It's the little things

We may be a little slow around our house with certain things, but once we set our minds to it, dang, we're good! We took Colin out on Saturday to the official "Eyre Bike Riding Training Center" (aka the church parking lot) because we were ready for him to learn how to ride his bike. The last time we tried with Colin a few weeks ago, he just kept crashing and getting frustrated, but this time he was ready. He got on the bike and took off. Just like that, he pretty much taught himself. We have genius kids, I tell you. It was fun watching Trevor and Colin ride their bikes around together. If they ever decide to go out and ride bikes on their own, I do not know. Trevor has informed me more than once he is an indoor kid, not an outdoor kid. But all I care is that now they know and once you learn how to ride a bike you never forget, right? Now they can be missionaries and I won't have to worry.
Even though I am super proud of Colin for learning to ride a bike, I was super impressed with him the other day (even more than I was with the bike thing). Trevor brought home one of those "learn to draw" books from the library the other day and Colin said he was going to make a learn to draw book. So he got some paper out and went to town. It was the most amazing thing ever. "How to draw pictures, by Colin". I mean the kid is seriously destined for artistic greatness. What 6 year old kid makes a drawing book?
I love my boys. I love the little things they do, sometimes more than the big things. It's those little things that make me stop and pause for a moment and remember how great they really are.

Milkshakes

I am a terrible speller. When I was younger I hated spelling tests. When I was a teacher I hated giving spelling tests. I think they are dumb and stupid and do not make someone a good speller. Some kids are naturally good spellers. Mine are not. They have to really study to learn their words and in the process there is much fighting, whining, tantrums, yelling, crying, and arguing. Computer time was taken away and replaced with studying for spelling. Last week I was Mean Mom because I made them study their words over and over and over again. I gave oral quizzes and written quizzes. And then came the bribe. If they passed their test with an A or B they would get to go get a milkshake after school today. And hallelujah they did it! It's the highest grade on a spelling test Trevor has gotten this year. Hopefully now he'll have a little more confidence in himself to pass the rest of his tests. Colin has been doing well the last few weeks, but it's always good to keep that child motivated. When they came home from school today they were happy and smiling and excited. And I was excited to take them for their reward. I was a proud Mom, a nice Mom. Sometimes all they need is a little push, a little something to get their minds in the right place, to give them the incentive they need to work hard for something. And next time they have a test, I hope their incentive will be that they want to study because they liked the feeling they got when they saw their grade; when they saw what came of their hard work.

Subway Art/Prints

I didn't know what subway art was until I was visiting teaching and saw a cute Thanksgiving printable in a frame. Then I started looking up "subway art" online and on pinterest (addicting!!) and discovered it was something I was already doing! There are a few blogs/websites I love looking at for ideas for home decorating and jonesdesigncompany.com is one of my favorites. She has a business where she sells printed art and I have stolen some of her ideas and made things for myself at home. I've also gotten ideas from other places and with my scrapbook software I've made my own. I am not a very crafty person so when I can make something to decorate my home with I get super excited. I have ideas for more thing and hopefully soon I'll be showing off pictures of my re-decorated downstairs bathroom. I love this house and I love doing things to make it "ours". (Top picture - Logan wanted a picture of us. Isn't he so cute? Home Sweet Home was my first print, I got the idea off Jones Design company. Family Rules - I did this on a canvas with blue and yellow, but when we moved I wanted something nicer in a frame. Dave printed it off at work so I could get the bigger size. The quote from The Family: A Proclamation was an idea I got from Sugardoodle...I tried to print theirs off, but couldn't get the color I wanted in the size I wanted so I made my own. I got the monogram idea from Jones Design as well. I needed something red for the boys room. I just need frames and then they can go up.)

Birthdays

Around here, January is the start of our family birthday season. Logan's birthday is first, then mine is 8 days later, after that we have Trevor in March and then Dave and Colin in May. For Logan's birthday this year, he kept telling me he wanted a party with ALL of his friends. We've been doing a playgroup lately so I invited all the moms and kids over on Friday for lunch and playing and cupcakes. Logan had a great time and it's so nice to see him with so many good friends! When we moved into this house I was worried Logan wouldn't have any friends, but he's made some great ones. On Saturday Logan want to go to McDonalds for dinner and then we came back here for cake and gifts. The video of him opening his gifts is so cute! My mom got him the garbage truck he's been wanting since before Christmas. It was a great day for him and he was so excited to be 4. He started Sunbeams in church and do so well in Primary and in his class. Here are some fun facts about Logan * He loves Backyardagins and will sing and dance while he watches the show * When we walk the boys to school he has to carry a lunchbox and backpack like his brothers * He comes in our room every night and sleeps on the floor because he said he gets scared in his room * He loves building things with Legos * He likes doing "homeschool" with mom * He likes hugs, not kisses I love the time I get to be home alone with Logan. He is such a fun kid to be around and always so talkative. He used to be very shy but he is coming out of his shell and really turning into such a great kid.

Bikes and Cub Scouts

Some people might find it odd that in a house full of boys there are not a lot of sports going on. We don't watch sports on TV, the kids don't play on any teams and never have. Trevor said to me once, "Mom, I'm more of an indoor kid," which is why it took us so long to get him to finally learn how to ride a bike. Trevor would rather be inside playing computer games, reading books, playing imagination; anything other than being outside doing a "sport". But he's 8 and it was time. I told him and Colin a while ago that if they wanted a friend birthday party this coming year they had to learn to ride a bike first. Trevor, of course, had to argue, but Dave and I remained firm. And two weeks ago we took the boys to the church parking lot and told Trevor he was going to learn to ride a bike. And he did! He picked it up so quickly and he was having fun. I make him go out and practice every now and then and he's getting better every time. He doesn't ever want to go out and ride bikes with his friends, he's not interested in taking a ride around the neighborhood or over to Grandma's house. He'd rather stay indoors. And that's okay with me. I don't mind having an indoor kid. But at least now he knows how to ride a bike and he knows he did it all on his own. One thing Trevor is interested in is scouting and last night he got his Wolf award as well as a gold and silver arrow point. He likes doing things from his scout book and getting awards and accomplishing something. He always looks forward to getting more awards, advancing and moving up in scouting. And he wants his Eagle award. Even as an 8 year old kid he talks about someday when he gets his Eagle. I look forward to the day when I have all of those Mother's pins from all of my boys and I can see what they grew into because of scouting.

Gift giving

After Thanksgiving we were talking about Christmas and what the kids wanted as gifts. As they rattled off a list of toys Trevor spoke up. He said, "Christmas isn't about getting lots of gifts, it's about being together with your family and being nice to people." That one comment seemed to set the mood for our Christmas this year. We choose to do the 12 Days of Christmas for our neighbors who live across the street. Dave and I had recently talked to the husband and wife who live there and both mentioned how their disabled son really enjoyed the Halloween treats we dropped off. We thought it would be fun to secretly drop off gifts for their family to make it fun for their son. The kids have really enjoyed getting into "Ninja Mode" and sneaking across the street to drop off a gift every night. Sometimes they will hear whoever opens the door yell out Thank You but mostly they run back in the house chattering of how good a job they did not being noticed or seen. Colin has really gotten into the Spirit of Christmas this year as well. The other day he told me he was going to make gifts for his brothers. He made something out of Legos for Logan and then wrapped it up with computer paper. He made a couple of things for Trevor and yesterday I noticed something for Dave under the tree. I couldn't resist so I opened it up. Colin made his dad a drawing book out of paper. He colored a cover and wrote "scare" (scary) on it. Inside was blank paper so Dave can draw monsters and other "scare" pictures. I must admit I got a little teary eyed looking at that and knowing that right now, instead of wondering what he is getting for Christmas, Colin is more focused on giving thoughtful gifts to his family.

Slow cooker dinner

Almost every Sunday I use my crockpot to cook dinner. We get out of church at 4 and it's nice to have something ready to eat. One of our kids' favorite dinners is Spaghetti and Meatballs. I love it too and it's so easy and cheap. I wanted to make it for Sunday dinner so I looked for a recipe to make meatballs in the crockpot but some of the comments people made on the recipes said the sauce got greasy or the meatballs were too soft. So I made my meatballs the way I always do in the morning (baked in the oven) and then before church I put them in the crockpot with sauce so they would be hot and ready to eat when we got home. I usually just use Hunts canned sauce because it's so cheap and tastes pretty good, but this time I added a can of diced tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic that were minced, some minced onion (I used my dry, food storage ones) and some dried basil, oregano and salt and pepper. The sauce came out so good and the meatballs were so moist. It was one good plate of spaghetti and meatballs. And it was so easy. I told Dave that was how I was going to make spaghetti and meatballs for now on. And if I were just a little smarter I'd make a big batch of meatballs and freeze them so I had everything ready to go next time. I love easy dinners, but I love them even more when they taste like you spent a lot of time cooking. I love when my boys tell me I made a good dinner and when they ask for more. Cooking is something I really like doing and when the people I cook for enjoy my food it makes me feel like I accomplished something pretty great.