Our Little September Student of the Month

About two weeks ago, I received an email from the school secretary telling me that Nolan had been chosen as the September Student of the Month and I was being invited to the school gathering on Friday.  The school wanted to keep it all a surprise, so I sent in my RSVP secretly and then on Friday morning, I made sure to show up to his school before he arrived on the orchestra bus.  I also walked directly to the gym and then "hid" back in a little alcove near the girls' locker room so that he wouldn't see me when all of the classes arrived.  (Last year he saw me standing there and instantly knew why I was there).  Once the gathering started, they went through and announced all of the August students and then they announced the September students.  He was actually surprised this time and told me later that "there are so many good kids in my class this year Mom... so many kids deserved it more than me".  

Congratulations Nolan on being the sixth grade Student of the Month.  We are so proud of the student you are, but most importantly, the young man you are growing up to be. 

This was my view from my little hiding spot...

And then once his name was announced, I stepped out so that I could see him walking forward as the kids on both sides of him reached out to give him high fives.

September Student of the Month for all grades.

That boy may be very respectful and serious and reserved at school, but oh how he makes us laugh and keeps us on our toes when he's anywhere else but school.

Like church...where he made his own seat out of blocks.

Or when he's just enjoying the wind in his face while we're driving down the road with the windows down.

This was a spirit day outfit for school -- 'Dress like a tourist' day.  (He even took his sister's old camera)

He often entertains us musically... even on instruments that he really doesn't know how to play.

Apparently, the louder the better!  LOL

And recently, Noel and I had the joy of taking him to see "The Wild Robot" at the theater.  Nolan and I had read the books together when they first came out and he had mentioned that he wanted to see the movie once it was released.  We invited Dad to go with us and we were able to see the movie all together on Sunday.  It was such a sweet time!  (Although, who would have thought that a couple scenes in the movie would literally make me break down in tears!!)

+++

It is certainly one of my greatest joys to do life with this boy...and something that I will forever be grateful for!

I'm Not Even Sure...

 I came downstairs to this the other day.

I've learned not to ask questions - just smile and slowly walk away.  LOL

Pictures of THIS Boy // What Am I Going to Do With Him?

Oh, God knew what he was doing when he gave us Nolan.  That boy keeps us laughing... and on our toes.

And his older sister is usually close by adding to the fun.

Remember this picture from a few weeks ago?

Apparently they've had more fun together since then.  LOL

The girls were playing the license plate game on our vacation.  Marissa kept a journal where she listed every plate that she saw and ended up having a list of over 40 states.  Nolan thought that it was a good idea and I found his list while cleaning out his bag a few days ago.

I LOVE the stage when kids spell exactly how words sound.  

Minasoda: 1

Teniscee: 11

BTW, I don't know what state COWS is but maybe he was counting how many cows he saw as well?

Last Saturday, as Noel was cleaning out the shed and getting his chainsaw fixed and ready for spring clean-up, he also got out the go-cart and got it running again.  Next thing I knew, Santa (Nolan) was riding all over the yard singing out Disney show tunes as he went.  Even Nate and Dawn heard him singing from inside their house as they went about their day.  They also got a good laugh out of it.

'Hopefully he made you smile as much as he makes us smile.

You're welcome!

Nolan // Nolanism's

Oh how this boy keeps me busy and laughing!!

On Sunday I was getting ready for church.  Nolan saw me going through my jewelry box to find earrings and he wanted to see all of my jewelry.  The next thing I knew, he was trying to wrangle the office chair from the desk to get through our bedroom door so he could climb up to the full height of my dresser.  I saw the size of the leather chair vs the size of our doorframe and I said, "Hey buddy... why don't you put that chair back and just grab the small stool.  That chair is way to big to fit through our door.".  Unfazed, he found a way to get the big leather office chair through our bedroom door and then he proudly explained "And you said it couldn't be done!!!"  LOL  

A few minutes later, he asked me if I wanted to see any other things that "couldn't be done".  I quickly responded "no" with a laugh and headed downstairs to the car for church.  LOL

++

My MIL posted these two pictures on her Facebook timeline the other day.  I think these pictures were taken with Grandpa about five years ago...  'My how things have changed.

An Imagination to the Moon...and Back!

I came home one night last week and walked in on this scene...

Nolan had taken a large box from one of Noel's work purchases and he creatively turned it into a spaceship that now sits proudly in our living room.  

He named it "The Noel 1000" and told me that if I want one, he'll make me "The Angie 999" when we get another large box.  LOL

Noel and Nolan have continued to take trips to many other planets in recent days and they continue to add features to the ship so it flies better.  It's fun to see the two of them playing and having fun together.

Meanwhile... During the Day

The weather has been so "hit and miss" lately.  One day it's rainy and 39 degrees and the next day it's 68 degrees and cloudy.  Let's just say that when Nolan has a chance, he's outside taking advantage of the spring weather.

Nolanism's // And Chicken Pox Hits

Nolan continues to move along well in his kindergarten homeschool.  

He made quick work of his math workbook in one semester moving easily into the first grade level.  Now I'm also trying to keep him busy learning to draw or by doing small science projects.  We are also continuing to work on sight words.  Slowly but surely, he's starting to learn a small handful of words and I'm hoping that this reading things "clicks" for him soon.

In another BIG development around here, Nolan came down with the chicken pox this past week!  We were totally caught off guard on that one since we not only haven't knowingly been around anyone who had the chicken pox, but he never had the fever or stomach or headache that often accompanies chicken pox before the actual breakout.  So the very first notice we had was Tuesday at lunch when I noticed a few small red dots on the side of his face.  At first I thought that he may just be having an allergic reaction to something but later that night when he was putting on his pajamas, I saw four or five spots on his back and another couple on his stomach.  

By Wednesday morning, there were more in his hairline and on his legs.  Whether it was chicken pox or not, I knew he had something more serious going on so I started making some phone calls.  First, I had to call to cancel his eye appointment that was scheduled for the next afternoon.  Then I called the health department because hey, he's child #4 and I had NO idea if he had been immunized against them yet.  (I know that we waited until the last minute for all of the girls because I had really wanted them to get chicken pox on their own without getting the vaccine but I didn't remember if Nolan had already gotten the first round or not.)  They quickly confirmed that he had not received the vaccine and recommended that I contact my doctor to have it confirmed.  Our doctor advised me to come in over lunch when the waiting room would be empty and it only took one look at Nolan to confirm that he did have the chicken pox - to which Nolan said, "But how do I have the chicken pox?!  I haven't even been around any chickens!!"  LOL

This is how he looked Wednesday morning before we went to the doctor...

 I didn't realize that there was medicine to help you get over the chicken pox faster, but apparently there is.  It works like benadryl drying up the chicken pox from the inside while cutting down on all of the itching.  I highly recommend it!!  BTW, since chicken pox is so unheard of these days, we had to wait for two days for the RX to be specially ordered and come in to our pharmacy.

And here is my brightly colored boy as of yesterday morning.  He isn't allowed to go out much since we don't want to contaminate anyone else and also because he doesn't like the way he looks.  

"Pink just really isn't my color" is what he told me!  (I was only allowed to take these pictures because he thought I was working on the focus on my camera lens and didn't realize that I was taking pictures of him.)

In any case, when you're not allowed to go out much, no matter how good you feel, you play a lot of games.  We started a "Connect Four" tournament yesterday but I eventually had to stop it because I got tired of his cheating.  

Again he laughed and said, "I know that cheating isn't the right thing to do, but just this once, let's consider it part of the fun!"  Where does this boy come up with this stuff?

Even despite the chicken pox, this boy knows how to make me smile!!