Zeke Russell is a 12 year old!
Let's see what he was up to this last year.
We celebrated his 11th Birthday on his actual birthday which was Monday, May 22nd. Ga-Ga & Pa came to dinner. Zeke's siblings got him Pokémon cards and a BeyBlade. Michael and I got him a giant bag of suckers.
Of course Ga-Ga & Pa brought the OJEZ box which was filled with $111!!!
The kids youth pastor had a birthday and I had made him a cake and used those candy letters to spell out Happy Birthday. I still had some of them left, but of course I didn't have all the letters I needed. I was able to spell out 'ZMan is' and then use the candles to make an 11.
On Saturday, June 3rd we had a joint Birthday BBQ for both Zeke and Jack. It was a gorgeous day so we mainly hung out on the deck. Zeke prefers chocolate cake and chocolate frosting.
As an early kick off to summer we headed to the beach with the Storer's. Josiah found this cool piece of drift wood that looked like a gun and gave it to Zeke.
Michael took the older boys and went on a Rafting Trip with our church so it was just the three of us. I decided to go to Red Robin for dinner. It's always weird doing things without all 6 of us, but the bill was smaller which was super nice!
We officially finished school on June 16th...Zeke was moving onto 6th grade!!! Middle School here he comes. It's funny since we homeschool I don't honestly even think about their grade most of the time. They just do their work.
Cute buddies!!!
Jack and Zeke still tend to be the ones that play together the most. We have faced some struggles recently with kids not wanting to play together or always saying no when someone asks if someone wants to play a game. Our solution to that was to cut out electronic time and kids can only read right before school and bed. This time with all the kids together under one roof will be over before we know it so it's best to cherish the time we do have by spending it together and actually doing things with each other.
The day after school got out we headed out for our first camping trip of the summer. Camping is definitely one of Zeke most favorite things to do. This year with Michael using a bunch of his vacation days to fix the house and the fact that Michael and I will be in Maui for 10 days in September we aren't actually going on a lot of camping trips which makes Zeke sad. Not that we aren't doing fun things this summer. In early June we are going on a Rafting Trip with our church...Zeke and I will just be there to hang out...next year we will actually raft when he's old enough. We're also going camping in June with the Kuch's. The kids are all going to summer camp and we will be heading down to Oregon for a day for the Family Reunion. I did also booked a camping trip at Dash Point State Park towards the end of September. It's super close to home, but it will mean that we'll use the trailer 3 times this summer.
He also enjoys photo bombing as well! :)
If there is something to climb Zeke is there!!! These two pictures were taken in Eastern Washington during our camping trip at Ephrata.
This was during our camping trip with the Kuch's out at the ocean.
This was at Mossy Rock State Park during our camping trip at Taidnapam.
We borrowed these small kayaks from the Kuch's and Zeke absolutely loved cruising around in one for hours.
Hiking to Cathedral Falls....hikes used to not be Zeke's cup of tea, but he's getting better. He still gets really nervous sometimes and after a while he's just ready to start heading back to camp, but he's able to go much farther and longer than he used to.
The last full day of camping at Taidnapam, Michael, Zeke and I walked all around the campground exploring. It was fun!
Check out all that work he did his 5th grade year! Zeke is the only one of the kids that is fully at grade level so he only has to complete 12 PACE's in each subject. Even though he has the least amount of work to do each year and each day for that matter...Zeke still struggles with school. He is very easily distracted and he can space out many times a day. This is something that we've been dealing with since starting homeschool and I was really hopeful that he would grow out of it, but in all honesty it seems to be getting worse. Earlier this year I addressed my concerns with Michael and we've decided to move forward with getting Zeke evaluated for ADHD. We aren't sure if he has it, but we would feel terrible if we found out later he did and we could have done something about it. He actually has an eval appt with The Yellow Brick Clinic in June & July so hopefully we'll get some answers and get on a path to help him prior to next school year.
Last summer Zeke went off to his second year of summer camp with our church. This time around he wasn't the only boy going...Daniel & Sean came as well!
Zeke is the most creative kid....in all honesty he doesn't need much to entertain himself besides his Stuffies, some tape, cardboard and tin foil. He makes the coolest things too...like armor for his stuffed animals. Once he's made the armor he sets up these elaborate battle scenes. He's pretty rad!
For the Back To School Bash we went to Red Robin with Papa & Grandma Ruth.
Climbing isn't only reserved for the outdoors!
Starting 6th Grade!!!
My sweet youngest boy!!!
Zeke is not a very snuggly kid at all. He actually gets really tickly when we hug him. Most of the time I have to hug him with my arms, but I can't let my hands touch him I have to clasp my hands together like I'm doing in the picture above or I have to hold my hands off his body so they aren't touching him.
One of the mom's at Ella's choir asked me if we'd be interested in an electric drum set. Zeke had mentioned that he wanted to learn to play the drums so I figured why not...plus she was giving them away for free! The best part is Zeke has to use headphones so we don't have to listen to him practicing. Of course shortly after this we started the remodel of their room so the drums got moved to the garage. Then with the house flooding they got buried in the garage behind of a bunch of supplies so Zeke hasn't gotten to play them in months. Hopefully soon we'll be able to get to them set up so he can start practicing again.
Sweet guy wanted to be a Seahawks player for Halloween. He was so excited when his costume came in the mail that he wore his helmet for the rest of the night.
Going to the pumpkin patch / corn maze is one of our favorite fall activities.
Zeke still seems like such a little guy, but just recently he was looking at a family picture where Owen is the same age as he is now and Zeke is actually taller than Owen was. It's just hard to compare since right now Owen and Jack are so tall. Zeke will catch up eventually!
So proud of his white pumpkin! He actually cleaned out his own pumpkin guts this year which he says was kind of fun and disgusting all at the same time. He also carve his pumpkin all by himself!
Check out that loot! The funny thing is...Zeke isn't a huge candy eater at all. He would much rather had salty treats than sweets. So much so when we get ice cream he usually lets it melt and then still doesn't eat it all. With the exception of the Lactose Free Vanilla Ice Cream that I like to buy for me....of course he likes to eat that! :)
I just love these cute stair step kiddos! Zeke is like a step and a half down though!
I have no memory of this, but one night we had a chicken fight between Zeke and Charlie. I'm guessing Charlie won since he has claws!
During Thanksmas the boys (Jack & Zeke) got to show Caleb their new and improved room.
Sweet handsome guy!
Excited on Christmas Morning!
Zeke loves all the Mission Impossible movies...even though most of the time he can't sit still long enough to watch the whole movie. :)
Zeke is also a huge goofball as these pictures can show you!
In January I decided to take Zeke to see an Allergist. He was so miserable and it didn't seem like anything was helping so off we went to get him tested.
Here was his back after just a few minutes. I brought the Switch with us so we could play Mario Kart in hopes of distracting him from being uncomfortable. Of course that was really hard when he was having such a bad reaction.
Here was his back after I got to clean it off and rubbed cream on it. It actually took 3 days for this to completely disappear and that was with him taking allergy meds and using cream. The verdict was...Skin testing positive to trees, grass, weeds, mold. Skin testing mildly positive to cat hair. Skin testing negative to dustmites, dog hair. So Zeke's regimen is now Allegra, D-Hist and Flonase when he's really bad. The Allergist also recommended getting a Hepa Air Purifier. We actually ended up getting 3 since our house is so big. Thankfully because the Dr. recommended it we were able to get them paid for through Michael's VEBA account.
Sugar Sugar and more Sugar!!!
Ever since all the construction on the house we've been doing school in the office and the living room. Zeke's desk has been a folding table that he puts a blanket on to make it more comfortable. Well Charlie thinks it's comfortable too so sometimes Zeke loses out on some of his work space! Just recently with the floors getting finished Zeke and Owen have started working at the dining room table so Charlie doesn't get his nice soft folding table to sleep on anymore.
The other day while Michael was finishing up the floors and Zeke was trying to figure out where he should eat his lunch. He made do with the craziness by being right in the middle of the mess!
My sweet Zeke Russell...
One year closer to being a teenager. It's funny because half the time I honestly forget how old you are. Since the 3 older are all teenagers I just assume you are as well. Not that I'm rushing to have 4 teenagers, but I will say teenagers are way more fun than I thought they'd be so I'm not worried about having 4 in the least bit!
You are definitely the youngest in the bunch...the baby of the family. Speaking of baby you are still struggling with baby talk. We have tried many different discipline methods to get you to stop, but they only work for a short time. I've just reverted to saying 'big' anytime I hear you talking in baby talk. That seems to be the least intrusive way to correct the behavior in the moment without making a big deal about it or embarrassing you.
This school year has honestly been super frustrating for you and me. You have struggled so badly with staying focused and on task and it has definitely worn on the both of us. I'm really eager to get you evaluated. I have no idea if we will get answers or a diagnosis, but at least we'll know. If you do get a diagnosis, we will have to evaluate the possible options in regards to how to deal with that diagnosis. We just want the best for you buddy. I know this has affected you as just as much as me. It's been so hard seeing you frustrated and down on yourself because of you not being able to focus.
You are still the pickiest eater by far. It's like pulling teeth to get your to try something new. Honestly we are at a really frustrating stage with you right now. I know things will get better you will grow up a bit more each year I guess I just get a bit impatient with you. We did play a card game the other day that you thought you weren't going to like and then you ended up really enjoying it. I asked you to think about that situation and compare it to trying new food. You are always saying you don't like something before you even try it so could food end up being just like that game that you actually ended up liking because you finally gave it a shot. That definitely got you thinking so who knows...maybe now you'll be willing to try new things.
My sweet Zeke Man....I love you so much buddy. I know that God has big things in store for you. This upcoming year is going to be awesome for you. I'm claiming it! You are going to grow, thrive and do amazing things. There will still be challenges that arise and that's okay those challenges teach you and stretch you. No matter what Daddy and I will be here to help you walk through those challenges. We'll be your biggest cheer leaders along the way! But know that no matter how much we love you and cheer you on...God loves you even more than we do. He wants what's best for you and He is molding you and shaping you into the man He wants you to be for His glory.
Happy 12th Birthday Buddy!
