like me, so that means she's been getting all the great training and is full of energy and fun! We think you are going to have a great year.

 One of your goals this year (set completely independently of our influence!) is to be more responsible. You are really doing great! You get your homework done every day, and keep track of your water bottle, and are really staying on top of things. I am impressed. You love afterschool--who wouldn't? Extra playground time, lego stations, and a prize box. . what's not to love? You get grumpy if I ever dare come pick you up before 5:00. Sheesh. The routine still has some kinks and life is a little crazy, but every night that I get to cuddle with you, sing you a song, and give you a hug is such a blessing to me. We love you Isaac!

You have become quite the chef as well, waking up FAR too early to fix us breakfast. One morning you even set up restaurant rules. You can make oatmeal and scrambled eggs. The amount of oatmeal varies, but your enthusiasm doesn't. I used to do the same thing when I was a kid--I loved waking up early to make pancakes for everyone. I guess you come by it honestly.

Sweet Isaac

Isaac, you are one sweet boy. You get frustrated with yourself so easily, wanting to be so good (at everything!) and you are sensitive and kind. The other day we saw a dog get hit by a car the other day and you were really upset by it. You said, "Well, at least he gets to go back to Heavenly Father. I bet Heavenly Father is happy to see him."

We love you so much Isaac. You are too hard on yourself! Today in church you cried because you made a mistake on a picture (that was actually better than anything I could do!) I hope you know how wonderful you are. 
You are also a hard worker! You've started a pine cone pickup service and have had a few customers so far! You designed the posters and knocked doors and have paid your tithing on everything you've earned. You are really careful with how you spend the money you've earned. Sometimes you can't make a decision at all, which leaves you feeling pretty frustrated. Your emotions are sometimes close to the surface. We love you!!

Future P.L.E

That's Professional Lego Engineer.

Boy, do you love Legos. This was just one of the multiple creations you built with these few legos that you brought with you on the plane. Here are some others:

There were others, but these were the ones you captured. You had a ball with the camera.

Your birthday party was all about legos too!

Dad made this amazing lego cake--Pretty impressive!!!

And you and your friends make pretty good legos too!

Reunion Fun

 I think Baby Nora got a crush on you during the family reunion. Who can blame her? You are getting to be so tall and handsome Isaac! Seeing you with all your cousins was a highlight of our reunion. You had a fabulous time.

 Though you weren't brazen enough to dip your entire face in the whipped cream, you did dig around for the dime. The things you'll do for cake. . .

Reading to Emma and Baby Reese. I love this face. Classic Isaac.

Funny Faces

You rocked the mohawk for about 1 week. It was the only way we could get you to let us buzz your head. But, the deal was you couldn't have it on Sunday. But, for one week you looked incredibly tough and cool.

What a natural smile. This was on our way to Buena Vista for a family fun getaway. We had such a great time. You loved swimming in the river!

This is titled: Self Portrait on a Plane.
You had a lot of fun having the camera to yourself on the plane ride to the family reunion!

Not so Little Anymore!

Not so little anymore. .

You were quite the artist in setting up our orange slice platter for dinner! Look how grown up you are looking!!

Acting Up!

Your first theatrical production!! You were in "Bones," a funny little play about bones and muscles. You were a superstar back-up dancer for the broken shoulder. And you totally rocked!
Dad won these at a Christmas party. He stuffed the most balloons into a pair of pantyhose and put them on his head quickest. You had a great time with his victory spoils. You make the wackiest faces!

You are 8. . . and sooooo Great!

You are 8 . . . and soooo Great!!

What a happy guy!!! (You did not look like this the day before :) )
You had quite a memorable Baptism weekend! You have been really excited for your Baptism day, planning the service and handing out invitations to friends at school. At first you were a little nervous to do this, but you decided to it anyway. Way to go! But, the Friday before your Baptism you started feeling pretty crummy. You came home from school early and just slept--which is very unlike you. You threw up once Friday night. We wondered if we should go ahead and postpone your baptism, but thought we would wait until the morning to see if you felt better. We had family in town and everything planned so if we could make it work we wanted to.
You felt a bit better Saturday morning and we decided to move forward. But, the little bump of energy after a good night's sleep didn't last long. You started to feel terrible and were really upset. You were crying and sad and said you just wanted to go home. It was a difficult decision, everyone was already there, waiting for the service to begin. But, it wasn't a day for them, it was a day for you. And we felt strongly that it should be a peaceful, happy experience for you and we weren't going to push you into sitting through a baptism service feeling sad and miserable. So, I took you home and took a nice long nap. Back at the church, they still had your baptismal service, and I hear it was wonderful! You had a great friend from school, Ryan Foster, come and later his mom told me that he really enjoyed the service, and quiety sat through the whole thing. Even though you weren't there, you were still being a missionary!
By Sunday, you were ready to go! You still weren't 100%, and the girls were starting to feel crummy now, so you stayed home from church and came after for the baptism. Melodi and Caroline had to leave to catch a plane so our schedule was pretty tight. I knew when I saw you bounding down the hall in your white suit with a big grin on your face that we'd made the right decision in waiting. You felt excited and happy and were able to enjoy a wonderful (though shortened) Baptismal service. It was fantastic.
You have your own Sunday suit now and your own set of scriptures. We have been much more diligent lately reading as a family and you have your own now to read in! I am hoping you will have a desire soon to read the entire Book of Mormon on your own. First, you get to finish the 4th Harry Potter book--you've been waiting two years to read it! Today, after coming home from school, you changed into pajamas and announced the beginning of your "Harry Potter Read-A-Thon." It is such a treat to see you engrossed in a book.
We love you so much Isaac and are so proud of your righteous decision to be baptized. It is the beginning of an important path of lots of choices, some of which might be difficult. But, we trust in the Lord and will do our very best to help you every step of the way.

Birthday Boy!

French Toast(with candles) and sausage was your birthday breakfast of choice. . .

Later, when Grandma and Grandpa were in town for your Baptism, we had a triple birthday celebration for you, Lucy, and Emma, since your birthdays are all so close and Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds never get to be here.

Baptism Ready

Isaac,


I am so impressed with you! Sometimes your total inability to put your shoes away baffles me, but at other times I am left in awe of your sensitivity, maturity, and faith. Sometimes I assume that something should be easy for you because you are still so young, but then you make comments that tell you me you do realize and recognize the challenges of things, you are just willing to take them on.


For example, the other night when I was putting everyone to bed, you told me you needed to talk to me. I could tell it was something heavy. You got a little emotional as you asked me if I remembered when, at Christmas dinner, someone had taken a slice of strawberry cake before it was time and noone could figure out who it was. I said yes, and then you tearfully told me that it was you. You had gotten a slice for yourself and was getting a slice for Lucy when Grandma walked in. You were afraid that you would get in trouble so you told Grandma that it wasn't you.


I gave you a big hug and told you how proud I was of you for telling me the truth. I knew that took so much courage and I was genuinely proud of you. When I asked you why you decided to tell me, you said, "I prayed if I should tell you and the answer was yes, so I did." I commented on how much faith that showed, that clearly you are ready for baptism to have prayed, heard, and obeyed.

Isaac Updates!

Looong Time. . No Write!

Your Baptism day is just around the corner and it has been far too long since I've updated about your life. I will do my best to catch some high points, interesting moments, and capture some memories from the last several months. Time slips away so quickly. This year I am determined to set aside some time each Sunday for preserving some memories. So, you're up first!!
First adventure to report: THE DISNEY CRUISE!!! Holy cow, did we have a wonderful time. We were so excited. We walked on the ship and were just bouncing all over the place. Unlimited ice cream, three pools, two waterslides, buffets galore, Disney shows every night, room service. . What's not to love??? The line for the big waterslide, "The Aquaduck" was pretty long. But you even had fun in the line. You are so great at having fun wherever you are. Your imagination is priceless and you inherited your Dad's playful spirit. You are constantly asking, "What should we play?" Your "play" consists of pretending within the chosen theme (i.e. squirrels, star wars, waiters, ninjas, etc.) and continuing to do whatever we were doing. So we wait for a waterslide like ninjas or clean the bathroom like squirrels. It is pretty awesome.
You loved the pirate night on the ship and the scavenger hunt around the ship to all the different puzzles they had hidden in pictures. It was so amazing. The princesses didn't really impress you that much though. You started collecting pirate bracelets on the cruise. Grandma Lulu brought a bunch and you just picked up any extra. You had at least 10 bracelets on each arm for awhile!
After the cruise we only had a few more weeks until school started. This year brought a big change for us as I started to be a high school Spanish teacher at Union Pines. So, you had to go somewhere else after school. For the first several weeks you went next door to the Baker's house, which you liked, but it got a little stressful, so we decided to go with the afterschool program at the school. You were hesitant, but now you LOVE it. They go to the playground, do crafts, play games, watch movies. It is really fun.
A favorite game you play with other little boys (especially your cousin Luke--you two get so crazy together!!) is "The bad thing about. . . ." And example: "The bad thing about being holding a lightsaber when you are dancing. . ." You then proceed to demonstrate how a dancing Jedi would accidently cut his own head off. You love that game. Gets a laugh every time.
Luckily, you recently told me that you are "never too old for hugs." Phew. One of our favorite parts of the day is after I sing you your song and we just lay next to each other in your bed and talk about our days. I think it is special to both of us. You tell me about your day and you like to hear about my students. You are such a special, insightful boy. It is wonderful to hear you talk about the Gospel during scripture study and FHE. I really think you are ready for Baptism. The other day Emma was getting pushed aside by Caroline and Lucy and you came up to her and asked if you could play with her in the playhouse. It made her day. You are a fantastic big brother. You'd really like a little brother. We'll see. . . .
One day we were reading scriptures and you cracked up when we read in the book of Ether: "And moron did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord." I thought it was great that you caught that. You are really bright. This last report card you really did well, not only did you surpass expectations in several areas, I was especially happy to see how much you'd improved in the areas that needed improvement. We went out for dinner to celebrate such an awesome report card.
We just had Christmas. It was a super lego Christmas for you! You got a huge Star Wars lego kit and opened it first. You weren't interested in opening another thing until you got that put together. It was great. We also announced that we'll be getting a dog, but I don't think that was nearly as exciting as your battle droid. One night when I got you up to go to the bathroom, in a bleary-eyed state you asked, "Mom are you sure noone in our family is on the naughty list?" Luckily, I'm pretty confident that none of us are.
It is the first day of a New Year. This will be a big year for you! You will be baptized in February. Yesterday we went up to Cary. We talked about getting Chinese food for New Year's Eve. You really wanted dumplings! We ended up going to a Thai place, but you were so set on dumplings that we stopped at a Chinese place first so you could have dumplings of your own while we all ate noodles. Then we came home and watched "Hook." It was fun. We'd planned on watching Pixar movies until we fall asleep. But, we didn't decide early enough to assemble the movies. I think that is what we'll do next year. Chinese takeout and a journey through the awesome Pixar movies.
You are such a wonderful boy Isaac. I love you so much. You are bright, thoughtful, and funny. You are also messy, forgetful, and sometimes like to tattle on your sisters. But, there is so much more good than bad in you Isaac. I hope you will always remember that. I am so grateful to be your Mom. Happy New Year!!!

Big Boy Having Big Fun

Is that Babe Ruth?????

Shortly after getting this uniform, we realized that you have the same uniform number (14) as Troy Bolton from High School Musical. Awesome!!!!

The Mighty Warriors

Malcolm Blue Farm Bluegrass Festival

We did facepainting and then paid just 3.00 a piece for unlimited moon bouncing. There were no crowds, so you guys had the whole place to yourself. It was an awesome day!!

A Flashback. . .

You and the Easter Bunny. You are almost as big as he is!!! This was in Vienna, right before we decided to make the move to NC. It was a flashlight Easter egg hunt. Quite the adventure!

My Freckled Friend

You LOVE that you have freckles, and especially love that you and I are sort of the only ones that have them, like we are a secret club. You have an adorable sprinkling of freckles across your face and while Lucy and Emma are bronzing this summer, you just keep getting more speckled. . . and you love it. So do I. Back when I was pregnant with you I had a dream about a freckled little boy that was a wonderful combination of me and Daman. My dream has come true! You have your Dad's fantastic smile, my eyes, but a humor all your own.
Today I sat around and played legos with you for a good chunk of time. It was wonderful. Your imagination astounds me. You build and create, solving problems you make up and coming up with all sorts of different designs and contraptions. It is really fun to spend time with you Isaac.
We leave for the cruise on Friday!!! I can't believe it is really going to happen. I am most excited to be together as a family for four whole days! We've been down at Grandma's house now for over two months, and it is getting tough. We all really miss Dad and are anxious to be together again. I have applied for a teaching job and have an interview in a couple of weeks. If I get the job we will be able to move back up immediately!! It will be fantastic. Luckily, the high school schedule is such that even though I'll have to leave really early, I'll be home before you are done with school. And we'll have all the same holidays. I think it will be great. Let's hope I get the job!
We had Caroline come and visit a while back and you two had a funny conversation. She was saying that you're not that much taller than she is, "only a quarter" taller, she said. You said "No way, Caroline, I'm going to get a quarter right now and show you I am more than a quarter taller than you!" I cracked up. You are really clever Isaac.
We've been enjoying listening to the Harry Potter books on tape since we've been here. It has made it fun to be in the car! And this weekend all the Harry Potter movies have been on television. I made pumpkin pasties and butterbeer for the celebration. We had a wonderful time. You want to have a Harry Potter party when you turn eight. I can't believe you will be 8 in less than 6 months! That is incredible. You are growing up so fast and sometimes I feel like I am worrying so much about what you'll become that I forget to love and enjoy who you are. I'll work on that. You work on getting more freckles. Love you Isaac.

Baseball Games and Tea Parties

The Warriors

Record: 2-1

(as of the writing of this post)

Isaac is having a fabulous time playing baseball. Much to our chagrin. . . he likes it more than soccer. Ouch. Still, the coach is wonderful and kind and besides melting while watching him play, we love it.

The Fan Club.

We can be very noisy and Isaac loved it. He hit a triple this game and I'm pretty sure it was because of my "Hit it hard! Hit it level! Hit it hard, hit it level and run like the devil!" Not sure the devil can actually run or that I should encourage devilish behavior. But, hey a triple is a triple. Way to go IKE!!!

Pizza Cafe

Mediocre Pizza+Cheap+Kid-Accessible Buffet within Parental Eyesight=Favorite Place in Pinehurst, NC.

TEA PARTY!!!!!! (not that kind, Glenn Beck was not invited)

Lucy made the invitations for the neighbors. Grandma supplied the costume jewelry. I made the mini-muffins, fruit salad, and stylishly sliced cucumbers. The lemonade was a group project. It was a roaring social success.

Fun With Ike

Thanks to the flash, this doesn't look as dark as it was. We lost power for several days in another snowstorm, and you and Lucy had a great time playing "Little House on the Prairie." You really loved lighting the candles! And playing chess together has become a new favorite game.

A wonderful trip to the Air and Space Museum. It is so awesome living close to these wonderful (FREE!) museums. You won the paper airplane making contest!!

This one is from Christmas, but it is never too late to remember some wonderful time with your cousins. You were so fun with Hank. He really listened for this entire book! You are a great reader, using great inflection and rhythm. It is impressive.

Helping Dad tear down his office. He is opening up an office for private practice in Vienna, and before he started painting and tearing down, you got to decorate a bit.

Who says dyeing Easter eggs needs to only happen on Easter? You wanted to dye eggs and hunt them, so we did. Then we had yummy egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Great idea my out of the box thinker!!