Happy 11, Jaden!

Happy Birthday, Jaden!  Or to rattle off a few of your nicknames for memories sake and pure embarrassment: Jady lady, Jady love, Sissy and Sis.  Here are 11 things we want to remember about you.  

11. Although I highly doubt you'll admit it, you really are taking to piano these days.  To the point where I have to ask you to quit playing so you can get some homework done.  I didn't think that day would come.

10.  When cleaning your room you remind me of myself.  I did more decorating and reorganizing than I ever did cleaning.  Going forward we've had to distinguish the difference between the two. 

9. Soccer is becoming your activity of choice.  You have participated in a lot of extra curricular activities so far, but soccer is becoming the front runner as the favorite.  You have all the heart, desire and drive one could ask for when committing to a sport.  Which is something you can't teach.  You either have it or you don't.  What you do lack is skill but we hope that will come with the new training you're taking on this year.  You stand out as a leader on your new team -- calling for and organizing the team chant, encouraging team mates and firing them up with your shrills and shrieks.  And my personal favorite, you mid play, craning your neck back while dribbling the ball to apologize to an opponent after accidentally bulldozing her over.

  

8.  It's no longer the HGTV channel that holds your attention when getting any chance to watch TV. It's iCarly.  But I can't complain because I've loved both of these shows too.  And I have a little crush on Spencer.

7.  As I am late in posting this you are already 3 weeks into Junior High.  Between me, you and dad, I've been the most anxious.  And I've tried not to let you feel that.  I can report that you are making a seamless transition.  So far you exude all the confidence I could have hoped for you to have when taking this leap into JH.  I'm so proud of you.

6.  You are now the rightful owner of a cell phone -- purchased with your very own hard earned money you made this summer.  Dad and I welcomed the thought of having access to you at the massive Junior High.  Not that you can freely use it but in case of emergencies.  As well, when it cools down around here there are plans for you to be biking/walking your way to school with a friend. 

5.  Junior High begins Pre-AP classes and you are currently in all that they offer.  With that placement comes a lot of responsibility to keep up the grade to stay there. You know that keeping a high grade is your "job" for the school year.  And it's a good thing dad's around to help you do that because we all know that Junior High is where I tapped out.  I'm kidding.  But Dad is hands down the better parent to play this role.  Thank goodness because, as you know, I don't have the stamina after 8:00 p.m. 

4. In typical sibling fashion, you compete with your little brother most.  Maybe that's the reason you picked up soccer again, because Ty got so much of our attention when he played.  Nonetheless, you are making it your own.  FYI, Ty could really care less and lets most of it roll off his back.  Apparently, he doesn't see you as a threat. :)

3. Something new I've learned about you is that you are getting a kick out of showing boys up.   You started off the year in an all girls PE class and didn't mention any discontent with it.  However, you had to change periods when we pulled you out of band placing you in a co-ed PE class.  And oh how the stories are pouring in each week about your accomplishments in beating out the boys in a running race or sacrificing your knees to make an out in kickball.  Where did this come from?

2.  You enjoy playing second mom around here but not in the lovely one might be thinking.  Just the bossy way that drives Ty crazy and sometimes Reese.  At least if anything happens to me you'll be able to carry out my wishes and commands for the family because you already think like me in those respects.

1. To say you are a big UT Longhorn fan would be an understatement. 

 

The "happy" toaster strudle was eaten before I pulled my camera out.  But I'm sure it tasted especially good because of its message.

P.S. I love this Taylor Swift song Never Grow Up.  Most days I think these thoughts about all three of you! :)

Calendar worthy

I want to remember that Ty took it upon himself to calendar Kyle's last day at work, unbeknownst to us.  I love that he included LLP.  Maybe he is grasping the bigness of the event.  It is, in fact, a milestone in Kyle's life that directly affects ours.  You know this could be the first day of the last job he ever takes, right?  The job that takes us into retirement possibly?  I'm being melodramatic, but they're not entirely unrealistic thoughts.  Kyle started with the new job the following day or as Jaden wants to remember it, her birthday.

It was a whirlwind week with a lot of firsts for our family.  Jaden starting Junior High and Kyle's job take the cake but it was also Ty's first day of the second grade.  As for Reese, her first will be that of a Mothers Day Out program that she'll start after Labor day.  My somewhat of a "first" dealt with not having access to my husband during his first week of work.  No cell phone and no email.  And I wasn't about to call the office.  I guess I didn't realize how often we keep tabs on each other throughout the day.  I'm sure it's more of my doing than his, but how did we even communicate before that technology came about?  Some days those phone calls and emails are it as far as communication goes.  And with all that took place last week we could have stood to keep contact all day long and we still wouldn't have been caught up on each others and the kids' goings on!  Yet I am humbled and put in my place after talking with two of my friends experiencing similar weeks, barring one has 5 kids in 5 different schools and the other has 6 children under the age of 12 . . . and so then I shut my mouth, real quick.

Now for posting all of those said events and details as well as the plethora of pics that go with them. 

A new job for Kyle

Earlier this day Kyle accepted a new job.  Just a few hours later I drove the kids downtown where we told them the news over dinner at the Aquarium - just blocks from Kyle's office of six years.  They thought the news was cool for all of two minutes.  Kyle and I laughed at their lack of enthusiasm. I guess we signed ourselves up for that reaction when we plunked them down at a table 10 feet from a 500,000 gallon tank full of gigantic sea life.  The thought was for them to remember this evening for years to come, right?  I think they will remember but maybe for different reasons than we anticipated.  Essentially, the new job won't affect their lives all that much other than seeing a little more of dad. That's a good thing.  

Kyle will transition from firm life to go in house for a local industrial gas company.  He'll officially do that on Jaden's birthday a week from today.  We've been looking forward to this change for quite some time.  His time at a big firm has not been a piece of cake but it has been the road that has brought us, happily, to this point. Looking back I can't help but notice the similarities in Kyle's work ethic during law school and his first job.  He's kept his nose to the ground and excelled in whatever was required of him.  He remembers sitting in his section the first day of law school.  He scanned the room that day and thought, "I may not be the smartest guy in the room but no one will out work me."  Kyle definitely paid his dues in school and work these past nine years. Often times when work became unbearable I think Kyle had good perspective.  He was continually grateful for the opportunity to work and for experience he was gaining.  He'd often say, after an especially long week or even month, "There's always someone else who has it worse.  I'm just grateful to have a job." I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be my reaction when in the thick of it.  I'm learning from Kyle all the time and I appreciate his positive outlook. And I'm very pleased that our kids have his example that I hope they'll emulate.  They'll go far in life if they will pattern themselves after Kyle in most things but especially his work ethic, attitude and lack of entitlement.  I'm sure all of this sounds pretty over-the-top but I don't take it for granted.  I grew up in a home that lacked this example and prioritization.  I am proud of all of Kyle's efforts and achievements with regard to providing for our family.

As trying as those times may have been for Kyle, I can tell you that nothing holds a candle to how nerve-racking the interview process was for him these past few weeks.  I laughed at the analogy he used early on while his firm was unaware he was looking for another job.  He likened his situation to being married to the firm and having two girlfriends on the side.  "Girlfriends" being defined as the two potential job offers that were, ironically, heating up in the same week.  That really is a lot to juggle and Kyle did not wear it well.  He was so unsettled. I wanted to pour cold water on the poor guy.  And then remind him that he'd soon be divorcing his figurative wife (Baker Botts) and choosing only one, new, really good looking, girlfriend (if the feelings were mutual).  And that ultimately, the icing on the cake was that he still had a smokin' hot literal wife. :) I'm kidding.  However, I do not kid when I hope that his new girlfriend treats him well and that they have a very long future together.

Here they are waiting for Kyle to get my car that was parked under his building.  Walking the few blocks back with him was just too much after stuffing ourselves . . . and it was blistery hot the first time we walked over.  Not to mention that Ty is a slow poke.  While Kyle got the car I snapped this shot that has Kyle's office building in the background.  It is the taller white building with the over sized antenna (or at least I think that's what that is).  So long Baker Botts and downtown. 

Jaden tries volleyball

With Jaden's interest in finding out if Volleyball is" her thing" she dove into all things volleyball over the summer.  She first jumped on a YMCA volleyball team.  Followed by participation in two separate, week long, volleyball camps put on by two local High Schools.  She absolutely loved the camps.  But I kid you not when I say that watching her YMCA volleyball games was like nails on a chalkboard!  We've learned that this is a sport where one MUST have fundamentals under one's belt before participating in a game.  It really was painful to watch.  So going forward we plan to have her join club volleyball.  No games until the basics are mastered. :)  As I posted all of these pics I couldn't help but notice how much older she's looking.  She'll be eleven in a couple of weeks!  She exudes tweenism!

"Crazy shorts" day at volleyball camp number one.  Jaden won best shorts.  I won best mom.

The shot above shows Jaden sandwhiched between two of her besties--Reese and Reagan.  They are siblings.  

That rare occasion when something went right for them during the game.  :)  Do you get my drift about the vb games??  

12 years

I'm up late here visiting my mom in St. Louis with the kids. Kyle stayed back. Unintentionally, we are often not together on his summer birthday and our summer wedding anniversary. Since I'm on vacation I wasn't aware of the date. My mom wished me a happy anniversary around noon today. Luckily, Kyle and I anticipated the likelihood that we'd both forget and so we exchanged sappy thoughts over the phone 3 days prior. Of course, we'd both prefer to be together on this day (spending $85 on rubbery lobster) but we see it for what it is: a significant date on the calendar. And at heart, the day we both made the best decision of our lives. Put like that it seems plenty worthy of celebration. Better luck next year.

Ty tries basketball

I'm loving my camera.  These pictures won't do it justice being that they are indoor.  My very favorite shots (that I still need to post) are soccer shots.  But I like these shots of Ty below.  I like them not for picture quality but because I happened to capture the entire shot sequence when manually zooming in and out.  He is playing i9 sports here with his buddy Jake.  Jake's dad (Ryan) and Kyle are the coaches.  Always a good duo.  They coach Ty and Jake's soccer team as well.  Ty is loving his first go-round with basketball. But that's not saying much, he's loved every sport that we've introduced him to thus far.  And he is really fun to watch.  

Love his reaction afterwards.

And if you hadn't already concluded that Ty is my boy then this shot proves it.  I immediately had flashbacks of myself playing basketball after seeing this shot.  This is exactly how I dribbled and ran, with my free arm swinging wide.  Ty can thank his dad for his athleticism and competitiveness, genes that I lack.  I don't know if I should expect any thanks for this gene that I've passed on but it makes me smile to see it.

 

34 for Kyle

Happy 34th to this guy.  He looks happy here but don't let the end-of-the-day pic fool you into thinking the entire day felt like this.  It was a birthday that I think he'd preferred to have been ordinary. Let's just say he's had better birthdays.  Better yet, let's just quickly jot down, for memories sake, what made it stand out.

1. Started off the day with an upset wife from something neither of us can remember now.  Why couldn't I let bygones be bygones this day?

2. His birthday fell on Sunday with church starting at 1:30.  That can ruin anyone's day--1:30 church that is.  But maybe in Kyle's case any church service no matter the time.

3. He was pulled over and ticketed on the way to church.  This was done by an officer who clocked our vehicle while driving towards us on the opposite side of the road and while he simultaneously ate a donut!   Not a joke.  Unfortunately, it was as recent as 4 weeks earlier that he'd received a speeding ticket on our trip to San Antonio.  He'd just finished dealing with that ticket when this one came a knockin'.  With the officer back in his car pouring over Kyle's driving short comings while missing entirely the significance of the day and date on his license . . . or just finishing off his jelly-filled, the kids and I tried to make light of the situation.  It kind of became the silver lining of the day.  We've recently implemented a vocabulary chalkboard in our kitchen.  And with 5 new words under our belts we put them to good use.  It went something like this: 

Me: Obnoxiously leaning over the console invading Kyle's space, "This is the definition of perturbed, isn't it?"

Jade: "I know, right?  Isn't it ironic that you got pulled over on your birthday?"

Ty: Thrilled to be catching on says, "Yeah, that cop is not very clever!" (So he used the word with intent to name call rather then for it's definition mostly.  But it works.)

Me: "If you'd have just been more dilatory on this back road." (We used the definition: slow to act.  And for the record this was Kyle's word of choice, one that I banned after a few days when I realized the kids weren't taking to it but mostly for fear of our children being made fun of. The vocab words have to be words that they'll feel comfortable using or they won't use them and therefore, I think, they will forget their meaning. Plus there's a plethora of less nerdy words out there to be learned.  Okay, plethora is kind of nerdy too.)

Jaden: "Oh look, the officer's bringing you his donut for your birthday!  I'm being facetious."

4. It was after Kyle drove off with ticket in hand that he raised the white flag.  He dropped us off at church, shirking his nursery duties and drove, very slowly, all the way home, in shirt and tie, with his tail between his legs, to wallow in self pity. 

And 3 hours later he rolled up to church to pick us up as a much happier guy.  Thank goodness because throwing fits just isn't becoming of a 34 year old. :)

I love this sequence of Reese loosing it.  I can't remember what was wrong with her.  I don't think she liked the happy birthday song that Kyle was leading as you can very well see.  Or, now that I'm looking more closely, maybe it's because she didn't have a slice of pie!

And I'll go ahead and speak for Kyle when I say this lemon meringue turned the day on its head!  We love you, Kyle, and we promise to make your 35th birthday extraordinary!  Starting that off might only need require that it fall on a weekday, your wife speaks to you, you don't get behind the wheel and you are granted another fresh pastry.