safety camp

Camp continued this week with Wellstar's Safety Camp. Grant, Miller and Cameron from the neighborhood carpooled all together to a local elementary school. Safety camp is put on by the county for rising Kindergartners to attend. Each day was a different safety theme. Miller had lots of "safe tips" to share at home. The camp instructors taught simple rhymes for the kids to memorize when they are presented with an unsafe situation. If only I could have seen Miller and Grant acting out water safety with life preservers and sunglasses on. "Reach, throw, DON'T GO!" was the water safety rhyme for Monday.

 The little miniature town was explored on big wheels to teach the rules of the road. Red tickets were handed out to the kids when they violated a safety rule. The campers learned what all the road signs represented and brought home their own signs on popsicle sticks to review. SO cute!
The biggest disappointment of camp week was on Thursday when Miller failed the stranger danger exercise on the playground. We've talked about strangers at home, but we were all curious to see if our little discussions would be followed when placed in the unplanned situation. Apparently, Miller said no to the candy, but when the stranger actor approached a second time with puppy pictures and a ploy to find the lost puppy...he followed the trail of other kids across the playground to save the day. Both Miller & Grant were devastated on the drive home that they had been tricked. But, I was so thankful that it provided another valuable real life lesson. This situation made an impact...that's for sure! Some of the little girls were traumatized by the situation, but it was great practice to avoid a devastating event.
It's been hard for Miller to distinguish who a stranger is as we often are friendly to complete strangers in the south. It's a form of politeness to talk to adults in the grocery store aisle. We often smile and engage to show friendliness. With time, I hope he'll be able to discern who is out to snatch him!

They had forgotten all about the failed test just in time for the last day's fun events. Omi and Papa were able to come into town early to see Miller's end of camp celebration. I was thankful that we could divide and conquer as I had a VBS luncheon to attend. Miller always expects a cheering section on days like these. He always asks, "Who's coming to watch me?"  I enjoyed taking the picture tour later at home. Landon humored me by taking the camera along. I could hardly stand not going.

 

 Luckily, I relived all the cuteness with Miller's little narration of the closing ceremony. We're hoping that we're one step closer to a safe kiddo.

celebrating poppy

 I absolutely love outdoor dinners on my parents covered porch. It's a little slice of escape dining lakeside. It's over the top when uncle Clay can in on the familia dinners. Miller and Eliza Kate enjoy the extra attention.

Tonight we celebrated Poppy & the wonderful grandfather that he is. So thankful that we've given him this season of parenting grands. He's all about the fun factor & can get away with shenanigans that only grandpas are allowed to get away with.
Notice Miller man's sheering hair cut.  His stylist "crush" is recovering from a broken foot and this hair style is a result of her absence. Oh well, I think we'll make it until a back to school hair cut.

Nothing like an uncle's love. Uncle Clay is always wrestling & turning our boy upside down and all about. He roughs him up and there's nothing like the sound of contagious giggles that can be heard from across the room when these two are together.

This one loves her Poppy. Poppy loves to take her lovey and play hide and seek with it under his shirt. He's always playful with this one chasing her and teasing her with little games. If he's not showing her Elmo clips on YouTube, he's reading to her. Poppy likes to sneak in little treats and cookies too. That's why Poppy is moving up the ranks in popularity with our missy.

She's always up for a snuggle on her daddy's lap.

Miller could barely make it through dinner without asking us over & over about our after dinner pool plans. It's nice that their community's pool is a short walk around the lake. We've grown accustomed to the neighborhood kids' laughter at the pool while eating. The sounds of happy summer play become the background ambiance noise to our outdoor dinners. Of course, this only adds to Miller's impatience to get swimming. He can't handle not being included in the action.

 Can you blame him for his excitement? Miller was volleyed him back and forth in the water.

He didn't quite work up the confidence to conquer the water slide. There's always next visit to conquer that. These three brought about alot of activity to the pool. Something about all that male energy....

 Eliza Kate entertained herself with the shark watering can. The pink and green girly can doesn't cut it anymore.

She finally warmed up to her uncle by giving him a shower with her watering can.  Oh the joys of filling her can up to the brim and slowly pouring it over Clay's head.

 Evening swims are becoming our favorite around here. It always feels like vacation to me taking an after dinner swim. Quick trips like these are a great way to end the day. No sunscreen application time and it exhausts the kids just in time for bed.

All cozied up in her towel. Flashback to 1985 and this was my poolside striped towel. It's always fun to bring back a retro favorite for your children to use. We call it her lovey for the pool;)

 Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads!

two wheels

MVI_2453[1].MOV from Erica Fokens on Vimeo.
To my shock and awe, this is how I found Miller getting around when I returned from a shower on Saturday afternoon. Landon took off the trusty training wheels with high hopes of getting Miller to take off on his own.


10 minutes of release training gave this little cyclist the confidence he needed to take off.
He needed a little pep talk from Landon to give him a confidence boost.

Then, Landon released him to ride on his own. {insert tears & joy here}

Can you believe I missed his first triumphant circle around the cul-de-sac?  That's like missing out on  first steps, I later shared with Landon. Really we credit the itch to learn from our new five year old Canadian neighbor, Jack, across the street. He has been confidently cruising the block without trainers while Miller's been lagging behind.... trained since he was four years old on two wheels, that Jack. It perked Miller's little competitive nature to conquer the street on two wheels. Miller learned the European style of bike riding borrowing Jack's sturdy wooden scoot bike first. It's a no pedal low to the ground bike to teach balance. Who knew that in other countries training wheels are a no-no. Once the feeling of balance clicked cruising down our street full speed, Miller knew what it felt like to have no supports on each side. Of course he loved the low to the ground safety net of being able to put his feet down if he got too swervy.

Landon put Miller way up high on his right shoulder for a winner's victory lap around our couch. Their hands lifted high in celebration & a large giddy grin plastered all over our boy's face.  A beautiful shared experience on Father's Day weekend.


The fact that Miller learned to ride on Islandora with all of our neighbor friends cheering him on makes me feel so at home. Just one more milestone in this house. One more fond memory to link to our Kingsgate days. It's only fitting. Excited for Miller's new summer adventure on two wheels. He's walking just a little taller these days and looking so much older on his bike. Woo Hoo Miller man!

Celebrating Daddy

Today we celebrated Landon...the daddy who-

-fake trips over grocery carts inside the market all in order to get laughs from Miller

-drives grocery carts like race cars complete with engine sounds

-totes Miller on his shoulder singing "He's a Jolly Good Fellow" when he makes a goal

-volunteers to read to the kiddos at night

-makes a fool out of himself dancing in the living room with the fam

-is hands on

-steam rolls Miller in the living room until he crys "uncle"

-dresses up in the fuzzy Easter bunny costume to please the kids for the egg hunt {ears and all}

-plays crocodile chomper on the bed Saturday mornings to the the kiddos feet

-wrestles & roughs up our boy

-prays for our family

-takes initiative to discipline the kids

-drops his laptop case off at the door to swing/ hug the kids like a sweet reunion

-enjoys cooking for the family

-master tucker inner at night;)

-takes time out to talk things out with Miller

-is their hero

-is the master tickler & zerberter with Eliza Kate shouting "again"!

-works so hard at his job so I can play so hard at mine

-models what helping others looks like and drops everything to go help out a friend.

-loves Jesus

-teaches our children spiritual truths

-leads by example

-is faithfully creating a heritage for Miller & Eliza Kate

-is generous

YOU are the faithful daddy that every child deeply longs for and the husband that blesses my socks off. Thank you for loving us & modeling exactly what the male role looks like to Miller. Not to mention, what Eliza Kate will search for in the man in her life. It warms me when Miller says that all he wants to do when he grows up is to be a daddy. You've set the standard high We love doing life with you. Happy Father's Day, Landon!

splashing around

We splashed into this week enjoying the Sprayground with friends. It's become a summer favorite to venture to Riverside Park in Roswell. At $1.00 per person, it's a great summer outing for the kids. Not to mention, their mommy who doesn't mind getting splashed.

She's two and knows how to pose...gotta love her girly-ness. I just got lucky really in mid stride to capture her prancing in the water. All of a sudden it hit me that she's looking much older. She was cautious, but warmed up to the fountains once our friends arrived. Jackson and Anna & baby Reese made her comfortable to venture off.

We use to stay clear of the boisterous boys at the splash park. Now, he just one on those rowdy older boys that I have to corral away from the younger babies.{insert bull in a china shop visual here}. This was a great outlet to get all his energy out for the day.

Pure joy. Enough said.

Miller calls this his "surprised face". He asked me to view his surprised face photo on my camera. That kid. Drama, drama!

Evidence that he's always keeping his younger sister laughing. She thought it was hilarious that he stood still in the fountain and was covered {head to toe} with water. A disappearing act of sorts.

All splashed out & loving the water.

These two cuties wanted to wrestle and play superhero games in the park. True boys to the core. Jackson and Miller are two peas in a pod- that's for sure. They can hardly stand still without chasing eachother and giggling. Of  course, they get into mischief together.

We found a perfectly shady spot to picnic with the whole gang. Wish I could have photographed bathing beauty Reese in all her ruffles! Miller is eating us out of our house this summer often devouring two sandwiches and clearing out our snacks. That's what action packed days do to a growing boy's appetite. Thankful for sweet friends to share the morning with.

Off to camp they go....

I signed Miller up for a few camp activities this summer to occupy some of our free time. I don't want to overbook with scheduled activities especially near the end of summer. I think it's ok to have a good bored feeling near the end. That's what gets kids excited for school to start. Do you remember that long summer {ground hog's day} feeling sprinkled in between the classic summer reading list? I do. It seemed to last forever. But, we're thankful for the week's with planned activities that provide more structure to look forward to. Little sister tagged along for this camp which was an added bonus. We participated together in a mommy & me music class.

 We came off of May begging for a break from all of
the end of the year hoopla and just now Miller is looking for new adventures in his day. Our three day Swinging Safari Music camp was just the right commitment for both kiddos.  Now Miller is not a huge choir fan, but they did a Safari themed craft and playground time. Not to mention, his buddy Carson ended up being in his class. Totally unplanned...

On the last day the rising 3's & 4's sang a darling performance. Grandmama tagged along to watch. EK spotted her guy right away and proudly exclaimed, "HI, Miller"!!

Eliza Kate settled into the matinee show with her sippy cup and animal print maraca. We loved our time together at Teeny Tykes and Tunes with Ms. Rachel. There was lots of marching, dancing, and clapping during her class. It is nice just giving her one on one attention..Something that she usually has to share during the summer.

Miller and Carson showing off their African rain sticks.  Having a friend in class makes Miller doubly excited to get out the door.

As you can see, it was an exhaustingly, fun time. EK barely made it home without squeezing in a little shut eye. A sign of a successful summer morning... She was wiped out.

Hooray for camps!  Now, what are we going to do next week?

swim days

Spending our lazy summer days at the neighborhood swimming hole. Our magic hours are between 11:00- 1:30 to swim. We're still in afternoon nap jail- lock down at our house. I'm not complaining as we all need those late afternoon hours of peace & quiet. Miller needs a wind down pause in the busy-ness of his day too. I would say he still needs at least 2 naps per week in order to avoid the grumpys. Other afternoons, he reads or plays with his LeapPad. I even squeeze in a little shut eye on several days of the week. A rested mommy equals a happy home in my book.

 My goal is to wear the kiddos out swimming, jumping and splashing. It's working, too! Miller's at the stage where it's convenient to ask a friend to join us. I feel like super mom when I can conquer the world of three kids at our pool.  It's a juggling act. The boys do entertain themselves with their own games so I can focus on Eliza Kate. If she's playing, this momma can sit on the steps in peace...yippee! Although, those brief 5 minutes are usually interrupted by a good water gun soaking or the after effects of a cannon ball splash.

This little fishy is cracking us up in the water this year. She likes to play with a "noodle".

A quick phone upload from a pool playdate last week. Miller's in heaven when our block shows up to swim. We are soaking up every last minute with our friends in the hood.