Beatles RockBand

We had some of our family over today for a big breakfast, and played some Beatles Rock band after. Here are some photos of us rockin' out (by the way, you can rightclick on any of the pictures to save them to your computer).

Invitation Only

I recently changed this blog to invitation only out of privacy concerns about what I post about Nolan online. I'm sorry for the inconvenience - you have to log in now to read the blog.

Family Study Interview

Over the summer Russ had a part at the meeting about family study. I'll let the video below speak for itself (adorable, adorable!)



In response to Russ' follow-up question about what else Nolan likes about Jesus, Nolan's hard-to-hear answer was "I don't know that much about Jesus yet."

The kids all did fantastic, and I'm vastly amused by the way all 3 kids + Russ kept jiggling their legs.

More gardening work

Tia Erin & Nolan discovered a tree that we didn't want and dug it out (with a little help from Daddy). Nolan felt very strong carrying the tree around.




He also helped open a yard waste bag.

Fun at the Botanic Garden

Sid the Science Kid

Over the past month or so, Nolan & I have become obsessed about the show Sid the Science Kid.

One big reason is this delightful song he sings to his mom on the way to school:

More from Henson Records at Myxer

Every day this week Nolan and I have made this song our duet in the car before I drop him off at school. Good times!!

Sid the Science Kid has taught us about sound waves, why our shoes shrink, how ice freezes, estimating, why it's important to brush our teeth, etc.

And thanks to TiVo, we can watch the show any time we want!

Too cool in the jeep

A few weeks ago Russ & Nolan went to the drive-in. Apparently, Jeep Wrangler people are like this underground cult. Another guy was there with his Wrangler and he came over and showed Russ how to use this special tool to take the windshield off. Of course Russ & Nolan thought that was pretty cool! (Yes, Russ now owns the special tool).

They saw Ice Age. They didn't get home until around midnight. Yikes!

Gardening with Tia Erin

Tia Erin has been spending some time in our garden over the last few weeks (hooray!) and one of the conditions was that she agree to take on an apprentice....

Sound booth

In trying to locate a picture, I found this entirely unrelated one and know some of you will get a kick out of it - how cool was this for the boys?



Nolan & his friend Alex at the sound booth at Romeoville during our last circuit assembly.

Comments

I think that I have fixed the issue we were having with no one being able to leave comments. So, comment away! Let me know if you have any problems please.

Fun in the City

We spent Saturday & Sunday in downtown Chicago. Saturday was a bit rainy, but we were still able to walk around and take in some sights, including Legoland at the Nordstrom mall.

Here's Nolan with a lego R2D2.











Sunday morning we went to Millenium park for some fountain splashing and to look at the reflective sculpture.



We also took a doubledecker bus tour of parts of the city and spent a bit of time down on Navy Pier. A fun, busy, exhausting weekend!

Fishing

Nolan has been wanting to go fishing for quite some time, and the getaway at Camp Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's was ideal for this adventure. The lures were sans hooks, but that didn't stop Nolan from spending literally hours on the dock fishing away.

Boating with the Johnsons

Nolan and Daddy joined Uncle Kurt and Grandpa Johnson on a fun boat ride.



Here's Nolan helping Grandpa.



Approaching McDonald's on the water




Outside of McDonalds




With Uncle Kurt


I guess Russ was taking all of the pictures as there are none of him with Nolan.

Every little boy should catch a toad

How fascinated does Nolan look? Nature can awe us like nothing else!




On another note, I received a thank you card from the school for my participation in Read to your kid's class day - evidently I was the only parent who did so.

Also, today was Costume day and Nolan was the only kid who wore something. Do other parents just not read the calendar? He wore the Storm Trooper mask (not the whole outfit as pictured) that Aunt Marsha gave him.

Rollerskating

Daddy spent a little time teaching Nolan how to rollerskate today. Of course, Nolan wants to go as fast as possible RIGHT NOW and therefore tends to get a bit frustrated when he has to learn something new - he wants to just automatically be able to do something without being taught (ah, the priceless joy of seeing yourself in your child!).

Reading Day at School

Today I went to Nolan's school to read a story to his class. They have been extra focused on reading this week, and today was Bring a Family Member to Read day.

I chose Toy Boat by Randall de Seve - a delightful story about a little toy boat that gets lost and then reunited with the boy who made it.

The kids were very attentive and sweet. I think I agree a bit with people who say girls mature faster than boys - the boys were uproarious with laughter at my very silly jokes, while at the same time the girls looked at me as if I were completely insane (Sample silly joke - Hi, I'm Nolan's Dad. Oh wait, I'm Nolan's baby!).

After the story was done, Nolan gave the book to his teacher to keep (yesterday was Give Your Teacher a Book Day, but I combined that with today's experience instead).



I also took him to get his very first library card this week. We had such a good time at the library! He wanted to get a Curious George book, so we looked it up together on the computer and then went to the right section. He ended up checking out three Curious George books and we promptly read them together the minute we walked through the door to our house.

A busy summer ahead

Next week starts the official summer camp version of preschool for Nolan. I can't believe how many activities they are packing into June, July & August!

Once a week they are having "Dino Jump" day. Rather than try to explain that, here's a picture (Nolan is not in this picture so don't bother squinting at it too hard).

Below is a picture of the slide they had a few times last summer instead of the official jump. Personally, I think the slide looks like more fun! Nolan likes to bounce as much as possible on the way down - it's quite shocking how airborne such a little person can get.



Once a week they are having "Water Day", which is basically a sprinkler in the grassy part of the playground. I have to remember to buy closed-toe watershoes before next Friday. Although, the weather has only been in the 60's so far this month - I wonder if they will still have water day if it's this cold next week!

Two times a week they are having offsite excursions. This is the first year he is old enough to go on field trips! Just some of the places they are going to visit this summer: A real farm (complete with pony rides), bowling alley, petting zoo, rollerskating (he's never tried this before - I'm hoping Russ has time to take him for a practice whirl before the field trip comes up), lego land, the zoo, and various area parks. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? On top of that, we're signing him up for a special hands-on science class that is focused on flying - he will be making kites, toy airplanes, and the end-of-the-unit highlight: A rocket ship to launch outside!!!

The only problem is I wanted to set aside a few days this summer to do some cool things with him, just Mommy & Nolan. Now I have to think of something he isn't already doing with his class. I'm open to suggestions!

WARNING - TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN BEFORE HITTING PLAY



This is a video from November of Nolan showing off his super strength. I wanted to test the video upload feature on the blog & decided on this one as it never fails to make me laugh! Errr...I mean, to impress me with his amazing muscles.

New Jeep

Russ got a new (used) Jeep Wrangler, which Nolan thinks is cool. Nolan has informed me that the Wrangler is faster than Daddy's red truck.

Here it is with the top down. Uncle Kurt, Grandpa Johnson, Nolan, and Daddy learned how to do that together.

2009 District Convention

On Friday during a VERY SPECIAL SEGMENT (if you were there, you know what I'm talking about; if not, I don't want to ruin the surprise for you!) Nolan turned to me and said he knows why Jehovah can love everyone. It's because Jehovah has the biggest heart in the universe!!! He then clapped sincerely and longer than anyone else around us, and turned me to and said, "I liked it more than anyone else Mommy!"

He really enjoyed the drama, although it took a bit of explaining to get him to understand that yes, we are talking about the Bible, but no, the David on stage isn't the same David as the one who killed Goliath.

I asked him on the ride home today what his favorite part of the Convention was, and he told me it was seeing Uncle Dennis. Isn't that sweet?


He likes to use his own Bible and find at least the same Chapter #, whether or not he is in the correct book of the Bible.

Duck Tour aka Lots of Shots of Nolan's Head

The land portion of the Wisconsin Duck Tour

Approaching the water

Woah! This car can float!!!

They took a jet boat tour on Monday - as Nolan informed me, they got WET!

A few more vacation pics

Nolan the hiking tour guide at Devil's Lake

Apparently there was a colony of caterpillars co-existing at the camp site. I remember why I don't like camping! But Nolan certainly thought the caterpillars were charming guests.

On their last day they had breakfast at Paul Bunyan's.

Even more vacation fun

Fun at the wavepool

Nolan on a rollercoaster with a random girl...hmm..

Racing!!

A few more vacation photos

At Devil's Lake. Russ told me Nolan picked me a bunch of flowers there for me - what a sweetie!

The boys did a Duck tour of the Wisconsin Dells

They headed to Mt. Olympus water park today - indoor & outdoor water fun