Eight

This December,my little boy turned eight.  EIGHT!  Holy cow!  It's so funny to look back over this blog and see how he is totally exactly the same spirited, goofy, sweet boy he was when he was three.  John and I sometimes joke about how we watch old videos of him when he was little and he really hasn't changed all that much.  And yet, in other ways, he has changed a ton.  He is respectful, obedient, hard working, and oh so intelligent.  

This year I wanted to kick the system a little bit and I'm so glad I did.  I'm so tired of every time there is a birthday in Tyler's class, the parents bring in cupcakes with an inch and a half of frosting and a juice box.  Seriously, people???  I'm sure they then go home and celebrate with pizza, soda,  more cake and ice cream.  I don't consider myself a health nut, but I'm a little tired of how blind our society is to the crap we're feeding our kids.  ANYWAY, I didn't want to ruin my kid's birthday over some platform that I want take up, but when I talked to Tyler he was totally on board.  I emailed Tyler's teacher and asked her if I could come in and use the 15 minute allotted birthday treat time at the end of the day to play a game with the class instead.  She was happy with the idea and so was Tyler.  He realized that his birthday would be special and different because we were going to DO something fun instead of EAT something fun, and because it was so different from the norm, it might be more memorable and cool.  So the day before his birthday, we went to the bookstore and bought three books to donate to the class library and then I printed off stickers that said, "this book donated to Mrs. House's class in honor of Tyler Carson's birthday" and stuck them in the front covers.The next day, on his birthday, I brought in a few balloons and the family birthday hat for Tyler and we played four corners for 15 minutes (and of course, the birthday boy got to be "it").  Success!  Tyler felt totally special and the kids had a fantastic time.  And I absolutely love Tyler's book choices: a book about reptiles, a Lego book, and a Magic Tree House series book.  These three books are sooooo representative of Tyler (and I got them for cheap at Half Price Books, none the less).   

After school, we headed to the trampoline place with Tyler's best bud from school.

Tyler and his friend thought they were so cool because they thought of this game all on their own, where they jump across and slap hands every time.  They did this for honestly about 10 minutes straight.  It just made me laugh.

And then it was back home for cake and ice cream and presents.

 

I'm so grateful for this great kiddo in my life.  I still smile when I see him tucked in his bed at night, fast asleep and I still plant a kiss and nuzzle my nose in his soft cheek.  He will always be my little boy. I'm also grateful that he still gives me hugs every day when I pick him up from school and he knows that sometimes I like to hold his hand.  It's hard to watch your babies grow up, but there is also something so rewarding about seeing who they become.  And I am quite proud of who this boy is becoming.  

First Day Hooray!

Goodness!  I'd better blog about the first day of school before Halloween arrives!  

Tyler started second grade this year.  Sunday night before school started, we had a special back to school dinner.  I didn't expect anyone to appreciate my efforts, but still wanted them to know that I thought the first day of school is a big deal.  To my surprise, the boys were excited and grateful for a "fancy dinner."

Monday morning this second grader was ready to go.

 When he started kindergarten everyone told me it would get easier every year to let him go.  I disagree.  I still find myself leaving the school with a lump in my throat and the rest of the day wondering how he's doing.  The only thing that made it easier is that there was less uncertainty.  He knows what to expect and so do I...and we're both excited as well.

 After school, we celebrated with our annual "first day hooray" party, complete with m&m's and cookies (I started a new tradition where Tyler gets an m&m for every detail he shares with me about his day.  I am not above bribing in order to get the facts.  He's a boy, he doesn't like to share, but he does love food.  I know how to work the system.

 And then after dinner we head to our favorite frozen yogurt place for more celebrations.

Now that it's October and we are well into the school year, I can say that it has been a fantastic one so far.  He has a wonderful teacher and some good friends.  Last year was a bit rocky (he was in a rough class, which we moved him out of half way through the year) so we were grateful for a positive experience after that one.  

Tyler loves school.  He is smart and a fast learner and he genuinely loves learning.  He thinks library day is about the best day of the week because he gets new books and he's recently discovered the joy of participating in the running club.  

Tyler is such a great kid.  As much as I hate letting him go and grow up, I love watching him learn and mature.  I sure love who he is and who he is becoming.

summer fun- random acts of kindness day

This summer, as I browsed through Pinterest for fun summer activity ideas, it really struck me how much effort and energy we sometimes put into creating happy, fun memories for our children- many of which have little or no value to them.  I tried to choose carefully activities that I knew my kids would actually value (most of these activities aren't the "Pinterest" kind of activities), but I also wanted to do things that were in line with my core values.  As I thought about this, I realized that I want my kids to understand the value of service and that many times we are most happy when we are serving others.  So we decided to do a "random acts of kindness day."  We also started a sticker chart and made a goal to do 100 acts of kindness this summer.  It was fantastic and I'm so grateful we did this.

On our random acts of kindness day we made cards for our local fire department and took them a plate of goodies.

 They were very grateful and were kind enough to let the boys climb into the fire truck (you'd have thought Gus had hit the jackpot).

 We also made cards and took flowers to one of our local nursing homes.  We asked the attendant to make sure to give them to someone at the home who maybe didn't get many visitors or who just needed a cheering up.

We also made a plate of goodies for our mail carrier along with an ice cold bottle of water.  The boys were so bummed when we missed her that afternoon.  I was so proud of Tyler when he kept an eye out for her the next day and made sure her ran out to give her our token of thanks all by himself (he's usually a bit shy with stuff like this).  I loved watching the whole thing from my front window.  

We continued our acts of kindness and each night at dinner we'd report on what we had done that day for others.  At first, I had to really remind the boys to look for opportunities, but by the end,they became very good at spotting ways they could help others.  My proudest moment came on the second or third day of school.  I had just dropped Tyler in the carpool lane and as he walked into the building, he noticed a man who had dropped a few pieces of paper.  Tyler quickly stopped and picked up the papers for the man and then casually headed into the school.  As I sat in my car and observed the whole incident, I was so pleased that our acts of kindness had sunk in and it had even become a habit to notice others in need.  Tyler is usually quite shy with people (until he gets to know you) and it is usually not in his comfort level to go outside of himself like that unless I'm there to prompt him.  I was so proud of him in that moment.  It has been fun ever since, even though our 100 acts of kindness chart has been filled, to hear the boys report on acts of kindness that they perform for others.

It's the small things that mean so much.

summer fun- this & that

Here are a few of the other activities we did this summer when we weren't at the pool:

Basketball at courts (okay, we only did this like twice and I told the boys we weren't going if we didn't leave before 8:30, otherwise it's too hot).

 Finger painting with chocolate pudding.  Oh dear, these two boys couldn't be more different.  Tyler LOVED this.  He loved the gooey, mushy, tasty pudding and couldn't get enough of it.

 His brother, on the other hand, cried when I made him put his fingers in it and wouldn't stop crying until I cleaned his hands.

 Sometimes things got a little boring, but we seemed to manage.

 We were lucky enough to get to go with the cousins to the children's museum a few times.

 Robby took his job as an ambulance driver and a store clerk very seriously.

 And some days, we had the opportunity to simply unwind and relax.  

 This boy, bless him, loves to read and he's very good at it.  He loves learning and uses his reading skills to learn about things that he is interested in- animals, dinosaurs, volcanoes, and other fun facts.  I love taking him to the library just to see what fun things he will discover and then I love even more when I catch him quietly reading a book to himself.

Basketball

I know I will never stay caught up on this blog, but I might as well at least post a few highlights from my kids' lives.  They love going back through and looking at some of our favorite memories.  So here goes!

This year Tyler decided he wanted to play basketball instead of soccer.  I was proud of him for trying something new.  He (and his coach) discovered very early on that he was a pretty good defensive player.  He wasn't afraid to be aggressive in his defending the basket or his guy.  He knew how to stay on his man and how to rebound the ball well, so that was his main role.  

We were proud of how much he learned and grew in the sport.  He came in knowing virtually nothing and by the end, he could pass, shoot, rebound, and follow the basic rules of the game.  I was particularly proud of how he would practice a few drills either on his own or with dad each day so that he could get better...and he did!  

Seven

Tyler's birthday is a week and a half before Christmas. This year he turned SEVEN! I still can't believe my baby boy is seven. He is such a sweet, happy kid and I can't even begin to express the joy he has brought to our lives. He is polite and funny. He is a great big brother and plays really well with Robby. He is a good helper and doesn't complain about being asked to do chores and help out around the house. He loves food, friends, and fun. He makes good choices, even when others around him are not. He loves to draw and is a great reader as well.

For his birthday this year, we kept it low key. I had responsibilities with our youth group that night, so we had to keep our celebrations short and simple (just the way I like it) and then since we had grandparents coming to town for the holidays just a few days after his birthday, we celebrated with games and activities again when they arrived.

Here he is at his birthday breakfast.

...and here he is after dinner- what a great way to start and end your day!

He was very excited to get a scooter

...and a pencil sharpener (and now you won't find a single dull pencil in our entire house!)

The stockings were hung...

This story is so...Tyler. Okay, so a few years ago I sewed stockings for the whole family. They're nothing special, but they all match and didn't cost me a fortune, so I'm pretty happy with them. This is what they look like:

Ah, but yes, if you look closely enough you will notice one of these things is not like the others. Yep. That's right. That one...with Tyler's name written on it in black permanent marker.

Last year after the stockings were hung, I was walking past and noticed that something was different. When I looked closely and saw what Tyler had done, I was soooo angry. When I asked him about it he said he just thought it would be helpful for Santa to know which stocking was his. This is just so typical Tyler. He didn't do it just to be naughty or to make me mad. He genuinely had a good reason for doing what he did. I couldn't stay mad. I simply flipped all the stockings around- problem solved.

Well, this year as I got out the stockings, I noticed the one with Tyler's name on it and I kind of got mad all over again and then laughed a little at the whole memory of it. No longer than 30 seconds later, Tyler walked past the room and pointed to the stockings and said, "Hey, do you want me to put every one's names on those so that Santa knows whose is whose?"

I about fell over laughing so hard. At lease a year later he has the sense to ask first before tagging things with permanent marker!

...And the point was well taken. I will head to the craft store to look for some fun iron-ons or fabric paint to make them all different. Maybe I'll put Tyler in charge.

Ty's tri

Yep. Tyler got in on the action this summer too! Every year our community hosts a running event that benefits our community storehouse. They have a fun run and a 5K. Several schools in the community compete to see who has the most number of participants, so it is pretty widely advertised and promoted at the school level. After hearing about the run for a few weeks at school, Tyler came home and told me he wanted to do it.

Now let me say here, Tyler hates running. We have never pushed him into this kind of thing because in the past, he has told us how much he doesn't like running and we completely respect that. He likes other sports and outdoor activities and he's an active kid, so we've never really pushed him into running. So after his persistence in asking to do the run, we figured, why not? We would happily support his desires to give it a try. To be honest, we were just hoping he'd have a good time. Sure enough, he had a great time and surprised us all by running the entire mile without stopping. I think he really enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment and of doing something that is difficult for him.

Here are my two handsome finishers...all smiles!

A few weeks later we learned of a kids triathlon being held in our area. When we told Tyler about it, he was all kinds of excited, especially after having had success at such an event and having just watched my triathlon experience (along with all of John's tri training as well).

The event was perfect for him. He still qualified for the youngest age group (4-6 years old), which would mean his tri course would be very easy for him to accomplish and since our main goal was for him to have fun and feel successful, that was important. At packet pick up, Tyler was very excited to get all of his numbers for his helmet, bike and shirt. And John and I laughed at the fact that we had to buy him a USAT (USA Triathlon) license and we wondered if we could get a family pass next time since three of us are now licensed.

The night before the event, Tyler and John very excitedly got all the stuff gathered and ready and then John took a moment to go over the event with Tyler. Here they are looking at the map and discussing transitions and rules. They were so cute.

The big day arrived and Tyler was ready. He woke up bright and early...and very excited. I have to say that this whole thing put the biggest smile on my face. Seeing all those little kiddos all lined up and waiting their turn to start was beyond cute (keep in mind, some of these kids are only 4 years old)! This event was so well organized and both parent and kid friendly. For Tyler's age group, almost anything goes. The kids were allowed to use life jackets, fins, or the help of the lifeguard (there was one for each lane, just in case) to complete their one lap. Yep, that's all he had to do was swim from one side of the pool to the other! I was glad that this would be easy for Tyler and that he would easily feel successful. It was just as much fun watching some of those other darling, little kids with their tiny arms just going as hard as they can in the water and their big goggles propped on their tiny faces. I loved how they each had a lifeguard coaching them along and helping for those little ones who needed it. They were adorable!

Here is Tyler all set to go! (He decided that he wanted to use his fins for this. I think it just helped take the edge off his nerves knowing he would get to the other side really quick with them on). Oh, and don't you love how they even ink the numbers on their arms and legs just like the real deal? Ty thought that was pretty cool.

After the swim, he set off for the bike. Like I said, this event was very parent friendly and one parent was allowed into the transition area to help. Thank heavens because most of these kids can't even tie their own shoes! In fact, the transition area was pretty fun to watch. Where normally you'd see rows and rows of expensive bikes and equipment, this time you see rows and rows of bikes decorated with cartoon characters like Lightning McQueen and Barbie and even lots of training wheels! It was very cute.

The bike was the one part Tyler felt the most confident in. He loves riding and knows he can go fast. I was mostly worried about crashes. Can you imagine sending 50 4-6 year olds out on a one mile bike race?!? But again, it was so well organized, and they had volunteers stationed every 50 feet or so to help out. Tyler finished the bike rather quickly and he told us later that he passed most of the other kids.

And finally, the run. John met up with him and helped him finish the run. Again, I was so impressed with this event. Even the finish line was awesome. They had an official race announcer that announced each participant as he/she finished along with music and other race commentary that was typically quite upbeat and funny. And even a race arch that each finisher got to pass under.

I was so proud of him for attempting something that appeared to him to be difficult and I'm so thrilled that he felt happy and successful. He sure is a cutie!

First day of first grade

Last week Tyler started first grade. My goodness, does he every look grown up in this picture! My heart was still so sad to send him off that first day (and every day since), but at least this year I was less anxious for him and less fearful of the unknown. But most of all, I feel that this year he is much more ready to be in school a full day. I really hated full day kindergarten, and felt like kids that age weren't really ready to be away from home for that many hours.

That first day was full of first day jitters and excitement. After school, Tyler told me that after I left him in his classroom (only a few seconds after this picture was taken), he said he really wanted to cry. I told him that I did too. And hearing him tell me this made me want to cry even more.

But, we all made it through that first day, and that is cause for celebration- a "first day hooray!" party.

Complete with a trip to the ice cream shop!

Dynamic Duo

Tyler showed her a picture of the robot he wanted to be, and she got right to work cutting and taping this little number together for him.

Afterwards, I'm sure she dreamed up some totally creative, imaginary scenario that she wanted them to act out together that included something about princesses and puppies, and he probably went along with it because she's the only one in the world who can get my boy to do that type of thing.

...and this is why we have her over for play dates so often.

Six years ago...

Today marks the six year anniversary of the day we took our adorable, little Tyler to the temple to be sealed to us. I can't believe it's already been six years. And I can't believe how much my gratitude for adoption, temples, and families has grown.

That day was so special- one I will cherish forever. Our court date was two days prior. It too was special. We became an official family, recognized by law for our time on earth, but it wasn't until our sacred sealing in the temple that we became an eternal family, recognized by God for all eternity.

I look at this picture and see pure joy. Tyler's arrival into our family was nothing short of miraculous. Heavenly Father brought him to our family through the hands of a loving, selfless, and dedicated birth mother. I hope that when she placed him with us she envisioned his life to be everything that it is today.

(other posts about this experience found here and here.)