We had another busy summertime week. Graham is continuing with his Tuesday and Thursday Taekwondo classes, but we have stopped swim lessons for the summer. I took Graham to his Tuesday night lesson and Dean picked up Evan and headed on home. It is funny that they are the same place, but we still have to make two stops some days! Evan was sound asleep when we got home on Tuesday night. He is playing so hard during the day that by about 7pm, he is just ready to crash. He is great about going to bed for Dean, he lays right down and doesn’t fuss a bit and goes right to sleep. He was doing that for me as well, but after we went through the series of clingy drop offs when we switched to First Baptist, he has been clingier for me to put him to bed. So, most nights, Dean lays him down. The drop offs are getting better and most mornings I can slip out while he is playing with something and then he is fine. He seems to be settled in and we are so glad that he is there!

On Wednesday night, Graham and Dean went and got haircuts. Graham is such an old pro and he did so good, he even got two suckers. He performed his Ki Bon form for Rachel. She always has lots of questions for him and he is all ready to chat with her. Evan's snip is still holding steady so he isn’t ready to go back again yet. He is getting more hair in but it is just that super fine baby hair and looking really really blonde these days! I am betting it turns dark like Grahams eventually though.

On Thursday night, Dean had a meeting, so I picked up both boys and went to Graham's Taekwondo lesson. Tammy also came to watch Graham, so he was excited about that. Evan is interested in it as well and if I put him down, he goes running out on the mats where Graham is! So, needless to say, I end up holding him and just feeding him to keep him occupied! Graham worked a lot on his new 21 step form and he really seems to be mastering it. He also got his first stripe on his yellow belt for his yellow belt kicks that he learned. So, he continues to really enjoy it and do well and we couldn’t be more pleased!

On Friday, we tried something new. We learned recently that First Baptist offers a Parents Night out event on the third Friday of every month from 6 - 9pm and is open to the church kids and the preschool kids. So, we decided to give it a try!!! We picked the boys up a little early and got them home and ate dinner and then we headed back and dropped them off. Josephine and Vivienne came too, so that way they had friends. And, another friend from Graham's class was there also. We checked them in and they had snacks, played on the playground, did art and just played in the classrooms. We went to Carlos for dinner for a belated anniversary celebration, then ran by the grocery store and were back to get them by 8pm. The staff was great and the boys had a good time and it was only $4 per kid! We will definitely do that again! Evan fell asleep on the way home and never woke up until morning!

On Saturday, we headed to the lake for another fun filled day. We went back and forth between the pool and the beach. Both boys are such fish, Graham loves swimming in the pool and out to the dock in the lake and enjoyed kayak rides and of course Evan has decided he wants to be like Graham and he thinks he can just jump out of our arms and take off swimming! They played in the sand and we had lots of snacks and it was just another great day! We got pizza and both boys slept all the way home, I think Evan was asleep before we even got out of the marina!

On Sunday, we had a full day of Father's Day fun. The boys had brought Dean home all kinds of neat goodies they had made in school last week. The neatest thing was a key holder that Graham had painted for him that says Dad's keys! He also drew a portrait of Dean that was quite comical! We headed to church and the choir performed and Dean had a beautiful latin solo. The boys did very good in church and we left there and headed to Aubelo's for Mexican for lunch. Dean's parents joined us as well. We had a great meal and a really good time. Dean's dad taught Evan to dip his food in the salsa, so that was funny to watch! Evan continues to have quite the appetite and eat any and everything that we put in front of him and he eats circles around Graham at many meals! Both boys conked out in the car on the way home and slept for 3 hours after we got home! I guess all that lake play on Saturday caught up with them! Dean took a nap too and so while they were all sleeping, I ran to the grocery store and did some work around the house, so that worked out well. We had some play time outside after dinner and then called it a weekend!

This week is Vacation Bible School at First Baptist, so the boys will get to participate in that all week, so that should be fun. This week is the last week of the month for them at school and then next week we go on vacation. Then, the next week when we come back Graham's class is actually splitting in to two classes of ten each and the 4 teachers are splitting 2 and 2. This will give them a chance to do more individual and small group work with the kids to truly start getting them ready for Kindergarten. They will join together for lunch, playground, etc, but when they are in the classrooms, it should be a better set up. The teachers are really encouraged about it and consciously split the class based on the kids "behaviors," so I am hoping that Graham gets in trouble less and adapts better to the small group. Specifically at group time, he is in trouble just about every day, when there are 20 of them having group time, he just struggles to be still and quiet, so I am hoping the small group is a good fit for him! We will see I guess! Evan is still not saying a lot of words, but continues to be very expressive and communicative in his own way. He has the sweetest little personality and already is showing such signs of just being busy busy and maybe even more on the go than Graham was if that is even possible!

We continued to enjoyed our one location drop=off for the boys. Evan was still being a little clingy in the mornings, but was fine within in just a couple minutes of us leaving, so that was good. He seems to be settled in to the routine and is always happy and playing when we get there to get him.

Graham headed back to his Tuesday and Thursday Taekwondo classes and started unofficially training under the yellow belt moves. We were very excited and looking forward to the ceremony on Friday night. We didn't really know what to expect, other than it would be a packed crowd and that lots of students would be getting their belts of all different levels! We decided that it would be too much to expect Evan to sit through the whole ceremony (he did not do well sitting through testing), so my parents met me at First Baptist on Friday evening so that they could take Evan on home. We headed to the ceremony and Graham was very excited. There were probably about 35 students, including a few adults that got their new belts. When they called Graham's name, he jumped up from the back row, shouted Yes Sir and ran to the front. It was super cute watching him get his new yellow belt tied on! We headed home and he was so proud to show it off. Evan had a fun evening with my parents. They got to see how he eats and eats and how he is ready to crash shortly after dinner! He plays hard and crashes hard every night!

We headed to church on Sunday, we had missed a few Sundays, so everyone was happy to see us. We had the altar flowers for our anniversary so that was nice. After church, we headed home for a quick change and then headed to a birthday party for Carson at his house. We arrived to find a big bouncy slide in the backyard, needless to say Graham was thrilled. Evan had fun wandering around the yard playing with balls and looking for trouble, haha. More food and more cake, some presents, lots more bouncy and we headed home with two tired little boys! It was a jam packed weekend for sure!!!

For a short work week, it was a super busy week! Evan officially started First Baptist on Tuesday. Drop off and pick ups were wonderful all week! Evan was clingy and fussy at dropoff most every morning. I would sneak back upstairs and peek in once I dropped off Graham and he would be happy and playing by then, so that was good. He settled right in to the routine and schedule and was very happy to be with his buddies Gray and Vivienne!

On Tuesday evening, Graham and I headed to Taekwondo and he had a big night, he got his 4th and 5th stripes and found out he was able to test for his yellow belt on the following night! We were all very excited and Graham practiced and practiced on Tuesday night. We all went as a family to the testing, not really sure what to expect. It was a big crowd of about 25 kids testing and a few adults. Graham was called up to the judges table about half way through the evening to perform his 14 step Ki Bon and his three one step moves. He did so good, so this Friday night, we will go to the awards ceremony where he will officially get his yellow belt. This happened a little sooner than we expected and we are so proud of him!

On Thursday, we had a big day - Graham's preschool graduation at First Baptist. His class graduated from the Duck room all decked out in blue caps and gowns and the Kindergarten class was in white caps and gowns. Those two groups, along with the other three classes, each performed two songs and recited a bible verse. They all did so good! Then, all the graduates marched across the stage and got their diploma. Then, we went to a reception and got a copy of the formal cap and gown photos that they had taken. We got there way early and got front row seats and Mama and Dean's parents also joined us. Graham was all smiles and really enjoyed the whole ceremony! It was a lot of fun. He will stay in the duck room through the summer and then goes to the Kindergarten room starting the end of August.

On Saturday morning, me and the boys headed back to swim lessons. Evan was really relaxed in the water and Graham was excited to tell his teacher how he had been swimming all around at the lake. Dean worked outside in the yard while we were gone and then we headed to the lake when we got home. Graham was swimming more than he ever had before, it was so neat to see. Then, we went over to the beach and Dean and Graham went on a long kayak ride and Evan played beach toys and then Evan and I went for a short kayak ride with Dean while Graham played with his beach toys. Then, Graham and I swam out to the floating dock and back twice and Dean swam out and back with him once. He wears his life jacket as the water is over our head out there, but he is kicking his legs and paddling his arms. He even jumps in off the dock in to the lake and thinks it is neat how his life jacket makes him pop back up after he goes under. He says that is his new favorite thing to do, so I guess we will be doing that alot this summer! It is really good exercise too! We grabbed a pizza on the way home and called it a day!

Sunday, we took is easy, church, then lunch at IHOP and then just stayed home and inside the rest of the day. Evan took a nice long nap and we just played inside. Evan continues to be so active and play so hard. He is more of a climber than Graham ever was! He still isnt saying a lot of words, but he is clearly communicating with us and so very expressive. He is still being pretty clingy to mommy, but hopefully that phase will not last much longer!