Dempsisms

Dempsey has been using a random British accent to refer to me as “Mom-me”. It’s hilarious. I have no idea where the heck it came from but I like it.

Demps is so super weirded out by guys. She refused to ask the guy cashier at Ace if she could have a sucker, but no problem with the lady cashier. Today at swim lessons the instructors were lining up to call out their class. One dude out of five instructors. Demps knew she was Alligators. I knew she was Alligators. And I hoped that dude wasn’t alligators. But sure enough, all the other animals got called and finally he said, “alligators.” I looked down and boom waterworks from Demps. “I don’t want a guy!!!!” Panic mode. I asked the Seal lady if she could join, she said no talk to the manager. Luckily the manager was a sweet gal who looked at Demps and said “would you get in the water for your lesson if I went with you?” Demps immediately said yes and joined her. The manager stayed for awhile and then left and Demps finished out alright. I tried to talk to her about it. Dads a guy I said. She replied, “but he isn’t a teacher.” I guess that matters.

 I’ll bring a drink for next week;)

Love,

Momma

8

You see the 4x2...I did that for AJ.  He loves his math:)

This 8 year old.  When I looked through the photos I was instantly reminded about how handsome he is.  So serious.  Thoughtful.  In thought.  This year has been such a growing year (literally and figuratively) for him.  He has tried new things, tested out his limits by leaving the family nest, and persevered!  

Today AJ had a guy hangout with some fellow football players.  When I picked up the group of 3 guys they were all hollering about what they did for the past few hours.  "And then we played a game at Longmont High" "And we won" "And I scored every single touchdown for my team."  etc, etc.  When I heard that last line, I instantly knew which team AJ was on.  He was on that guy's team.  The guy who scored all the touchdowns and he scored none.  Not because he couldn't, but I think because he didn't have to.  It's funny because AJ reminds us (Russell and I) of us when we were younger.  I remember in my earlier years, and even on my more competitive teams I never felt compelled to score.  In fact, I actively resisted scoring.  I would hide behind a defender, go a bit slower around a pick.  I did not have that desire to score, ever really, it just wasn't necessary for me.  AJ does not have the umph to go after the ball, yet he shows up.  He works hard.  He loves to be a part of a team.  And when I sometimes wish he wanted to be a ball hog, I realize at the end of the day I love how AJ is.  He is conscientious, he is okay sitting back and analyzing how things are versus getting in there and demanding change happen.  The more I think about it, that is how I operated and although it took me out of the game in my early years it certainly helped me get in the game in my later years (the game of life!) 

 AJ will be our kid that we see ourselves in...and that will cause us to examine the things we loved about ourselves and the things that caused us to struggle.  It will challenge us to reflect on the way we parent, and examine before we respond to make sure we are responding as AJ's parents and not as our wishes for our former selves.  

This picture is AJ with his 1st and 2nd grade teacher.  This is who AJ is...a guy that connects with adults and also is the best guy to work with the younger kids.  He cares and loves and is too darn smart for his own good-often using that to drive his younger brother crazy ("what mom....I didn't do anything???"

This dude is an eating machine who spent one dinner last week asking all of us if we were done eating our own food because he needed more food.  I'm proud of his first concert when he conquered his fear of getting on stage, I'm proud that he played center all season in football and caught his first football touchdown, I'm proud that he loved his birthday party and had so many great buddies there, I'm proud that he loves the river just as much as me, I'm proud that he embraced cubscouts and even without winning any prizes enjoy himself at the pinewood derby, I'm proud that he got his first piece of artwork in the District Art Show, I'm proud that he tried a baseball camp and really found that he loved this sport, and I'm proud that he is my first born son and is really helping me out in this whole parenting thing.

Love you monkey dog,
Momma

Summer Edition 4

Funny how interesting it can be going over to get the oil change.  "Mom!!! Look they are dumping our oil!"

We rarely our visitors in our hometown.  We seem to be always doing something or somewhere else!  We had the chance to get to Kanemoto Pool.  It's a small pool where everyone has something they love.  I bribed Dempsey to go down the tiny waterslide here.  She did, and then proceeded to do it 30 more times.  AJ is rocking at swimming and Ryker is inches close to being fully comfortable in the water.

Really thankful for the summertime with these cool kids.

Ok! So Dempsey wanted to take a dance class. I knew she would be apprehensive about it, so we enlisted her bestie to come with.  Bestie Ella is very social and a pro at the dance classes already!  This is minutes before we entered and Dempsey started to get super duper sad and not want me to go.  Luckily the awesome dance teacher knew this routine, and took her over somewhere so we could scoot out.  We went and had a boys birthday lunch for AJ and returned for the recital 2 hours later. 

This is Dempsey directly after the recital when the teacher said she'd love to give out high fives or hugs.  Dempsey ran to her and hugged her.  Oh yeah, and this was after she dominated her dance routine.  I was so impressed!  Not only did Dempsey take dance for this first time, and she was nervous, but she truly picked up on the moves.  As I videotaped the performance for Russell I wiped back tears multiple times.  I was instantly proud of her for being brave and trying this new thing out.

We celebrated their recital with UNICORN suckers.  Because duh.

That's right!  We celebrated AJ's birthday by taking the entire family to go see Jurassic World.  I spent most of the movie staring at Russell, avoiding the scary parts, and wondering what the heck are we doing scaring our little ones.  Don't call CPS on me!

Demps was learning how to use the app to see where the planets are!  This is a favorite pastime in our family!

Girl time!  Finally got to the new climbing gym this past week.  What a blast!  There are no ropes, and you go pretty high!  What a great workout!  My biceps were KILLING me.

Last, but not least!  This guy's birthday party:)  More on that next.

Love , Momma

Randomness from the Boys

I just went through the end of year schoolwork from the boys. I came across some beautiful things. It’s always fun to see what your boys think of themselves, their family and what they enjoy about their life.

Momma

Summertime Episode 2

We packed A TON into this week!  I was at a Tech Camp for a couple days, and Grandma and Grandpa made memories with the littles. Note to self: Can I even call them little anymore?  Starting on Thursday through Sunday we partied the heck away.  Starting off was a visit to the Denver Aquarium.  This always inspires awe and danger when we go here!  Russell is able to be inches from the subject of his number one fear, sharks.  Dempsey got to see "real mermaids."  "Mom-I can't even believe they have mermaids here.  I've never seen a mermaid before."  This led to a conversation about what "real" really means, as Ryker felt strongly that Dempsey understand that mermaids are in fact not real.  All members of the family enjoyed petting sting rays.  A first for Demps.  Russell and I fed them, a first for us.  It's funny how kids bring out my competitive side in ways I couldn't imagine....sure if Dad can feed the string rays I can.  SURE i'll pet these things that completely freak me out.  AND the visit to the aquarium was not complete until we met ASPEN.  Russell's ultimate gift for my birthday.  A small group visit to meet a SLOTH.  Holy buckets.  I was freaking out.  Notice how red my face gets.  SO cool.  We got to feed him, pet him, and OOGLE.  A.J. participated in all events, but the other kids preferred to watch.  Russell-you outdid yourself with this one.  SO cool. 

Next we headed on an epic 11 1/2 hour journey to the Ozarks to hang with the Fruhwirths!  It was so fun!  A bunch of us, in a condo, close to a sand beach, a cave, fish feeding, lots of sun, lots of food and drinks, and the boat.  OH THE boat.  We rented an awesome boat with the slide up-top.  A.J. and Demps went down it, Ryk refused.  I tried to influence him greatly, before I realized I needed to back off and let him decide.   We had a wonderful time and were insanely exhausted upon our return.  A sign of a great trip!

<3 br="" momma="">