Noble is 8!

Today is Noble's 8th birthday!

Eight years ago today our lives all changed (again) as this little man entered our lives. It's been such a fun ride ever since.

Happy birthday, Nobley!

First Day of School 2015

Happy first day from Kayci and Noble!

The Family That Creates Together...

This week is the Washington County Fair. The last couple of years I've entered some photos in the fair photography contest and have usually done pretty well. Last year Kayci entered a couple of photos, as well, and won some blue ribbons for her work.

This year both Pharaon kids decided they wanted to enter photos in the fair. Noble entered a photo he took with his iPod looking out the car window as we were driving one day. Kayci entered a photo she took of Noble a few weeks ago at church. Both Noble and Kayci knew exactly which image they wanted to submit and they stuck to it.

I entered three photos - a shot of a basketball player leaping, a light painting of Independence Hall at Washington-on-the-Brazos and a photo of a dinosaur statue at Dinosaur Valley State Park.

As my pal, Matt Parker, said - "the Pharaons did very well."

Noble won a red ribbon for his photo, Kayci won Grand Champion of her division for her photo, I won Grand Champion and Reserve Champion.

It was a good haul for the Pharaons, but most of all, I was proud that the kids wanted to participate and to show their creativity.

I'm so proud of our little knuckleheads.

Reading Blankie

Last night we got home late after Maifest practice and dinner at Grandma's. On nights like that I read really short books to Noble at bedtime. Last night I chose one of his favorite books of all time - Blankie, which is a board book that is really meant for babies but which he still loves.

On one page, there is a picture of a family that looks remarkably like our family and I've always pointed to the characters and asked him "who is this?"

"Daddy."

"Who is this?"

"Mommy."

"Who is this?"

"Kayci."

"Who is this?"

"Noble." (but last night he said "me.")

And last night I pointed to the other little boy on the page and asked "who is this?" This question usually doesn't yield an answer or he'll tell me "I don't know."

"Randell" was the answer last night.

Randell is one of Noble's best friends at school, and I don't know why but his answer made me so happy. But when he answered, he just sounded so happy.

Later in the book there is a page that contains the words "birthday cake." As you might've seen, Noble has been learning to read and write and "brfday" is one of his favorite words to write out. As I read it and turned the page, he stopped me and asked me to go back.

"That doesn't say "birfday. That says Birt day."

Then I explained to him about the th sound and how it sounds.

So that, unfortunately, might be the end of "birfday," but it shows me that he's taking a lot of pride and delight in his newfound ability to read and sound things out. And especially important - he's asking questions about it.

I just love that boy more and more every day. It's so fun watching him grow.

Happy 4, Big Man

Happy 4th Birthday (sorry- Bird-day) to our big little man, Noble.

Can it be that it's really already been four years that he's been with us, yet still feel like it's only been four years?  It feels as if he's always been a part of our little family.  We can't imagine our lives without him.

Those Awesome Little Knuckleheads

What can I say?  I love 'em.

Happy Friday!

Go Tell It On the Mountain

Today at church, Kayci and Noble (and the other kids at church) dressed up and sang "Go Tell It On the Mountain."

Kayci and Mommygirl made a white tutu for Kayci and a halo out of garland.   We borrowed some angel wings from a friend and her costume was complete.  It's not tough to make Kayci look like an angel.

But the real challenge was Noble.

When they started practicing the song at church a few weeks ago, he came home and said that he was going to be a wise man.  When asked what a wise man wore, he said "you know, a cape, wike a superhero."  He had it in his mind that a wise man was a superhero and that he should wear a cape.

We tried and tried to convince him that a wise man should dress like he dressed when he dressed up like Joseph at school. But to no avail.  So Kristi - being the best Mommy ever - bought him a cape to wear.

Then - yesterday - a stroke of brilliance!  If we could convince him to wear a crown, the cape might be okay.  Success!!!  So Noble wore a red superhero cape and a gold crown, a Cars tie and carried a box painted gold.  Apparently, the wise men brought gold bricks...

Here is some video if the kids singing from two different angles:

Noble Writes His Name

Noble Makes Coffee

Ever since Noble was a baby, one of our morning routines has been to make coffee together.  This morning, he decided to make coffee by himself:

Noble's Tarantula

Noble and Daddy caught a tarantula ... then decided to take it inside to show Mommy...

Noble and the Kitten

For the story behind Noble's kitten, be sure to check out The Adventures of Mommygirl.

Noble's Silly Eyes

Noble Sings the ABCs

Three Years

As I woke up this morning thinking about Noble's birthday today, I thought "has it only been three years?" It seems sometimes as if we've always had a Bubby, and it definitely seems as though he's been with us for more than just three years.

I happened to awake at 4:12am, the same time three years ago that Kristi woke me to tell me that her water broke. As I write this, three years ago, I was loading the dishwasher because Kristi wanted to come back home to a clean house. It would still be another 45 minutes or so before we would get on the road and make a mad dash for Houston. You can read that entire story here. It's worth it.

So much has happened in the last three years- it's been packed with such fun times, sad times, life and, unfortunately, death that it just seems as if its been a lot longer than that. Noble is older now than Kayci was when we moved to Brenham, and she seemed so big at the time. It's frightening and sad - and beautiful - to me how quickly she's growing and how much both of them have grown in three years.

So today is Noble's third birthday. Happy birthday to my little guy. He took our little family and shook it upside down and changed everything. We just thought we were having fun before him, but we had no idea how much more fun we would have with a Bubby. I can't imagine our family without him.

What Noble is Thankful For - Dec. 13

Here's a translation:
"Dear God, thank you for our muffins, thank you for our honey, thank you for our food, thank you for Backyardigans, thank you for TV, Thank you for Daddy's work, Daddy, and our family, for Reagan and Madison (?) and Grandma and Ronny and Cat and Gavin and Amy and Reagan and trampoline and Daddy's truck and Mommy's car.

Amen."

You just never know what's going to come out of that kid's mouth...

What Noble is Thankful For - Dec. 5

English to Noblese translation:

"Dear God,

Thank you for our family, bacon, dump trucks and Toy Story 3, dump trucks, [something] plate, cooking and race cars.

Amen."

Noble's Christmas List

"Trick or Treat! Gimme Candy!"

This was the first Halloween that Noble got to experience trick-or-treating. And he did - it Noble-style.

Noble Being...Noble Eating Ice Cream

Noble and I went for a bike ride last night and stopped at Dairy Queen for some ice cream. He was in classic Noble form, so I shot a couple of minutes of video of Noble just acting, well... like Noble.

Guess Who's Been Adding to the Netflix Queue?

We're not sure how he knows how to do it, but the boy is actually pretty good at navigating the Netflix online interface. I guess that's a tribute to the ease of their interface, but we still have to check the queue every so often. The other day, he had loaded up the top six spots with Kipper, Wonderpets and SuperWhy DVDs.

Let's just hope he continues to use his powers for good, instead of evil...