9 months

Colby had his 9 mo check up today. When the Dr came in and started checking him out, he was asking me about developmental things. He asked if he says Momma and Dadda and I said, "Yes, show off for the Dr. Say Momma." He looks right at me and says, "Dadda!" really excited and then busts out laughing. He thought he was so funny. He seems too young to know what he was doing, but he sure thought he was funny. The Dr and I couldn't help but laugh though. It was mighty cute!!! On another note, he was 95% for height, and 25% for weight. Hmm...like someone else I know, and I wish it was ME!

Oops Book

Today my boys came blasting in the house all talking at once. Everyone was yelling over each other trying to tell me something. Caden has a book at school for his kindergarten class called the "Oops Book", that they have to sign when they are doing something they are not supposed to. I could hear oops book being said, so I slow everyone down and ask Caden what happened. Come to find out, Caden and all of his friends would gang up on Carter and trip him and Caden would take his shoes and throw them over the fence. The little terd did this more than once. Carter has quite a temper when he gets mad that we call the "Inner Hulk." Caden was trying to get Carter in trouble telling me that Carter Inner Hulked him and hit in the face and belly and butt. I just looked at Caden like he was talking crazy and said I would have Inner Hulked you too. I told him that if he had done that to anyone but someone that loved him, he would be in the hospital about now. Seriously, those are some gutsy kindergarteners!!! How did he possibly talk them into that?!? Who thinks it's a good idea to swarm a 2nd grader in the middle of football and trip him and hold him down??? I'll mark it up to Caden is one heck of a leader! What skills to convince the others to participate. (He did get into trouble at school and will have a disiplinary night with Dad and Me) His teacher must think that he is an animal. Sometimes I wonder what barn he was raised in!

Really Old

This is Carter and I's conversation yesterday in the car.
Carter: Mom?
Me: Yeah.
Carter: Have you ever been in a car that you have to roll down the windows yourself?
Me: Yeah.
Carter: Whoa!! You must be REALLY old!

I had to laugh out loud. I had a friend that just turned 30 and he was telling me the weird thing was remembering how old he used to think his parents were when we were teenagers. I remember thinking the same thing about my parents, and looking back now it seems crazy!!! The perception of old is in the eye of the beholder I guess!

Carson's Deal

This morning before school Carson was particularly bad. He was pretending to hit (sometimes not just pretending) everyone, and was flat out just being a punk. I told him after school he would not be playing with his friends (kids in the neighborhood play and ride bikes for hours every night). So, after school once everything settled, just Cars and I sit down to talk about what happened this morning. I asked him what happened and he said that he was really bad. I asked him why he was so bad. What things did we need to work together on to make things better the next day. No joke, this is what he tells me. "Well mom...I made a deal with Caden. When I was in the shower I told him that if I got in trouble today, that I could punch him in the face. And he said deal. So I did!" Then he just looks at me like duh mom, that's it in a nutshell. It seriously took everything I had not to bust out laughing. I had to sit there forever and then when I did start talking, I had to stop three times because I couldn't resist laughing if I didn't stop. Finally, after about a minute of silence and him looking at me like, "hello mom...talk!" I finally said, "Carson, you are not to make any deals with Caden unless I am present. Deal?" He said sure and he was up and off to do his chores. Seriously??? I will pretend that Caden misunderstood him when he made that deal with Carson.

Modesty, Mothers Pay Day

I remember as a teenager my parents demanding that I not wear tank tops or short skirts and other such things. But I don't remember when the "switch" flipped (and by that time I was NOT going to listen to them tell me what to wear. I had no testimony of modest dressing). I have always told Chet that our girls would NEVER wear immodest clothing because at what point do you no longer let them wear it? When do you "flip the switch" and make them dress modestly? Well, when I had all boys I thought I would never have to worry. I only let them wear sleeveless to the pool or when they have on their swimsuits. Easy enough, they are cool with that. Well, the other day I was watching a show and Caden came in. He said, "Mom, that girls dress is not good. I can see her whole back. You shouldn't be watching this." I looked at Chet and said yeah, you're right Caden. I never even noticed the clothing as being immodest. Thought it was interesting that was the FIRST thing he noticed. Well today when they were getting ready for school Caden told me that he looked like a geek because his shorts were longer than his knees. Carter says, "No Caden. Heavenly Father just doesn't want us to wear shorts above our knees. It's ok if they are longer than your knees." Caden just looks at me and says, "OK. Thanks mom for helping me get my clothes." and runs off. I was in total shock. Two minutes earlier I was literally in tears because they were just being animals! I just threw my hands up when I started crying and said, "What did I do so wrong. Why are they SOOO bad?" I think Heavenly Father just answered my question for me. Boys will be bad. They will be naughty. They will be disrespectful sometimes. But what's most important is what they know. What they have been taught, and have testimonies of themselves. Caden was TOTALLY ok with that answer and Carter said it like it was absolute fact. He knew it was true himself. I've never told him that, he just knows that Chet and I will not wear them, and so therefore HE knows. What a great mothers pay day. They don't need to be perfect, they just need to be gaining a testimony line upon line, precept upon precept, and everything will work itself out. I LOVE being their mom!!!

Helmets

Caden just blasted into the house on a dead run for the back yard. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he needed his snowboard as he darts out the door. When he came back in with it, I asked him what he was doing with a snowboard and he looks me right in the eye and gets this dumb look on his face (like I was asking a dumb question) and he says, "Mom! It's ok. I have my helmet!" I said so what are you doing then. He said, "Zooming down. But don't worry mom, I have my helmet too." said like I was so silly to even ask. Oh whew, you have your helmet. I won't worry about your teeth, arms, legs, or anything else. You have it all covered! Crazy boys. Any bets on when our first broken bone comes?

Cute Notes

Carson was especially bad at church today. When we got home we told him that he needed to sit on the couch and sit forward and fold his arms for 30 min. When he starts to spiral out of control, I have learned that we have to remove him from the situation, and start over. Well, it quickly was spinning out of control, as he started shouting things at Chet and I that were not going to fly! I calmly grabbed his hand and went to lead him to his room for some quiet time, and then start the time over. (This has been our new routine and it has worked WONDERS, especially on Caden! A few families that have kids that sit like angels taught us this) So, he just brought me a note. This is what is says, spelling and all.

frum carson,
sorry mom for
oll the trubul
I cosed today.

When I was finished reading it I looked at the door and there he stood smiling at me and then walked away, back to him room in the basement. I love my kids! They love us so much, and if I just take the time to dicipline them correctly (in my opinion, not yelling or spanking or any other harsh thing) then they respond so much better!!! What a wonderful turn of events.

So Proud

If there is anything that I know for sure, it is that Gillette is serious about their sports. The parents are hard core, the kids are taught amazing skills really young, and the town stands behind their athletes. It's kinda crazy, but kinda cool too. Small town feel with everything we need. Last night at Carter and Carson's soccer game, Carson was playing goal keeper. He loves this position, and I must admit, he is really good at it. Someone shot on him and he ran out and scooped it up and drop kicked it really quickly. He kicked it all the way to mid field (forgive me, I don't know all of the soccer language!) and the player that runs out from the group is Carter. He ran it all the way down the field and kicked an amazing goal. It is crazy to me that they can dribble the ball while running at full speed and then launch it in mid air through the net. I guess I thought at 7 they would still be running in circles (like Caden's league) and the ball would not leave the grass. Not the case, but I was so proud of them. Cars was excited because the coach told him the assist was as important as the score. So on the way home they asked if we would pay them for scoring or assisting, "because the assist is as important as the score!" Cars said. I told them sure. I would pay them $.50 for a save, assist, or score. They were instantly counting up how much I owed them. They are amazing! I now know why boys are so much better than girls at sports as well. Since my boys have been in kindergarden they have spent every recess playing something sports related. Football, soccer, tag, basketball; anything to just run and compete!!! It runs in their blood!!

Who Would Have Known

Today I was having a THRIVE party at my house. I hate having parties, at least the kind that someone is selling something. I hate it!!! I decided that I needed something for the kids to do while we listened, so I dug out all of the Halloween costumes. I buy them on clearance for $1-$2 after Halloween for future years. Well, they were all left out from the party when my boys got home, and they have not stopped since. It was like Christmas morning. They were flying through the bins looking for "their" costume and they have been playing swat and iron man and batman and everything else they could find. I would have never thought my boys would want to dress up. At least they are still playing "boy" games. Crazy!

Stations

So my boys have invented a mothers dream. They call the "game" stations. This is how it works. Each boy takes a station to do something that pampers mom. One boy will comb my hair, another will rub my feet with lotion, and another will rub my back. Chet thinks that I am aweful, because I love the game. Every time they want to play, I say SURE!!! The other night Carter and Carson were trying EVERYTHING to stay up later, so I told them I would make them a deal. If they wanted to rub my feet, then they could come in my room and talk to me and stay up later. When Chet arrived a few minutes later from putting Colby to bed, he was not impressed. I sit and talked to my boys, and it was good talking, for about 20 min while they rubbed my feet. I loved it, they loved it, and Chet should love it too. It saves him from having to do it. I do credit him for it though, because they have seen a great man do everything he can to make his woman happy. He has succeeded, and continues to everyday. I feel like the luckiest woman ever!!!! Great husband, great boys, and great husbands in the making...right?
As a side note: Tonight they wanted to clean the house instead of go to bed. I said sure why not. Before I knew it, the floor was mopped, and mopped really well at that! The kitchen was clean, the living room was clean, and everyone was happy, all by 8:00 pm. I love these little games!

New Words

Kids are always coming up with the funniest words to use, and then the way they use them is even funnier. Well, Cael's new words are honey and sweetheart. Cael loves to say the things we say, like calling all his brothers the "Parker boys". So lately he has been calling his brothers honey or sweetheart. Like for instance, he hit Caden in the face with a seat belt (the middle lap belt that is between them in the back seat. We didn't feel too bad for Caden because he taught him how by example!) and then when Caden is screaming at him and so mad he could break the hand that hit him, Cael in a really sweet voice says, "It's ok honey. Let me see it honey. I'll kiss it better." Then Caden goes crazy yelling at him to stop calling him honey, so Cael says, "It's ok honey. Calm down." It is the funniest thing we have seen in a long time. The boys HATE it when he calls them that, so he does it even more. He tells them all, "See ya sweetheart. Have a good day at school honey!" The boys hate it and I love it!!! He is so darn cute!!!

Cael's Chore

We were splitting up chores with the three older boys. We have six chores and they each have to pick two and then we negotiate until everyone ends with two chores. I think they then feel like they have ownership in them, and they picked them. It also helps them to learn to negotiate fairly. So, this is a process. Cael was in the room the whole time watching all this. He climbs up on Chet's lap on the bed and asks if he can have a chore. Chet tells him that his chore is to look cute. He then gives the cutest smile I have ever seen. Now when he asks what his chore is we tell him to look cute and he looks at us and smiles the same cute smile. So cute. We love our boys! Every day is something new! Something cuter! Something that reminds us why we love being parents (because sometimes we forget, or it's so loud we can't think long enough to remember)!

Flies!

Any time Chet is "running errands" the family tries to come with him. I like to be with him as much as possible when he is not at work, so even going to the dump becomes a family activity. Well, we load up into the car and go to the dump, pulling a trailor of junk behind us (this is about a quarterly activity, I am a trasher. I HATE holding onto things that we are not using on a regular basis. We are also ALWAYS doing some kind of project as well.) Well, we get to the dump and Chet and the boys all pile out. As Chet gets out he leaves his door open, and dumb me just sits there and doesn't get out and close it myself! After about 5 minutes of unloading, they all pile back in. As we are driving away I start getting mad at Chet for leaving the door open and letting all these flies in. Then, two flies land on the dash in front of me and I proceed to be mad at Chet and say, "Chet! Get these humping flies out of the car!" Carson then says, "Mom, what is humping?" Chet laughed so hard I thought he would pee his pants! I just sit there wondering how to answer that question, so the great mother I am that answers all my boys questions (NOT!) just says, "Carson, don't leave the door open at the dump." He says, "Ok, but what is humping?" I don't know how I got out of it, but I couldn't think of a good way to explain to my then 6 yr old what humping was. Oh the words we use, choose wisely my friends!