A Nutcracker photo shoot

  Christmas Eve 2012 at Houston Ballet's, The Nutcracker
Where else would you be in short sleeve dresses in December?

Oh they were stinkin' cute subjects that were very patient with me that day.  In fact they began to stage themselves after a while.

Above: Our Christmas card that went viral and not to your mail boxes.  

Okay, they've had enough.  It's time for the Nutcracker to start.  Even running away from me they look adorable.

Love

There was a lot of love to go around this Valentine's Day.  It started with Kyle making a yummy breakfast.  Over breakfast Kyle was brought to tears after receiving a jar full of love from Jaden.  Little slips of paper with written messages of love and appreciation written for both myself and Kyle.  It was very thoughtful but wasn't unlike something we know Jaden to do.  Kyle was extra sentimental that day as it was the first meal together after nearly 7 days of tiresome and emotional work that involved a company gas explosion where a father of three young children lost his life.  It hit close to home.  He was grateful to be with each of us and we were grateful to have him safe at home making us french toast and such.  

I've decided that if Kyle were a Care Bear -- he'd be Tender-Heart-Bear.  (He'd bury his head in my neck with embarrassment right now if he knew I were writing this.  Not that that revelation doesn't bring it's own string of humiliation!  But these are things I want to remember.)  As an illustration I'll share this sweet memory I have on a cold December night at a rest home in Provo, Utah.  Where Kyle, Pat and I sat introducing a four-month-old, Jaden, to Kyle's grandmother, Lavone.  Not long after placing Jaden on Lavone's lap did we witness tears well up in Kyle as he sensed the magnitude and significance of that event; two worlds colliding -- a life just beginning and the other near its end.  It brought all of us to tears.  A Tender Heart Bear he is.

Reese was beyond thrilled to have pulled Kyle's name from a hat allowing her to make him a conversation heart love note.  However, in true sibling rivalry Ty announced that he really hoped not to pick Jaden's name -- which made it all the more frustrating (for him) and hilarious (for us) when he picked Jaden.  He ended up making a comical and sweet card for her in the end.

Reese's Valentine's for her classmates.

 

Lunch at school with Ty.  We broke from eating our Taco Bell to send a heart and a kiss to Kyle midday.

Dinner.  A request of Reese, the love of all our lives.

Crave

I volunteer at Texas Children's Hospital on Fridays.  With the kids out of school for the Christmas break (which I will soon post about, as well as Thanksgiving) I decided that I trusted my brood well enough to go ahead and volunteer -- leaving Jaden to babysit for 5 hours.  Our kids get along fine, for the most part, but when we leave they always have access to electronics and basically they're en route to bed.  Yet leading up to that particular Friday it sure seemed like we had had our fill of electronics.  And so I made the questionable decision that there would be no electronics while I was at the hospital that day.  Instead there would be chores and good old fashioned play.  

As I whisked out the door my manifesto went something like this:  "Morning, get yourselves breakfast.  No electronics today.  Here's a list of chores as well as a list of ideas for play.  As in, you should play together, of course.   It's a long time for me to leave you all to your own devices, so please get along.  Call your dad if you need anything.  And lastly, be grateful you are home for the holidays, happy, healthy and entirely capable of playing to your heart's content unlike most of the little children I'll be visiting today.  When I get home I'll ask each of you how you felt you were treated by the other.  If you get a good grade from your siblings then I'll have a good reward.  So go and do, my little pretty's . . . "  Or something like that.  

Upon my return, I was pleasantly surprised to have found a seriously cool Master Planned Community for Lego guys and Polly Pockets, chores completed, as well as the house kept up and positive sibling relationships still intact (or at least as much as they would have been had I not left).  I was really proud of those three that day.  As you can see they were rewarded with their favorite cupcake from Crave.  Which is fitting because after visiting with sick children and run-down parents I most certainly Crave my three hooligans and the average day.  I can't wait to get home to them.  There hasn't been a Friday pass that I haven't been slapped with a good dose of reality that undoubtably helps to keep things in perspective around here.  I'm so grateful for my children's health first and mine and Kyle's second.  

Halloween

Before Kyle left for work Halloween morn he asked what spooky dinner plans I had?    Apparently, that's something I do, because the kids chimed in as well, expecting a ghoulish night.  Oh, yes, I remember scaring up a Halloween menu last year.  It's just that none of us got to enjoy it because we spent the night in the emergency room stitching up Ty's chin.  Anyway, I did come up big at the last minute, using everything I had on hand for a spooky meal.  Dinner included witch fingers, slimy eyeball and pumpkin pasta.  A meal that was shoveled down in 15 minutes, for we had makeup to apply for the two oldest and a pumpkin to carve before the tricksters began to arrive.

I love the above shot.  It shows Jaden doing some seriously last minute decorating as the first trick-or-treaters are not but 50 feet down the street.  Of course, decorating until the last minute is something I would have done too.  The apple doesn't fall to far from the tree.  Reese is ready to handout the loot and Ty is bidding his time until he can get started with his plan to collect record amounts of candy.  

Jaden and Ty were rivals this year: a werewolf and vampire, while Reese kept it sweet and adorable as a pink owl.  

Reese and her friend, Chloe, as the cutest pink owls around.  Reese and I made this costume.  I don't make costumes but I couldn't turn this one down.  It was very easy too.  No sewing, just fabric glue.  

Ty can do hard things

This is how Ty started off his first season of tackle football, in tears.  He didn't cry often but enough to break my heart. Tears were shed for one of two reasons: 1. because the one-on-one tackling drills were both painful and humiliating and 2. because his mom and/or dad inquiring as to how he was doing during the practice was apparently just the right (or wrong) question to ask that would open the flood gates.  Kyle and I thought the teams' motto ironic, because it seemed that for the first three weeks of practice it was, Ty's blood, Ty's sweat and Ty's tears. 

It was a rough 3 weeks of daily practices that started at the end of July, you know, one of the cooler months around these parts.  Contact sports are not for the faint of heart.  And Ty showed A LOT of heart for his first season.  I realize I am biased as his mom but I am pretty proud of him.  He fell (often) but kept getting back up.  And for those couple of times when he didn't get up, with his face mask buried in the ground, well, there was a coach there to hoist him up, in one big swoop, by the back of his shoulder pads and send him to the back of the line.  Quickly moving him out of the line of play.  Don't get me wrong, Ty wanted to be there, he just wanted nothing to do with the 15 minute tackling drill that would inevitably occur each day.  And frankly I didn't want him there for that either.  Running fast is more his thing but at some point in the game of football he would have to tackle.  And until Ty learned how to do tackle correctly, it was going to hurt.  But I swear the odds were against him every time he lined up for that tacking drill.  I could have picked 10 other kids better sized for him to tackle, yet he seemed to always line up against one of the big dogs.   

Eventually, Ty learned how not to get pancaked.  It required him to hit back when being hit.  It hurts a lot less to tackle then to be tackled . . . is what I'm learning from being on the sideline and what I so badly wanted him to comprehend.  And he did, he finally got it.  Then his confidence returned and the tears went away.  That's when we noticed the change made to our quote board that I snapped a pic of below.   It was a couple of days before we noticed what once read: "I can do hard things" was changed to "Ty can do hard things."   I've really seen my boy live that quote.  His drive has inspired me. 

Making goals to pancake someone must grow one's confidence too, right?  And I love that it's not specific as to whom he might pancake.  He'll just take anyone at this point! : )



He's all smiles these days.

There's Ty barreling out of the tunnel, number 18, just like his dad.  Oh, these two love football.  And boy did we pick the place to live for some football playin'.  I've had many a conversation with Kyle about that.  Of all the places we could have lived where Ty would be introduced to football, we chose one of the most concentrated and passionate areas in the country.  The deep south.  Where they start full-pads, tackle football at age 4.  Really, age 4?!  I think 8 is entirely too young!  But that's a battle that I lost to Kyle (and Ty).  Of course, football played no part in our decision to move here ten years ago but had I been thinking about this boy of mine playing football in Texas, I think I'd have had something to say about that.  And for my last rant I'll just say that it is uncanny to see an eight year old with muscles.  It's too much too soon.  He'll have muscles the rest of his life.  I want my lean boy back.  That said, I love watching him play because he's my boy and because he loves to play.

Sequence 1:

Now he's just throwing kids down.  I couldn't be more thrilled.  Yep, I'm that mom now.  It's eat or be eaten on that football field.  So, I'll cheer for him to eat. 

Sequence 2:

Wearing their pink spats for breast cancer awareness month.  

Oh, and here I am getting my game on.  Not to be outdone by Ty, I played along side the other moms, in a powder puff game to kickoff the boys' football season.  I played so hard that I pulled my quad. These southern mama's came to play, they were a serious lot.  Admittedly, besides pulling a muscle, I had a really good time.  Sign me up for a league somebody.  I've already been thinking about how I'm going to alter my game for next seasons opener.  ; )  My boys were proud of me.  That's all that mattered.