Category Archives: kieron

Kieron the Six Year Old!

Kieron turned six on May 5th. He sure has grown up a lot this year.  He is such a sweet sensitive, silly little boy, and has outgrown much of the stubbornness of his earlier years, although he still has lots of spirit. Kindergarten and getting glasses both did wonders for him. Kieron reads quite well for his age, and enjoys reading longer chapter books with us. His favorites include anything Roald Dahl and most recently, Hatchet. He also likes math, and especially science. He loves the outdoors, and is a real workhorse. Kieron is big and strong for a kid his age, and has even been boasting about his “big muscles” lately (not sure where that came from, but it’s cute). He is pretty quiet at school, but has made some good friends, and enjoys playing with Avery and the older boys when they’ll let him. Now that Silas is older and becoming more of a peer, the two (only 20 months apart) are forming a special bond, and Kieron is growing into his role as an older brother and mentor.

Some special things about Kieron: he loves slapstick humor as much as the next kid, but it’s his timing and dry sense of humor (well beyond his years) that really crack us up. He can be quite emotional and sensitive, and perceptive to the feelings of others, although he is working on translating this into words and actions. Kieron also has a strong sense of social justice, perhaps because he is the middle child. We’ve recently noticed him growing into the role of “peacekeeper”. In particular, when Avery and Silas are acting up, Kieron becomes incredibly cooperative and well-behaved.

Kieron would like to be a park ranger when he grows up, and we can totally see it. Between his love of the outdoors, strong work ethic, and solitary nature, this could be a real calling for him!

Here’s our sweet boy on his last night as a five-year-old
IMG_9487

Birthday breakfast request: waffles!
IMG_9496

Birthday morning
IMG_5640

IMG_9494

IMG_9500

IMG_9504IMG_5643 IMG_5645

With his first Fender
IMG_9508

IMG_9509IMG_5651 IMG_5654

IMG_9514

IMG_9525

Lemon cupcakes!IMG_5656 IMG_5657

This year Kieron decided he wanted to have a Minecraft themed party at our house. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful, so we were able to do the entire party in the backyard (always a plus with a group of excited little boys)! With the help of Pinterest, I devised some cheap & simple party decorations, we played a couple of games, served pizza, cupcakes, and Minecraft-themed hors d’oeuvres, and then let the kids play the rest of the time. That night Kieron said to me “Mommy, I had so much fun at my party today!” Those words made me so happy!

IMG_5661

Endermen
IMG_5665

Spider
IMG_5666

Everyone’s favorite game, Shoot the Creeper! Jonathan was such a sport!IMG_5676 IMG_5684 IMG_5692 IMG_5695 IMG_5697 IMG_5702

Brooklyn as a creeper
IMG_5707

Kieron and his friend, Louis, running through the “Ender Portal”IMG_9539

Posted in kieron, us | Comments Off on Kieron the Six Year Old!

April

Here’s some more of what we were up to in April.

Kieron and Silas hiking Boulder Garden Loop with Daddy
IMG_7617 IMG_7624

Kieron got a new pair of glasses – sports goggles. They are perfect for our rough and tumble little boy, and the transition lenses are awesome for summer!IMG_9114

Avery still loves parkour. Look at his muscles working here!
IMG_9117

Completing an obstacle course. Avery always leaves class sweaty and red-faced.
IMG_9358

Silas and his pal, Buddha
IMG_9123 IMG_9125

I went to Utah with Jonathan for his +1 dinner for work. It was fun getting to see where he goes while he’s there and meeting some of the people he works with. We spent a day in Salt Lake City, and here we are at Park City the following day.
IMG_9127

Avery and Kieron did a track camp over spring break. Their favorite events were the non-running ones. 🙂 Here’s Kieron throwing the javelin.
IMG_9170

Kieron doing the long jumpIMG_9178

Avery throwing the javelin
IMG_9179 IMG_9180

Picnic in the backyard
IMG_9368

Kieron in his Kindergarten Opera, The Three Nanny Goats Gruff. IMG_9381

He was on cloud nine after the performance. I wasn’t expecting it from him, but the stage seemed to invigorate him!IMG_9383

Waiting for lunch at Zeek’s Pizza.IMG_9386

Silas has been on a sneaky streak lately. Here he is after giving himself a bang trim. On this particular afternoon he also snuck some treats from the pantry and stamped our return address in several spots on the family room wall.
IMG_9391

His “after” shot
IMG_9401

The boys performing a duet together before swimming lessons
IMG_9406 IMG_9408

At a parkIMG_9418 IMG_9423

Posted in avery, kieron, Uncategorized, us | Comments Off on April

Back at Rattlesnake Lake

Warmer days means heading to the water to cool off. We’ve already been back to Rattlesnake Lake a few times. Here are the boys on their first time back. They all swam out to this stump, Silas just needed a little boost up onto it.
IMG_9234

30 week bump shot
IMG_7550
IMG_7541

A couple weeks later we returned with paddle boards. Here are Avery and Kieron maxing out the weight limit on their kids board.
IMG_9461

Meanwhile Jonathan took Silas for a spin on his. Silas was armed with a water gun.
IMG_9462

Rescue op. Kieron and Avery made it a ways out and then overturned. Avery decided to abandon ship with the paddle and swim back to shore, so Jonathan towed Kieron back in.IMG_9465

Back out and at it again.IMG_9468

Avery with his boardIMG_9470

Posted in avery, kieron, places, us | Comments Off on Back at Rattlesnake Lake

Laborers

Jonathan and took the boys to James’ house for a visit in April. He has a house on some acreage and is preparing the property for his wedding there this coming summer. The boys were thrilled to lend a hand that afternoon. They’re asking when they get to go back!
IMG_7556

Machinery, yes!IMG_7570 IMG_7582 IMG_7590 IMG_7597

Kieron in his element.IMG_7601

Another weekend we had 5 yards of bark delivered the house. The boys all helped us spread it around the yard. Kieron was the biggest help. He spread pretty much everything Jonathan dumped in the back yard himself!
IMG_9430 IMG_9434

Posted in avery, kieron, us | Comments Off on Laborers

Being Tourists

Over spring break we made a couple of trips to Seattle to do some fun and unusual things with the boys. We’ve been wanting to take Avery on an underground tour of Seattle for some time, and knew we had to do it before Layla was born, or it would be another year before we could make it happen. So one afternoon we hired a babysitter for Kieron and Silas, and took Avery on the tour. Here we all are waiting for it to begin.

IMG_9151

Avery heading underground
IMG_9153
IMG_7518

I think he really enjoyed it. I’m sure he will get more out of it in a few years, but it was a pretty fun thing to do together.
IMG_9155

Skylights like these were used to bring in natural light to the shops below
IMG_7520

Avery checking out the skylights
IMG_9159

Here he is making fart noises on the same stage where Ellen Degeneres, Louis CK, and other greats have performed.
IMG_7531

A mural of famous Seattleites
IMG_9162

Above ground (and on top of a skylight)
IMG_7538

At the end of the week, we all headed back to Seattle to go on the Seattle Great Wheel, another outing we’ve been wanting to do that will soon be more difficult with a baby.
IMG_9238
IMG_5765

IMG_9257

The boys were somewhat nervous at first, but loved the view!
IMG_5767 IMG_5773 IMG_5776 IMG_5780 IMG_5782 IMG_5784 IMG_5787  IMG_5923

Then we headed to Volunteer Park. Jonathan photographed a family session for couple whose wedding we photographed a few years back. Meanwhile, the boys and I played around, mostly in these trees. Apparently the boys were in a modeling mood, because they kept asking me to take their pictures. Here are a few cute ones I snapped on my phone.
IMG_9289 IMG_9290 IMG_9291 IMG_9293 IMG_9297 IMG_9304 IMG_9312 IMG_9315 IMG_9317 IMG_9318

The squirrels here were very friendly, I’d say too friendly. I’m pretty sure this little guy would have climbed in our hands if we’d let him.
IMG_9324

Bump Shot, I think this was 30 weeks
IMG_5922

Posted in avery, kieron, places, us | Comments Off on Being Tourists