Toothless Unbeliever!

Robbie lost yet another tooth! He actually went to the nurse at school and she tied floss around it and yanked it out (he wouldn't let Rob do it--apparently the school nurse had more medical expertise!). While my mom was out visiting last week, she bought me another camera--yes, mine broke again! So I took a few toothless pictures to try out all the fun techniques.

Darling, toothless grin! But . . . I'm afraid my child is an unbeliever! After he got a Sacajawea coin under his pillow, he came to my room and said, "Mom, where'd you put my tooth?"
"What are you talking about?" 
He rolled his eyes. "I'm serious, Mom. Did you keep it?" He went on for a while. It's been a bit of an issue. He insists that Santa makes absolutely no sense, just like the tooth fairy. "It's totally impossible, Mom!"  I was upset to find that at school he and his friend Roman were telling people that such characters were made-up. The kids were appalled and said that that was like not believing in Jesus--to which Robbie and Roman (our sweet Pentecostal neighbor) explained that Jesus IS REAL. I don't ever lie to him or tell him there IS or ISN'T--I want him to figure it out by himself (which he seems to already have) but we make it very clear that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father ARE real. 

But that he already knows. He gave the lesson if Family Home Evening the other night. I was so proud of him since he prepared it himself! He used a picture of a boy praying from the gospel picture kit--read the principle on the back, gave a real-life experience of when his prayers were answered, and then bore his testimony. Darling, I know. But the cutest part, was at the beginning. He sat in front of the coffee table, and said that he needed a podium! :) He keeps talking about how he knows now that he has a testimony and keeps asking when fast and testimony meeting is coming--he wants to share it.  He's such a cute little missionary; he talks to his friends about Jesus, prophets, and church unabashedly all the time. Sweet boy!

Fat Booth!

It all started at nursery. Jimmy wouldn't stop crying, so his teacher, Brother King, started taking pictures of him on Fat Booth. Jimmy was cured! My mom was in town, and downloaded the app--we were up until 1am taking pictures and cracking up so bad we couldn't breathe! My poor mom was practically having an asthma attack! (I'm not going to lie, hers are by far the best, but I have to get her permission before I post them!) Anyway, it started a frenzy in our family. Johnny, Daniel, Jaron, Dad . . . we all kept sending them to each other. Daniel even did an "Elfed" music video of all of our fat faces dancing--hilarious! Aren't we gorgeous? I don't have any of Ty--to be honest, he just looked like a cute fat kid--almost too real to be funny!

Gratitude

Late May/Early June must be our annual season of trial. Our weeks are nuts anyway . . . practice, games, mutual, school (last days & parties), work parties/obligations for Rob, babysitting for friends and playgroups . . . but, in the last two weeks we've added more crazy to our list: Our air conditioning unit broke (second year in a row . . . at the same time), I broke my camera (thank you, Jimmy), I ran over Rob's cell phone and pager (right before his on-call), we found out about some health issues my little niece and nephew have, Oklahoma City tornado, Robbie had the the previous mentioned girl issue at school, my counselor moved out of our ward (so sad!), the check engine light on my car went on, throw in that I had to get a physical, Jimmy's sick, and Rob had to work 14 days straight . . . it was just one of those weeks (two in a row)!!

And yet . . . life is GREAT!!! A year ago this same time, Jimmy was in the hospital--none of us positive about his outcome. We were assured that it was most likely NOT good, so prepare. Now he's a bouncing ball of blonde curls and brilliant ocean-colored bright eyes! He's a sweet little cuddly boy, who loves to play make-believe, read books, EAT, and copy big brothers. A few years ago, I think that this week would have put me over the edge. Maybe life has matured me a little bit. I've always been amazed how I can call my parents in midst of my hectic storms and they are always calm; they can break everything down and put it in perspective while assuring me and leaving me with peace. I never understood how they could do that; I'm sure part of it is their personalities--they're just optimistic people. I think part of it is their perspective--the Gospel is central to everything they do, so the picture is much broader for them. I think part of it is that they are just my parents, so they understand what I need to hear to make everything okay. And, I think they are just seasoned with life experiences--making them my invaluable go-to experts!  Either way, I hope I can be like them. Maybe I am growing up a little bit (I didn't even have to call them since I never hit my brink!). And maybe I'm being tuned so that I can be like them for my children someday. I really don't know, but today I am just grateful.

I'm grateful I have three healthy little boys! I'm grateful school is out (well, Robbie is going to do summer school--it's like all fun electives like Sports Spectacular, Arts & Crafts, Spanish, Music . . .) and I can just enjoy all of them! I'm grateful for Rob. Next month is our 11 year anniversary. I think back on our dating days and first part of marriage--I swear I never really laughed! Our personalities just weren't the same (but how do you say NO to Mr. Gorgeous, right?). I am happy to report that we crack up everyday! I'm grateful that he works so hard too, and I have to say, he has ever given me wings to fly. He encourages me to do things for me--girl time, books, entertaining, writing, art, hobbies . . . he's never complained.

My AC is fixed (darn that freon leak again!). My car is fine (air in the gas tank when I put gas in it--no big deal!). Rob's pager was fine, just had to replace the case; his phone was totaled! Fortunately, Rob isn't someone who cares about image or convenience--I got him a $19 flip phone at Wal-Mart that he now uses (all the nurses make fun of him since their kids in elementary school have sweeter phones than Dr. Haas!) But, I can get a hold of him! All was well at my physical--my cholesterol was amazing, a complete shocker considering my diet! Thank you great genetics! And so, we are pretty much resolved. God has been good to me.

Back Off, Girls!!!

I can't begin to tell you how many love notes Robbie has gotten this year. He comes home with presents, perfumed notes, pictures . . . the girls just can't stop! After they started kissing him, I was getting a little panicked, but Robbie was a good boy and told the teacher--didn't happen again. Things got taken to a whole new level last week when a girl told  Robbie a terrible story dealing with her and him and no clothing-- NOT OKAY!!! I told the teacher and parents and all children involved were spoken to. I mean seriously, he's in KINDERGARTEN!!!

He's cute in his masculine, dark-skinned, big hair, super-nice-guy type of way. He's super smart, an AMAZING athlete (everything the kid touches turns to gold), but he's still so sweet! He's a dream guy, right? (And he sings and is sensitive to women's feelings . . . perfect!) So, I get it--I'd crush on him too, but I was shocked last week when I realized how OPEN these little girls are! I loved boys from day one, but I was NEVER up front about it--where's the fun in that? Not these girls.

I volunteered to help with Field Day. I watched from a different station as it was his turn to dribble the soccer ball and score . . . the class started chanting, "Robbie! Robbie!" Yes, I noticed they only did it for him, but whatever. But then afterward  I had lunch with him in his classroom.  One little girl at his table said, "Wow! You're really pretty!"  What a nice little girl, I thought; but the thought faded when she let the rest out. "Yeah, I think Robbie is super cute!" She'd just been kissing up! And then the avalanche began.

"No, he's handsome!"
"When Robbie's hot, he looks super hot, you know!"
"Did you know that Olivia said she has a crush on him?"
"All the girls kiss his book box when they leave the room."

The entire room erupted in confessions or back-biting as they talked about who or why they liked Robbie! The teacher had to calm all the kids down several times. Poor Robbie just sat there and pretended to be super excited about his sandwich. I leaned over and asked is friend, Roman, if it was always like this, "No, just sometimes." My poor little boy! I am seriously so frustrated that these girls think they can embarrass my son and confess their love to him . . . he's so uncomfortable with it! He doesn't even like girls yet (yes, I've asked. He seems to prefer the older ones . . . the kid LOVES babysitters! :)) Regardless, if this is just a taste of what's to come, I can tell right now, I'm not going to be the "cool" mom; I'm going to be the one who is always ticked off and annoyed by the girls coming by. I always hated those ones. How ironic.