Tell Me About My Daddy...

Saturday morning...no early morning plans. Mommy is NOT a morning person, so we slept in.  I did set my alarm so the sleeping in was not out of control!  After my alarm went off and I pushed snooze, I just had dozed back off when I felt Tye snuggling up next to me.  I opened my eyes and he was looking at me.

Mom, did my dad like to snuggle?

Thus began a long conversation about Daddy.  What did he like to eat?  Did he read books?  And watch t.v.? Did he go hunting? (no)  What did he do when he was my age?  Did he like to play with me?  Did he have a dog? (Yes, Freck)  Was he in kindergarten once?  Did he like school?  And what about football, did he like football?  And baseball? And basketball, because I love basketball? (yes, I did tell him that Grandma let Daddy skip school to watch March madness)...Did he like dinosaurs?  And what about pizza?  Did he like cookies?

It was really a beautiful conversation.  I kept it light-hearted, and saved the tears for when I climbed in the shower and thought to myself that I have quite a responsibility on my hands to make sure Tye knows who Brian was.  It is very overwhelming.  I am proud to be able to tell him about Brian, but I long for him to know these things firsthand, not from me.

X-Rated Thanksgiving?

Tye crawled in bed the other night and said...I love school.  I hugged him and said...I know you do.  He continued...we really have been learning a lot about naked Americans. We even learned a naked American dance. (I am gasping by now). Did you learn about naked Americans when you were in kindergarten?

No.I.did.not.

Tee Hee...

Wonder if the naked Americans played with the penguins my nephew thought were at the first Thanksgiving!

I have always told the kids' teachers...I will only believe 1/2 of what my kid comes home and tells me about school if you only believe 1/2 of what he comes to school and tells you about us.

Quick Update

Sorry it has been so long...I blinked and October was over, and bam...past halfway through November.

Rachel switched straight from volleyball to basketball.  She and I were just chatting last night that her bball season will be over already in 2 more weeks.  Wow!  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching her play, and I'm working on not yelling from the crowd!  She really enjoys sports, and plans to play both in high school.  I do think she will really enjoy a little break and the chance to go straight home after school when the season is over.  Track doesn't start until March, but the way the year is going, it will be here before we know it.

Amberlea is doing well in school.  She is a happy kid, and I enjoy her laughter and sense of humor.  Last night we made 4 batches of meatloaf.  We washed our hands real well, then use them to mix the hamburger and egg.  The hamburger had been thawing in the fridge, and it was still very cold.  She bet me that she could keep her hands in longer than me.  It was actually pretty funny, and we did a lot of giggling.  We were both saved from losing the bet by the phone ringing.  I love being crazy with my kids.

Tye went hunting with Grandpa this weekend.  He had lots of fun, and we have watched the bow hunter video he brought home about 5x.  He even was up at 4:30 to go hunting, but fell asleep in the deer stand!  He told Grandma that they didn't see any deer, raccoons or bears.  Grandma was happy to hear that no bears were spotted!  Tye was sad to come home, but we'll be back in a few weeks for Thanksgiving.

I keep super busy with school and home.  I have tried to take some time for myself and read.  It is something I can enjoy for myself, instead of cleaning and doing laundry all the time.  I would like to start working out again, and hopefully that will come over the holidays.

Hope this finds you all doing well.

Daddy Kisses from Tye

I am in the office working on yet another thing for school.  Tye came in with a blue tube of medicated blistex and asked me if it was Daddy's.  He found it in Rachel's bathroom. It caught me off guard.  Brian used this kind of chapstick from the moment I met him.  I remember him putting it on during our first date, and him commenting that he always had chapped lips.  I remember how many times I would cringe when I figured out that a tube of that blistex had gone through the dryer and I now had to treat all the clothes with shout to get out the oil stains!  Before I could respond, he pulled off the lid and started putting some on. Then he kissed me great big on the cheek., and the smell came over me and nearly stopped my breathing.  I remembered how soft his lips were on mine, how good it felt to have him close to me, to kiss me.  I remembered how he would have several tubes in different places.  And I remember how hard it has been to once in a while find those tubes where I least expect it.  Like once I reached in my purse for a pen and grabbed the blistex.  I didn't even know where it had come from!

Tye has now kissed me like 5 times, and so I have a clear coat of blistex on my right cheek that smells just like Brian.

I had forgotten.  And now I remember.

Heskimos and more!

Tonight we were out grabbing a bite to eat. It was all four of us, which has been rare lately with our crazy schedule of activities! Tye decided he wanted to play a game.

Tye: I will sound out the animal and you guess.

Girls: Ok!

Tye: K-K (as in the hard C sound). They guessed. Then he whispers and asks what sound the O makes in cow. So he sounds it out and adds on the OW sound.

Rachel: COW! (she was doing a great job of playing along)

Tye: You guessed it! Now it is your turn.

So she did one and he guessed. Then it was his turn again.

And he starts...H-H-H.

She guesses H.

He continues. He gives the short i sound, like in the word IT.

She guesses I.

Next...G-G-G.

She and I look at each other, a bit perplexed.

She guesses G. Yep.

So then she asks him, is this an animal?

Tye: No, it isn't an animal. L-L-L.

L? she asks. Yep.

Now OOOO.

She and I stare at each other. Amberlea kind of cocks her head in confusion.

Rachel: Um, HIGLOO?

Tye: Yep! Good job, you got it...higloo! You know, a higloo?

Rachel: Ok, but it is igloo, not higloo. Eskimos live in igloos, not higloos.

Tye just giggled and was quite surprised to learn this new bit of information. We were all very excited about his ability to sound things out like that, regardless.

Go Falcons!

Today was Rachel's first volleyball game. We made the trek to South Holt, and they won! It was so much fun watching her play. Rachel got a few good digs and several good serves. I could tell she was nervous, even if she won't admit it!

A Few Laughs

On the way to Bethany to pick up Tye and go out for dinner with Phillip and Denise...

Amberlea: Camero's? What is Camero's?

Me: It's like a steak house.

Amberlea: Ooo, steak! I love ribs, pork and steak. I'm a ribs, pork and steak alcoholic!

Now that was just plain funny! I said, you mean you are a steak-aholic. Oh, that's what she meant!

I had the chance this weekend to spend time with Rachel and Amberlea, just us girls. We watched My Girl. The girls had never seen it. Despite the fact that before I ever saw it back in high school, my little sister told me that the boy dies, so the whole thing was ruined...I still cry every.single.time! The worst part is when Veda runs into the casket and is telling people that Thomas J. is missing his glasses. We got a good cry and talked about how difficult it would be to lose a friend.

I forgot one of the funniest lines of the movie, when Veda realizes she has started her period. Shelly and Veda go upstairs and have a "talk", and Veda says...my mom and dad did that?! But the line that had us laughing our heads off...Thomas J. comes to the door and asks if she wants to go swimming. She shoves him and says...NO! And don't come back for 5-7 days! Amberlea didn't get it, but it seemed to slip by her ok for now!

We are off and running in yet another busy week. Throw youth group in there, and we've got a duke's mixture of activities that keep us hopping! And the homework, oh my! Rachel has really had to adjust to the homework load, and I am thankful that she had already developed good study habits.

Tye's teacher stopped me today to let me know that he had a great day! Again, I am thankful, and I appreciate her helping him work on things. I know that a few good days (we're up to about 5 decent days in a row) doesn't mean we don't have things to work on, but I certainly don't feel as frustrated as I did during the first week of school.

Tonight at dinner, I asked the kids how their day went. Before anyone could answer, Tye said...no, we are going to do it this way.

Tye: You need to say to me...Hey, Tye, what do you say, what did you do in puters (computers) today?

The girls and I repeated, and he told us he typed. Then he preceded to sing the same things to the girls...Hey, Amberlea, what do you say...and then on to Rachel. He had to think of something else because Rachel didn't have "puters" today! It was fun and the girls got a good laugh.

Tye is big into homework. Hearing Rachel talk about hers, he thinks he's got to get all his done. He made a list of words that rhyme with cat. I would just say bat, and he would sound it out and write it. He got cat, bat, sat, rat, pat, mat and hat. I was pretty impressed. Amberlea was trying to help him and said black...what? I said...black doesn't rhyme with cat. She just giggled and said, oh! Then he did dog and log, then tree and bee. He was entirely too busy to do much of anything besides all that homework tonight! I'm so happy to see him interested in academics, instead of just farting and burping and playing on the playground!