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Proud momma

So, a bit of a story, about my wonderful boys.

Some background information about the tournaments we attend twice a year. First, you can trade in your trophies. The big one the boys got, can only be gotten by trading in four first place trophies. It isn't won straight out. Second. You can save your trophies, there are four tournaments a year (we only attend two of them) where you can go, earn trophies, and trade up. Just lug those trophies back. Third. We have a bedroom filled with 5 years of trophies, earned by three boys, doing between 5 and 7 events each tournament. You do the math, a lot of trophies.

So, we went into the tournament this past weekend, Alex and Caleb each had two first place trophies they had won last fall, and they were adamant, that they would each earn a tournament champion trophy on their own. They were each half way there. About 2/3 into the tournament, when they realized that they could not do it on their own, Alex declared, he was willing to work together. Jonas jumped on board with that idea very quickly. Caleb agreed, after his last event. So, we sent them down, with medals and trophies galore, determined to bring home as little as possible. (That was Jared's idea, a good one.)

They were happy kids, as you could tell in the previous video.

Ok. New side story.

We sat with another family from our area this time. Jared mentioned, that it really made the whole thing much more fun, to have another set of kids to root for, another adult to talk to, ect. It was a nice time. The kids had fun having friends there, all good. Well, these two other kids, were a bit shy of that big elusive tournament champion trophy. So, Jared told our boys.. why don't we share some of our EXTRA trophies with them, and you guys can get ANOTHER big trophy, and we'll let it stay at their house. Without a moments hesitation, all three boys agreed.. give away some extra trophies. They understood how much fun it was to get the big trophy, and were more than happy to share. It made me so very proud, that they did not even take one second to think about it, it was an instant yes.

We must be doing something right.

Tournament Champion

tournament champion from Heather on Vimeo.

You'll need your volume on for this one.. listen for that shy little Alex.

The messenger

Jonas and Alex are in the living room, playing video games, a bit loud. Caleb is in the game room, doing homework. At some point, Caleb starts shouting. Alex tells me.. Caleb's yelling. I shout back. "I can't hear you. Either come into the living room and talk to me, or tie a note to the dog's collar.

A couple minutes later, here is what I saw.

Happy Easter

Easter Morning from Heather on Vimeo.

The Easter Bunny left a scavenger hunt for each of the boys, and some eggs in the front yard. Busy bunny. As the kids were munching down on candy, I did explain to the kids, that Easter is not suppose to be about candy, and asked them if any of them knew what Easter was about. Caleb did. That made me feel good. Commercialization can't penetrate Caleb!

It only took three years…

Kids are allowed in the tree house. Three years after it was started, we have deemed it ready for the boys. Not other kids, just our kids, who won't press charges if they fall out. Which, they better not.

We skipped the slide. We decided that we will build *something* at the new house, and will take the over priced slide with us. Also, adding the slide would of added another 3 years to the production time. But, they got a fancy rope ladder. Lucky boys. And they can admire the slide, from above. That's hard to top.

Birthday Dinner

We had Alex's birthday dinner last night. The birthday person in our house gets to pick the restaurant of their choice to dine at for their birthday. No complaints over costs... dessert usually included. So, Alex choice IHOP. It's new to Manhattan, we hadn't eaten there yet.

It was quite enjoyable. Alex and Caleb each got the Beezlenut Splash for their drink.. a sprite with red and blue jello cubes, the jello gets sucked up right through the straw! Alex also enjoyed green eggs and ham with who cakes. They sang for Alex, which I was not fast enough to get on video, and he got a free ice cream.

I think we'll definitely go back there!

Happy Birthday

My little boy has turned nine.

I've always felt it a bit more, as he hits the milestones. When Caleb was little.. I was anxious for the next thing, and had a hard time enjoying the moment I was in. We would take him to school, sports, ect.. and I would always have my little buddy Alex with me. So to look at him, I still see that little boy. Nine seems so old. I have learned to enjoy what we have happening now, no longer wishing for what comes next.

Alex was a difficult baby. The first three months he screamed. He had to be swaddled in one of three identical blankets. They were warm blankets to boot. He really didn't like other people holding him too much. He only stopped being swaddled when the heat got too much for him. He has been sensitive to conflict and negativity since he was a tiny baby. I recall once, a man who was suppose to be mowing our lawn was upset about something. Alex was about two months old. I answered the door to find this man yelling at me. Alex just bursted into tears. He could not handled the conflict. I told the man to leave, and calmed down my tiny boy. I do have a photo of him screaming somewhere. I just had to capture it, he really did scream so much in the early years!

But, then over night, he because the easiest kid in the world. He has stayed that way. He's good at everything he tries, he's charming, smart, funny, kind. His preschool teacher told us when he was four, that having him in her class sure did make her feel like a great teacher. Caleb complained once, that Alex even gets all the girls' attention at school. Everyone loves him.

I feel very blessed to have him in my life. Happy Birthday, Alex.