This Kid

This kid has been driving me crazy for months.  He's so tender and wonderful sometimes; and other times he's a demon.  Completely unpredictable.  Could be the puberty hormones.  (By the way, he's been wearing these sports glasses all summer because I keep forgetting to take his other glasses in to be repaired.  I'm Mother of the Year obviously.) 

For weeks, Tyler has had an intense germ phobia.  He's become super OCD about washing his hands and touching anything.  Going anywhere with him is becoming a problem.  He won't open doors with his hands.  If we go to the mall, he uses his feet to open the door.  It's crazy!  And he washes his hands so much that they're all dried up and cracking.  I'm trying to be patient and hoping it will pass or improve soon.  At the end of the school year, the school had a health unit all about HIV and AIDS and he's been very concerned about it.  Concerned that I might give it to Mia while nursing or concerned that he might get it from Noah if he drank out of his cup....crazy questions all the time.  It took forever for him to understand that Noah cannot give him HIV because HE DOES NOT HAVE IT!  Ugh.  I must have said that to him 27 times.  Then, he watched a few minutes of Shark Week and afterward asked if sharks can get HIV. What?! I had no idea what to say to that.

Overall, he's a good little guy.  He's not violent, into drugs, failing school, or anything that serious.  Mostly, I'm frustrated with his penchant for dishonesty about the most insignificant things and his bullying nature toward the younger siblings.  (Except Mia.  He adores Mia).  I know that big brothers are bullies by nature.  I'm trying to be more understanding - its hard.  A couple weeks ago we were driving in the car and the boys were playing the "quiet game".   Noah was winning.  So, Tyler tried to kiss him on the mouth to get him to talk!  Devious.

He sure is cute, though.

Chocolate

I ate a Hershey bar while holding Mia today. She lunged forward and I pulled it out of her reach. She turned to me and her eyes said "I hate you."

Mia has also grown two lovely (and sharp!) teeth and is saying "Da Da" all day long. She has the cutest little conversations with Chance. The little traitor.

Independence Day 2012

We spent the 4th with our some of our favorite people, the Hatch family.  Chance brought a crazy amount of fireworks and we ate a crazy amount of food.  Such a nice holiday with great weather, too.

Emma was blowing bubbles and Noah decided to get in on that action.  I guess.  He's the oddest boy. 

The sun was sooo bright, but the kids loved it.  Noah and Megan hanging on the hammock:

Michelle looks lovely as ever.  Check out Chance's firework stash!

Mia spent the night being needy.  Thankfully, she really took to Michelle so I had a little break from holding her all night.  And check out how much her eyes have lightened up. 

Love this one of Noah.  Smudged face, glasses askew, eating junk food....its totally him.

Our preteens spent most of the time being weird and rude to everyone around them.  I can't believe Tyler starts middle school in 2 months.  I'm in denial about it.

And then the fireworks started...

 

 

Happy Independence Day!

 

 

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

~Patrick Henry, 1775 

 

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

~Abraham Lincoln, 1863 Gettysburg Address

6 months?

Mia is already six months old! It's going by so dang fast.

The Happenings

I need to update the blog more; I'm forever saying this.  But life is busy and this blog seems to be the first thing that is sacrificed when my schedule gets out of hand.  So, here's a brief update....

Uncle Greg returned from Afghanistan awhile ago (actually a LONG while ago) and we finally had him over for dinner because in a short time he's moving on to Texas.  Uncle Greg lived with us for a while last year before deploying and the kids grew quite fond of him.  He's a fun guy to have around and is always, always, ALWAYS trying to help out.  (I love you, Greg, but if you wash the laundry one more time, I'll kill you!)  We will miss you when you move to Texas.

Earlier this month Chance had a guys weekend with some old friends from high school.  They went to some sort of crazy outdoor concert weekend in Texas and Chance came home completely sunburned.  It was a good weekend for him, though.  He doesn't do enough stuff like that, really.  He was gone for four days and Emma was a complete drama queen.  It's not that I don't believe she missed Chance, she's just so over-the-top.  Eyes full of tears, unable to do any chores because she misses her father and her "heart is broken". 

The kids finished up the school year successfully.  And the summer battles have already begun between Emma and Tyler.  They simply cannot get along and it is exhausting.  I'm not 100% certain but I believe Tyler may have planted evidence against Emma in her room today.  We have a no-food in the bedrooms rule.  A can of nuts was suspiciously "found under her pillow" by Tyler, but he changed his story about where it actually was a few times.  Of course, Emma denied having nuts in her room.  I can't quite believe what she says either because she wasn't exactly surprised that there was a can of nuts in her room.  Important skirmishes like this are happening constantly and I'm threatening to cancel 4th of July everyday. 

This afternoon I had an argument with Emma about folding her laundry.  She stormed upstairs and was gone for quite awhile.  I got busy with Mia and kind of forgot she was up there.  Sometime later Noah informed me that someone had TP'd is room!  Apparently, she has found a new outlet for her anger.  (And yes, that dresser usually looks that way.  Noah has an interesting system going on.)

 

 

 

And I almost forgot about my trip to Urgent Care the other day.  Emma and Noah stuck Q-tips in each other's ears.  I don't know why.  Emma's ear is still a little sore, but doctor says she didn't sustain any serious injury.  Just freaked me out when I heard the screaming.  Kids!



 

 

"Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring - quite often the hard way."

~Pamela Dugdale

7 going on ... 17?

Emma had her first phone call from a boy tonight!  AT 10:18 pm!  Seriously? 

On the last day of school, Emma took some cards to her friends with her phone number inviting them to call for playdates over the summer.  Well, this was her first phone call!  From Kevin.  You may remember Kevin from last year.  I mentioned him in this post.  Sigh

Hoods

It feels like Summer!  I'm eating strawberries!  My sister Danielle came up for a visit and brought me 4 flats of my favorite strawberries from Oregon - Hood Strawberries. (As in Mt. Hood, Oregon).  They are only available for about 3 weeks each year, but with Mia this year berry picking would be too tough. So, I made several batches of strawberry jam and froze a few bags of strawberries for later, too.   And there was shortcake and fresh whipped cream.  Strawberries and cream = happiness

 

My sister's visit was just what I needed.  Its been a rough couple weeks.  I'm unable to share why everything is so hard these days, but I am so grateful to her for all her kindness.  I sent her a text the other day saying ... "Sometimes I am so very unhappy."  And she just listened.  Thank goodness for summer, thank goodness for strawberries and thank goodness for sisters.


"Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow."
~Benjamin Disraeli, 19th Center English statesman