Category: Xander

3rd Grade Spelling Bee…

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Xander placed fourth in the 3rd Grade Spelling Bee today!!!

He was SUPER close to making it to third place and even beyond…but when the student in fourth place missed a word, he ended up coming back to have a spell off with Xander for third place. On the next round, they both got their words right. During the round after that, they both got their words wrong. In what ended up being the final round between them, the student in fourth place spelled his word correctly, and then Xander misspelled his. So, Xander ended up being bumped from third place to fourth place…he immediately started crying. Because of his major allergy/asthma cough kicking up with his crying, I had to sit with him in the hallway until he calmed down enough to go back in and accept his participation award. Poor buddy…he took it so hard…but he really did so incredibly well. The word he missed was “doffing”…which I have never heard of…he spelled it “dauphing” which I thought was a pretty creative spelling.

ANYWAY, due to his amazing innate spelling ability, his teachers gave him the “Super Speller” classroom award at the end of the school year. Go, Xander!!!

3rd Grade Kickball Tournament…

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Due to the rain, Xander’s 3rd grade kickball tournament was moved from outdoors (Nolensville Park) to indoors (NES gym). It was a little bit of a bummer at first, but it ended up being a super fun day for everyone. I loved just getting to hang out with my little buddy and watching him in action. His class won the tournament which was really exciting. AND the teachers turned each of their classrooms into a fun destination for the kids to rotate to and from…a snack room, a movie room, a technology room, an art room, a dance room, and a building room. We even had a picnic in the hallway! Here’s a picture of me and my sweet Xander watching a kickball game together in the gym…

Pastries with Parents…

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The boys and I had an “adventurous” time at Pastries with Parents this morning. You’d never know by the picture. Jonas basically skipped the line…he ran up to say hello to one of his friends and then proceeded to help himself…much to mine and his brothers’ annoyance (they were shouting, “No fair!!!”). I didn’t want to get out of line and lose our spot because Roman is quite possibly the most impatient person I’ve ever met (bless his heart). Plus, I was trying to keep Roman from going into full fledged meltdown mode…I don’t know if it was anxiety about all of the people, the excitement of getting pastries for breakfast, the boredom of waiting in line, or him looking up and not seeing me for one second while I stepped out of line super quickly to save us a table. Either way…geesh. I ended up picking him up and holding him and swaying with him until he calmed down. After we got settled at our table, Roman accidentally spilled his orange juice and then Xander’s water. So, we had to go home for a change of clothes for two kids. Ack!!! I’m trying to remember this…
“When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not to join their chaos.” – L.R. Knost

Easter…

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We spent Easter with Pops, Maw, Hilda, Jennifer, and Kerry this year. We had a delicious potluck lunch, watched the boys hunt for Easter eggs, and sat on the front porch…enjoying the spring weather and each other’s company.

Bookworm Award…

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Xander was the one 3rd through 5th grade student who was awarded the NES Library Bookworm Award for the month of April!!! The librarian said he does such a great job in the library and knows how to search for books on the computer AND find them all on his own. I’m so proud of my little guy. Go, Xander!!!

Tennessee Aquarium…

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We took the boys to the Tennessee Aquarium over Spring Break. We loved swimming in the pool at the hotel, playing on the climbing wall at the playground, sliding down a huge hill on cardboard boxes over and over again, eating dinner at the Mellow Mushroom, walking with our delicious ice cream cones down to the river at sunset, spending the day checking out all of the interesting creatures at the aquarium, and watching one of the best IMAX/3D marine animal films.

Click on the “Tennessee Aquarium 2019” page to the right for more pictures.

Mall Adventure…

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I took the boys on an adventure to the Opry Mills mall this week during Spring Break. It was the first time I’d braved the mall with them since they were little. Surprisingly, they did great! We checked out the Lego store, took our picture together in one of those photo booths, met Maw for lunch in the food court, walked around, and stopped in to the Disney and the Build a Bear stores. They all spent some of their allowance money on a little something for themselves…Jonas picked out a little Pooh bear to add to his collection and Xander and Roman chose to build bears (named Fluff and Cuddles). They did so well that I think I might bring them back to the mall again this summer to check out Dave and Buster’s.

Literacy Night…

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It was Literacy Night tonight at the boys’ school. Jonas presented a board game that he designed to go along with a book he read (one of his and my favorites), Magyk by Angie Sage. Roman dressed up as one of the little monkeys from Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and shared a quick book review. Xander is his own man and just did his own thing which I love about him. Literacy Night is always really fun for the kids with scavenger hunts, Kahoots, crafts, face painting, etc. I love NES!!!

The Things They Say…

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Thinking about what to say to his friends when they ask him why he’s always leaving school early…
Jonas: “I got problems, people. It’s my get out of jail free card.”

Wondering how the fish in our tank have lived for so long…
Xander: “Maybe they are actually waterproof security cameras that are controlled by people with video game controllers…”

Musings in the car…
Roman: “Can I tell you something, Mom? People are dummies at some things. People are geniuses at some things.”

New Year’s Day…

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We had such a great New Year’s Day. We went for a walk on the Nolensville Trails, played football with an emoji stuffed animal at the Nolensville High School football field, enjoyed the Pomerantzes annual New Year’s Day gathering (complete with the most delicious ribs, black eyed peas, greens, and corn bread), and watched some football by the fire.

Walden Pumpkin Farm…

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We headed out to Walden Pumpkin Farm this afternoon. It was super muddy after all of this rain we’ve been having, so the boys ended up with mud all over them after emerging from the corn maze. BUT…they still had fun going down the potato sack slide, walking through the Creepy Corner, playing in the corn bin, sending little plastic ducks down the water pump half pipe, and picking out a pumpkin. Happy Fall, Y’all!!!

Fall Break: Camping

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We were so blessed to be able to go camping over Fall Break!!! It was definitely on the chilly side but so worth it to just get away from it all and be out in nature together…what a great way to ring in the fall season.

We are so grateful to one of Tom’s good friends from the Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department, Marc Fielder, who graciously lets us camp out on his land a few times a year.

We loved hiking, collecting and chopping firewood, drinking hot chocolate, eating s’mores, and hanging out around the fire.