Fun days of spring

Spring is finally here! It's always fun to walk to the tennis courts and see who left tennis balls for us to play with.

 

 

Tyson told Mommy that he was going to pick a few books for her to read. When she came in, ready to read, this was his stack!

HomeSchooling 101 - taking apart Mommy's old computer

One of Grandma Sharon's 10 Principles For Parenting Boys was to give them lots of raw materials...things to take apart, put back together, experiment with. So when Mommy's old laptop bit the dust, she let us take it apart.

 We were enthralled by it...so many things to unscrew and look at.

Patty Cake

One day I heard them giggling and peaked around the corner to see this: they're playing "patty cake" with each other...

 with gales of laughter as they tickle. Sweet moments!

It's a butterfly! Tyson the imaginative one

We always set Cole and Tyson's plates in the middle of the table until we're all seated so they don't play with their food. After I did that, I heard Tyson say, "Mom, it's a butterfly!" I came back in and he showed me that each plate was a wing, and the salt & pepper shakers are the body. Tyson's imagination has always been very active and he continues to live partially in reality, partially in his own world :). Trying to get him to pick up is a trial because everything he picks up becomes something in his pretend world the moment his hand touches it. Love him!

Waffles and shaving cream

Waffle-making day is always fun because they get to eat at the island.

 Cole, after pondering for a moment for the right word, asked if he could have more "shaving cream" on his waffle. Whipped cream, you say? :)



Roadie...for a few hours at least - LeCrae

LeCrae's "Higher Learning Tour" made a stop at Jackson State University. A lot of people from our church helped with it because it was heavily connected to Reformed University Fellowship at JSU and the RUF pastor is part of our church and many JSU students too. I always thought, as I went to concerts growing up, that selling merchandise seemed so cool. I always wanted to do it. I finally got my opportunity selling LeCrae merchandise! Thomas went to the concert, we had a blast! 

I know you read the blog to keep up with the kids, but this post is to show my kids in 20 years that I still was a tad bit cool at 29. This guy's the real deal, it was a joy to serve such a talented artist and to support local college ministry. 

 

 

Chore time - passing the baton

Usually Tyson is in charge of getting the clean silverware from the dishwasher to the drawer, and I (Cole) am in charge of sorting it. But one day Tyson really wanted to learn to sort it, so I let him sit by me and taught him where each thing went.

The Agricultural Museum

Since Mom and Dad hadn't been since they were kids, we thought it was time to check out the Ag Museum.

 

 

You can tell Tyson has not grown up on a farm. He moved the stool from BESIDE the cow to BEHIND the cow, then tried to milk it from behind. You'd never know he was the great-grandson of farmers. I tried to teach him a thing or two about technique, don't worry.

The verdict is in, I'm a big guy!

Vroom!

Where are they?

Just another cabinet

 

 

 "Mom, Come find us!" says a muffled voice.

 

SNOW!!!

We've been begging for snow! Our parents are awesome!

 

We knew it was going to melt fast so we gobbled breakfast and flew outside. Even made a snowman! I (Cole) had to be very specific with Mom about how to make it. Crazy lady thought she knew what she was doing. Glad I was there to give me a pointer or two...or thirty.

 



 

We love our cozy house.

 

 

Trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.

 

The best untainted snow - up high.
 



Tyson finally got too wet and cold and wanted to come in. He spent a long time on the couch with his burpies and blankie, getting warm while watching Sesame Street.

 



Funnies from Cole

 

We got a new Bible Story book for Christmas and on the front are animals from an "African Savannah" sort of scene, including a couple meerkats. For days we could not convince the boys that they were meerkats...they were adamant that they were "SMEERkats."

 

I gave Cole "snowman soup" (hot chocolate from preschool) with his lunch in a Mississippi State mug. He told Thomas at dinner that he got "snowman soup in a MISTY STATE cup!"

 

I made Roasted Green Beans tonight for the first time, which leaves them a little shriveled and browned. Cole hops up at the table and says with deflated confusion,"My beans are dirty." 

 

 

Tyson is sad that I'm leaving the room at bedtime. "Don't go bye-bye!" he says. I reply, "Tyson, I sang you lots of songs and it's time for bed. Cole's in here with you, you have all your cozy things in your bed, you're just fine." Cole pipes up from the top bunk very seriously, "Mom, I will take care of him."

 

Cole had his valentine party at school today so when he got home he was bursting to look through his bag with all 13 valentines from his preschool friends in it. I told him he should sit by Tyson at the table so Tyson could see them too. Cole: "Yes, that's a good idea, because Tyson is my best friend."

 

Working on some memory verses. To help the boys get started on a newer one I say, "Rejoice in the Lord always, I..." looking for the end which is "I will say it again, rejoice!" As I trailed off after "I" they both burst out in enthusiastic perfect unison, "WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN!" Tyson, when he's not quite sure, usually goes to his stand-by answer which is "bruv-er-wee wuv." I was glad they were at least excited about answering, even if it was a bit of a mixed bag :)

 

The picture below is of one of the sweetest memories I think I'll have of Cole's childhood. He has picked flowers for me as early as he was able to successfully do that. And it's out of his delight in giving me something pretty. He often gleefully runs up to me and says, "Mom, do you like WHITE?" Of course I tell him that I love white. Then he whips out some white flowers from behind his back and says, "I thought you'd like these because you LOVE white!" The color's always changing based on what he finds. Anything from dandelions to clover to azaleas, I almost always have something in the little vase by the sink. It's always in the back of his mind. Anytime he sees flowers, he'll stop what he's doing and pick me a little bouquet. The Christmas cactus in the background he gave to me for Christmas. Mimi asked him to pick out something he'd like to give me and she would help him with it, and he told her he wanted to give me a flower. His wife will be a blessed lady one day.

 

 

I get a daily chuckle out of my boys' dead serious rendition of Lightening McQueen's name. Cole calls him "Lightening The Queen" and Tyson calls him "Hello Queen"...I guess it's a nod to the male version of Hello Kitty?

 

Listening to Cole and Tyson discuss the "Cars" movie and what they have "figured out" about it is hilarious. One of the minor characters is named Flo but I've never heard them talk about her. This morning Cole showed me a picture of her in his Cars coloring book and said, "Mom, did you know what her name is?" "No, tell me." "It's Le Glop." "Her name is Le Glop?" "Yep, because..." and then he goes ...into a long explanation of part of the movie and somewhere in there he is convinced that she is called Le Glop. I tried to offer that her named might be Flo, but that was soundly shot down with, "Next time, you can watch the movie with us, and we'll show you...her name is Le Glop." Silly mothers, let the professionals decipher the movie :)

 

I also had to do some convincing to Cole that the forklift's name on "Cars" is Guido, not "Squid-o" as he and Freeman were both convinced that it was.

Funnies from Tyson

Tyson came clomping into the kitchen in Thomas' shoes one morning yelling, "Cole, you be my wife! Cole! You be my wife!"

 

Today we read the story of Isaac and Rebekah, and Rebekah's journey on camels back to Isaac. Trying to keep them engaged in the story I asked, "If you had a camel, what would you name it?" Tyson: "Lightning". Cole: "Chick Hicks". Sigh...the "Cars" movie is never far from their minds.

 

Cole, in a rare moment of brotherly cameraderie, runs into the garage to get a different ride-on for Tyson that will meet the need that Tyson is currently frustrated over with his first ride-on. While Cole is gone Tyson says expectantly under his breath, "I'm waiting for the Cole-meister to come back." He calls Cole all the things we do. It's hysterical to see him laying beside Cole after a nap, patting Cole's head going, "It's time to wake up, lovie."

 

Tyson really likes talking like a big person even if he doesn't know or understand how to use all the words. Tonight he was trying to lord it over Cole concerning something birthday related and said, "After my nap will be my next birthday! My nap will be TWO YEARS LONG and then my birthday!" So there, Cole, you have been told off.

 

We were playing outside one morning and I was distracted by Cole but in my subconscious I could hear Tyson repeatedly saying something. Finally Tyson says, "Mom! I'm asking you a 'Kuh-West-Chun!" Hearing that little voice so articulately use that word for the first time was so endearing.

 

Tyson has a little running game of pretending to wipe Thomas's kisses off when Thomas kisses him. Last night Tyson throws something across the room. We have a "no throwing in the house rule" so Thomas reminds him nicely and gives him 2 pops on his bottom. They weren't hard enough to hurt, lesson learned. Tyson steps back from Thomas, looks him in the eye, and says, "I'm gonna wipe your spanking off!" Thomas was a champ, keeping a completely serious face while dealing with the disrespect before coming to giggle with me in the kitchen!

 

Tyson bashes Cole's train this afternoon. I tell him to come here. "Are you gonna spank me?" he wails. I pick him up and calmly tell him yes. "On my bottom or my hand?" he wails loudly. "On your bottom." He gives a loud wail then looks at me defiantly and blubbers with fervor, "I LOVE HARD SPANKINGS!" I thought I must've heard him wrong, so I said, "Did you say you love hard spankings?" "YES! i DO love hard spankings!" It's always nice to spank with a smile on my face :)

 

Cole went back to preschool today. Tyson missed him, and while we were eating lunch after he came home Tyson says, "Cole, tell me about your day today" just like a little mother. When Cole got distracted Tyson persisted with another request for details. He legitimately wanted to know how his day was! So cute!

 

 

Tyson was trying to find his cup one day and whining about it. Cole said, "Tyson, want me to help you find your cup?" "Yes," says Tyson, "You are my friend, Cole."

 

Tyson was playing by himself one day and I listened in on his conversation with himself in time to hear, "I'll text your email and you come get my forklift."

 

Tyson is very imaginative in general. I just went to get him up from his nap. I open the door, he smiles big and the first words out of his mouth are, "I told that peacock (pointing to the ceiling fan - this is the ceiling fan's second day as a peacock in a post-nap-time story) to get on the train, and I told Tigger (grabbing his stuffed animal) that he has a very long tail and he can use it to hang from a tree. That peacock...." and the story goes on. He's right, the ceiling fan is old-school and the brackets on it do look like a peacock's tail. It's his nap-time friend.

 

Both boys watched "Cars" the movie for the first time over New Years and became an instant obsession. For months Tyson called "Lightning McQueen" by his own version of the name, "Hello Queen."

 

We went to the Agriculture Museum one day. On our way there, Thomas was looking up admission and said, "Oh, Tyson's free." Without even looking up from his book in the back seat Tyson interjects, "No, I'm two!"

 

Tyson is playing "baby bird" and has made himself a little nest on the couch. I tell him it's time to go for a nap and ask him to pick up a couple cars and bring them to his room. He replies apologetically, "Mom, the baby bird has wings so he can't pick up cars."

Tyson went from being obsessively interested in bugs to obsessively terrified of them. He currently sees all creatures as being interested in eating any other creature they come in contact with. And his inability to understand size impossibilities (ladybugs can't eat cats, etc) gives him no logical help for the phobia. He gets frantic and hysterical if a moving bug gets close to him or anyone he loves. A mosquito hawk was dead in the corner of the garage, but he wouldn't go get anything to play with because he would have to pass by the dead bug to get a toy. The obsession with things eating other things has extended to humans. Today I was reading them Bible stories out of a new storybook at breakfast, and it went something like this: Me reading about Esther, Mordecai, and Haman. The moment I turn the page to them Tyson says (speaking of Haman), "Does he have his bad face on?" "Yes," I say. "Is he going to eat her?" "No, Tyson, people don't eat other people." He lets me get a few sentences out, then, "Is that lady going to eat that man?" We go through people not eating people again. A few more sentences, then Tyson: "What is that animal in the corner?" "Looks like a cheetah," I say. A few more sentences about Esther. Tyson: "Is that cheetah going to eat that man?" "No, cheetahs don't eat people." Cole gets interested at this point: "What DO cheetahs eat?" "Well, they eat zebras and wildebeests..." Tyson immediately pipes in and satisfactorilly says, "and caterpillars." Somehow that has helped him lay to rest death for the time being. I'm getting blessedly close to the end of the story, but now Cole has had a few moments to mull over the cheetah's food choices, and he's quite aware of size constraints. "HOW do the cheetahs eat the zebras?" Cole wants to know. I stumble through the least gruesome explanation I can think of and whew, now we all know the story of Queen Esther. This is how Bible reading typically goes for us, I hope that gives you hope :)

We were reading "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" this morning. There's a bus with a duck driving it with a girlie looking hat and shawl on. Tyson is chatting about the page and points to the duck and says, "That's Mom Duck". I've never heard this name before, but he seems confident. "What is her name?" I ask. "Mom Duck" says Tyson. Thinking a moment I say, "Do you mean Mother Goose?" "Yep" he says, as though that's what he had said all along. hahaha

Christmas Dent-style

Tyson calls himself "The Guitar Man" so when I found a guitar at a garage sale for $20, I picked it up as his big Christmas gift. I failed to realize that the guitar would be bigger than he is, so he plays it like a cello.

 

 

My greatest find of the consignment season was this drum set. Our teeth were rattling all day on Christmas!

Tyson and Grandpa sharing a story on Christmas

 



 

Thomas' great-aunt Mary Tom moved down here just before Christmas. She has loved me just like her own flesh and blood.

And here's the love of my life. He can't help it, he was born with a propensity to avoid being compliant. 



And dear Mamena, Thomas' grandmother. We have spent many happy hours with her over the years, even had sleepovers at her house after the boys were born. She too has loved me like her own flesh and blood grandchildren. 

Finishing off the Advent calendar with Grandpa

 



Before and After - the living room

I'm not a decorator...at all...it terrifies me. So this is what my mantel looked like for the first 2 years we lived here. I finally spent some time making the house cozier. One of my dreams for our house was the generational wall in our dining room that I posted previously. The other was a painting of the barn that was our clubhouse when I was growing up and is such a symbol of my childhood.

 

 

This is what we have now. Sara Barnes, a friend of our families for many years, painted the barn based on pictures I gave her of it. Above the tv on the wall are porcelain birds in flight. I love how it turned out!

 

 

And this was the rest of the living room...the worst part was the lack of lighting other than the recessed lights in the 12-foot ceilings. At night, it created a very stark, 3rd degree-interrogation feeling...not cozy at all. But that's how we left it for 2 years out of not knowing what to do...did I mention I hate decorating?



This is what it's like now. The pillows and curtains were made by Dianne Gunter, a friend from my days working at Bomgar. I found the lamps for $7.50 each at a consignment store and spray painted them black along with the curtain rod, again made out of electrical EMT pipe. So cozy now :)

 



Christmas with the Cousins

The North Carolina cousins came to stay with us for Christmas, AND great-grandma and grandpa Smitty came to visit too!

 

 

We made marshmallow treats at Aunt Rachel's. Cole skewered his marshmallows, them immediately began drumming with them on the counter.

 

Aunt Rachel read everyone a Christmas book while we ate. 

We had our usual card games with Grandma and Grandpa Smitty

 





These kids are magnetized to a book. As soon as Uncle Joel started, every kid in the house found a corner to listen from.

 





 

You know you live in Mississippi when you're able to eat Christmas dinner in your garage with no pants on it was so warm.

 

See previous post for our stab at a gingerbread house. This is what happens when you get girls working on it - it's an actual decorated HOUSE!

 



 

 

 



Big boy bed for Tyson!

Tyson got moved from a mattress on the floor in one room, to the bottom bunk in Cole's room. And the mattress went to its rightful home, the top bunk, for Cole. Tyson was so upset about the removal of his mattress that we found him thrown on the ground where the mattress used to be, whimpering.

 

But pretty soon he warmed to the idea of sleeping, as he says, on the "bottom bump" and Cole sleeping on his old mattress in the "top bump."

Load up!

Tyson has had to learn to play by himself now that Cole goes to preschool. One day I heard him saying under his breath, "I'm waiting for the Cole-Meister to come back."

 

 

He decided to load up all the pinestraw by the mailbox into his push car....still learning about volume...how much can fit in a given space. It was very frustrating.