Because it's worth noting...

I love all three of my boys. Honest. I love them each in different ways and for different reasons. Today, though, I simply must share with you why I stinkin' love Micah lately:

1. During our vacation, he was totally put out that we didn't get to tour the White House or meet the president. Rather than dwell on that, though (or get irked that his brothers decided it was then entertaining to constantly point and say things like, "Look! There's the president!" lol), he decided that he'll simply have to become president so that he can see the White House. His plan was to become president and then have a big party (which *I* as his mother am invited to) for all previous presidents who are still alive. (This way, he figures, he'll get to meet them.) They'd go to the basement where he'll have converted the bowling alley into an archery range and they'll have a tournament, and whichever ex-president is the oldest gets to be the judge.

2. After touring the Biltmore Estate, though, he totally changed his mind and decided he no longer needs to become president. He'll just get rich and buy Biltmore and have his party there. Same deal with the ex-presidents and archery tournament. ;) 

3. Shortly after we returned from vacation, he wrote me this note and asked me to save it so he won't forget:

It says: "I want to go to a high school where I can get a bachelor's degree then go to Stanford and get a PhD in science then become a science teacher (professor). On my off time, I'll conduct experiments to make a holodeck (like from Star Trek, folks) then open a company called Projections of the Future. My students could get jobs in the company. I would make people's lives better." 

He has whole heaps of elaborate details that go with this like doubling up on classes in high school and college to get the degrees faster. Oy. (I suppose before we get to that, though, we'll maybe work on handwriting and spelling a bit more, eh? lol)

4. While he's not planning decades into the future, he's completely delighting in being seven and learning the joys of riding a bike through a puddle:

5. And he's still adorable enough that he can coerce his twelve year old brother to race him around the cul-de-saq:

Yes, Noah even did the race on foot while Micah rode his bike. :) And look how happy both of them are. :)

And those are just some of the reasons... ;)

A cycling sort of weekend

Well. We *meant* to just buy a new bike for Noah. ;) Once we started taking down the other bikes to tune things up for the new season and shuffle ownership, though, we somehow ended up buying bikes for both other boys. Oy. But, we now have three new bikes (that should last a good while) and three happy boys. 

Also, it should be noted that as of Sunday afternoon, Micah had never ridden a bicycle without training wheels. By Sunday evening, this is what we had:

Yup. That's one determined boy. ;) I'm sure it helps that he's been able to watch both of his big brothers learn (as both were older when they finally tackled two-wheelin'), but it was really just such a delight to watch his progress. He would give himself pep talks and continually tell us about how his karate instructor told him about perseverance (thank you, Mr. Yee!). So, after just a couple hours of working at it, he was riding on his own around our cul-de-saq on Sunday and on a family bike ride to the neighborhood park by Monday. Woohoo!

Meanwhile, both brothers were enjoying their new rides as well, though not with as big of smiles as Micah. ;) Noah's delighting in actually having a bike that fits, and Asher's adjusting to having gears. All three are pleased that the colors worked out so well. ;)

That top right picture is all of our bikes in the grass at the neighborhood park, where we took a break for Nathan to try his hand at flying the new kite he bought himself in Boulder when we got Micah's. ;) 

And. Because I'm like that, I made the boys pose for a re-creation picture to show you what a difference four years makes:

Aren't they cute? ;) 

(Yes, we haven't been an overly bike-oriented family...very much just taking our sweet time about learning and all. That picture four years ago was really the start of actually enjoying riding bikes (after waiting three years for Noah to finally decide to try riding any sort of bike and then getting a bike & trailer for me) and it took more than a year from that top picture before we ditched any of those training wheels...then another year before we ditched Asher's training wheels. And we'd been in a bit of a stall since then, taking occasional family bike rides but never very far and using the trailer for Micah. Now that they're all riding on their own and have gears, though, we're very much looking forward to traveling further. Yay!)

Blessed Memorial Day to you.

I've been reminded of late that Memorial Day is intended to be about honoring those who have died serving our country (not to be confused with Veterans Day which is to honor all those who have served and are serving in our country's military).

So. I took some time this morning to explain this to my boys and to recall our recent visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I also, though, took the opportunity to remind them (since I've told them before) about my own Memorial Day memories growing up. I won't repeat myself, so will simply direct you here. I can't be in Prosser this weekend but have some peonies in a mason jar on my kitchen table. :)

Thank you, supremely, to all those who have given their lives for our country, and hugs to all those missing loved ones today and always!

For the record...

...we're having a hard time getting back to "normal." ;) 

Yes, we've done the laundry and restocked the fridge and cleaned out the van and mostly caught up on karate and all that. But. We can't seem to focus, lol. We're truly going to work on that today. Honest. But, yesterday, we were apparently still on vacation. 

After morning karate classes, we somehow ended up buying Noah a new bike. 

Yes, it's mostly black...with only hints of red and white accents. ;) It's definitely more spendy than any other bike we've purchased. But, it was on a great sale (almost 40% off because it was last year's model and because it was part of their Memorial Day weekend sale...which is what prompted this shopping in the first place, lol) and we figure this bike will be the last we need to buy him. And. He desperately needed a new bike, as he's grown about a foot since the last time we got him a bike. And he's aware that this covers his fall birthday and possibly part of Christmas. :)

After getting that all taken care of, we headed down to Boulder on our promise to Micah. He didn't buy a kite in North Carolina like his brothers but decided shortly after leaving the east coast that he definitely wanted one, lol. To stop him trying to get us to shop online for kites the entire rest of our vacation, we promised we'd hit Into the Wind when we got home. We had a lovely time just playing in the store then soaked up the Pearl Street atmosphere and outdoor performers while enjoying ice cream in freshly made waffle cones...

And Asher and Micah were in such happy moods that they posed with this bear (of their own accord and everything...I didn't ask them to...they asked me to take the picture):

And then we drove back to Fort Collins to attempt to fly the kites:

This is Micah. He and his brothers were all able to get their kites up in the air a few times but the winds just weren't suitable for any sustained flight. Still. They were delighted to have the chance to practice and are looking forward to a windier day. :)

Yup. Good day. Not overly productive in terms of preparing for the coming week, lol, but good. :)

Days 13 & 14

We're home!!! Spent the last two days of Project Pre-Thirteen pretty much just driving from Knoxville, TN to Kansas City, KS to home. Lots of time in the van...witnessed a truck tire blowout from just a car away...and got home with just enough light left in the day to spot our beloved mountains and for the boys to run off some steam in the front yard for a bit while I caught up on things with our lovely neighbor, who'd heard our arrival (thanks to Micah literally shouting his thanks at being home to the neighborhood at large, lol) and who'd been keeping an eye on everything for us.

Whew.

More stories and follow-ups to come but give me a few days to tackle this laundry and catch up on stuff and sort out next month's schoolwork (yes, we still have schoolwork, lol)...