Flying with Papa

After much waiting and worrying whether or not it would ever happen, we were finally able to get Nicholas up in Papa's helicopter. With only 6 months left to go until he celebrates his well deserved retirement, we knew it was basically now or never. We've tried to arrange it before, but with the corporate rules frequently changing we never seemed to get the perfect window of opportunity. But Dad finally got the green light for a quick ride with his grandson, so we hopped up to Tulsa this weekend and made Nicholas' dreams come true. And I have to say that this was no ordinary event in my life. For me, some of the greatest memories of my childhood are the days spent watching my daddy fly his helicopters. My father is a very special man who showed me what it was like to have a dream in life and to follow your passion no matter where it took you. Whether that be Vietnam, the tourist mecca of Branson, MO, or moving your family from their hometown to the great state of Oklahoma (which none of us thought was very great in the beginning). He knew that flying helicopters was the only thing he ever wanted to do and that's exactly what he's done, for 44 amazing years. He passed that love of flying onto me, and for most of my childhood becoming a pilot was all I ever thought about. Well, I obviously never became a pilot but it will always have a very special place in my heart and the root of a powerful bond I will always share with my dad. So, watching Nicholas flying with his Papa, just like I've done more times than I can count, made for a truly spectacular memory.

 

The old days...

And today...

 

And a video of take off.  The thrill on his face is absolutely priceless.

Karate Moves

Karate lessons are progressing quite nicely.  Nicholas now has two stripes on his white belt, with one more to earn before he gets his next colored belt.  We've switched our class time to earlier in the afternoon which has decreased his group size from close to 20 kids to about 5, which makes a BIG difference in the one on one time.  They've also moved the little kids class to a smaller room which gives us parents a better opportunity to see and hear their training.  Over the last few weeks, the coach has been introducing more sparring exercises instead of just obstacles.  It's been really fun to watch them take on their coaches and to see how supportive they are are of one another.  I just love to hear them chanting their friends' names!  Here Nicholas is using the combination palm strike/squish the bug kick to defend himself.

Fresh Pics

Much to Nicholas' delight, it was time to take some updated pictures of him for our collection.  I've really gotten behind with that lately and he's been growing so much that I knew I better get after it or else I'd miss the opportunity to capture his true 4 year old personality.  I occasionally still get a goofy or over exaggerated smile, but for the most part he models like a pro these days and he actually seems to kind of like it.  The two of us had a lot of fun doing these together and I was squealing with delight as I scrolled through them on the computer.  He definitely delivered and made his Mama real proud.  Love you, Sweet Pea!

 

Learning

I can't even begin to describe the immense joy it brings to watch your child grow and learn new things.  Obviously every kid does it, every single day, all day long, but when it's your child it feels like they're the most brilliant human to ever walk the earth.  And it doesn't matter how big or how small, it all brings the same satisfaction and pride.  One thing I love about Nicholas' school environment is that the curriculum is religion based and he gets to attend chapel each week.  Of course he'll start public school next year but I'm so grateful he had the opportunity to build a relationship with God early in life and I hope he'll keep that relationship strong as he grows.  This week, they've been working really hard on the letter A, tracing letters and numbers, drawing straight lines, and of course, learning Bible verses.  He was so excited to tell us all about his special day last night.  Warning: extreme cuteness ahead!

The Perfect Sunday

Every once in awhile we have one of those days that just seems perfect from start to finish.  These days usually don't require anything special, but that's really the beauty of it.  Yesterday was one of those days and just what I needed to get this week started off on the right foot. 

Nicholas had been begging to go back to the "Army Musuem" so we decided to take him yesterday and invited my parents to come along with us.  He was so proud to show Papa everything he's learned from his previous visits and minded his manners perfectly by whispering the entire time we were there.  He LOVES that place!

And what could be better at topping off a perfect Sunday

than a bath in Mommy & Daddy's big tub? 

Nicholas' First Sleepover

Friday night we invited Nicholas' friend, Silas, over for the boys' first official sleepover.  They've both spent the night with grandparents and cousins visiting from out of town, but as any parent knows - this was totally different.  Both of them were giddy with excitement, and I have to admit I was too!  I spent the entire week planning fun things for them to do and I ended up  having the whole evening perfectly mapped out in my head.  We started with some delicious pepperoni pizza for dinner then hopped outside to play for about 15 minutes before approaching thunder and lightning sent us inside for cover.  (Just before we went in, Nicholas very seriously announced he was going to get some quick exercise and ran some laps around the backyard.  You gotta do what you gotta do, right?) Greg got home from work about that time and put up his deer blind so they could have a cool fort to play in.  Soon after that, Nicholas started to get pretty tired and his evil, cranky twin decided to come out to play.  With both of them getting sleepy, I decided it was a good time to break out the movies and pallets on the couch.  So, we popped a little popcorn and snuggled under our blankies to watch Puss in Boots.  They were so exhausted once bedtime finally rolled around that there were only a couple of minutes of talking, giggling, and humming before they were both sound asleep.  It was so much fun having Silas spend the night with us and both boys are dying for the next time!

 Silly boys.

School's Back!

Nicholas started his third, and final, year at St. Mark yesterday.  Most other schools started back weeks ago so it felt like this day was a long time coming.  We've all enjoyed a little break since summer school but Nicholas was clearly getting bored and ready to get back into the routine.  His new, official preschool classroom is really awesome.  Tons of toys and tons of room for the kids to get their creative juices flowing.  His class size has also grown from a small, intimate group of 5-6 kids to a full room of 15.  That will probably take some getting used to but I know he'll be much better prepared when kindergarten starts next year.  But, we're really excited about the upcoming year and all the fun he's going to have with his friends.  He's known some of them since his first year so he's definitely got a group of good ones that he really loves. 

And while I'm here, I wanted to share a couple of pictures I took this weekend while Julie was visiting.  Her and Nicholas are just so adorable together and the boy was completely heartbroken when she left.  Seriously, I didn't think he was going to survive the trauma.  I can relate.

Sad.  Real sad.