Dear Davis,

You are nine now. This past year you have been funnier and more talkative than ever. In fact, I think God winked at me when he gave me you – with a knowing nod that I can never complain about not having someone ALWAYS willing to talk. Even the high school employee at the paintball place the other day looked worn out after a conversation with you in between games. He wearily looked at me and muttered, "Man this kid has A LOT of questions."

Your hobbies are fishing, biking, baking, Legos, and annoying your brothers.

You have adjusted to the new school without a single problem. You make friends everywhere you go and last week you told me how you had made a concerted effort to include the ‘new kid’ at school. I guess it hasn’t occurred to you that you are also the ‘new kid’.

This year you have accomplished many new feats. During the Spring, you played flag football for the first time and even scored a touchdown as the Center. I think you were more surprised than anyone that they threw the ball to you – AND you caught it.

Then over the Summer, you did Acting Camp – and although it was only a week, you LOVE to tell people you are an actor.  You did ROCK those two lines though!

You were the founding member of a new club on the street – called the cricket-club. To be included you had to eat a cricket and so far there are only two members. Now I am constantly telling you that No! You cannot eat another cricket!

You’ve recently decided that bike tricks are your “thing” and so you require all adults on the street to stop what they are doing and watch your latest trick. I’m not going to lie – they are usually pretty impressive and it only gets slightly annoying after the third time.

But the bike trick I was most proud of was when you spent your afternoon teaching the 6 year old next door how to ride a bike. It’s not often you showcase your patience so this was a sweet surprise. And at the end of the day as she road up and down the street totally unassisted, you were just as proud as she was.

For your birthday, Mimi and Granddad went in together with your Dad and I – and against our better judgment – purchased a Lego set for you.

Not just any Lego set though. The biggest Lego set the Lyle family has ever owned.

One with 1,869 pieces.

One thousand. Eight hundred. Sixty Nine Pieces.

Of which your beloved mom ended up putting together approximately one thousand two hundred and sixty nine of those pieces.

It all happened one day after I lost my cool about the explosion of Legos on your bedroom floor. They had been spread out for one too many days – those minuscule Legos were practically begging – calling out to Blake and Nathan like a beacon - to pick them up and destroy them.

And you know how those sets work, right?

You lose one little Lego and the next thing you know – the doors wont attach to the vehicle. And if the doors can’t attach, the mirrors can’t attach to the doors. Without the mirrors – the Blasters can’t be connected. And in an instant, the $200 Tumbler is just a worthless pile of Legos that may as well be a sand castle.

I knew better. This Lego set was for ages 16 and up but I let you convince me how mature you are.

You are a Lego expert, you said!

And it’s true. You can put a Lego set together in a half an hour. But I think somewhere between the five books of instructions and twenty two bags of Lego pieces you got overwhelmed – and only finished half of it before you quit.

Legos had suddenly become something you procrastinated and I nagged you to finish like it was homework.  

So one day I put off sweeping and dishes and laundry and park time and instead I sat in your floor for SIX AND A HALF HOURS and finished YOUR PROJECT. As I put together every last teeny-weeny-little-bitty Lego, I vowed to never buy you a Lego set out of your age range again.

This year, I planned to write a whole paragraph about how hard headed you are (like me) but that thought got trumped when you fell the other day on your scooter and proved how LITERALLY hard headed you are.

(Side note: son, please never use the term ‘literally’ wrong – see me if you are confused).

Long story short, it was my fault because you had an early dismissal for a doctor’s appointment the day before and I forgot your bike and helmet in the school bike rack. The next morning under duress, you were forced to take your scooter (that you have safely ridden many times before) and no helmet (even though we have plenty of extras). You left for school mad at me – and me mad at you.

Ten minutes later one of your friends was banging on the door yelling that you had been in an accident and you were bleeding out of your head.

The term scared doesn’t do it justice. I was terrified! Only to be relieved when I caught up to you (still mad at me) and saw that you were ALIVE but very scraped up. Luckily there were no cars involved – you had flipped over your scooter and fallen on a sidewalk crack - but you met your match in that sidewalk. And I think you just earned yourself your first scar(s).

Think of it as a conversation piece.

But as headstrong as you sometimes are (figuratively and literally) – I still love your innocence. One of the hit songs on the radio right now is All About the Bass. It’s the type of totally inappropriate song that should cause me to flip the station when it comes on – but I never do, because you sing confidently from the backseat – “I’m all about the Best of the Best – No Trouble” as I smile to myself knowing you won’t always be a {semi} sweet nine year old.

You’re funny and smart and caring and sensitive.

But you’re sort of a like a bread and butter pickle. Mildy sweet, with a bit of an edge.

You still love to get a reaction. (I think I have been writing that for nine years now).

And Blake LOVES to give you one. (Screaming and chasing are an after school norm).

This year we have a new punishment in the Parenting 101 Handbook. When you or Hayden misbehaves, you are sent to run a lap around the block. (Don’t call CPS – its 1/3 of a mile).

Jeff and I figure that if we can’t have well-mannered kids, we might as well have athletic kids that are in shape. A track scholarship would surely offset disobedience.

Let’s just say you’ve run your share of laps. But on the bright side, just be thankful I haven’t figured out a way for you to burn calories on my behalf – because you’d be running a lot more if that were the case.

Oh Davis, I have a feeling you are going to be The Hilarious One someday. The bright, funny, handsome guy that wins people over with charm, a bit of sarcasm, and your quick witted jokes. But right now you are learning the hard way all about timing and tone.

Davis, I love you more than words can describe. More than you will know until you get a child of your own one-day. We have so much in common and as much as I want to fast forward time to see what you use all of your talents to become – I also want time to stand still so you can be my little nine year old spunky boy forever.

YOU ARE the Best of the Best!

Love you,

Mom Mom

(the even one)

p.s. I searched and searched for a video of you that would showcase your personality - and I couldn't land on just one. Please don't ever lose your cute factor! 

The One Where I Lose My Mind

I'm just popping in to say Hi and Good Morning!  - or "Ah' Low" and "Ah' Morning", as Nathan would say.

This week is a super duper busy week for us. 

Saturday is the big Destination Imagination competition so we are doing last minute practices and projects to prepare. This year, I'm coaching a team for both Hayden and Davis - and they have been hard at work on their challenges since the end of October.

You have never seen so much epoxy, spray paint, modge podge, hot glue, and duct tape as what is floating around my house at any given moment. At this point, I am starting to get mixed up about which project goes with which team - and I am just ready for Saturday to roll around so we can see them shine. If they win, they go to the State Tournament in Austin and if they lose, I get about 10 hours a week of my time back.

In other words, it's a Win / Win !

All that to say Jeff and I have spent an excessive amount of time deciding what bottle of wine we want to crack open to celebrate on Saturday night - after the 12 hour competition, and then Hayden's football game - that is.

Also, Hayden started flag football and had his first game last Sunday. The good news is that he looks really good. The bad news is that their first game was against what could only be described as a professional team of 10 year olds. That fifty minutes seemed to DRAAAAG by as the Hurricanes got strummed. In the end, it looked more like a basketball score than a football score. 

Davis starts his flag football career tonight. And while there aren't many things I love more than sitting outside and watching football practice (love it!), I may have to sit this one out since it is scheduled to be 44 degrees this evening. Brrrrrrr. 

Good luck Davis! Run fast  in your new cleats!  You're up Jeff!

Blake is going to be playing his first sport this year - t-ball. He he hasn't officially started practicing yet, but I am so excited. I can't wait to see how much he is going to LOVE having his own team - and jersey - and audience....instead of being a spectator at his big brother's games. However, I just found out that parents might be required to participate and run to the bases with the kids. If that's the case - I need to make it official and say...

NOT IT!

You are up again Jeff! But you understand right? That would just be embarrassing to have everyone in the stands see my 3 year old beat me to first base. 

***

Since all of that above wasn't keeping me busy enough, I thought I would add a little more excitement to the mix and decided to click the 'Make Me Move' button on Zillow....just to see what would happen.

And you're not going to believe what happens when you do that.

People call you and try to make you move!

And want you to show them your house that day.

There is not much on the market in our area so while we haven't officially listed the house, we have seen A LOT of interest. It's clear that it's a sellers market, which is great until you go and look for a replacement house. 

I have shown the house twice now and at some point I even told Jeff this news. After he mentioned he was going to come home for lunch, I informed him there might be people looking at the house at that point. 

To which he replied, WHAT THA WHAT?!

I figure if we can sell it for my overstated asking price without a realtor, he'll get on board. Plus it makes it a whole lot easier to negotiate when you aren't even quite sure you want to move. :)

In fairness, he knew I had clicked the 'Make Me Move' button on Zillow, but neither of us had any idea anything would happen since it wasn't listed through a realtor / MLS. 

So here is how it usually goes down: 

The person calls and asks to see the house (ALWAYS on a preschool day). 

I rush home and spend 2 hours "picking up" the house and making beds and doing hiding dishes. 

The people show up and get the tour from me.

I'm literally out of breath from last minute RUN/cleaning.

They leave. 

I open my computer to look for houses in the area we want to move (West Frisco / Prosper).

I find nothing.

And then I'm all 'oh crud...I hope those people don't really want to buy our house.'

Anyway, that's us in a nutshell this week. 

Whew! 

{The Blogs I Never Posted} Video Games & The Experiment

***

I am not exactly sure what I intended to write when I saved this picture into my drafts blog 3+ years ago. I think it was something about how when the kids lost their electronics "privileges", they would often prefer to sit idle watching their brother play.

Those were the days of the Nintendo DS.
Then came the Nintendo DS-XL.
Then the Nintendo 3DS.
Then the generation of the present - the Nintendo 3DS-XL.

Between that, and all of the Skylanders / Skylanders Giants / Skylanders Swap Force non-sense, I decided that I was never going to introduce the little guys to Video Games.

They would be my experiment, I declared to anyone that would listen.

To see if they would grow up to be Rocket Scientists because they never wasted their time on the ever changing video console landscape.

And then Santa went and brought the kids an X-Box One for Christmas, 2013. 

This wouldn't be a problem except that the Xbox One is so technologically advanced that you just talk to it to turn it on.

"Xbox Turn On" you say, and it responds.

Herein lies the problem.

Blake Talks.

And as a result, he has picked up most of the phrases used to direct the Xbox from his older brothers (including XBOX TURN OFF! - which he saves for when they make him mad).

I say most of because the console requires you to be very exact with the phrasing or it won't respond.

While Blake only knows a couple of the commands, he's hard headed enough to keep talking to the XBox until it responds (meaning until he happens to say the right words in the right order).

Xbox Turn On! (this one is an actual command, and always works for him- but then it gets a little trickier)

XBox Should you let me play Lego?

XBox Should you?

Xbox Turn to Lego!!?

Xbox Get to Legos!!?

Xbox SHOULD YOU!!?

XBox Play Legos!

XBox Go Home! (this is another actual command)

...And on and on and on....until something he says finally starts the game. The whole thing is very entertaining to watch. All that to say - so much for THAT no-video-game-experiment! 

Sidenote: We set the system up in our bedroom because of all of the other things it offers (RedBox, Netflix, VUDU, Amazon, etc). But I have to say, the whole thing sort of freaks me out a bit - like I'm being watched. Jeff and Hayden are set up as user profiles - and the "amazing technology" now recognizes them when they walk into the room --- even if we are just watching TV. A little thing will pop on the TV and say Hi Jeff!

Things that make you go Hmmm. 

On Belly Buttons, Jell-O, and Me As A Nurse

Last week was quite eventful. Besides the ginormous pile of never ending laundry, the potty training that isn’t quite sticking, two destination imagination meetings, karate practice, and a flu shot to a child deathly afraid of needles, we added another wrench in our week.

Davis had a double hernia surgery.



The week before he was complaining of a stomach ache and I was bracing for the inevitable projectile vomit that Hayden had experienced only a few days earlier.

But the vomit never came.

Only tears and tummy complaints that would come out of nowhere and disappear even faster.

One day Davis went to the nurse four times. He had no fever and no symptoms other than his “tummy hurting.” She called me each time he visited her and said I’m sending him back to class – just wanted to let you know. Finally on the fourth time, I think she was so beat down that she finally suggested I come get him.

We were both still a little skeptical, but I agreed to pick him up.

Background Information regarding The Boy Who Cried Wolf: It had only been a few months since we KNEW we were duped by Davis playing hooky from school. Back in September, my first month out of the working world, Davis moped into my room early one morning complaining of some ailment (I don’t even remember what).

Jeff and I were so elated that I was now a stay at home mom, thus we didn’t have to do the whole ‘who has the more important meetings today’ dance, we forgot to do our typical interrogation to make sure Davis was actually sick – and not playing hooky.

Fast forward a couple of hours - I walked down stairs to find Davis dancing and practicing "baseball slides" - Risky Business style in the living room.



 Davis was taken back to school by lunch that day.  Okay, so back to January….present time. Hopefully, based on the video above, you can understand my uncertainty in the whole situation. Finally on night two of these come and go symptoms, we pinpointed that the pain was coming from his belly button.

As soon as Jeff heard that, he knew Davis had a hernia – something Jeff also has dealt with for years. Jeff was so confident in his diagnosis that we skipped the obligatory (read: wasteful) pediatrician visit (you know where they confirm what you tell them and then send you to the next doctor that can actually do something about it).  We made an appointment with a pediatric surgeon – who as luck would have it – had an appointment the very next morning. The surgeon and I bonded quickly after he told me he had SIX boys and no girls. He took one look at Davis’ belly button and confirmed that he had not one, but two different kind of hernias. He also validated that the pain with hernias comes and goes and all the symptoms Davis had been experiencing were completely normal.

We scheduled what was described as a very minor outpatient surgery for the following Tuesday and when asked about how long it would take Davis to recover, he shrugged his shoulders and said – ‘oh that night he will feel fine – but we will let him take the next day off of school just in case.’ Which turned out to be a BIG FAT LIE.  Davis woke up from the surgery in so much pain. Crying out in pain. Refusing a perfectly good blue popsicle.

This is the part where I am going to refrain from venting about the anesthesiologist and nurse that sent us home after the required 45 minute recovery time was met – even though he was still saying his pain number was a 10. I had been asking him his “pain number” throughout the week before and it had never gotten above a 4-5….so I knew he was seriously hurting. I had to hold back the mama bear in me and not scream – WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING HIM IF HE IS FEELING BETTER – BUT YOU ARE GOING TO SEND HIM HOME EVEN THOUGH HE IS TELLING YOU HE IS NOT!

That night he was not completely fine, as the doctor had suggested. Nor was he fine the next day. Or the next. In fact, over the course of the next three days, Davis would lay in bed, and refuse to get up for almost anything other than the bathroom. Over the course of the week, he watched the same movie on repeat twelve times.

TWELVE TIMES!

Not because I wouldn’t switch out the DVD, but because I think it required too much of his own energy to decide on another movie. Green Jell-o was delivered to him on a schedule more frequent than his Tylenol with Codeine. Sprite was at his beckon call. He was spoon fed fruit and cottage cheese. And then by day 3 he got used to all the pampering. And started to get a bit demanding. This is what being sick in the year 2013 looks like. (jelowe = jell-o).

I promise I wasn't texting in my nursing skills the WHOLE time - but I was just sick of watching that dang movie so I'd occasionaly do my "rounds" via text.

Then finally the weekend rolled around and things started looking up for sweet Davis. Although with Monday right around the corner, he knew he needed to plan ahead. One night while we were saying prayers, we talked about how he had a doctor’s note and he wasn’t going to have to participate in PE for two whole weeks – until he is completely recovered. He argued that he should probably just come home during PE time, because the section of the gym where the kids sit out is really stinky.  Then he moved on to his next requirement for going back to school.

He should probably go ahead and get a note for Music too. 

Because when he sings, he uses his stomach muscles and it was really going to hurt.

And that is when I knew – the argumentative-got-to-have-the-last-word Davis I know and love was back.  So today Davis is officially back in school after missing 6 out of the last 9 days.

 He’s still kind of walking like an old man from the stitches in his belly, but he’s there – and I’m here – eating left over jello.

*** Note: all the pictures of Davis above were taken BEFORE the surgery and AFTER the silly juice. A big thanks to Aunt Amy for the super-cute Build a Bear that definitely helped to brighten Davis's day.

Dear Davis,

You’re seven now.

That means if you would have accidentally swallowed a piece of gum on the day you were born, it would just now be out of your system. But that’s a moot point because you were a good baby and didn’t roam the house  looking for teeny tiny things to put in your mouth to scare your mom.

I wish I could say the same for your littlest brother Nathan.

But I digress.

Actually, you are almost seven and one quarter now  because I’m a total slacker and can’t seem to gather up all the crazy stories from the last year that are floating around in my head and summarize them into a nice little letter. Plus as soon as I hit publish, I will be forced to write two more letters since two of your brothers have also had birthdays and otherwise someone might accuse me of having a new favorite.

As you know, seven is a big number. One that carries a lot of new responsibilities including spelling tests, showering in your own shower, being entrusted as the ring bearer at Kellie’s wedding , riding the bus, and teaching your teammates how to blow bubbles.

There are seven whole years of wisdom in that cute little head of yours. And at times all that wisdom gets you in trouble when you spout off some feisty rebuttal to your Dad and me. The other day in my MOPS class when one of the mentor moms gave a tip about making her kids drink “Sassy Sauce” (a swig of Apple Cider Vinegar) when they talked back, you were the first person to pop into my head.

You are the first to get mouthy and turn simple directions into a debate.

But because you are just seven, you are just not that good at arguing yet.  Your Dad and I like to call your method of debate the Make-My-Points-For-Me-Method.

Take the other day for example when we asked you to stop playing, put on your cleats and get ready for Baseball practice. You moaned and groaned and huffed and puffed and told me that you NEVER! EVER! get to play “fun things”.

I calmly reminded you of the fact that you actually had been playing “fun things” for the last two and a half hours and you only go to practice twice a week.

I’m only guessing that that truth caught you off guard and put you on the defense leaving you no choice but to pull out the Make-My -Points-For-Me technique that you’re forced to use when you are backed in a corner.

“Oh really?” You said with a serious tone, then paused for effect.

“Oh really?” You repeated with even more emphasis.

“Then NAME three FUN THINGS I wanted to do but didn’t get to” You said with your eyebrows raised, again pausing for effect.

Then you changed your mind and decided raise the ante, “Actually NAME FIVE!”

I won’t tell you how the story ended, other than to tell you that you made practice that day and I officially put it on the grocery list to buy Apple Cider Vinegar.

One day you will learn that you just so happened to be born to The World’s Best Arguer, and you have a very slim shot of pulling out a victory against me. Not now. Not when you are a teenager. Not ever.

But I guess you will learn that soon enough.

Ironically though, you are also the first to quote Thumper from Bambi, “if you don’t have anything nice to say…” except that I am fairly certain you have no idea who Thumper is, or the rest of that sentence. You just know it works if you raise your eyebrows and say it with the right tone.

On the other hand, you have definitely raised the bar for our expectations of a seven year old. There are many things we expect you to do at seven that we would have never dreamed of asking from Hayden. Like riding the bus or checking the mail before you come inside.

We often talk about the “evens” and the “odds” in the house. You and I are both “evens” since we were both born second (#2) and I think that might be one of the reasons we have a special connection.  You love me almost as much as your Dad does.  Just this morning you woke me up by kissing me on the cheek and telling me that I am the most beautiful mom in the whole wide world. That right there is what I call an offset to your whiney-ness factor.  Sometimes you even bring me coffee and then hang around and ask for a “sip” of it, which usually amounts to about a third of my coffee.

That’s just one example, but Dad is doing a great job training you and your brothers to be awesome husbands one day.

You and Hayden also have a great relationship. I didn’t realize how close you two were until Hayden went on a weekend trip with GrandDad the other day and you moped around all weekend long. “Everything fun needs two people” you whined, and then you listed out all the “fun” games you and Hayden had played over the last five years. Games you hadn’t played in years. Boy and dog. Chess.  Calvin and Hobbes. Ice Skating (a sliding dance the two of you made up on the wood floor). It didn’t matter that you hadn’t played some of those games with Hayden in years. If he was there in that moment – you would totally be playing all of them. You were so lonely and missing Hayden that you started crying at one point. Never mind the two other brothers at your feet. You wanted HAYDEN. It was at that moment that I realized you guys had never been apart from each other for longer than one day.

Your bond is strong, but that doesn’t mean your personalities are the same. For example, during your birthday week we went to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate you and Hayden’s birthday as a family. It was crowded and the people were buzzing about everywhere so Jeff and I decided that we wouldn’t do the whole thing where the waiters come out and sing Happy Birthday. Because who really likes that anyway?

I’ll tell you who.

You do.

You thrive in the spotlight.

About three quarters through dinner you reminded us that we needed to tell the waiter it was your birthday so they would tell everyone in the restaurant. We asked Hayden if he wanted people to sing to him as well and he declined until he realized that a free chocolate cake was included in the offer.

You still love to talk and tell stories and I know that day will come way too soon when your dad and I will miss having to “raise our hand” if we are ready to hear another fishing story. You and GrandDad went fishing for a couple of hours over the Christmas break – and no lie - we have heard about 10 hours worth of stories. But that’s only after shhhhuuushing the room to a complete silence so that you can have the stage to tell your story. You made your own fishing pole out of bamboo and you caught five fish and GrandDad caught zero fish.

That’s always an integral part of the story.

And it’s hilarious to stop you mid story and say – “Wow! I can’t believe YA’LL caught five fish! That’s impressive!” (with emphasis on YA’LL)

“No, ‘WE’ did not catch five fish” You’ll correct us. “I caught five fish. GrandDad caught ZERO!”

I find it hysterical, so I guess we’ll save the lesson on humility for another day.

You are one of a kind Davis and I love you!

I love how God made you sensitive even though your sensitivity comes with pros and cons.

I love that you tell everyone you have a girlfriend (Ella), but you are also the first to admit how you chase girls at recess for fun.

I love that you text and facetime family and friends even though you tell everyone that I’m sleeping if I happen be in a different room. Because that is what you think I do all day while you are at school; sleep.

Davis, I tell you this every year, but I want to make sure you know that our family is truly blessed to have you in it.  And life would be incomplete without you.  You are an all-around amazing little boy that is growing into an amazing young man.  I love everything about you and can’t wait to find out what God has in store for you this year.

Love,

Mom

A Whole New Meaning To The Phrase "Bench Warmer"

{Hot} Air Balloon Festival - AKA: The Boon Festival

Last weekend, we went to my favorite festival of all time...the hot air balloon festival.

It's become somewhat of a tradition to go every year but we have had to skip out the last couple of years because of the babies. So this year, when we got a flier in the mail a couple of months ago, Hayden was so excited to show his younger brothers the hot air balloons. We went on Saturday evening and once the sun set, the weather was amazing. It's sort of a beating to get to with all the traffic but totally worth it once you do finally arrive.

Blake LOVED it but I can't say it had anything to do with the hot air balloons.

In fact, I am not even certain he noticed the hot air balloons.

With all the talk about balloons, he became fixated on all the little yellow latex balloons that were being passed out to the kids. And when those kids would inevitably drop their balloons, and they would float up into the sky - Blake would squeal with glee.

"BOON!" he'd shout as he pointed to a tiny spec in the sky...over and over and over.

Each time more excited than the last.

And in addition to watching small yellow latex balloons float away, we also enjoyed roasted corn on the cob (which almost resulted in the fall of Davis' front baby tooth), greasy corn dogs and the company of Mimi and Granddad!

And when evening rolled around, we watched the balloons glow in the night sky.

{Black and White}

{Verse} Versus

As the boys get older, they seem to lose their little boy-isms,

little by little each day. For this reason, I have stopped correcting them

when they say words wrong.

These days it's just so far and few between that they mispronounce something or use a word incorrectly, that now it's just better to let it slide, and let serve as a reminder that they are still little boys...little boys that don't know everything, even though they would have you believe they do.

One of those boy-isms is the way Hayden and Davis add an 's' plus and apostrophe 's' to the word mine.

"That's mines's!" they'll shout about a toy or snack or whatnot.

Another, is the way they misuse the word "versus."

Hayden and Davis "verse" each other constantly.

Whether it's in a made up game of pirates, or a game of basketball, they use this word all the time. And now that they are getting older, they are starting to show more interest in college sports as well.

Who are the Aggies versing today?

So when I saw this topic, I couldn't help but think of them.

Fall baseball is in full swing now and Davis is on a Great Team.

The team is amazing and has been playing together for three seasons. Last season, they finished second in the playoffs. It feels good to be on a winning team for a change.

Just to give you an idea, we've been in PSA for three years now, and just found out last week that they even had playoffs.

I can't say Davis adds a whole lot of value but being with better players is definitely improving his game. It's so fun to watch that I actually look forward to the evening practices...just sitting back, relaxing, watching him play, and enjoying this cooler air that has rolled in these last few weeks.

So here is a thirty second highlight clip of his last game.

On this particular day, the Giants were "versing" the Giants.

And as Davis says at the end of the video,

"It's not about winning. It's about having fun."

(But for the record, we won...15-1, no less)

{Two More Minutes}

 

We've adopted a new strategy in the Lyle household and if you have seen me in the last month, its likely you have heard me raving about our Best Parenting Tool EVER.

 

Also, it's our only Parenting Tool I can think of.

 

It's called the Time Timer.

 

It is technically for toddlers to help them understand the concept of time (time out for 2 minutes, we'll go to the park in 20 minutes, etc.) and when I bought it, that's what I thought I would use it for.

 

But then I realized that while Blake has no idea of the concept of 1 minute vs. 30 minutes, the older boys probably didn't either. Also, as they get older, I realize that it's just common courtesy to give them upfront expectations regarding the daily plans.

 

Think about it...even as adults we get annoyed if we are busy doing something and someone walks up and says "Stop what you are doing. Put on your shoes. We are leaving. NOW!"

 

The night before the first day of school this year, I had a light bulb moment and decided to use it for the bigger boys. Each morning, during the breakfast/cartoons/getting dressed routine, Jeff sets the timer for 45 Minutes.

 

If the kids are completely ready by the time the timer goes off (the red disappears), they earn their electronics privilege after school. Originally the plan was that they would lose their privileges if they were not finished in time, but Jeff came up with the brilliant idea to flip around the sentence and make it more about positive reinforcement instead of negative consequences. It's really the same thing, but it's all in the way you say the sentence.

 

Anyway, this has been a life changer in our house.

 

Before the Time Timer, you would hear Jeff and I barking out orders to Brush Your Teeth! Put Your Shoes On! from every room in the house. I'd say on an average morning, we'd say it around 1,897 times.

 

But Now!

 

Now we don't have to say anything except noting that the timer is starting.

It's so much better and happier in our house because of this one simple clock and incentive.

 

If I do happen to see that they are struggling staying focused, I just ask one of the boys to confirm how much time is left since I pretend that I am "racing the clock" as well.

 

So far, so good. We are at 100% success and they are both riding the bus to school now, meaning they are walking out the door about 40 minutes earlier than last year.

 

I highly recommend it.

Buy one here.

Alive and Well, But Busy

You know that whole blog a day thing? Well, we had a good run while it lasted, right?

Obviously, that didn’t work out.

At first I skipped a couple of days and my head was spinning...in a constant state of guilt.

Then I skipped a few more and I found myself writing catch up blogs in my head…which completely stressed me out more.

It was sort of like that time when I was a six year old little girl BAWLING hysterically to my mom because I couldn't stop saying curse words IN MY HEAD.

Do you have any idea how stressful it is to repeat bad words in your head that your bad-influence-friend says? Words like 'sucks' and 'stupid'. Very stressful!

Anyway, another week or so of Not Blogging went by and suddenly I was all, “Blog? What blog?”

Fast forward two months and that’s where we are today. Since we last spoke, this particular boy has gotten HUGE!

There is definitely a lot happening these days, but not a lot of free time to sit down and soak it all in.

So here are the top thirty nine things we (one or all of us) have been up to over the last couple of months. I will follow up with individual blog posts in more detail, but this should get you up to speed for the most part. I’m sure it goes without saying at this point…don’t hold your breath for those posts.

1. Stayed at home for FOUR STRAIGHT days due to snow and ice.

2. Became thankful that I don’t live north of the Red River since there would probably be a lot more weather days.

3. And that I have a full time job.

4. Started a diet.

5. Taught the kids how to say “Duh! Winning!”…a parenting moment we will no doubt look back on with pride.

6. Bragged about a baby who sleeps through the night (when he feels like it).

7. Stopped bragging about a baby who sleeps through the night after realizing I was jinxing myself.

8. Started official Karate Tae Kwon Do classes. I’m still not sure of the difference, but I know that I get corrected every time I say Karate. These lessons cost more than the previous ones which included a $1 Redbox rental of the new Karate Kid movie with Jayden Smith.

9. Attended the third annual Girl Scout Cookie Taste Test hosted by Mimi and GrandDad. If you have a Girl Scout in your family, grab a pen and write this name down…Mike Stadler. You won’t regret it.

10. Ended a diet.

11. Started Blake on baby food.

12. Wondered aloud how someone in my bloodline can HATE food so much.

13. Dressed Hayden up like a 100 year old for the 100th 104th day of school. Those snow days got in the way of a lot of good things. Including peace and quiet.

14. Bought tennis rackets. And matching sweatbands.

15. Played tennis.

16. Chased tennis balls.

17. Lost tennis balls.

18. Started a diet.

19. Became (what felt like) a single mom while Jeff worked 20 hour days.

20. Picked my favorite kid of the day to sleep in my bed during those long nights (they didn’t know the selection process).

21. Thanked God that on Jeff’s last busy night, he arrived home literally minutes before Angel ate a baby bunny and regurgitated it in her crate.

22. Realized that when I say “this is my busiest time at work”, it has a whole different meaning than when Jeff says it.

23. Fed the kids raw oysters for the first time.

24. Made a 3-D angler fish complete with a flashing light. Hey, first grade parents…WE’RE BACK IN THE GAME!

25. Spent way too much time scouring match.com (totally unrelated to the Jeff working late thing).

26. Convinced Davis that he should create a TV show called Kid vs. Food (similar to Man vs. Food) after he ate over a dozen wings.

27. Cheered the Cow-Q-Lated BBQ team on (Matt and Jeff) in their second competition.

28. Ended a diet.

29. Took all three boys to their annual well check appointment.

30. Realized that we were 4 days early for said doctor’s appointment.

31. Waited 4 days and revisited the doctor with all three boys in tow.

32. Determined that while efficient, a triple doctor’s appointment that involves shots for two out of three kids was not practical.

33. Tricked the kids into a photo shoot at the house.

34. Hosted a Belated New Year’s Eve and Minute to Win It Party.

35. Made homemade blueberry muffins after Davis sung the days of the week song and realized that “saying the word Monday reminds him of blueberry muffins.”

36. Convinced Davis that even though we know how to make blueberry muffins (with the help of Betty Crocker), it doesn’t mean we should sell them to our friends and cousins.

37. Lost a tooth. Then literally lost the tooth again - - somewhere in the carpet. I would like to apologize in advance if you are ever at our house and happen to step on a tooth.

Note Jeff in the background searching for the tooth 

38. Advised Hayden to write a note to the tooth fairy explaining his predicament.

39. Aged another year and was gifted with an adorable sock monkey.

One Hundred Nine: Lessons

Directed toward Hayden:
What is the first thing you are going to teach your baby brother?
Science. Like science experiments. Like how to shrink a feather.

Directed toward Davis:
What is the first thing you are going to teach your baby brother?
That when a dog goes (panting noises), it means he is tired.
Then I am going to teach him about site words. Did you know I have a site word in my name.
IS!
Seriously, who needs kindergarten when lessons like this will be readily available from your big brothers?

Dear Davis,

You are five now, and like you said, "five is a bery special number", but for me, this birthday in particular is a reminder of how fast five years can fly by.

It seems like just yesterday I was rocking your little 7 pound body in the middle of the night singing you Jesus Loves Me as I struggled to keep my eyes open. And now I can't even make it through the second verse of the Pillow Pets song, without you telling me to stop because I don't have a good voice.

It's a Pillow!
It's a Pet!
It's a Pillow Pet!

I know my voice is no Justin Bieber, but it's a catchy tune, I should be allowed to sing it on occasion.

This year you have started at a new school away from my work. That was definitely more of an adjustment for me than it was for you. Besides the prime parking spot that I gave up when you changed schools, I miss being no more than 100 yards away from you at any point during the day.

But you? You didn't skip a beat. Within weeks you had wooed your new teachers by flashing what I thought was our special I LOVE YOU symbol at anyone you crossed paths with. You give out hugs and kisses and I LOVE YOU'S like it's going out of style. And of course it works like a charm. People are usually willing to overlook the temper tantrums when you say with a half grin, "you're the BEST teacher EVER."

You love to brag about being in your PRE-K TWO class because that class is made up of the oldest kids...the ones like you, who missed the cutoff for kindergarten by only a couple of months. That's not to say that you don't still miss some of your friends that did go to Kindergarten this year. You still occasionally include Piper and Bwook in your nightly prayers because you think the reason that they have been gone for two months is because they are on some sort of extended sick leave.

And like the last time I wrote you a letter, you still find the most joy in being angelic when your brother is getting in trouble. And when I say angelic, I mean OVER-THE-TOP-SLURPY-SWEET!

I can't think of the last time Hayden was punished that you weren't standing five feet behind the punisher saying, "You are the BEST mom/dad EVER! I will do whatever you say on the first time." This of course throws your brother into even more of a tizzy. At that point, he will usually do something to get in even more trouble...which means you will do something to outshine him like let the dog outside and point out the fact that NO ONE EVEN ASKED YOU TO DO IT.

And in excel terms, it becomes a circular reference.

That's not to say you don't get your fair share of time outs and spankings, because oh you do! Just this morning you lost your DS privilege for a week after throwing a temper tantrum when your Dad nor I would change out your game at 5:45 a.m.. If only kids had a snooze button, son. Life would be so much simpler. 

The interesting part about you though...just as much as you love holding the title of class favorite, you also love the satisfaction of getting under people's skin. And unfortunately, Hayden makes it fairly easy for you to do so. Every morning you refuse to answer what you want for breakfast until your brother has first answered so that you can copy him. And every morning, it works like a charm. Hayden makes it so easy on you, because no matter how much counseling** we give him, he of course doesn't listen and you take great satisfaction in seeing him get worked up, as you two concurrently eat your Brown Sugar Poptarts. If he wanted to eat fried worms in the morning, you'd order fried worms too as long as it meant watching Hayden huff and puff for a few minutes.

** Hayden's Morning Counseling Sessions: Act like it is SOOOO cool that you both want the same thing, Hayden!  ~~~  Imitation is a form of Flattery!

Of course I am making it seem like it is all fighting between the two of you. That's definitely not the case. It is more of a 70/30 ratio.

70% Best Buds
30% "Fine! Then I am not your Best Friend!"

But those 70% moments are so fun to watch. You guys have such a special bond that I think will follow you through adult hood. I love to peek in on you guys playing when you don't know anyone is watching. That is when you play the best. Watching you follow Hayden's directions as he gives you the play by play of how you are going to pretend. He usually gives you about a minute of instructions and then you reenact them and wait for your next instructions. It is such a give and take between the two of you. It's obvious that you look up to him and so much of what you do is to impress him. I just hope and pray that Blake will find his special bond with you both.

You still love to talk. It seems you talk to hear yourself talking. Some might think I am exaggerating until they spend about five minutes with you. I think I must have wished one too many times for a boy that really shares his feelings, because oh my, do you! I really don't need to set up an special one-on-one talks with you because you rarely stop talking between 5 p.m. and your bed time. From the car ride home, to the dinner table, to the shower, it's GUESS WHAT? YOU KNOW WHAT? MOM? MOM? DAD? And if you happen to run out of things to say you just make up your own language and start rehashing your day in that language.

I love you more than words can describe. More than you will ever know by reading these letters. In fact, you won't know until you have kids of your own. I love your laugh. Your ability to talk to anyone. Your smile. Your incessant talking. Your big blue eyes. Your interactions in Sunday School. Your desire to learn.

I! LOVE! YOU!
Love,

Mom

Seventy Six - Reward

If the boys earn a stamp or smiley face for five

consecutive days, they are rewarded with one dollar on Friday evening.

That means we have to allot roughly an hour the

following Saturday to stand in the toy aisle

at the dollar store waiting for them to make their big toy decision.

Obviously, we haven't yet taught them the importance of SAVING.

It's on the life lessons list, somewhere after how to flush the potty

and how to spit out toothpaste without it getting all over the mirror.

Last weeks decision: Silly string and silly bandz