Saudi Arabia

We are so blessed to have a houseguest from Saudi Arabia!  His name is Nawaf and he is staying with us while he studies English.  We are so thrilled to have another person in the house and also to learn all about his religion and culture. 

Nawaf has a six year old brother in Saudi Arabia, so he knows what to expect from a six year old!  Nawaf is 19, so he is just like an American teenager - always out with his friends!  

He made supper for us tonight.  Zeb took him to the halal market where he could purchase food like he gets in his country. He also seasoned the food with some spices that he brought from Saudi Arabia. 

He made chicken Kapsa.  It was yummy. We all enjoyed it!  Logan particularly enjoyed the fact that in Saudi Arabia, you eat this meal with your hand only (right hand only). 

Zeb decided to eat a hot pepper.  He quickly regretted it! 

Nawaf has been with us for a week now. We are enjoying every minute!! 

First Day of 1st Grade

This was my sweet boy before he woke up to start first grade.  He was SO excited!  It was no problem to get him out of bed!! 

I am a big fan of Pottery Barn.  I get their catalogs and oogle over the lunch boxes and the backpacks and all of it.  I tried to convince Logan to choose some of their back-to-school products.  Instead, he chose a $6.99 backpack from Menard's!!  And he had to have that back pack in all of his pictures :) 

Momma wasn't feeling well, so I wasn't in any of the pictures.  But I love this one of my guys....

Look at that pose....

When I asked Logan what he was most excited for this morning, he said "seeing my teacher, of course!"  You think we have a little crush going on?!?

He could not get into his desk fast enough. 

This is a sample of his work!  He has to memorize this poem. 

His spelling words - in cursive!!!! 

And his math : 

I am so proud of my boy!! His printing has really improved over the summer - even though he didn't practice at all this summer :). I'm proud of the way he just jumped right into first grade and owned it.  Remember, kindergarten was only 1/2 day - so today was his first full day of school!! He got to take his lunch, too! First grade, day one, is in the books!! 

*logan has five kids (total) in his class.  One of the things I loved about my Christian  education was the very personal attention that I received and I'm so happy he's getting the same. Praise the Lord that we live in a country where we are still free to choose the method of our children's education.  We do not take that choice for granted!!

Back to School Night

I have to write all of this down tonight because I am still laughing and I do not ever want to forget this evening.  Logan had orientation tonight at school.  The entire group meets in the gym for general rules and the all of the students go to their new classrooms.  

Logan was over the moon excited about his new classroom.  First grade.  He will go all day.  He gets to take his lunch (or, he thinks he's going to buy his lunch everyday!). We got into his classroom and he was beside himself.  He sat proudly at his DESK - not a table like kindergarten.  Logan loved looking through all of the things in his desk.  The teacher provided his school box and all of the materials he will need. (How cool is that?!). He raised his hand, sitting up as straight as he could.  When called upon, he asked the teacher if he could start working ahead on his papers.  And then I died.  You have to understand.  This child would not pick up a pencil this summer.  He would not read one word without a bribe.  He wanted nothing to do with books at all.  I could not stop laughing.  Because he was basically a perfect, studious child in that moment and it completely caught me off guard. 

Logan is brilliant.  I have no doubts about that.  But I've never been of the thought that he has to do everything perfect.  I'm more impressed with his "inventions" than I am with a perfectly written alphabet.  Don't get me wrong, I loved school, learning and everything about it.  I just don't want to put a ton of pressure on my kids to over- achieve.  We will study.  Oh, heavens,  we will try very hard to do well.  But a life well- lived does not have to include straight A's.  It might though.  With the enthusiastic Logan I met tonight, it just might. I will enjoy finding out. 

•Beaming with pride in front of his LOCKER!!! Only big kids get lockers!!!•

More Summer

Logan really wanted to try buffalo wings one Saturday.  So, we did.  I think he ate one. 

We bought paint for his room, and I was going to wait to paint it, but the day that we got it, I was too excited, so I painted it immediately.  Here are some before pictures.  I'll post the "after" pictures once it is completely decorated.  

He is blessed with a very large room.  And you can't really tell in these pictures, but that green was a bit much in real life. 

Those tubs are all things to pack away, donate or sell!! 

The stuff on the shelf was stuff to keep! 

And these are just some random pictures for Logan entertaining us one evening. 

I love that boy so much.  He makes me laugh all the time!! 

Summer Wrap - Up

Summer has gone by just way too fast.  I'm going to dump all of my photos into several posts over the next few days to get ready for school!!!

We set up a kiddie pool for Logan one evening when it was pretty cold out (like 70).  He insisted he wanted to swim.  So, Zeb and I sat in our lawn chairs to watch him and he was so upset that we weren't swimming, too.  All summer long, he has been saying "but I thought you guys were going to get in the pool with me that night." 

This next picture was taken on a day when he visited me in the office.

And this picture pretty much sums up his life...just chillin'.

We really have had a great summer, and we are looking forward to all of the things our fall has in store!!