First overnight camp....

Well a few couples from our small group decided to send their boys to a Christian camp for 3 nights and 3 days. I thought that they were absolutely insane to send a 7 year old up there and they all looked at me like I was way over controlling. Maybe there is a little bit of truth in that but seriously he's only 7 people.

After calling the camp and talking through my 800 scenarios of "what if's". I decided that it was time for me to let go and let him have this experience with his friends. He of course couldn't wait to get away from us! Always so much a teenager trapped in a 7 years old body. He got the little brochure in the mail and just about read through it every night. Counting the days until the big day of going to camp.

Unfortunately, the camp dates were a day after Bjorn and I got back from vacation. After being away from us for 6 nights he actually said that he maybe didn't want to go to camp and stay home with Mom and Dad. I just about fell over at this comment as it was the last thing that I thought would ever come out of his mouth. Well that all changed in about 5 minutes of getting the list of what he needed to bring to camp.

He was grabbing clothes, sleeping bag and checking things off the list. The morning came and he was up as early as we were getting ready for the day of heading up to camp. I stayed busy going through the checklist to try and not think about the fact that I was going to be leaving my baby with complete strangers. At least they are Christian strangers, right?!?

Our friend's son rode along with us and the two boys couldn't have been cuter. Talking about what they were excited about to do at camp, how much they had in common and just "boy" things. We stopped for breakfast and met up with another of the boys from our small group and they all just clicked together as though they had been friends for their entire 7 years of life.

We got to camp, found the cabin and Torin went into straight teenage mode. Not wanting to give him a hug or really provide any level of affection to me. Then in his excitement he banged his head HARD on the bunk bed. I just about lost it, as it was really a hard hit. I could tell that he wanted to cry but was fighting it back to not be embarrassed. I went over to him and trying to fight my tears back said "are you okay sweetie?" His response was, gritting his teeth "I'm FINE Mom. Stop talking to me." Oh well for the sweetness of a 7 year old. I started to tell him about a time that I got my hair stuck in my brother's bunk beds and how it took awhile for him to untangle my hair out of the top bunk. He thought that was pretty funny and was back to himself....but no hugs :)

I left a little sad that I didn't get one last big hug from him but knew that it was just how it was going to be. He did say that he loved me so I guess I have to hang onto those words until I see the whites of his eyes on Saturday morning. I might just be the first parent there to pick him up :)

Here is a picture of the boys that he knew that he would have in his cabin. I hope to make this an annual tradition for him....

Hayden, Carter, Jacob and Torin

Vaughn turns 4 years old

Well not only did my first born turn 7, agh, that's still hard to say but my little Vaughny turned 4. I'm really not sure where this time is going to but I will say that I really don't like how fast it goes.

Vaughn had a lot of "firsts" this year. He rode the school bus for the first time to take a summer speech class. I will say that I was fine with him getting on the bus until it pulled away. It was at that point that I really wanted Bjorn to follow the bus to the school just to make sure that he was okay. The teacher called after the class and said that he did wonderful and was very happy during the class. That of course made Mama bear a little better :)

He also started preschool. It was so fun to see him get so excited about the first day of school. If there is a kid who is excited and loves school it's Vaughn. Everyday he would ask "Do me go to kool whohay?" Well throughout the year his speech got SO much better that all of his cute little sayings were finally no longer there. He graduated from preschool and his speech class all in a matter of a short few months. Vaughn also started swimming lessons and after his second class they moved him up to the second class. It was so much fun to see him break out of his shell and really have fun with other kids his age.

The last year went by with a blink of an eye and it's crazy for me to think how much he has grown. He's big thing is being a super hero. Whether that's batman, spiderman, any one really would be fine. He wears his spiderman costume around a majority of the time and out in public. I always find it so sweet how many people will see him out at the grocery store or where ever and comment "Oh how cute" or "Howdy there Spiderman". He gets a little shy but he is just so happy pretending. If he isn't wearing a costume and definitely has an interesting outfit on, never the same socks and usually rocking a mohawk. This kid definitely has some confidence and an interesting perspective on style. I wouldn't want it any other way!

Going back in time....

Well not really but I FINALLY have time to get up to date on my blog so I'm going back to March to post pictures from Florida...

One adventure that we did with the kids was we went on a REAL pirate ship. The boys were so excited about the pirate ship. It always amazes me how literal that Torin can be yet have such a belief that things like this are real. There seems to be no question or doubt to him at all. Vaughn just loves life and is happy to do anything that we are doing. I really do enjoy his go along with the flow personality.

While we were sailing on the pirate ship, low and behold the crew asked Bjorn if he would dress up as a pirate to go along with one of their skits. I swear that Bjorn has a sign pasted on his forehead that says "Pick me I'll do anything". So of course he got dressed and painted up like Pirate Pete to join in on the fun. It was funny because Torin knew right away that it was Daddy while Vaughn on the other hand wasn't quite sure about who this guy was. I think it was more that Bjorn didn't have glasses on that fooled Vaughn.

Cooper, Torin, Vaughn, Peg leg Pete (Bjorn) and Alaina

My three little pirates

Watch out everyone he's got a gun :)

How big our my feet Mommy?

In reading this title one would actually think that we measure our kids feet for our middle son to ask me this question EVERY morning. But really that's what Vaughn thinks he is doing when he gets on the scale in our bathroom.

He'll see one of us get on to check in for ourselves and then he'll proceed to wait his turn and as he gets on he'll ask "Mommy how big our my feet?" We used to try and correct him in that he was measuring his body weight not his feet but if you can imagine it goes in one ear and right out the other :) So now when he says it we just smile and help me with the numbers.

Funny thing is his weight doesn't change every day so it's pretty much the same numbers every day. We went for their check up last week and when the nurse had him get on the scale there he whispered to me, "Mommy, are my feet as big here as they are at home?" It's little things like this about Vaughn that just add a ray of sunshine to our day.

Milwaukee Trip

I was daring enough to take on the adventure of driving all 3 boys down to Milwaukee by myself. It was much better than I could have ever anticipated. The boys colored, watched movies and we even sang a few songs on the drive down there. Stopping for food was another event that I was worried about. With the baby and the other two running crazy, well they surprised me again on how good they really can be. They actually helped me with Berc and were amazingly well. I guess they were just really excited to see their Milwaukee cousins, as they call them. We got there and the 4 kids played in the backyard for until it was literally too dark out to see what they were doing. In those few hours they already had the "best" weekend, as they said. Sleepovers, backyard playing, seeing family is at the top of their list. We hadn't even been back a week when Torin was asking when he could see Milwaukee Cooper again. It was great to see my family and for my family to FINALLY meet our little Berc. The adventure was worth every worry that I might have had about driving down by myself...Here are a few pictures of the kids and family....

Starting in front -- Vaughn, Zoe (my neice), Berc, Torin,

Me, Grandma Paletti (93) and Mom

Cousin Carly really couldn't enough of Berc. She was a great helper

Cooper, Torin and Vaughn chilling after a day's

worth of running around together.

I guess my Mom had the touch that day as she was able

to get our little Berc to sleep through all of us ladies gabbing away :)

First of the Summer Catches

Torin is all about catching different creatures. Last year he got a couple of snakes, his caught a skink and the number of frogs, dragon flies and toads is too much to try and count. However, this summer he started off with his first toad. Him and his friend Collin took it upon themselves to show the toad the pool, the garden and a few other places until we told Tor to put the poor thing back in the weeds. Before we could do that Torin insisted that we needed to get a picture of it which turned into Collin, Ella, Vaughn and Madelyn being part of the picture too. It's these photos that I love the most...kids in the backyard on a warm summer day..

Collin, Torin and the first toad.

Vaughn wanting to be part of the picture

Ella, Madelyn, Vaughn, Collin, Torin and toad

Some thoughts on Tor

First of all I cannot believe that I am blogging that my first born child turning 7 today. The first few years of his life it seemed like life was going fast. His first year I was so excited that my baby was turning 1. The party and seeing him dig into a cake was just so fun to experience. The next few years just didn't seem crazy to me. It was amazing to see him growing into a big boy. I think it was when he turned 5 that I started to realize that my baby was growing up way too fast. Then I woke up today and realized that my baby was turning 7 and that he really wasn't my baby any more. Seven, just seems way too old to me. How did this happen? There's a part of me that literally tears up. I want to stop time in it's place and just hang out with him, hold him and love him to pieces. At the same time life with Torin, even though challenging at times, can also be so rewarding. He's got a heart for God and for his family. I was told recently though that I am now was his #2 girlfriend. I know deep down I'm still probably #1. I snuggled with him tonight and cherished every second of it. Things I remember about Torin this year....he learned how to ride a skateboard, he became a big brother again and loves every second of it, he played his first season of youth hockey where they took second in their jamboree, he was a teenage mutant ninja turtle, he got his first WBL sweatshirt and literally wore it almost everyday, still loves to cuddle with his little blankey, ran a 2k and a 1/2 mile race, shot a bow and arrow that would resemble Robinhood and finished the first grade. All in all it was good year!!

Prior to that he celebrated his 7th birthday with a few of his close friends for a hunting party. I'll admit that I don't have a ton of pictures of the party as I took this time to just be in the moment versus trying to capture the moment. I did have to get a picture of the cake and then one of all the boys with their faces painted. It was a great birthday with a scavenger hunt, shooting target practice, army gear relays and of course face painting, cake and presents. It really was a great night and I think that all of the kids had a great time. When Torin went to bed tonight he told Bjorn that was one of the best birthday's ever. I guess the backyard party with just a few friends is still in fashion :)