Day of Birth

Yesterday we celebrated Daniels day of birth. Daniel isnt one who likes a whole lot of attention, so a few of his coworkers thought it would be funny to make his birthday a big deal. They got a huge sombrero with a "its my birthday" button and made him wear it. Boy did he love that. Then they had a little potluck, fiesta style, for lunch. They decorated and had party favors and the works. It was so very thoughtful of them, and even though Daniel wasnt too thrilled with the sombrero, he/we appreciated them helping make part of his work day much more entertaining than it otherwise would have been.
I unfortunately was chasing my kids around his office, so i didnt get pictures, and then at home when we celebrated with the kids, Ben was outta control so I didnt get any of that celebration either. Thats life i guess.
SO my youngest brother and his wife have been expecting their first baby, and Daniel and I thought it would be pretty cool if they ended up having her on Daniels birthday. In our extended "Hall" family we have several shared birthdays, Its bound to happen when there are about a zillion of us, but when we hadnt heard anything when we headed up to bed we just figured it wasnt gonna happen. And it didnt, but she was born in the wee hours of the morning, so we were very very excited to hear their good news. And chances are pretty good that we will be remembering her birthday every year.

Trouble with boys

Yet another picture of evidence of the destruction at the hands of Ben. What makes this little mess even more memorable is that Ben knows if he is gonna make a mess he has to do it when I am not in the room, otherwise I spoil his plans, so he did, but his daddy happened to be in the kitchen as well, but did daddy put a stop to his mess making fun? Nope. He was too busy playing games. Both of them are on my naughty list.

Then James comes in acting all suspicious and not showing me his hands, so when I finally get him to show me-



..He tells me,"ME a spy kid!" Right. Makes perfect sense now.

And finally, Kylie is desperate for a sister- so much so that she is substituting her brothers. Lovely.


I have come to the conclusion, we are all a bunch of psychos.

Team Territorial

Daniels business affiliate hosted a walk for muscular dystrophy today, so team "territorial mortgage" jumped on board, wearing our matching shirts and we walked the walk. Well kinda. Kylie and Tyler road their bikes, with training wheels. Ben and James rode their trikes, half way, then Ben gave up and threw himself on the ground, so Daniel had to carry his bike in one arm and Ben in the other. We just LOVE the 2 year old stage.(that was sarcastic!)
After the walk they gave everyone metals, and that made the kiddies think we "won" the race, all though it wasnt a race and we were the very last ones slowly walking in, a good 10 minutes after everyone else.
Daniels team has undergone some, uh, "interesting" changes this past month, but with change comes new opportunites and we are loving the new team. One of the new loan officers could be Celine Dions twin, although Daniel doesnt happen to agree. SHE TOTALLY COULD BE!
Anyway we had a great time walking for a great cause, and were with great people. And guess what added to the greatness-- the weather! This week has been my kinda mid-February weather. Close to 80 degrees, blue skies, sunshine, light breezes. Heaven!

Biker gang

Our 2 oldest got bikes for Christmas 2 years ago, and after they both crashed once-(with training wheels) they decided they didnt want to try biking again.... until I went on and on and on about how their friends all love riding their bikes- without training wheels, and that they should give it another go. So Daniel pumped up their tires and they rode up and down the street... with training wheels. Our neighbors even joined in the biking fun.

I told Daniel it was time for them to learn without the wheels, so we took them off. Neither kid would try it. They were so stubborn. Like mules. I bribed and pleaded and tried every trick in the book, but they wouldn't touch the bike unless it had those blasted training wheels on. James and Ben brought out their trikes and had a blast riding in the road, until they discovered a neighbors dog locked up in their gate.

Then they decided to just go sit and talk to the dog for a good 20 minutes. Weirdos. They were really cute though and when they got back on their "bikes" they gave each other some "fives" and "stones."

So Kylie and Tyler are terrified to try new things- like the bikes, and both tend to be extremely shy. James and Ben are both rather friendly and are both dare devils. I think Ky and Ty must have taken all the cautious genetics and left the younger boys without an ounce of it. Ben is training to be the next evil kinevil, without the ring of fire, motorcycle and the ramp...

private

If I were to ask what would be the 5 top reasons your kids principal calls you, what would those be? If  I said the kid is a kindergartner would that list change? And if I said that kid is also of the male gender, would that impact your list as well? 

Today I got a message from my male kindergartners principal. She said, "Ms Jackson, there was an incident at school that I need to talk with you about." So I call back, but as it so happens she was in a meeting. So I wait for a return call. 10 minutes later the school calls back saying the principal had a drs appt, so she will call back later. That was a pretty mean trick in my opinion .

So I actually googled reasons why a principal would call a kindergartners parent. Unfortunately there wasnt much research on the topic.

I asked Tyler in a non threatening way what happened at school, if anyone teased him or made him upset and if he decided to seek his revenge by whacking someone on the head, or did he take something that didnt belong to him, or did he speak out of turn. He looked really worried but he couldnt think of anything. So I waited and waited and sent many a text to Daniel throwing out reasons why his principal was calling me.

This is my top 5 list:

1: He pulled the fire alarm. again

2: He stabbed a kid with his pencil. again

3: He peed on the school playground. (thankfully, we havent been called on that one yet)

4: He stole something. (thankfully we havent had this problem yet either)

5: He told his teacher he hated him. (I could see this one happening cuz he tells me he hates me when hes really mad at me)

Daniel list includes:

1: He peed on the teachers desk

2:  He took his pants off

3: He went running around the classroom uncontrollably

Well after much anxiety and 2 hours later, I talk with this principal. The "incident" as it so happens, was Tyler decided to "show his privates" to another kid. Why? I have no idea. Nor did she. All she knows is that one of the students came up to Tylers teacher and said just that. 

So heres the thing, I know this kind of thing happens. He is a kindergartner. And a boy. And boys are just weird. But geez- why does it seem like its always MY kid that is the only one that does these kinda things?

Sass

So every morning before Kylie leaves for school, I say, ""Bye honey. Make good choices!" If you recall it is from the movie Freaky Friday. It drives Kylie bonkers, which makes me laugh, so I keep doing it. I guess thats mean of me, but i already know I am a mean mommy as my kids like to tell me that anytime they dont get their way. Anyway today I picked her up from school to take her to piano lessons and asked her if she did indeed make good choices. My little sassafras told me that if I dare say "bye honey, make good choices!" to her again, she will "duct-tape (my) mouth shut!" My jaw dropped. Where did this sassy little thing come from? And where in the world did she come up with a comment like that? Geez- if she is like this now, I am really worried about her teenage years. Perhaps I should rethink my desire to have a baby girl.

In other news, we have locked up our fridge and pantry from the hyperactive Bennie-boy. Unfortunately he has broken through 4 different locks on the fridge, and we arent quite sure what to try next. The pantry however is holding up nicely. Being the mean mommy that I am, I had to take a few pictures of Bens reaction when he went to try the fridge the first time. Too bad that obstacle didnt last very long. 

Here he is pulling with all his might!

 

Someone is getting upset!

  

When the meltdown doesnt work, he turns to his daddy and says, "open!"

 

I am such a mean mom!