Positive Peer Pressure

Sometimes peer pressure can be a positive thing!  Ashton in the past has dabbled with small rides here and there, but for the most part, has avoided them.  He would go on the little roller coaster at Adventure Park, but when he went to Hershey Park he was too afraid to go on any of the big rides.  At the fair, he would go on all the kiddie rides and the fun house, but not on any larger rides.  Well, this month that changed.  We went to the Great Frederick Fair with two of his friends and he went on several of the larger rides.  I was super impressed!  He also brought home a little "gift" from the fair.   A goldfish.  I believe he named him George.  I thought for sure George would only last 24-48 hours.  So far is surpassing the odds and has been alive in our home for 1 full week!  Go, Ashton and Gerald!

Ashton, Steven, and Weyland at the Great Frederick Fair

He has also really taken a liking to BMX biking this month.  He has requested to go to the BMX pump track nearly every day.  He has gotten quite confident trying out new stunts.

He also has asked if we would sign him up for ice hockey.  We hope to, but we want to make sure the ice rink doesn't take our money and then cancel classes due to maintenance issues.  I'm so proud of him for wanting to try new things.

Of course, at home, he is always tinkering with something!  Leaving his trail behind him!

Lastly, I am happy to report that the majority of the teachers at school have had amazing things to say about Ashton this year!  He seems to be doing fantastic in Math this year!  

Back to school-8th grade

 Hard to believe Ashton is now in 8th grade!  He was thrilled to let me take a photograph of him as he prepared to leave!  His schedule looks like it was cherry-picked just for him!  He has Math first thing in the morning, with a preferred teacher, and he has one of his favorite teachers at the very end of the day!  It will be a true test of the effectiveness of his afternoon medication. Here's to praying for another awesome school year!

I took him and his friend Weyland for a whirlwind Ocean City trip.  For the past few years Ashton hadn't wanted to go to the beach, however, after getting a small taste of the beach at Tia Lisa's birthday party, he asked if we could go again  So thanks to our neighbors Mr. Jimmy and Mrs. Cindy we could go for a quick overnight trip. In true Ashton style was busy.  We went to the beach, the boardwalk, and on Mr. Jimmy's boat.  The next day, we went to the beach, played miniature golf, and of course, ice cream! He wanted to get everything in!

He's a persistant lil bugger

It's no secret that Ashton is persistent, but in the last few days, he has demonstrated his ability to persist even in the face of opposition.  For example yesterday we locked the basement doors so he couldn't enter, but he was determined to get in.  So he decided to unscrew the drywall panels in the laundry room that had not yet been mudded so that he could get into the locked room.  Today he asked me to take him fishing, and he wanted to purchase a lure with money he had scrounged from his room.  While fishing he got the lure caught on something and while he only had the patience for fishing for a short time, he was persistent in problem-solving to get that lure back.  Let's hope all this problem-solving-persistence pays off positively very soon!

Officially taller then me!

 Ashton has officially overtaken me on the growth chart!  

This summer has gotten off to a rough start, but this past weekend we spent some great family time (just the 3 of us) in Deleware with our friends Jay and Kim Fogle, and some friends from my sister Lisa's 50th birthday party.  Ashton loved their dog Tess and we spent about 1.5 at the beach with some new friends Ashton made.

Lastly, Ms. Taylor sent me a family photograph from your maternal grandmother's side.

Let the summer fun begin!

 We kicked off summer with a traditional camping trip with our former small group friends, including Ashton's half-sister Ariana.  Both the kids and adults had a great time!  As always camping is Ashton's happy place!

Boy party: Micheal O, Aaron, Xavier, and Ashtong

The "twins" all grown up!

Lastly, Ms Taylor and her new husband Stephen came to visit the group at the campground.  She brought with her your half-siblings Noel and Eli.  You didn't want much to do with them, but I figured I'd include this picture in case you are ever interested in the future.

So much growth

Ashton has made incredible growth this year, emotionally, socially, and academically!  We are so proud of all he has achieved this year!  At the beginning of the year, he struggled with math and was significantly below grade level.  This year he closed the gap and is almost at a 7th-grade math level in many areas. A little more tutoring and he will be all caught up!  He also did a fantastic job improving his grades in all his subjects.  Really applying himself!  Socially he has made himself a nice group of fellow knucklehead friends, whom we have the pleasure of meeting.  He also has really proven himself very gifted when working with younger children.  He loves playing with our little neighbor Grayson, and yesterday when we went to a friend's house he entertained their visiting 6-year-old nephew extremely well! He will be fantastic in his CIT job this summer!  Emotionally he has gotten much better at self-regulation and self-awareness.  We still have some things we are working on, but his growth has really been incredible!  Sometimes now he will even joke around with us!  It's fun!  I pray that Ashton has a fantastic summer and continues to blossom!

Such a creative boy!

Ashton has been making some incremental improvements at school and at home.  He made the honor roll last quarter, and his grades for this quarter look amazing.  He is really putting forth more effort.  He said he has been inspired by his English teacher Ms. Schaper!

He continues to love all things guns, much to his Mama's discomfiture.  He purchased with his birthday money several Orbeez guns (like a water pellet gun).  It's awe-inspiring how much he knows all about them including how to take them apart, how all the spring mechanisms work etc...like I said in some ways, it's quite impressive while in other ways it terrifies the bejeebbers out of me!  I pray that as he grows and matures he will maintain a healthy respect for any kind of weapon toy or real.

Lastly, Ashton has been recreating our house layout in Minecraft Creative.  I've got to say I am super impressed.  Maybe one day he will take over Daddy's business!

A Minecraft representation of our kitchen/living room