five!

Last week Tyler turned 5.
5!

Frankly, I'm not happy about it.

But he's thrilled, of course. He made a killing on his birthday, and asked for a BYU cake. It was fairly easy to oblige him that one request, but I still do not like decorating cakes. It's just not my thing, but as long as they keep telling me that I make the best cakes (which they do, because they are young and don't know any better), then I will keep at it. After that, I'll buy them a pretty cake.
Aside from the fact that Jeremy (who is totally Tyler's favorite parent) got stuck in jury duty and missed cake and presents, I think he had a pretty great day.

A week before he turned 5, Tyler was jumping around on furniture like a maniac and hit the back of his head on the windowsill. He ended up getting 5 staples for it, and the experience at the urgent care was the worst thing I've ever had to endure as a parent. I'm not exaggerating either. They had to give him a shot around the wound to numb it so they could put the staples in, and it was my job to hold him down. I'm not going to elaborate any more, I'll just say it was horrible. But the wound was deep enough that it justified it, I guess.
When we got home he acted as though nothing happened. He's funny though because he doesn't like a lot of extra attention, so he didn't like people asking to see it or talk about it. And when Alexis was around and we started to talk about it she'd say, "Please don't talk about it, it makes me feel weird." Which is exactly how it made me feel.

In fact, Tyler in general makes me feel weird. He creates a roller coaster of emotions in me lately. Mostly because he's trying so hard to grow up and I'm trying so hard to not let him. He missed the kindergarten deadline by a few months, but he wants to be in school so badly. I didn't put him in preschool for a few reasons, the main one being that I know this is the last year I have with him at home. Once he starts school I will not be his only influence anymore. He'll have a teacher that he spends part of the day listening to, and friends who will start filling his head with all sorts of ideas. So while we have plenty of days that are rough and make me rethink my decision to keep him out of preschool, for the most part I enjoy having him here. I like his company, I like to look at his cute face, I like to hear the funny things he says, I like to watch him play with/beat up on Ryan, and I like to be involved in every minute of his life. I am his mother, I think it's my right. So I'm soaking it in while I can, and next year I suppose I'll let him go to kindergarten (though I know it'll hurt my heart a little).


Tyler has been playing soccer this fall, and he's really good at it. He loves to be out there running around, trying to get the ball, and hoping for a goal. It's a lot of fun to watch him because he's very enthusiastic about it all.
It makes it even better that his good buddies Josh and Hayden are on the team. They are all a bunch of goofballs, and some days I feel really sorry for their coach because the three of them can act pretty crazy, but they are so cute it's hard to really get annoyed.

This last picture makes me laugh, because it just seems to portray them perfectly.

Tyler brings a sweet innocence to our family that I love. He's a companion to his sister, a guide to his brother, a sidekick to his dad, and an absolute treasure to me. I'm thankful everyday that I get to spend my days with him and that I get to be his mother--it's a real treat.

breakfast

Ryan loves green smoothies. It's basically the only way I can get vegetables in him since he's become a fairly picky eater. (Insert joke here about how someone so chunky can't possibly be picky.)

This morning I got us both a straw and we sat there guzzling it until it was gone. Ryan had a death grip on the cup, afraid that I would move it before he had his fair share.
If you've never sat nose to nose with your baby love while they are sipping out of a straw, you need to change that. It's possibly one of the cutest things ever.


It's also a lot safer than sitting nose to nose with them while they are eating anything else.

perhaps you can relate?

I will admit that Jeremy and I have not always been the best at Family Home Evening, but we're always trying to be better about it. Our problem isn't really setting aside the time (though some Monday nights seem to fly by with not even a thought of FHE), it's the planning ahead. On Monday evening I usually turn to Jeremy and say, "Do you have a lesson for Family Home Evening?", and 10 minutes later, he does.

Last night as we were attempting to have Family Home Evening, I realized how insane my family is. I'm sure the proper planning would make things run a little smoother, but I think that as long as my children are there it will always be a little interesting, and I really really love that.

The songs that are chosen are always one of these four (because we let the kids pick): Book of Mormon Stories, Popcorn Popping, Once There Was a Snowman, or Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam. And because I'm singing along, they don't sound too great. This week, as soon as Ryan heard us singing he headed to the front of the room and started leading the music.

We try to talk about what we have going on for the week, but Alexis always interjects with random information (like Johnny Appleseed's Birthday, and what day they are serving French Toast for lunch in the cafeteria), and Tyler gets too bored.

The lessons are crazy because the kids seem to be incapable of sitting still, and Ryan is really good at distracting them.

We sometimes have an activity, last night was "Don't Eat Pete", with Ryan trying to snatch all the "Pete's" off the board before we could play.

Occasionally we have snack, usually only on the weeks that I plan ahead.

After all that everything gets loud and crazy. Last night there were some practiced gymnastics moves, some wrestling, some mustache making with pointer fingers, and then Ryan removed his diaper and peed on my carpet.

Usually it ends with me shouting out, "EVERYBODY BE QUIET!", then we sing and everyone is quiet for 3 minutes while we pray. Once that's over the craziness continues, but at least then I can walk away from it all because we've already said the closing prayer.

While it may be tiring and loud I'm always glad we made an effort to do it because while we are around each other often, we aren't always making the effort to talk to each other and teach each other and play together. There truly is wisdom in the idea of Family Home Evening.