Scout and his leg finally went back to school!
He was SO excited!
I told him that once he mastered going to the bathroom by himself, he got to go back.
It was that very day that he had the potty mastered.
Do you think he was anxious to go back?
It was exactly one week from the time he took his first steps that he walked up Miss Dianne’s driveway.
Everyone was SO excited — especially Miss Dianne who immediately took his hand and helped him in.
He dropped off his backpack, and slowly walked into the garage where all of the kids were.
And they quickly arranged for him to sit down and pick up where he had left off three months before.
Scout got a package in the mail from his cousin Samuel. It was a huge box, so Scout was super excited to see what was inside. And what we found was awesome!
It was a hand-written note from Samuel that told Scout he must have been “miserable” during his cast. And so he sent 3 Lego Bionicles that he put together himself for Scout to play with.
Scout was SO excited. He thought they were the coolest things he had ever seen. In fact, he opened the box right before church and begged to take one with him. Stupidly, I said yes.
Do you know how humiliating it is when your boy is whispering (or what he thinks is a whisper) “you must DIE or I will KILL you” while he holds this ugly monster up in the air for everyone to see. I’ll admit that he was really good in church this Sunday, but does the cost outweigh the benefit?
After he got home, he reunited with the other two, and is in love with his new Legos. Icka wanted in on the action, but Scout wasn’t hearing of it. In fact, she quickly became a lowly pawn in his whole saga. And soon after this picture she was running from the room yelling, “The monster is trying to kill me!”
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Dear Samuel,
You are the nicest cousin. Thank you for the fun toys and note. My mom thanks you for the Junior Mints! I love my new Bionicles, and can’t wait to make on myself. But my mom said to enjoy these because she is never going to buy things that try to kill my sister. I love you.
Love,
Scout
Navy has always wanted a sister.
So when Bella came down with a beautifully transformed Dash, Navy was thrilled.
I hated to tell her that fake ponytails don’t change gender!
Robby was one of our family’s favorite cousins while we grew up. He was Nathan’s age and was always nice and fun. He now lives in Utah and we haven’t seen him in years, so when we got a call that he was coming to California to visit, we made him come to Sunday dinner.
Robby came with his wife and four kids
We caught up for a while, and then we sat down and ate.
Our kids and his two boys sat at the kids table.
And this little girl had them laughing most of dinner!
We caught up and had a blast hearing about everyone and their lives. After dinner, we had a mini talent show. My mom and I are both fans of people showing off their talents without being begged, and his kids were awesome at that. His two girls sang for us — and they have incredible voices. And then his boy Eli had magic show for us.
We gathered around the table — including Vince, the neighbor who was having a blast being part of everything.
Once the magic show started, we prepared “to be amazed”! And honestly, we were! He was awesome! I think he is eight years old, and he had his tricks mastered. Apparently, he has been working at them since Christmas, and his slight of hand was perfect! It was really entertaining.
The best part was his influence on Scout…
Because even though Scout was slow at walking, he made his way upstairs and back down again with his magic show.
And his little bunny in the hat trick delivered!
After my kids were giving me a run for my money one day, I came up with what I would like to think is a brilliant idea.
Introducing…..
Scout and Navy’s “CTR Bucks” charts!
Of course I had to utilize Megan and her amazing computer skills.
So when I called her up with my idea of a dollar bill with their face and “CTR BUCKS” on it, she created masterpieces.
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After I put it all together, we had a Family Night where I presented it.
Th idea goes like this:
They both have a chart.
Each can earn CTR Bucks by Choosing The Right.
I described that normal day to day things that are already expected of them isn’t what we are going for. I want them to go the extra mile.
Obviously Scout immediately grasped the concept.
But my competitive “Sure Mama” girl is coming from behind.
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So after they earn their bucks, they can turn them in to the store.
The store has different items with different prices. We have everything from rolls of pennies (to take to The Spectrum to throw in the fountains) to Lego sets. The beauty of it is that this chart covers a whole lot of areas.
1. My kids are trying to be extra nice.
2. My kids are learning to save money for bigger items they may want more.
3. When we go somewhere, and they wants stuff, I will buy it for the store, so they can earn it.
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So far, so good. We are in the very preliminary stages. I am hoping to report back with very positive results. But for anyone who interacts with my kids — maybe you will just see the change on your own as they walk around with angelic glows.
And if they do…I am patenting my most awesome chart!
My little girl has started to really like ballet. She comes home humming all of the music, and actually tries to follow directions while at class. There is no more coming to the door to give Dash and me kisses. Possibly because I talked to her in the way to class #2 and told her to really pay attention and follow what the teacher says so that she can become the best. Something in that talk triggered that girl, and she is well on her way! Nice work sweet thing.
Nonnie did the honors!
Scout finally got his hair cut.
He looks like a boy again.
Hallelujah.
And then he hopped in the tub for some scrubbing down.
With his brother and his sister.
Three clean cut and bathed kids is a little slice of heaven to a mother.
But where is B and the Clifford touch?
She’s taken a hiatus.
But I have her number, and I am making an appointment.
I told Scout that once he knew how to go to the bathroom all by himself, he could go back to preschool. Wouldn’t you know that my overachiever was doing it by himself the very next try. Not even two days later he got his cast off, and I walked around the corner to see him tackling this big thing. I asked him if it was hard, and he said it was, butt if he wanted to go back to school, he needed to learn how. I really am in constant amazement by this guy. I have always heard the phrase that kids are resilient, but this is off the charts.
Dash already has Nonnie love.
He knows her hands, when she grabs for his.
And then he likes to take charge and hold hers back.
These two were destined to be each others Valentines.
Valentine’s Day was very exciting this year.
It was also very busy, so I woke Micah up with breakfast in bed.
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And we munched on some tasty cookies from Royal to Navy. He brought them over and asked her to be his Valentine. If she wouldn’t have said yes, I would have — just to get a hold of those delicacies.
After getting ready, we headed to ABC Prechool. It was Scout’s first day back (as an observer and to show off his legs to his buddies), and Navy had her very first preschool performance. They sang love songs for V Day, and I died over her when she walked in a circle and sang, “If you don’t walk as most people do. Some might walk away from you. But I won’t….I won’t.” She did a really good job of shaking her head no during the “I won’t” part.
Then they each passed out their Valentines to the other kids. Scout needed a bit of help, but went right along with everything like not a day had passed.
Obviously he was stoked to be back, and picked up right where he left off. And all of those sweet kids were so nice, helpful and excited to see him. It was a happy reunion.
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After the cupcakes, the kids went out back to play a bit. I was in a conversation, and someone helped him out. Keep in mind that the doctor told us it would be 2-3 weeks before he was stumbling around. So you can imagine my utter amazement when less than 24 hours after he got his cast off, I looked over to see him walk into the house by himself.
And I am not talking 3 feet — it was at least 25 feet he walked. And he wasn’t holding anything. He was trying to make it to where the class was gathering to sing their goodbye song.
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He made it, sang it with them and insisted on walking out by himself.
I was FLOORED!
Literally FLOORED.
I scrambled to get my video camera out to catch it, and luckily caught a few seconds.
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As soon as we got into the car, we called Micah to tell him.
And then we told him to come down from his office to say hello.
As he came out of the front door, we told him to stop. Then I let go of Scout’s hand, and he walked all the way to Micah. I was video taping next to my mom. We both knew Micah had to be bawling because we were both emotional.
It was one of the sweetest scenes I have ever seen.
When we got into the car, my Mom asked Scout, “Scout, how did you know you could walk?”
He said, “Because I am the boss of my own legs. And I choosed to walk.”
What a great lesson from my triumphant little boy.
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We finished the night off with Micah making dinner for all of his Valentines.
And that lucky guy has a LOT!
The salmon was amazing on this beautifully set table.
We also opened gifts from each other and Seth and Brett’s family.
And of course — B made her special little Valentine’s Day perfect!
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There was a whole lot of love flying around this year on our Valentine’s Day.
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