It is a good thing that I love my kids because they are a lot of work! All I wanted after this LONG week was a quiet time for me to shave my legs and paint my toenails. Well, if 3 kids coming from 3 different rooms in the house into MY room at the precise moment I opened my nail polish, screaming at the top of their lungs, running like mad-men all over creation so that my toes ended up looking like this...
...then I guess I got my wish. Seriously folks, I'm not asking for much here, just 15-minutes by myself. (sigh...) It's not like I want to part the red sea, turn water into wine, or raise someone from the dead. 15-minutes...and smooth legs...and painted toes...that's all. Not much really in the grand scheme of things.
Don't let these angelic faces fool you...they are little terrors!
I saw the idea first on Pinterest and thought that this would be something my kids would love. Then our cousin Robyn tried it with her kids with much success. So, it was time...time to bring out the glow sticks and throw them in the tub with the kids. I was not disappointed. The kids LOVED it!
Tanner: Hey Riley, let's play a guessing game.
Riley: Okay
Tanner: Okay, I'm thinking of a word that starts with "Hell"
Tonight right after family scripture and prayer
Tanner: Hey mom, guess what I can do?
Mom: What?
Tanner: (winks...)
Mom: Awesome!
Tanner: Hey mom, guess what else I can do?
Mom: What?
Tanner: I can talk with my eyes closed.
(closes eyes really tight)..."hey mom."
Mom: Wow bud! You are one talented kiddo!
Riley even has gotten in on the Tannerism bandwagon. Uncle Seanny drove out from Colorado to spend Christmas with us. He hasn't seen the boys a whole bunch, and this is the conversation that ensued. I walked in just in time to hear it, so I don't really know how it actually started.
Uncle Sean: Hey, you don't even know who I am!
Riley: Oh yeah? Then how do I know you live in a barn?
Mom: bahahahahahahah!
We tried so hard to get a decent picture of the 5 of us all dolled up for Christmas Sunday...but, as typically happens in the Register House, it just did not work out. We did get a cute one of Ava and me though. So, merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy our "family" photo.
Mom: Do you guys want to go to McDonalds for lunch?
Riley: si, si, si, si, si, si, si, ......
Tanner: Riley, stop saying that! I can't hear mom!
Riley: (silence.....)
Tanner: Riley, STOP SAYING IT IN YOUR HEAD!
Riley: (silence....)
Tanner: Riley! I can still hear you!
Riley: (silence....)
Tanner: Mom! Make him stop!
Mom: Tanner, Riley can say things in his mind.
Tanner: No! I can still hear him
Riley: (silence....)
Last night while trying to go to bed:
Mom: Tanner, if you get out of your bed again you are going to be in big trouble!
Tanner: Mom! My bed is too warm and comfortable. I can't go to sleep.
Riley surprised us a few weeks ago by bringing home a note from his teacher saying he was going to be a contestant in the school spelling bee. Todd and I had just watched the documentary "Spellbound" and had to laugh. We decided we were going to have to channel our inner Indian to train him in the art of spelling bees. It is an art after all.
There were 2 children from each class grades 1-3 who competed and made it to the "finals". I know there were 6 first graders and a total of 14 children. The spellers were sitting on the stage with their numbers while the other children in grades 1-3 filed in to watch. Riley was LOVING life! That child has some performer in him for sure. He was waving at everyone, giving double thumbs up, and just plain looking "cool". You could tell that he felt totally awesome.
I was a bit nervous about how the stress of this would affect Riley. Todd and I kept telling him that it was okay if he didn't win, that we were proud of him no matter what. Finally he said, "Mom. It isn't about winning. It's just about doing your best." I'm pretty sure that I was more nervous than Riley was. No, I'm definitely sure that I was more nervous. Truthfully, I felt like I was going to lose my breakfast. I just kept praying that he would at least get ONE word right. I needn't have worried. Riley was calm, cool and collected. Totally in his element.
In the above video the child in front of Riley was asked to spell the word "chef". You'll notice Riley's expression when he heard the word...that was the first word I ever asked him how to spell when we started practicing...and he spelled it "sheff". (Isn't the English language totally strange?!?!) That was a word that I always asked him just at random times. When his friend spelled it correctly, he knew it.
We are so proud of Riley. What a smart, wonderful boy he is. We are so blessed to have him in our family. Riley made it to round nine when he missed the word "shuffle". He spelled it "shuflle". When I picked him up after school, the first thing he said was, "Mom, I knew it was shuffle, but for some reason I said it wrong." He wasn't mad though. He was very proud of his accomplishment.
This is Riley and his fellow spelling bee classmate, Taelyn. They were in kindergarten together as well and are great friends. It was a lot of fun for him to be able to do this with her.
Riley says he is going to marry Anneka when he is older. Anneka says the same thing. They have been saying this for the past 3-years...and with no prompting from any of their parents. If they really do get married, this picture is going in a frame at their reception!
Riley turned 7 one month ago, and I need to blog about it. It is actually kind of a miraculous story. I had been thinking a lot about what we should do for his party and who we should invite. I really wanted to be able to invite his whole first grade class, plus some of his friends from church. Well, that is A LOT of children! If you are going to have a party THAT big, then there is only one place to go: Monkey Bizness. The problem is, it is expensive.
I prayed a lot about it and really felt like this was the right choice. So, I told Todd my big plans. He pretty much laughed and said no. I told him to pray about it too and he would get the same answer I got. Well, wouldn't you know it, I looked on facebook one day and saw that Monkey Bizness was doing a Halloween photo contest and the person with the most "likes" and comments would win a FREE party. Long story short, we won! It was close...thanks to a good friend of ours who made 7-comments in a row, we almost didn't win. It was a miracle! Riley was getting his party. He was so excited.
We had THIRTY kids come to his party and it was fun! Riley felt like a rock star. All the kids had a great time. Mission accomplished.
It was Tanner's turn to say the prayer and I was helping him.
Mom: ..."We're thankful for our family."
Tanner: "We're thankful for our family"
Mom: "Please help us to be kind to each other"
Tanner: (looks up and whispers) "No. I don't want to do that. Let's skip that page."
Mom: ?!?!?!?
