Bird nest/Kickball

After being on house arrest due to flooding this weekend my boys are all about outside. Fine with me. When I was younger playing outside meant finding whatever I could to entertain myself & doing it for hours. Because if I bugged my parents I had to come back inside. My kids however need a referee & help deciding what game to play. "Where is this ball?" & "I want that bike." They're in & out so much it hardly qualifies as playing outside. It's more stand-at-the-back-door-whine-fest. Anyway, the highly competitive game of kickball began like any other. Soon enough I was called to get the ball out of our neighbor's yard & then it was stuck in a tree. Really stuck. The little tykes plastic shovel wasn't going to cut it this time. Reid found the step ladder & when he lifted his head into the branches he discovered a nest. He knows I collect them so he stuck his hand in it & jerked it back quickly. "Momma the nest has an egg in it." I went up to investigate & saw that sure enough he was correct. One tiny perfect egg. I told them to move away & be careful because there was a baby in there. They quietly stepped back & stared at the tree. As soon as we moved away what I presume was the Mama bird came back quickly. They all took a vote & decided to leave the ball there to provide extra shelter for the baby. And to be honest Mama bird was giving us the evil eye.

Bragging rights

My oldest son Reid is about to be 10. The countdown has begun. In his short life there have been many things for me to brag about. He talked early, he's smart & I've heard many times..handsome. I agree with all of these things. But lately there is one comment I'm hearing that makes my heart leap more than anything. "I had no idea. " It's the response to many people seeing Reid & watching him participate in several activities like a normal kid. After they've learned he has Asperger's. A form of Autism. I have never been more proud of anything in my life. Reid worked so hard & went through so many things in the past 2 years. Physical therapy, ABA & medication changes. If the simplicity of those words imply ease I can assure you it was no small task. Physical therapy was a grueling, everyday task that was a true endeavor. ABA was a necessary evil. And the medication switch sent our family into a year long nightmare. But I can honestly say that my prayers & his were more than answered. For him to be able to play & go to school like "a normal kid" is nothing short of a miracle. Reid being on a 1st place baseball team & making A's is all music to my ears. But having someone tell me that he looks like a normal kid is literally the best thing I could ever hear. Normal never sounded so wonderful. I'll take it.

Locker Room

On any given day at our house you will see random boys in underwear, shirtless & I'm almost afraid to admit...sometimes both. Apparently clothing gets in the way of random activities. The Wii usually has it's competitor's sans shirt for Reid & pants less for Reagan. Rowan has shown no preference yet. However I will say that it does take quite a few moments to wrangle him into pj's after his bath. Sometimes I fell a bit strange. Like for instance the other day Reid was in the shower. Reagan & Rowan in the bath. When they all surrounded me for clothes & lotion I got a little...claustrophobic. I looked around & found I was surrounded by..male genitalia. I know they're my kids & whatever but can I just say sometimes it's a bit much. I also believe that a certain motto must be given it's due. Boys can be gross. Farting in faces, burping, slaps on the butt. All commonplace. It's not their fault though. I had enough boys to create the locker room mentality so I take full responsibility. I look at it as practice. My kids will never be uncomfortable in the locker room, or anywhere else for that matter, when it's time to change for P.E. or sports. I will wait a couple of more years to work on the perfect towel snap. For their own safety.

** For your own entertainment purposes & my embarrassment I've included a list of questions/quotes heard around our house.

1. Who wants to smell my armpit?
2. Did you smell that? I just farted.
3. ______ just farted!! Gross!! (while sniffing the air & rushing towards that person laughing)
4. Come here I have to tell you something (burp in face).
5. Oh my gosh my feet stink. Come here & smell my socks.
6. Can I have more underwear? Just trust me..

Edward has good manners..for a vampire

I let my son watch Twilight. (He had to cover his eyes @ 2 parts.) He didn't notice what I thought he would. Instead he noticed Edwards manners. He caught Bella's apple. He opened doors, bought her dinner & rescued her. "He sure is nice for a vampire," he said. He also liked the way Edward dressed & how smart he was. "Edward is pretty cool & smart." I am pleasantly surprised I must say. Reid is very sweet I shouldn't be surprised. At the beginning of the year a dad of one of the girls in his class came up to shake his hand. "I hear you pull out my daughter's chair everyday, that's great. You're a nice young man." I turned to look at Reid & he just shrugged it off. Apparently a few weeks later she didn't like it so much that he did this for every girl. Reid also noticed that Edward is different & some people don't like him. People are mean to him. He has experience with that as well. I guess out of all the role models I can think of, Edward isn't so bad. He is handsome, smart & well groomed. All in all, he's pretty nice for a vampire.

Toddler fight Club

I always told myself I would never tell my kids it's ok to hit someone. Fast forward through several years & different incidents & as usual, I lied to myself. My nephew is a serial hitter. I love the kid but he hits all the time, for no reason & thinks it's funny. He also likes to throw things at people's faces. Like trains, metal cars, etc. When he's at my house I always did the whole 'No hit, hands to yourself" that works on most kids at least once. So after the third time Reagan came to me complaining & nothing was working I committed the mother of all parent sins. I told him to hit back. Mostly because I got sick of watching my kid take it upside the head & smile it away. Something snapped & I remembered how some kids/people never learn. My kids know when he comes over, they're gonna get hit so they hide the heavy stuff. If nothing else I taught my kids they don't have to smile as they're getting smacked in the face with their own toys. My nephew didn't mind. I brought old karate equipment & a kicking bag & let them go at it. I wouldn't normally recommend this method but I can report the hitting is less severe & less frequent.

Thomas Addiction

Rowan has always liked Thomas. It is truly his first love. He knows all the trains, their names & colors. He can spot Thomas on anything a hundred yards away. Thanks to a wonderful marketing strategy Thomas is indeed on anything now. Stickers, plates, clothes, pillows, band aids, toothbrushes, blankets, socks, lunch boxes & backpacks. Which we have. All birthday presents from loving grandparents, aunts & uncles. Rowan likes to rotate his favorites. One week it's Rheneas (pronounced Ru-nay-us) to you novices. The next week it's Billy. Thomas is getting hard to escape. Nowhere is safe. Target & Walmart have a section devoted to Thomas. I went to a christian bookstore last week & was drug to a certain area after Thomas blue was spotted. In order for everyone to get out in one piece we purchased Mavis. It was also a bribe because we had several places to go that day. I'm an enabler. I know this. The sad thing is my only wish is that Rowan had a cheaper habit.

He's touching me!!!

We all know this game. Played in the backseat on many a family trip. Short or long. If this was an Olympic sport I hate to brag but MY kids would take home Gold. I assure you it's an artform they've mastered. Coming so close to an arm or leg without actually making physical contact is a gift. I'm so happy they've all found their gift & yet so disappointed because there's no bumper sticker for it. I would slap that sucker on the back of my car so fast. "My kid came dangerously close to actually touching his brother, but didn't." Not so catchy when in fine print, huh? I swear today the middle child actually raised his shoulder to allow contact just so he could make contact of his own. It was in the form of a 5 year old punch to the leg. Annoying like a mosquito. But the damage was done. Reid screeched & howled like Reagan was performing ancient Mayan brain surgery through his nose. I realized a sacrifice had to be made for unity so I took away every one's privileges for the evening. Soon the togetherness was back on as chants of "You're so mean, You can't do that to us" floated through the house. "Us" was the two people that were just pummeling each other. Faced with the loss of precious TV, DS's & PS2's brought them back together. It continued through dinner as my apparent lack of compassion was discussed at length. The whole time getting along marvelously. The only touching was high-fives & bumps given to show camaraderie.