Matthew had a tournament the other weekend. I didn’t go because I got to watch Allison cheer. One of the moms took some pictures for me though. They didn’t win the tournament, they didn’t play at their top abilities but there were some good plays including a few double plays that Matthew helped with.
I mentioned in a recent post that Allison had been picking a few fights with Matthew. She started the first one by making the statement that cheerleading is harder than football. Shortly after that she picked another fight by claiming she new more about Harry Potter than Matthew did. The next morning at breakfast Matthew was sitting at the table eating and Allison skipped down the stairs placed a piece of paper in front of Matthew, smiled, and sat down to start eating her own breakfast. Matthew leaned over to see what it said.
To clarify the meaning of this note, I will explain a few things. Last year for Valentine’s Day Allison made a huge Valentine’s box with a giant rooster on the front with the help of her Grandpa Jones. A few kids in her class called her Rooster and she decided to adopt the nickname. None of us call her rooster at home but she refers to herself often as ‘The Rooster’. Matthew’s nickname on his baseball team is Cheetah. A lot of the parents will say ‘Go Cheetah’ to cheer him on. Allison decided to say ‘Go Cheetoh’ instead of cheetah when she cheers for him. She gets a kick out of Matthew shaking his head or rolling his eyes at her while he walk up to the plate. So, she decided to leave this note for him next to his breakfast with all nicknames covered. Matthew took the bait and immediately started arguing with her that cheetahs would eat a rooster in a second. Allison had her responses ready to go and kept them coming no matter how crazy Matthew claimed they were. I think she accomplished her mission to get some attention from Matthew.
Later that day I picked Matthew up for an eye appointment. I reviewed the last three arguments him and Allison have had and asked what he thought she might be trying to accomplish by attacking three of the biggest hobbies in Matthew’s life right now. I saw a little light bulb go off and we brainstormed some ways for him to make her attention seeking more positive. I have noticed several time that he has gone out of his way to give her positive attention and acknowledge her accomplishments. He told me he is an Allison Whisperer now. I told him he is on his way but still needs to practice.
Ryan and I both remind him a lot how much his sisters look up to him and try and be like him. It is a little easier for him and Emilee to get along. I think the bigger age difference decreases the competitiveness between them. Matthew and Allison argue more but I see glimpses of a good relationship between them. It is really important to me that they take care of each other and enjoy each other. I am close with my siblings, especially my sisters. I feel like in a lot of ways we got closer when we were older after we didn’t live at home anymore. I am grateful for that but one of my regrets is that I didn’t develop that more when we were growing up. I tell my kids all the time to take advantage of the years that they live together now and enjoy each other because when they grow up it won’t be like it is now, and they won’t see each other as much, even if they live by each other. I don’t know how much they understand that now, its kind of hard to imagine an adult life when you are a kid but hopefully it will sink in a little.
Emilee is liking 1st grade a lot so far. She tells me it is way shorter than school was last year. She does really well getting on the bus and going to school without stressing as much as she did last year too. She is starting to go to gymnastics again, she is in the same class as her friend Laney. She still loves playing with her stuffed animals, legos, and drawing and coloring. She is still really tall and fast. She gets a little sad that none of her friends live really close to our house but we try and have play dates for them to come over. She hates waking up in the morning but is getting better at it. She is the pickiest eater I know. What she does and doesn’t like to eat changes daily, there is no way to keep track of it. Watermelon and strawberries are her least favorite and she takes it as a personal attack if they are even in the same room as her. She is still a sweat heart and loves animals. She is always willing to help Allison with Peanut. She can clean her room and do a lot of things on her own but she is a master at getting someone else to ‘help her’ so she doesn’t have to do it all. She loves riding her scooter or bike outside. She is still a huge momma’s girl but her soft spot for dad has grown a lot the past year.
Allison is doing her best to enjoy cheerleading with only one good arm. She is very frustrated that she still has to wear her brace but loves wearing her cheerleading outfit enough to stick with it. Games have started now too which she has fun at too. She is missing gymnastics a lot too but she is cleared to go back on November 25th so she is already counting down the days. She often recruits a friend or two to go ask people to walk their dogs to earn a little extra money. She also makes and sells slime on a regular basis. She is always looking for a way to earn a dollar. She spends a lot of time taking care of Peanut and does a great job. He loves to snuggle with her and ‘pops’ when he sees her because he is excited. She is still witty and sharp as a tack. She likes to know what is going on with everyone and everything. She has been showing her peacemaker/caring side more lately. If someone is upset she tries to think of ways to help cheer them up. She enjoys being older but will never be old enough. Her and her dad went to a fishing daddy/daughter activity. She is very competitive but also kind. She decided to do Girl Scouts again this year. She is always very fashion aware and is relieved that it is time to get a new vest for Girl Scouts so she doesn’t have to wear ‘the hideous sash’ instead. She loves that she is old enough to go to a friends or walk around the neighborhood a little on her own. She is fun to talk to and always has an interesting perspective on things. She is a very good cook as well. She is liking school but doesn’t like to admit it.
Matthew is getting busier and busier. He decided to play football in addition to baseball again this year. He has a two hour practice Monday through Friday or a game for football. He still tries to squeeze in as much time at NBA to practice his hitting and fielding when he can. He also decided to do a nine week basketball camp to help him get better at basketball. He is often found sleeping on the couch at 8:30 at night with ice packs laying on various parts of his body. He is a social boy and likes to try new things. He has a little bit of a teenager attitude starting but is still a sweet kid. When he isn’t playing or practicing a sport he loves to play with the kids on the street. A new boy named Jack moved in a few weeks ago to join the possy. They often get a game of wiffle ball, football, tag, or basketball going after school. I tell him he has an old soul, which I love. He thinks and ponders about things and likes to think through the process of how something will work. He is a gifted boy with an infectious smile when he wants to use it.
Ryan and I decided that we were going to do another game of Jeopardy with the kids to help them remember some basic, not hard, general and sometimes very specific rules to being a successful happy person now and in the future. They were all excited to play but at some point throughout the game they lost their temper, pronounced something completely unfair, or the game was wrong and stupid. They missed the point that it is supposed to be fun and better than having a lecture for an hour.
The first day of school arrived! Matthew started 7th Grade at a brand new middle school. Allison started 4th Grade in Ms. Clear’s class. Emilee started 1st Grade in Mrs. Ankrom’s class. They all had a pretty good first day. It was fun to see friends they hadn’t seen for awhile and see who was in their classes. We had back to school night Monday or Tuesday and Tuesday morning they all headed out the door together.
I have said many times that I would never let my kids ride the bus. I have worried about things that can happen like bullies or getting into trouble. Matthew rode the bus last year and it went ok. There was a lot of people I knew that rode the bus and there is a bus aide to help the driver keep an eye on everyone. Talking with Matthew I didn’t stress to much about it. Never say never.
This year I decided to have them all ride the bus. The main reason being on days I work I know they have a ride to and from school and I don’t have to worry about them walking home. I have quickly realized there are some other nice benefits of the bus as well. The girls are more concerned about being on time for the bus then they were about being on time to leave for school with me. There motivation results in them hurrying more and me yelling less. They all go and come at the same time which is very handy. A nice perk is I don’t have to deal with the pick up line and the ridiculous ‘procedures’ to get them.
We used to do bucket lists for the summer to make a fun list of things we wanted to make sure we got in during our summer break. It was fun until it switched to something that became a job. I use lists to get things done and if something on our bucket list wasn’t going to get done it stressed me out. I felt like I was leaving something unfinished. So we got rid of the list. We still do fun stuff of course but we plan it a little more week by week so it doesn’t get overwhelming. I did like having something kind of focusing the summer like the list did, so instead of the list I decided to have a theme. Last years theme was ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’. The kids grumbled during examples of “work hard” and of course were more than happy to participate in “play hard”. Overall I felt like it was a fun idea and a year later when I told them I was going to pick another summer theme for this summer they remembered what the theme was from the year before and rolled their eyes at me. I took that as a sign that it was successful. That sign further motivated me to come up with a 2019 Summer theme. The one I decided to go with was “Try, Try, Try”. I liked this because I can apply it to almost any situation I need. Try harder, try again, try more, try less (usually applied to arguing or other unpleasant behaviors), try once, try something new, and so forth. We are nearing the end of the summer and I think it is sinking in pretty good. They may not always actually try whatever it is we say to try but, they are getting the words burned into their brain so they at least think it more often.
Emilee’s biggest ‘Try Challenge’ has been eating a full balanced meal AND broadening her ideas of edible food. She is such a picky eater. I can figure out no definite rhyme or reason for her pickiness either. Sometimes its texture, sometimes taste, color, firmness, mooshiness, it is really quite ridiculous. She is working on trying new foods.
My biggest ‘Try Challenge’ I have been working on this summer is interacting with my children (and everyone but it is hardest with my children) in a more positive way. I felt like I was falling into grumpy, less patient and intolerant ways of communicating or interacting with my kids. So I have been trying to change some of those bad habits and be more pleasant with my kids. Specifically when I am mad or irritated with them. I think I have made some positive strides, I still have my not as good days but they are becoming out weighed by the good ones instead of vice-versa.
Allison has been trying to see things differently and take offense less. The tricky part is to not let her know that she is doing it. She is willing to apply the theme to trying a new food or something simple (for her) on occasion or teasing her siblings about trying something but actually setting a goal for her to work on she was not having any of it. So to help her with those try’s I have had to try harder (applies to me too) to present things to her in a more positive or appealing way when I interact with her. To sum up hours and hours of therapy and thousands of dollars-it is all in the presentation with Allison.
Matthew’s biggest ‘Try Challenge” has focused on baseball. He has set fitness goals and been trying to stick to them each day.
It has been a good summer. It wasn’t perfect but I think overall everyone got along better and was kinder to each other. I think everyone had fun trying new things, or trying old things again.
The day after we got home from Colorado we started the unpacking of all the suitcases. Around lunch time we decided to go out to lunch together since we hadn’t gone to the grocery store yet, and I hate to cook.
The stars aligned and all the moons were in the right place and whatever else needs to happen for a miracle so everyone was happy, speaking cheerfully, and using good manners. As we were eating a lady sitting next to us turned and pointing at Matthew and Allison said, “Your kids are so cute, are these two twins?”
I have never been asked this before so I was a little caught off guard but I was swooning in the compliment about my kids because usually one is crying, one is whining, and one is asking if we can go yet over and over. Allison didn’t hesitate a second and like she had answered the question a million times and said, “Not identical, I am awesome he his not.”
Matthew’s face after receiving a completely unexpected and completely amazing ‘burn’ from his sister was just as funny as Allison’s comment. He had a flabbergasted look on his face and said, “I’m awesome too.” The lady laughed and moved on, I don’t know if she realized they weren’t twins or not.
It was pretty funny. It was one of those moments that I still think about every now and then and get a good chuckle. Hehe, Allison and her spunky wittiness.
We had a really fun busy July this summer! We spent a lot of it traveling which is the best thing to do when you live in Kansas in July-visit somewhere else.
The few days we were here we filled with summer activities. Emilee’s friend Laney asked her to do the school basketball camp with her. This picture is right after we signed them in. From there, Laney went on to have a great time. Emilee was all down hill from there. She spent the first half huddled in the fetal position refusing to even look at anyone. Then she sat with her group. The last ten minutes she finally participated and had a good time but said she would not come back for the rest of the week. She stuck to her guns on the not coming back part and I decided I didn’t care. I think it was mostly because camp started at 8:15 and she was exhausted from being at Grandma Terry’s the whole week before. She has also decided that basketball is not her thing, at least for now. Ryan is highly concerned she is wasting her natural athleticism and height. I keep telling him she is only six and has plenty of time to decide to like playing sports.
Matthew had a bunch of his rained out baseball games to make up so we squeezed all those in July. Not the best time to play baseball but still had fun. This is a video I got of him getting jiggy to the music during warm ups.
We had another trip to Harvesters planned. Allison was going to go with a group of her friends but she was on her trip so Matthew invited some of his baseball buddies. Emilee requested to stay home with a babysitter. We repacked over 5000 pounds of sausage that was given by Pizza Hut.
After Harvester’s they all came back to our house and we had a sleepover. We were planning on going to the pool but the collection of four boys brains decided to put dish soap all over the trampoline and then add a sprinkler and bam! You have four boys thoroughly entertained for hours on end until I dragged them off to go to baseball practice.
The French’s stayed at our house for a day or so on their way to Utah. Emilee has always been enamored with her Uncle Kenny and usually has to be told to remember that he has a space bubble. She is often found lounging across his lap or wrapped around his neck. I took these pictures in a two minute time span shortly after they arrived. What a nice uncle he is to her. We reviewed space bubbles after I took these.
We headed up to Lincoln for the Fourth of July as usual this year. Everyone was at the Terry Grandparents house, except for Allison. She gets to go on a three week adventure with Grandma and Grandpa Jones and visit Florida, Utah, and Idaho before meeting us in Colorado for the reunion later this month. For the 4th, she was in Florida and had a fun day swimming, grilling, having a bonfire and ending the day off with fireworks. Early the next morning she flew to Utah with them and will spend the next two weeks there playing with more cousins and family.
The rest of us were in Lincoln. The kids had a blast playing with cousins. Lauren, Leah and I got our toes done. We had yummy food, set off tons of fireworks, and watched even more. It was a fun holiday. July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. It is low key and doesn’t require a lot of fuss and it’s fun to do summer activities.
After the fourth we were in Lincoln a few more days. I had a stomach bug one of them. Everyone else went on a scavenger hunt at the Mall. Aunt Becky put together a list and divided everyone into teams and they raced to see who could find everything first. Everyone loved it and had a fun time. That night they had a firepit and roasted smores. Everyone was healthy the next day. We played games, got our fingernails painted, and watched a movie together.
On Sunday, after church we headed back home. Emilee and Ethan switched spots in our cars for the drive back. We stopped at their house and traded back kids. I decided to ride in the back with Emilee the last little bit to our house. Matthew was playing around with the Tesla computer and turned on the whoopee cushion feature. There are different options but he set it to go off anytime Ryan used the turn signal. About 30 seconds from our house Emilee says, “I think I’m hungry.” In my head I think, “That’s weird she said she thinks she is hungry. Wait…that is what I thought right before I got sick and threw…” I turn to check her just in time to see her puke all over herself and the car. The new car. The same car I was told I had to wait until I got out to eat my granola bar so I didn’t get crumbs on the floor. The same car we are asked to take our shoes off once we get in so they don’t accidently scuff something. The same care Ryan has cleaned more times then days we have had it so far. After she puked, everyone kind of held their breath for a second. Then Ryan let a little swear word out of his mouth. I guess I should say I think he did. By the look on his face, I’m guessing it was something along those lines. I didn’t actually hear it though because at the exact same time he said it he turned into our neighborhood and the whoopee cushion went off so all we heard was a loud farting noise. Then there are three more quick turns basically back to back to get to our house so the whoopee cushion sounds kept coming. By the time we got to the house we were all laughing…except for Ryan but he was smiling and not swearing so that is something. We got Emilee out and cleaned up and were happy to discover that the carpet in the car was treated with stain protector so it cleaned up pretty easily. Yay for road trips!!
My parents are moving from South Dakota to Tampa Florida this summer. They finished selling the house and finalizing things and drove to our house and stayed for a week on their way to Florida. There are pros and cons for them moving to Tampa. I am not a huge fan of the general climate of South Dakota so I am not sad that I won’t have to go there anymore. It is a lot easier and quicker for us to get to South Dakota then Florida though, so we won’t get to see them as often. We can get some good flights to Florida if we watch, and it’s Florida so it is always a nice place to travel too. They will be living by my sister so I can see twice the family when we see them too.
We had a really nice week with them. I worked the first day they were here so they watched the kids for me. Ryan and I are really awesome parents and they love being around us and eating up our wisdom (heavy sarcasm there if you can’t tell) but one-on-one time with Grandma and Grandpa while Ryan and I aren’t around is pretty fun and doesn’t happen very often so they were looking forward to it. They had a fun day playing games, making cookies, competing with each other at Wii games, telling jokes, going swimming, and enjoying each others company.
The week went by really fast. Allison and Grandma kept us stocked in yummy cookies all week. We watched a couple movies together (some of us took naps while we did that-me and Grandpa). My mom and I went and did a little shopping together and went to lunch. She found some sandals and summer shirts to add to her ward robe for Florida. Matthew had regular, makeup, and state tournament baseball games throughout the week. My parents have never seen him play so it was a good week for them to be here. They got to watch 6 of his 7 games. They were troopers. The first two games had nice weather, after that is was ridiculously and miserably hot and humid. Yuck! One afternoon we made a trip to Sam’s Club so my dad could enjoy walking around and looking at everything. We also had a fun afternoon at the pool a few times.
Sunday morning my mom flew to Florida so her back and neck wouldn’t have problems. My dad left that morning in their car to drive it to Florida. They invited Allison to go with them for a few weeks until we see them later this month in Colorado. She was pretty excited. It will be a fun time for her and help redeem her summer a little bit so it’s not just remembered as the summer she couldn’t do anything because she broke her arm.
It was a really nice week having them here. I am glad they came to visit. They are great Grandparents for my kids. They have endless patience with my kids, especially the girls. They teach and correct them without them realize they are doing it. They have endless patience with them. Watching them reminded me to stop and take the time to talk with my kids more about what they want to talk about and less of what I want to tell them.
Our first month of summer has buzzed by. It has been a fun month.
Emilee had a birthday party with Jovee and went to a birthday party with her friend from school Stella. They are two little peas in a pod. It was actually Stella’s older sisters birthday and her mom let Stella invite a friend so she would have someone to play with. Mission accomplished. They had a fun time together.
Allison got her full arm plaster cast off and switched it for a half arm water proof cast. She is loving having more use of her arm back and being able to swim and shower without a big plastic bag.
Matthew’s team played in the State Tournament for baseball. They played really well and ended up making it into the top 8. The game we lost they were fighting the whole time to win and never gave up. It was a great game. One of the games Matthew was nominated for the State All Star game. He was pretty pumped about that. We are going to be in Colorado during the tournament so he won’t make it this year though. Hopefully next.
It is about time for Ryan to get a new car. He has been working out how to get a Tesla for the past 6 months. The original plan wasn’t fast enough so he kept working on it and doing the math and got one a week ago. He loves it.
These pictures were sent to me from Emilee’s old preschool teacher. She was organizing her photos and found a bunch with Emilee in them from preschool. They are from 2 or 3 years ago but I’m putting them in here anyways because she is stinking cute.
