First Day of School Pics

I would have taken a picture of him waving out the window but he never looked back!

Love is in the Air

The last couple months, Gavin has been very spontaneous with the "I love you's". Now that Sam is a full fledged talker, he is not to be outdone in the sweetness department by his older brother. He will routinely stop what he's doing, come over to me for a kiss and "i love you mommy" and go back to whatever it is he is doing.

And then there is the round of I Love You's. This is what we hear in our house lately:

S: "i love you dada"
C: "love you Sam"
S: "i love you mommy"
B: 'love you Sam"
S: "i love you bubba"
G: "love you bubba"
G: "i love you mommy!"
B: "i love you Gavin"
G: "i love you daddy!"
C: "love you Gavin"

and this continues, and continues. Not that we mind :)

In the car the other day, it was just Gavin and Sam back and forth with the "i love you mommy" for like 5 minutes. Ah, so good to be loved!

"Grave" conversation

A couple weeks ago, I was driving Gavin out to the Walnut Ridge recreation center in Johnston for his half mile fun run. Which he did GREAT in by the way! Under 4 1/2 minutes for a half mile, and he beat a lot of kids older than him (it was a K - 5 event).

On the way, along Beaver Drive by Camp Dodge there is a cemetary. Gavin told me he wanted to go there one day.

Why do you want to go to the cemetary?
To see my stone
What stone honey?
My stone - doesn't everybody have a stone? I want to see my stone

And then I realized what he was talking about.

Honey, you don't have a stone in the cemetary. Most people don't have stones until they die. Sometimes people get them earlier if they know where they want to be buried. But you don't have one.
Oh, well can we go look at other people's stones?

Man, these conversations sure get harder! I have to say I got pretty somber after that one. I couldn't imagine that one day, Gavin will have a stone. Hopefully, not for a very long time after I do. But still, what a reminder that our time, everyone's time, is limited.

And you know what the most amazing thing is about having a 6 yr old that is full of wonder and innocence and not afraid to ask about whatever is on his mind? He quite often jolts me out of my busy, pre-occupied world and reminds what is truly important, just when I need it most.

Weekend Games & Randoms

Life has been busy, so sorry for the lack of posts.

This weekend we have Gavin's first football game at 8 AM Saturday, and a soccer game at 10:45 Saturday. If you want to come cheer on the Texas Longhorns, or the Mighty Giants, email and I will give you directions. If you are a die hard fan that wants to attend both, you are welcome to stop at our place in between, although I will be running Gavin to soccer pictures at 9:45.

See what I mean about busy?

In other news, I got an email that the boys were selected to get their pics taken to use in promotions for Blank Children's Hospital. If they actually get used is a whole other story! Guess it depends on how well they behave for the pictures. I'm so excited, but mostly, am honored to be able to help promote Blank - I mean, if their cute mugs can't get the job done, whose would right? I feel such strong ties to that place, so it meant a lot to me to get asked.

Since I'm at it, here are the other brief updates:

Sam can pretty much repeat anything we say and is speaking more and more. His new phrase is "go away!" complete with a big arm gesture. So cute. So heartbreaking. So Sammy!

Gavin - my little smarty this one is. At the end of Kindergarten he was just slightly behind in reading/comprehension. Not bad, just part of the group that needed some extra help. We did put him in the summer two week reading and math review, but didn't do much else. (Kids deserve a summer break am I right??) Anyway, entering 1st grade had me nervous. But I have exchanged a couple emails with his teacher, who has described him as "a bright little guy" and "very smart, exactly where he should be starting 1st grade". And when I volunteered last week he wasn't in the group of kids that I was working with (the kids that need a little extra help). As happy as that made me, I knew he was a little bummed he didn't get to spend time with me. We are doing our reading time every night though, and he has had several homework assignments, so still spends time with "Mommy teacher". Last night there were a couple little books sent home for him to read to me, and he did SO FREAKING GOOD with them. I don't know where this development happened, but something has clearly clicked.

Last of Vacation Pictures

"Raising kids is part joy and part guerilla warfare" ~Ed Asner

My Favorite Characters

With their favorite characters

What's New?

Latest Happenings in the Sellers House:

• Dance parties. Lots of dance parties
• Language explosion. Sam is using two and three word sentences. Gavin's reading skills are taking off - he's reading things off the TV now, and not just his memorized sight words.
• Birthday withdrawal. Little case of the "gimme's" lately
• Football. Flag football season kicked off this weekend with a 2 hour clinic. I caught the last twenty minutes of it. They went from station to station at the JHS field. Gavin is a champ when he gets into sports mode - while other kids were just kind of jogging through the drills, he ran his heart out every time. That kid works harder than almost everyone else out there when it comes to sports practices or games. It was rewarded when they raced to catch the punt the high school kid kicked down the field and he outran all his teammates to get it!
• Medical - Gavin had his 6 yr appt and was in the 77% for height - just a half inch under 4 ft and 79% for weight - 51.8 pounds. But he had scarfed a meal/drink from Sonic on the way there so he had an extra pound and a half on him! Sam's re check for anemia came back normal - no longer anemic!
• Copycats - Sam is starting to mimic EVERYTHING. It's pretty fun but also making us keep an even closer eye on him - like I will turn my back for a sec and he will be sitting on the high bar stools at our kitchen counter. Not so safe.