The Bike

so he turns 5 in 1 month and 10 days. I decided since it was a nice 70+ degrees on this fabulous Feb 23, 2012 day that we would take a go at the bike for the first time. I got a glimpse of how much me and him are alike (SCARY)!! He let me know that he can ride his bike inside really good, but he couldn't do it outside. I know of course that this is the fear in him talking. The part of being unsure if you can do it, scared to fail, and scared of the unknown. He tried to take the coupe car instead, but that didn't work. Then, I got all the "what if's". What if I fall, what if I hurt myself, what if I can't stop. I also got the I just can't do it. I looked at him and told him that I can understand you are scared to ride your bike, but you have to face your fears. You have to try even if you are scared. What an important lesson to learn. Fear is what holds so many of us back in life, and if I can get my kids to understand that you have to move forward regardless of fear then I have accomplished something amazing. I also looked at him and said, "what if you get on that bike and you do great, and you ride fast, and you don't fall off." You will never know unless you try. He tried although he was scared and he conquered the bike with training wheels. How amazing for him. I am so proud. I am so blessed to get to teach my children these things and watch them learn new things. I am so thankful I can teach him not to let his fears run his choices in life like they did mine. Max you are amazing and Mommy is so proud of you for riding your bike today. On a side note he is the one that also got the perfect melancholy and sanguine gene from me. He had to know what the purpose for everything on that bike was. He asked a lot of questions. He is just like me!!!

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud

This is what happens when sprinkler time gets put to close to the
dirt. These 2 love to play in the mud. They both had mud ALL over them. What a joy to watch them get dirty. I will never understand boys and mud, but they love it. I do believe daddy would have joined in the fun if there wasn't yard work to do... Master of Expressions fell face first in the mud, and Mr. Bright Eyes got mud kicked in his face. Needless to say they had a good, long, soapy bath that night.

This is what happens when mommy said, "JUMP"!!!

Life Lessons!!!

We stopped by the bank today and I decided to let Max on the secret of the suckers... I have yet to tell him that banks have them due to the fear of him asking every time we stop.. LOL.. He asked for a red or maybe an orange one. I told him that we don't ask for a specific kind, we should just be happy that we are getting one at all. I viewed this as an opportunity to show him a different side of praying.. We pray before bed, and before we eat, and at church, but he has yet to see the need for praying when you want something.. So I proceeded to tell him lets ask God if he will bless you with a red or orange sucker. We did, and then we waited. The teller was nice enough to give us 2 suckers. A cherry (red), although he really likes strawberry - but I don't think he knows the difference and he got a surprise/mysterious sucker with the purple wrapping and the yellow question mark. :) I said, "look Max, you got a red one". Ha, little did I know that when he said red or orange he really meant ORANGE.. Then the fit came.. I just decided I would eat the mystery sucker since they are my favorite and told him he just couldn't have one if he was going to throw a fit and be ungrateful. I proceed to open my mystery sucker and low and behold it is ORANGE!!.. Thank you Jesus for opening another learning opportunity on our way to Isaac's 15 mo. appointment.. Once I calmed down Max I explained to him that when someone is nice enough to give us something for free (insert illustration of us buying cars at the store) then we just tell them Thank You, take the item, and if we don't like it then we don't have to eat it, but we NEVER throw a fit or ask for a different kind. I think he got that when I ran over the scenario at the Dr's office.. If the lady gives you a sucker at the Dr. and you don't like the color what do you do? He said in a grumpy tone, "Say Thank You". Do you throw a fit? He said, "no"... Lesson learned - I hope!!! Then 15 minutes into the drive I remembered that we prayed for a red or an orange sucker and we got both.. Now it is time to teach him that we need to thank God for answering our prayers.. We did.. 3 lessons in 30 minutes was priceless.. I enjoy teaching them day to day.. I pray that these lessons stick even though he can throw a better fit than most kids I know.. :)

good cars vs evil cars

We let our oldest play in his room before bedtime.. Kind of his quite time to unwind I guess.. Probably a no no in every bedtime book any parent has ever read, but o-well.. :) The other night I went in after the timer had gone off to help him pick up his cars - which are strategically lined up on his bed. When I told him to start putting them in his spider man bag, he told me that only the good guys could go in there. I'm glad I stopped myself from being the mom who is just ready for bedtime and ready to get the mess cleaned up, because the reason behind his madness was quite entertaining. When I asked him why the bad guys couldn't be put with his good guys, he told me, "because the bad guys will shoot the good guys and the bag will catch on fire and burn up.".... Hmmmm??? I guess that makes sense.. So he put the good guys away and I carried his bag into the living room and got his old Easter basket for the bad guys. Once the bad guys were in the basket I was told to put them on his desk.. I am just assuming he wanted to keep an eye on them of course.. This kiddo makes me giggle everyday.. I absolutely love his reasoning for everything.. Again, I am so happy I asked why!!!!!

That picture is

of him sleeping with his monster trucks lined up in a row. He went on a monster truck kick for about 2 weeks after attending Monster Jam... :)

Darn Peanuts!!!

Well today is the allergy appointment day.. Mommy is really not looking forward to it. I have no motivation to even get ready to leave. I'm just praying that he gets the minimum amount of needle sticks as possible. Look at his face.. He is so sweet all the time.. He gives great kisses and hugs. He smiles constantly.. I'm just praying for an easy day!!!!