Birthday--Graham is 5!

Graham turned 5 on June 28th.  Guess where we were?  Yep, another baseball tournament.  Both Owen and Miles played in the KC area and Mike and Rosie made the long drive from Atwood to join us for the weekend.  All he wanted to do for his birthday was swim, and he was completely satisfied with the small hotel pool.  After swimming and baseball we headed home, stopping at Red Robin in Topeka for early dinner.  Grandma Rosie tipped off the waitress that Graham had a birthday so the staff brought him a special dessert and sang to him.  For gifts this year he got "tall" socks, bigger underwear, his own gum and candy, as well as a Dick's card and money to spend on something he really wants.  Rosie and Mike also bought his a backpack full of kiddie fireworks since his birthday is so close to July 4.  

At age five, he loves to play any electronic device that he can get his hands on, loves to run, play, swim, and is starting to get interested in the specifics of sports.  He likes when I give him "homework" and usually thinks he's old enough to do anything Owen and Miles do.  He's still a mama's boy and insists on having "Blue Blanket" for sleeping.  Unfortunately he still sucks his thumb--we're hoping he kicks the habit when school starts.  Happy 5th Birthday, Graham!

Posing at the restaurant with his backpack of fireworks (that he wore for a week).  

Surprised with his birthday treat!

End of School--Graham

Yay!  I wrote the last daycare check in May!  Graham graduated from the Pre-K program at KSU and is ready for big kid school in August.  He can't wait to be in the same building as Miles.  He had a wonderful experience at the Center for Child Development at K-State.  Absolutely loved Ms. Jackie and Ms. Kim and the support staff.  He made a lot of friends, including some that he will go to elementary school with.  We feel very fortunate to have ended up in this facility after a couple of daycare options fell through. The staff held a graduation ceremony at the KSU Union that included cake, graduation cap and gowns, Willie the Wildcat and singing the KSU fight song.  There aren't many things cuter than a bunch of four and five-year-olds in gowns.

 Graham receiving his diploma from Ms. Kim and Willie.

Graham with Ms. Jackie, decked out in his cap and gown.

Biker Boy

We are officially done with training wheels in this house!  Adam took off the training wheels this spring and two days later he was riding up and down the street.  Now he thinks he should be able to hop on and ride a couple blocks to friends' houses...not quite yet, mister.

Graham = 4

Okay, at least (after this post) I will have accounted for each of the boys' birthdays.  My "baby" turned four this summer.  After seeing the Bigs open gifts earlier in the week, he was very excited for his four presents. The gifts plus ice cream and the swimming pool were all he needed for a great day.  I think I did exceptionally well choosing his presents this year as he has gotten tons of good out of each of them:  neon yellow outfit, Air Jordan slides, a new Mickey Mouse movie, and the Frozen soundtrack.  Since I'm writing this two months late I can tell you he listens to the CD every night, has worn the slides daily (they are now brown), worn the yellow clothes anytime they are clean, and will watch Mickey as often as he is allowed. 

At four Graham:  talks all of the time and often sounds older than he is, can rattle off a list of bad words, loves swimming, "cool" shirts (like dry fit Under Armour), pretend play, building with blocks and Legos, still loves blue blankie as well as white blankie, still sucks his thumb, enjoys "school", getting interested in his own play dates, loves Mickey, tries to keep up with his brothers, and sometimes needs an attitude check. 

Little Buddies

Owen met his buddy Grant Snowden when he was four, so it's only fair that Graham buddy up with Jake Snowden when he is four.  Mandy and I decided to alternate weekly play dates for the two little guys. Graham had a blast planning things for them to do when we hosted, and anxiously looked forward to going to Jake's when they hosted. 

Play dates included trips to the zoo, splash pad, park, Discovery Center, McDonald's, several pool trips, and time at our houses. Looks like these guys will be good buddies, just like their big brothers!

Getting every last crumb of Cico pool funnel cake. 

Splash pad fun. 

Aliens?  If it's too chilly for the big city pools, bring out the little one at home. 

Riley County Fair

The boys finally got to hit the carnival rides they had been eyeing all week (as they were assembled). I planned to take Graham and Miles for an hour while Owen was at football camp nearby. An hour turned into two and then four. We finally called it a night at 10:00 when the wristbands were no longer valid. They rode more than 30 times!  Owen came over after camp and walked around/rode a few rides with his friends. 

Miles also made "Cowboy Cookies" with Kelsie and entered them into the open class. He and Brecken earned purple ribbons. This counts as our 4-H right?

Miles was a good sport and rode some little kid rides with Graham. 

Motorcycles, tenth time. 

Miles riding solo on the Octopus. 

He loved the horses. 

$5 funnel cake for dinner. 

Legos

Graham has really been into Legos lately. Once in a while he uses all of the blocks, but typically he carts around about 15 blocks and reconfigures them into ships, planes, and towers. Then he tries to pick them up, they break, he gets mad, repeat.  For whatever reason, everything he designs has line symmetry (an early lover of geometry perhaps?). 

Life As The Littlest Brother

Graham is such a good sport to take in all of the big boys' games and events. He's even starting to hang out with his own friends (Bodyn, little brother of Dayne) at Owen's games. He especially likes watching Mickey Mouse with him, even though they argue about who gets to sit closer to the screen. On this particular Sunday (in Independence, MO) he crashed out and spent the entire game sleeping in the bleachers. 

Big Boy Bike

Graham is ready to ride with the big boys on his new training wheel bike. The big boys burned all the tread off the old beginner bike so G ended up with a shiny Lightning McQueen bike. 

July 4th

We had a pretty low-key 4th. The bigs golfed with Adam. Graham and I joined them for lunch at Colbert. Neither Adam or I are into fireworks. We must have passed this gene along since they were completely satisfied with $13 worth of fireworks. The real satisfaction came from letting them hold their own punks.  The kids and I spent the 5th with Michelle and her kids (bounce house, lunch/play at Sonic, cousin time). Miles lost his other front tooth in the bounce house. 

Owen is growing up--ordering big people food off the menu, smoked salmon tacos and a salad. 

The other two are still digging the hot dogs and fries (secretly I prefer they order this so I can sneak some fries).

Mike and Connie are housing a couple of very friendly donkeys. 

Three!

Graham turned three on Friday, June 28.  He asked for two plain doughnuts (glazed doughnuts from Dillon's) for breakfast.  He opened and immediately put on the above outfit from my parents.  We sang "Happy Birthday" and pretty much ran out the door to hit the road to KC for state baseball.  We made a pitstop in Topeka to transfer Graham over to my mom.  He was happy to load his self-packed bag of underwear (he took his whole drawer) and Pringles and leave us behind.

We gave him a water gun (which he thinks is fabulous) and Quint and Susan gave him these real looking golf clubs that seem to satisfy his need for "real" golf clubs.  I think he could still injure someone, but at least they aren't deadly.  One of these days, we will take him to get a bike with pedals for his true birthday gift.

He can be a completely sweet boy, but also a total sassy-pants.  He quotes us often.  Things like, "Don't talk to me like that," and, "You're being rude to me," and, "Stop being a jerk, _____."  He has a big vocabulary and talks all of the time--many times about things I was hoping he'd forget about.  He runs to his room crying (for whichever parent didn't just tell him he can't have something) at least five times every day and comes out 30 seconds later asking for something different.  Graham also asks me several times every day what time it is.  G:  "What time is it, Mom?"  Me:  "4:50."  G:  "4:50?  Okay."  And he leaves as if he totally understood what I said.

He loves doing anything that Owen and Miles like to do (and pretty much nothing a three-year-old should like unless he's at school with kids his age), going to baseball games to play with the siblings of Owen and Miles' teammates, golf clubs, gum, BLUE BLANKIE, sucking his right thumb, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the same three books (Owl Babies, Dizzy the Dragon, and Ziggy the Zebra) that he can "read" to himself, and spending time outside.

Hoops

Another weekend filled with basketball games:  Little Dribblers, Wildcat League, St. Mary's tournament, and KSU vs. Baylor!  Owen's team continues to rack up the wins.  They are playing great ball right now--it's a lot of fun to watch them.  They finished league games today and have two tough tournaments left.
Miles is having fun with Little Dribblers, even if it is a little boring to him (no defense outside the lane). He had a whole bunch of rebounds, a basket, a steal, and seemed to be rolling on the floor after the ball much of the game (no wonder he has so many bruises).  He was excited that Grandma Jean and Aunt Nancy came to watch him.

 Bad pic, but needed to include something...

 Still don't have a picture of the whole team smiling at the same time.

Graham is actually really good at the boys' games.  He has his own buddies to hang with.  If he isn't playing with Bodyn, then he's following 7th grade Carson around.

Will Pee for Starbursts

I think he's getting closer to being potty trained... he definitely likes his Starburst rewards.  Needs some work putting his underwear back on (by himself).  

Did Someone Say Basketball?

One first grade basketball practice--check.  Five fourth grade basketball games--check.  One KSU game--check.  Good thing we all enjoy basketball.

Graham was excited to watch the band--and search the arena for Willie.  We have a deal that he gets to stand on my lap and dance every time out.  

Weakness

It seems that as soon as Christmas is over, the shelves in stores begin to fill with Valentine's candy.  I'm not a sucker for anything chocolate, but I could eat Sweet Tart hearts by the bag.  This dude seems to have inherited the same trait.  He's pretty easy to bribe with a couple of "hearts."

Under the Weather

The little dude isn't quite himself.  We suspect another ear infection and will visit the doctor in a little while.  Not the flu, just lots of drainage, a cough, fever, and congestion which means he can't suck his thumb!  I couldn't resist a picture of him with his hair like this.  I should have videoed him saying, "Don't wipe my boogers!"

Football Finale

Both boys finished up their flag football seasons tonight.  They each had a fabulous time playing and were lucky to end up with great coaches and teammates they enjoyed--both the new friends and the old faithfuls (for Owen).  Their teams ended up winning all of their games; they thought that was pretty cool.  I was just happy that there weren't any really cold nights--in fact it was still in the 80's when we showed up tonight.  

Acting like weirdos--terrible picture quality, bad iPhone!  Hopefully someone with a better picture will share.

This Titan ended up with a black eye tonight.  COUNTLESS questions regarding WHEN it will turn black, HOW black, HOW big, HOW long?  Go talk to your dad...

Junior Dolphins--I'm pretty sure we'll still be sitting at the football field well into the future.

Blue & Silver

Miles has been dying to have a colored mohawk (because Jimmy from school has one).  I managed to talk him out of going to Target with me, but promised I'd call him and let him know what color hair spray they had in the Halloween section.  He chose silver and Owen chose blue.  They both wanted to keep it blue for the field trip on Monday, but Mom and Dad decided it was a weekend thing.  We did make a Dick's run with three blue-mohawked kids in mismatched clothes (and two parents who looked just as bad).  Luckily we didn't see anyone we knew.

KSU

Football seasons (KSU, MHS, and the boys' flag football teams) are in full swing and we are trying to take in as much as we can.  Adam and the big boys went to the KSU vs. North Texas game with cousin Ryan last night and had a great time.  

Graham on his way to the first tailgate of the season.  He spent most of his time pushing around a toy lawn mower that some neighboring tailgaters weren't using.

 The kids and friends enjoying the taco bar.

 Getting ready to head out to the Bill.  Yes, Miles picked out his all purple outfit :)

And this shot is more indicative of their normal behavior.  Ready for a K-State victory!

1st and 4th

These two freaks started school on Tuesday this week... both were really happy with their teachers (and friends that ended up in same class).  This is as cute as I could get them to dress for the first day--they about gagged when I suggested khaki shorts.  "But Mom, we aren't going to church today!"  

For Graham a backpack = school (the bigs got fancy Under Armour bags, he got the free with purchase bag from Old Navy).  He's back to full days at KSU but always asking if he can get out with Owen and Miles instead.