Kings Island Rides

We have season passes to Kings Island and this is the first year that we have actually made it out of Kiddie Land. YEAH! The problem is that Trey is tall enough to ride more rides than Tate is, however, Tate is not scared to ride those bigger rides and Trey is still unsure.

We were driving by Kings Island a few weeks ago and Bryan asked Trey who was going to ride Diamond Back roller coaster first. (They are currently both to short to ride, you have to be 54 inches and Trey just hit 48 inches.) Trey responds with I don't know. Bryan responds with I know...Tate will, he has bigger balls than you. I am thinking great boy talk. Of course, they start giggling and Bryan and I start talking about something else. That is when we over hear Trey & Tate talking in the back seat. Trey is saying he does have big balls & Tate is holding his arms up in a circle saying he has the biggest balls. We will see.

Back to School

Trey's first day of school is tomorrow. It is hard to believe that he will be in 2nd Grade this year. He is very excited about Mrs. Mellendorf being his teacher. Oh, the things that he will learn this year. Can you believe that they will teach him how to create a Power Point presentation this year! I learned how to do that in college.

We have had several back to school functions the past couple of weeks which were a lot of fun. The day we went to school to register we ran into Trey's Principal. He stood and talked to Trey for a few minutes about how Trey will have to show his younger brother around. He asked Trey if he had a good summer. Trey replied, "Well, it was way too short." He is not super excited to go back yet.

Body Image

Being that the boys are 22 months apart, they are pretty close in size too. We always tell Trey that even though he is older, he might not always be bigger. Growing up Trey was always in the 40% for height & weight, where Tate on the other hand has always been in the 90-95% for height & weight. So, they are very aware of their sizes.

On vacation the boys started talking to each other about who is bigger/smaller. Trey says he is 1st skinniest in our house & Tate says he is 2nd skinniest in our house--they just know that is way it is. I can't remember which one it was, but they informed me that I am the 4th skinniest in our house. Bryan loves this and asks, "Are you sure that mommy is the 4th skinniest or the 1st fattest?" They both agreed that I am 4th skinniest--isn't that great?

Loose Tooth. . .This Morning

We were all exhausted & nobody wanted to wake, but we had to. I usually don't work on Mondays, but we had to re-arrange our schedule this week because Trey & Tate will be going to Football Camp this week. I am sure that I will have some fun things to say about that. I actually had to carry Tate out of his bed this morning & put him into the car--he did not want to move. We got to Grandma Barbie's house and he crashed on the couch. Trey starts wiggling his tooth. He gets obsessed wiggling his teeth, he can never just sit or stand still.

He then asked for a paper towel. Which means he thinks he is close to getting the tooth out. He has lost 3 teeth up until now. His bottom 2 and 1 on top (which he lost while we were at Disney--a challenge for the Tooth Fairy, but according to Tate "of course she will find us."). The tooth that he is working on this morning is the side tooth, not the other front one. I finally started to go to my car & he came running out after me. "Mom, wait!" He handed me his tooth.

Trey loosing his teeth is kind of making Tate a little sad. Every night when he brushes his teeth he tells me, "Mom, I really wish that I could lose a tooth like Trey." He just doesn't understand why his tooth won't come out like Trey's. I tell him that someday it will, it just isn't ready yet....but I still see him trying to wiggle one loose. It is not working though.

Updates...So much to do

Well, we have been very busy lately. As soon as Trey got out of school, we went to Disney World. This is the first time that the boys have been there. They loved it. They were exhausted & ready to come home though after 8 days. We have finally finished up soccer and t-ball. I forgot my camera today, so I don't have any new pictures to put up....don't worry though I will remember to do it this week.

Weddings

We have had a lot of talk about weddings in our house lately. The boys were both in a wedding, talking about people getting re-married, and Bryan & I's anniversary was yesterday. Which brought up the question from the boys...."Mom, was I at your wedding?" I, of course, replied no. The next question, "Well, was I in your belly then?" I again replied with no. The next question, "Well, if I wasn't in your belly, was I in Dad's belly then?" Again, I had to reply no and quickly change the subject so I did not get into a conversation that I am not prepared for.

Tate Graduated

Last night Tate graduated from Lakeview Preschool. At one point during the year I definitely thought that we might be holding him back from Kindergarten. He pulled through it though. It was a very nice ceremony. He was definitely proud of himself, which he should be. And I think he was so excited to get all the attention for once.

Last night when he went to bed he asked me if he was going to Kindergarten in the morning. He just can't wait.

Whoops!

Friday afternoon Bryan picked Trey up from school. He noticed right away that Trey was dressed in his OSU jersey (which Bryan loves) and Trey's football pants and he also noticed that no one else was dressed up at all. Career day was actually yesterday, MONDAY--not Friday. Trey's teacher was very understanding and let him go ahead and give his presentation on Friday, so yesterday he refused to dress up again. I do feel really bad, but he is taking it well. This whole thing kind of sounds like a bad dream?!?

Career Day

Today is Career Day at Trey's school. His homework this week: choose what career you would like to enter, answer some questions about that profession and dress up for that job today. In the past Trey has always told me he wanted to be a gym teacher, then in the past couple of weeks he has wanted to be an NBA player. So, I was a little surprised Monday night when I was reading the homework paper and I asked Trey one more time--What do you want to be when you grow up AND he replied a Rock Star Clown. Who comes up with that? Have you ever met a Rock Star Clown? Monday night he was dead set on being a Rock Star Clown.

I didn't mention the homework again until last night. Honestly, I was a little worried about what the answer might be. He wanted to be a surfer. I asked him how he was going to be a surfer, living in OHIO, without an ocean around. He then told me he is going to go to college in Florida. So then I told him that is not too realistic. He finally settled on being an NFL running back that plays in Arizona. Great, he dressed up this morning in his Ohio State jersey & Bengals helmet--super cute I must say.

We were getting ready to walk out the door and he says, "Mom, I know what I should have chosen to be my career. I should have said a Vegetarian." I chuckled and told him that is not really a job. I'm not sure if he met Veterinarian or not, we were having a hard time getting out the door this morning and I just needed him to hurry up.

Tate's Bed Moves

This morning when I went in to wake Tate up, I noticed that he only had a tiny bit of covers on him. All of his covers were on the floor except for what belonged on his feet from the other side. They were all messed up. I have noticed more & more lately his covers are getting more messed up at night or I find a pillow on the floor. I have also always known that he is a restless sleeper. When he was smaller he prefered sleeping sideways in his bed along the pillows. This was painful for me when he wasn't feeling good & I would sleep with him.

Back to this morning though.....I never knew if he noticed what was going on, until now. He said to me, "Mommy, my bed moves during the night." I didn't get at first what he was talking about and he began telling me that his covers fall off him during the night cause his bed moves around all night. I asked him, was he sure that he didn't move during the night? He is positive that his bed moves during the night.

Trey's Drawings

Last night was busy night for us. Tate had his first T-ball & Trey had an art fair and musical concert last night. This was the first time that Bryan & I had to split up and not watch a whole event--I am sure that there are many more times to come too.

While trying to get ready to go last night we could not find Tate's brand new baseball jersey. How could we lose it so fast? Trey was being silly and getting in the way of me finding the jersey & I loudly told him to get in his room for awhile. I found the jersey moments later and I walked in to Trey's room to talk to him and tell him to get dressed.

I walked in and Trey was sitting on his bed with his yearbook & pen in his hand. I immediately ask why he has his pen. He is like, WHAT?!?, nothing, I'm not doing anything?!? All of the above is a sure sign of guilt from him. He is trying to be so cool and is using his super deep voice. He started flipping through the pages real fast. I am telling him to show me what he has done & he is still denying any wrong doing. I take the book and the first picture I see, which is the last page of the book and is full of just random pics, he has drawn glasses on this girl that is in his grade. No explanation--just did it.

Well, this reminded me of what happened the week before Easter last year. Trey, Tate & I were at Walmart and Trey wanted me to buy some Reese's Peanut Butter eggs. I told him no, since the Easter Bunny would be coming in just a couple of days. He did not like that answer. He started throwing a fit in the store, the whole way home & in his room. Once we got home I told him to go straight to his room. On the way up the steps, he was telling me I am the worst mom ever, he hates me & I stink like a dead animal!!! Wow, I couldn't believe it, all over a bag of candy.

I decided to leave him alone for awhile. Maybe once every 2-3 months he has a total breakdown like this & I have to just let it play out. He sits in his room for about 30 min. & will come out as happy as can be--like nothing ever happened. So this time I went ahead and walked into his room. There he was--sitting on his bed, pen in hand & his preschool scrapbook. I ask him what are you doing, he replies nothing. I take the book out of his hand, flip through the pages & stop at the Mother's Day Tea. There was a great picture of Trey & I together. He had taken his pen and colored a big blob of scribble all over MY face. I was devastated. I walked out of the room with tears in my eyes. All over a bag of candy.

He went to school that afternoon (he had 1/2 day afternoon Kindergarten at the time). When I picked him up off the bus I didn't have to say a word. He apologized immediately & I could tell he really felt horrible. It was a bad day.

Florida

Our Spring Break in Panama City Beach was great this year. The boys have finally gotten to be old enough to enjoy playing in the pool & ocean all day and we don't have to go in to take naps every day. When we got off the plane in Florida, Tate was still asking when we were going to be in Florida. He thinks that only if you can see the ocean you are in Florida. He doesn't quite get the concept of states and cities yet....we are working on it though, Trey got a talking globe & US map for his birthday.

In the picture below--see how cheesy Tate is & Trey just flipped of the side of the pool. Tate really became a fish this past summer & Trey has no fear of the pool. I love that picture!

Trey did inform us before we left to go to Florida that he was not in charge of watching Dad on this trip. Bryan always has at least one day where he has a little too much fun. All the boys enjoyed watching for pretty girls around the pool & out at the beach....Trey & Tate would tease each other about, but they are ladies men. Plus they liked watching the High School & College Spring Break boys breaking the rules by flipping off the waterfall into the pool. Trey said he was going to try doing it, but never had the nerve to break the rules.

Watching all of those crazy young Spring Breakers made me realize that Trey & Tate will never go on Spring Break without me, ever. We all can't wait to go back next year.

Student of the Quarter

I have to take a minute to brag. Trey was picked for Student of the Quarter. Every teacher gets to pick one student of the quarter each year, so really he was student of the year in his class. Which really does not surprise me. He really is a great kid at school & most of the time at home too. What comes along with such a fine honor--an over hour long presentation which includes the honors for all 6 schools in our district. Great. The principal of each school got up and said a few words about each student. Trey was thrilled with the fact that his principal was going to talk about him...he totally looks up to the principal and now Mr. Willis will know what a great student he really is. We are truly blessed to have such great children. They must take after their mom!

The Truth

This weekend was Trey's first soccer game of the season. I am very happy to report that for once we might be on a winning team. He did not have any goals, but had some awesome passes & a couple of shots on goal that went just left of the goal post--the story of Trey's soccer career, always wide left/right. They won 7-0. Yeah!

The point of the post though....Tate was sitting on my lap for part of the game. I am watching the game and Tate is watching/thinking about stuff. He is holding my hand and tells me, "Mom, your hands are really old." He keeps looking at my hands compared to his, he says "look how wrinkly yours are." I told him thanks a lot for noticing. Great.

Traveling with Children

Our traveling to & from Florida was very uneventful this year. Thank goodness. I don't know if that is because Trey & Tate have gotten older and they are easier to travel with or we just had a really good experience this time. Whichever--I'll take it, but it did remind me of some of our past travelling experiences.

Like the time we were in the Atlanta airport and Trey had just turned 3 & he was potty trained, but not for diarrhea. We made one trip to the bathroom in time, but we didn't make it for the second trip. It was the most disgusting thing you have ever seen. We had to throw the pants away in the garbage, thinking we would find some kind of Georgia sportswear to buy him. No can do though. He got on the plane in a diaper & t-shirt and I was then able to wrap him up in an airplane blanket. I took the airplane blanket home with us & have never questioned the way another parent had their child dressed again--cause I have no idea how their day has gone.

I think that it might have been last year that we sat across the aisle from the guy who fell asleep within 5 mins. of getting on the plane. You would think that he would be great to be near, wouldn't bother anybody---until he started snoring. He was snoring so loud that everyone on the plane was looking back at him. The young Spring Break kids got a kick out of him. When we finally did land & he woke up, Trey looked at him and said, " You know, you snore really loud." I had no idea he was about to say anything & we just started cracking up. It was perfect.

Happy Easter

We were on vacation last week, so I haven't been able to post for awhile. We had a great time & will be updating everyone soon. For now, I wanted to say Happy Easter (late) & show some pics. Trey & Tate had a great time coloring eggs this year--actually Tate did 2 eggs & Trey did most of the rest--Matt, Kelly, Lisa & I finished it up. Hunting for the eggs was also fun. I think that the eggs should have been dyed all neon colors for the boys to actually find them. But, when Tate did find an egg he would yell with excitement--like he did find one 30 secs. earlier. He would say, "bet you didn't see that coming" and he would pick up the egg. We had a great lunch on Sunday, a really fun Easter egg hunt, and a big family kickball game.

Speaking of kickball (one of the boys most favorite games to play), we also played Saturday night before Easter. Trey & Tate were team captains and my children picked me last! I was the last, lonely person standing there waiting to be picked. I don't think that that has ever happened to me before. I did kick a home run, but it was in a losing effort.

Only Boys

The boys totally crack up every time they pass gas. Which knowing that Bryan is their dad, that probably does not surprise you. I have never seen them once get embarrassed by doing so either. Now passing gas is like a game to them. They like to fart on each other & other people. This weekend Kelly & I were rough housing with the boys and they would think it was hilarious that they would fart on us when we would grab them. I can be sitting on the floor, playing cards with Trey and Tate will walk over (his butt is at my head level) and he farts on my head.

I really can't believe that I am telling that story, but this is what happens when you are over- powered by all boys. Bryan loves to encourage it & he likes to join in on the action too. I think that Trey & Tate do get a huge feeling of accomplishment when they get Bryan though. How do they get Bryan? Well, in the morning the boys like to come in my room and watch tv & get dressed for the day. One of them will ask me which one is Bryan's pillow & they will go sit on it and fart. I think that is funny.

Appropriate Timing

So, I am loving remembering all the great stories that we have---I really wish that I would have started this sooner. This is the story that I remembered this weekend.

The boys & I were out shopping when they were about 3 & 4 years old. Shopping is not my favorite thing to do with them, but I had to go. We were in The Limited & I was trying on this black dress and Tate looked at me and said, "Mommy you are so beautiful in your dress." My heart just melted and I was telling him he was so sweet and how much I loved him. Well, I guess Trey felt a little left out because the next store we went into was Victoria's Secret. Victoria's Secret is really a dreaded store to go to with the boys, but again, it had to be done. So, I was trying on a bra and Trey looked at me and said, "Mommy that is so pretty on you." Not really the really the appropriate store or clothing garment, but I totally appreciated his comment too. I told him how much I loved him too & we were done shopping.

When I Grow Up

Last week I had to take Tate to the doctors office, again. He had an ear infection, again. So, while we were waiting for the Dr. to write the script I said to Tate that he should be a doctor when he grows up. He says, "No way Mom! I told you I am going to be a McDonald's drive through guy." I told him that doctors make way more $$$ than a McDonald's drive through guy. And he told me: no they don't, look how much $$$ they get from the people driving through. Wow! The thinking of a 5 year old.

Thank goodness that Trey wants to be a Gym teacher.

How Do You Spell...

Bryan was at a UC basketball game last month and the boys & I were just hanging out. It was a school night and I was cleaning up the kitchen and the boys were playing on the computer. Trey came running into the kitchen saying,"Mom, mom, how do you spell sexy cause I want to look up some videos on YouTube." I didn't know how to respond. I was quiet for a minute. He said it all without missing a beat. He was on a mission. Like all 7 year olds are looking up "sexy videos". I told him....no more computer. No, that was what I was thinking though. I asked him why and then he got all embarrassed. I don't think that he knows what the word sexy meant--or at least that is what I am telling myself. We have now set limits on YouTube & the internet.

Feminine Hygiene--Two Boy's Perspective

Admist our crazy morning of trying to get out of the house about 4 months ago, I had my hands full of everything I needed for my day--including feminine hygiene products. Tate looks at me with his eyes wide open and says, "Mom, that is not fair. How come you get to take popsicles to work with you?" I was dumbfounded. The boys have always said off the wall things to me, but I was not ready to talk about girl products with them, especially that early in the morning. Which is why I am so glad that Trey was there to help me out. Trey states,"Tate, those aren't popsicles. That is girl toilet paper." And with that we were out the door.

I thought about it on the way to work. How in the world did Trey come up with "girl toilet paper" then it dawned on me....something is usually way too urgent for them to wait for me to get out of the bathroom.

My First Post

I really can't believe that I am starting my own blog! I have heard & heard about this kind of thing, but didn't think that I would ever start my own. Until now. My friend has her blog & I totally get why she is doing it now. I have so many great stories, that I swear I will never be able to forget--BUT I do. I want to be able to share those stories with family & friends and this seems like the perfect way to do it.

I really wish that there were things like this when our family started. Oh, the stories I could tell/remember then. Bryan & I have been together for what seems like forever and will actually add up to 9 years of marriage this year. Time flies when you are having fun! We have two awesome boys, Trey (7 years old) & Tate (5 years old). They are best friends & are perfect in my eyes. This blog is going to be a great way to record all our family fun & craziness.