Drew Version 6.0

A few things about the 6 year old version of our Drew:

*  Drew is 47.5 inches tall and weighs 52 pounds (77% for both height and weight).
*  He has lost four bottom teeth.
*  Drew has always been a bit on the quiet/shy side.  I was really worried about how he would do in Kinder.  Would he make friends?  What if he didn't have a buddy?  What if he cried everyday?  Oh my goodness - I can't believe that I wasted energy worrying about those things!  This boy has really taken off since school started!  He has lots of friends and has even had to move his clip once for talking while the teacher was talking!  Thankfully, he hasn't made a habit of breaking classroom rules, but I was so surprised when he told me that he had to move to yellow for talking.  My friend that works at our school told me that Drew is "very popular" and all of the kids want to sit by him at lunch.  His classmates are all so sweet - I am so thankful for sweet kids that have pulled my little shy guy out of his shell.
*  Drew has also taken off with reading!  He has never been one to perform or show off, so I sometimes assume that he doesn't know how to do things because he isn't constantly proving to me how much he knows (not that any of my other children do that...  ahem).  His teacher has created accounts for all of the kids on RazKids.  He LOVES to read the online readers and earn points to buy aliens, rockets, etc.  I love that he is motivated by the cute website!  He sometimes skips words when he is reading aloud, so we have had to work a bit on slowing down.  That has been his only struggle.  I am so grateful for the teachers that have worked with him and taught him skills that have helped him to succeed!
*  Drew had tubes placed, adenoids removed, and a nasal coblation back in February.  His hearing is drastically improved, and he hasn't had a bit of trouble since surgery.
*  Drew sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating.  He does it the most when he is writing.  It cracks me up!

*  Drew still has a slight lisp that sneaks out when he says certain words.  It is adorable!  :)
*  Drew played soccer this fall (post pending), and loved it!  He really was quite a good little soccer player by the end of the season.  It cracks me up that passive Drew has chosen a fairly aggressive sport.  This boy never ceases to surprise me!
*  Speaking of sports, Drew is waaayyy into watching football and pays close attention to the NFL line up.  At the Cowboy game, Wade bought him a set of miniature NFL football helmets.  They are roughly the size of a ping pong ball.  Every Monday, Drew asks to borrow my cell phone so that he can ask Siri about the line up for the week.  He will sit and organize his helmets so that the teams that play each other are matched up.  He will have that memorize on a weekly basis.  It is crazy!  If anyone (Owen) moves a helmet, he notices and fixes it.  It makes me laugh!

Drew's Birthday Questions (By the way, this was really difficult because Drew is the most indecisive person that I know.  He is precise and deliberate when he has to make a choice.  Each question took him a sweet forever!)
Mommy:  What is your favorite thing about being 6?
Drew:  Um....  Uh...  I don't know....
M:  Who are your best friends?
D:  Eric, Slade, Luke F., Connor, Clayton, Owen, Maggie, Sadie, Willow
M:  What is your favorite thing to do?  If you could pick anything to do tomorrow, what would you choose?
D:  I would go to the pool with friends.
M:  What is your favorite color?
D:  Blue
M:  What is your favorite food?
D:  Chicken nuggets, strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, grapes
M:  What is your favorite thing to do with your family?
D:  Go to the park
M:  What is your favorite toy?
D:  My bike, my DS, and Legos
M:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
D:  A policeman
M:  What makes you happy?
D:  Being with my family
M:  What makes you sad?
D:  When I have to miss school
M:  What is your favorite TV show?
D:  Mighty Med
M:  What is your favorite book?
D:  Superhero Storybook
M:  What is your favorite subject at school?
D:  Math
M:  What is your favorite sport?
D:  Soccer
M:  What is your favorite restaurant?
D:  McDonalds and Pei Wei

My Dearest Drew,

Oh my goodness - what a gift you are!  I am so crazy about you!  I tell you and your brothers all of the time, but I really AM so glad that you are mine!  :)

You are a big Kindergartener!  I can hardly believe it!  You have exceeded my wildest dreams of how well that you would do in big kid school.  I worried so much about how you would adapt both socially and academically.  That was so silly of me!  You have done amazing!  Your teacher is precious, and I couldn't have picked a sweeter group of classmates.  The Father really did provide so abundantly for your Kindergarten year!  I pray that you always see the blessings that He heaps on us all.  Far more than we need or deserve!  The anecdote to worry is gratitude.  If you start to fret, make a mental list of everything that you have to be thankful for.  It is hard to worry about the future when you count the many ways that God takes care of us each and every day.  Pastor Keith said that once in a sermon, and I have found it to be so true.  

You continue to be such a great "monkey in the middle" (I try to avoid the term "middle child").  You play up to Clayton and down to Owen effortlessly.  You are a peacemaker and try to diffuse conflict when you see it coming.  You are like a buffer that neutralizes most sibling rivalry.  God really knew what He was doing when He chose the birth order for our family.  You are such an important part of the Carpenter five!

I hope that your 6th year is wonderful!  I know that you will grow and change so much by the time that you turn 7.  I am excited to spend each day with you and hope to help guide you along the way.  You are so very loved, and I hope that you always know that.  You are a wonderful son, and I am blessed to be your Mama!

I love you to the moon and back!
Mommy

Drew's 6th Birthday - October 23, 2014

My sweet Drew Boy turned SIX on October 23rd!  I know that I sound like a broken record, but birthdays sure do seem to come faster than they should around here!  It seems like he turned 5 just yesterday.  Why must time pass so quickly???

Drew's birthday fell on a Thursday this year.  I was super bummed that he would have to go to school on his birthday.  Drew's little teacher makes a big deal about birthdays, though.  Drew knew that he would get to wear the birthday sticker, get a birthday pencil, and birthday bookmark.  What could be better when you are a Kindergartner?  Add in the fact that it was spirit shirt day (students could wear their spirit shirt instead of a polo) and crazy sock day, and my boy was thrilled to celebrate his b-day at school.  ;)

Wade and I brought Drew his lunch of choice (Subway) to school.

 His older brother and faux older sister both joined us.

At 2:30, I brought a cookie cake to school for Drew to enjoy with his buddies.

 They sang Happy Birthday, and D grinned from ear to ear.   Cute boy!

That evening, we let Drew choose dinner.  He picked PeiWei, and he got the most accurate fortune that I have ever seen.  ;)

For dessert, he had requested a pumpkin pie, which his Daddy happily made him.

We had a fun-filled day celebrating our brand new 6 year old!  We love you, Drew Boo!  :)

Milestone for Owen - October 17th, 2014

I love 3 year olds!  Three is such a great age.  Recently, I told Wade that I would be willing to have another baby just to ensure that I would get to have another 3 year old.  He quickly suggested that I get a job teaching 3 year olds at the preschool instead.  Haha!

On October 17th, I was working on school with the big boys.  Owen was coloring on construction paper while we did school work.  He walked up to me and said, "Mama, I wrote my name."  What?!?!  Clayton, Drew, and I all started cracking up.  We had no idea that he could do that!

Pretty good for a 3 year old, I'd say.

 His people drawings are pretty cute!  This is a family portrait.  :)

We love our sweet #3!

Paul McCartney Concert - October 13, 2014

My sweet hubby surprised his parents with Paul McCartney tickets for his Mama's birthday back in April.  The concert was originally scheduled for June 16th, however, had to be rescheduled do to Sir Paul's health issues.  The new concert date was October 13th at the AAC.  It was a great show, and we all had a really good time!

Clayton's Allergist Appt - October 13, 2014

Our Clayton has always been an allergy kid.  He was on Singulair and Zyrtec starting at age 2.  He seems to have inherited his Daddy's allergies/sinus issues.  :(  After being diagnosed with yet another sinus infection, our pediatrician sent him to an allergist.  I figured that they would schedule an allergy skin test and send us on our merry way.  The appointment ended up being much more in depth than I had imagined.

They did a CT scan to explore some tissue that looked like nasal polyps.  Thankfully, there were no polyps.  There was lots of remaining infection and inflamed mucosal lining. 

 They were studying the skeletal system in Science, so Dr. F. was kind enough to print off a copy of C's images to take to school.  :)

 Dr. F. was able to do C's skin test that same day as well.  We were at the office for a sweet forever, but it was nice to knock everything out at once.

Poor Clayton reacted to pretty much everything.  Poor guy...  He's allergic to almost all trees and grasses.  Dr. F showed me a graph that would target when his worst times of the year should be.  It turns out that "worst time of the year" is all year long.  Lovely.

We left the office with a stronger antibiotic to knock out his current sinus infection, a new allergy med, and an appointment to come back in January.  Good times.  I'm hoping that my boy can get some relief on this new regimen. 

Camp Thurman Family Treasure Day - October 11, 2014

After his experience this summer, Clayton could not stop raving about Camp Thurman!  When I got an email about a Saturday family camp, I couldn't sign us up fast enough.  :)  It was fairly inexpensive ($10 per person) and made for a super fun family day.  We had the best time!  It is definitely something that I can see us participating in year after year.

It was a cold, dreary day, which worked in our favor.  There weren't many other families there, so we rarely had to wait in line.  The boys wanted to tackle the big zipline first thing.  It is 40 feet tall, y'all!  Wowsers!  Drew, Wade, and Clayton were the first zipliners of the day.  I was super nervous just watching them!

 I couldn't believe that my Drew was brave enough to do it!  As you can tell, he was a fan.  ;)

 Owen put on a harness, but that was as far as he was willing to go.  He pointed up to the top platform and said, "I don't want to do that!"  No worries, little guy.  You don't have to.

Clayton and Drew really wanted for me to try.  At first, I was adamant that I was not going to do it.  No way, no how.  Then, I figured that if my 5 year old could do it, so could I!  I was super scared, of course.  I made the lady at the top promise me that I wasn't going to die.  Ha!  Dramatic much?  Once I got past the initial drop, it was actually pretty fun!  Wade took some horrible pictures of me (the harness and helmet are a tough look to pull off!), but they are too funny not to share.  Haha!

Next we went to the ropes course that was built up high above the trees.  Wade, Drew, and Clayton all completed the course.  Owie and I were content to watch.  I had already played my cool mom card for the day.  :)

After that, we wanted to find Kidron Valley, a section of the camp built specifically for the littler kids.  Owen was all over that!  He loved the rope bridge.

They had a smaller zipline that was over a little creek.  Since there was no line, the wonderful counselors pushed Clayton and Drew back and forth tons of times.  It was awesome!

After seeing the fun that his big brothers were having, Owen decided to give it a try.  He did great!  It didn't take him long to let go of the rope and "fly."

After lunch, we did Tarzan's swing.  Clayton told Drew that it was even more fun to swing backwards.  Little Brother was game for the challenge. 

"Whoaaa!!"

Owen wanted to ride with Wade.  He was happy as a lark when they pulled the swing back initially.

He and Wade were a bit unequally yoked.  Ha!

Poor Buddy was pretty spooked when they let them go.

After a few swings, he was happy again.  :)

Next up, Tadpole's Power Pole.  Clayton hadn't been allowed to do the power pole at camp.  It was reserved for the older campers.  On Family Camp Day, all of the activities were open, though.  Clayton was determined to conquer this big kid obstacle.  Daddy went first.

He made it look easy (even though he later said that it was really hard - the pole moved quite a bit), so Clayton felt confident that he could do it also.

He stood at the top for several minutes.  At one point, he said that he wanted to come down.  The sweet counselor and Wade both pumped him up and encouraged him to go for it.  I'm not going to lie, watching his internal struggle was hard on my Mama heart!  I wanted for him to conquer his fear, but I also wanted to rescue him and just pull him off of that stinkin' pole.

After several minutes of encouragement, he went for it!

He did it!!!  Even managed to do a couple of pull ups.  Ha!  By this point, I was full on crying.  Wade and the boys were all making fun of me, but I couldn't help it.  ;)  Seeing my boy with that look on his face, like he could conquer the world, made me so proud. 

This sweet gal was awesome!  She knew exactly what to say to build Clayton up and make him feel like he could take the leap of faith.  Wade and I were super impressed by all of the counselors at Camp T!

The boys were determined to do the giant zipline again before we left.  Only this time, Baby Brother wanted to go.  Did I mention that it is 40 feet high??? 

That little buddy slid off of that platform like it was no big deal!

Here's a video of our little zipliner!

These boys are some ziplining champs!

I still can't believe that my 3 year old did that.  That boy is a whole lot of brave in a teeny tiny body!

Buck is the Camp Director.  He was sweet to stop us and talk to us for a bit.  He said that he thought Owen was probably the youngest kid to ever do the big zipline.  Ha!  He shared with us that he went to Camp Thurman as a kid and loved it.  When he was 9, he told his mom that he wanted to be the Director one day.  Lo and behold, he made it happen.  He is such a neat guy with a long history at this great camp!

The last event of the day was archery.  This October, Clayton has been sporting as much pink as possible to support his Aunt Leigh Ann.  He saw that pink BB gun and safety glasses, and made sure that he got to use them.  :)

We had the best time at Camp Thurman!  We look forward to returning as often as possible.  :)