Big Boy Haircut!!

A Knock at the Door!

Have you ever had a knock at the door wake you up out of a sound sleep?  It is something that has happened to us twice now in our new old house.  We live in the middle of KNOW WHERE and a knock at the door is very rare.  We have actually only had it happen 3 times, two of which were in the middle of the night.  Back in April the fire department walked in at 3:00 am thinking someone had called an ambulance.  Initially I was more frantic they would wake up Zach since it was the night before the TAKS test.  Then last night, well this morning, I heard a knock which I ignored thinking I was dreaming.  The knock turned into a bang and I looked out the window to see a police car with the lights on in the driveway.  If you know my traffic history in the last few weeks, my first thought was, “What did I do I was asleep?”!!!  Dave went to the door and the officer explained there had been an accident on the east end of the property and a car went into the fence and knocked part of it down.  He was notifying us in case there was cattle on the property.  Luckily the cattle are in a different pasture!  Dave gave him directions to get to the owner’s home and we all went back to bed.  So much for the peacefulness of country living!

There was ANOTHER knock this morning.  I looked out and immediately wondered who our dogs had terrorized now.  I was pleasantly surprised with a guy with a cookie bouquet!  It was for Tyler from his school.  Wednesday I took him to the doctor because I thought he had a spider bite that was getting infected.  It was red and very painful.  During our visit I found out he had MRSA.  It is a type of staph infection that is common in the community right now.  The doctor said it is impossible to know where he got it, but of course I have tried to figure it out!  He is doing fine and the medicine is working great and the sore on his leg is starting to heal. 

We have been blessed by so many people who have helped with Tyler.  I knew I loved his teacher and the director at Holy Family, but today I realized how much they love their kids!  Here are a few picture of how much he enjoyed his surprise!

BOYS, BOYS, BOYS!!!

We had all of the Madison cousins over for a 2 night sleep over last week.  No, I haven’t lost my mind I just thought I’d get them all together since I didn’t have to work.  It was lots of fun but 1000 sq. ft. is not enough for 5 boys!

BRACES!!!

Today Zach got braces, they make him look so old!  Poor guy, he also got an expander so he cannot talk!  He is finishing up with speech and his speech was sounding so much better and now he has a mouth full of metal to deal with.  Oh, the joys of Middle School!  He was nervous before the appointment and thought he would test out his independence by notifying me he wasn’t going this morning, but obviously that tactic didn’t work.  He has about 6 months with the expander if he cooperates and then they will put the bottom brackets on.   It’s been a day of ice cream and soft things, but he did manage to get a cheeseburger down by cutting it up.  He is growing up so fast!  Now if Dave and I could just get the nerve to have “THE TALK”!!!!

Zane at Football camp with Cowboys!

Zane went to football camp with many NFL players.  Deon Sanders and Emmit Smith were there along with many other players, but I don’t know who they were!  He had a great time, even having to run drills against Deon’s daughter Bossy!  Dave and I are into his Deon’s reality show and that’s what they call her, I don’t even know her real name!  Deon was Zane’s coach during scrimmages and some drills, he called him “Big-man”.

Zach’s baseball All-Star team makes state!

Zach’s team got 2nd in the All-Star tournament.  They were disappointed in the loss since they were ahead most of the game.  They were beat by Prosper too!  They qualified for the state tournament but don’t have enough players who can go to the state tournament, so our season is over.  We knew that going into the tournament.  Here are a few pics, not very good ones, we were not allowed to take pics during the game!       

Take me out to the Ballgame!

Anyone who knows us knows we love baseball!  Dave and I met 21 years ago at a Rangers game and have always loved baseball.  Our boys had no choice but to start playing when they were 4 with such over the top parents, but luckily they enjoy the game. 

Tyler has been a trooper and we has watched more baseball than anyone his age I am sure.  He even points out baseball fields as we drive down the road.  He now recognizes them when he sees the lights.  He is a little confused between football and baseball fields when he sees the lights, but he will get it soon…Football season is right around the corner.

 

 

Did someone say Skittles?

A worn out Panther!

VA 8 year olds take 3rd

It

 

Down and ready!

Zane’s team played in the All-Star tournament and got 3rd place.  They were beat out by Prosper, Tanner’s team!  The boys had a great time and I think the VA parents are quietly thankful we didn’t qualify for the state tournament.

Who could resist this face?

Compassion

It is important to me to teach kids to be compassionate, but it is so hard to explain that.  To teach them to think of others feelings before they act, to treat others the way they want to be treated.  I teach it at school over and over.  I teach it at home over and over and over and over!  Are they getting it, do they hear me?  Am I being a good model of a compassionate person?  The boys act like they hate eachother some days!  I think there are some days that go by that they don’t say a nice thing to eachother!

When Tyler came to live with us I knew he had so much to offer to our lives. I knew we had so much that he needed, but also knew he would add to our lives.  Today I noticed the compassion he has brought out in the boys!  They get it, they were listening!  It became obvious to me today as we visited with Tyler’s attorney.  As caseworkers, advocates, attorney’s are in and out of the house checking on Tyler they are looking at how he has adjusted, his relationship with us, and how he is progressing.  I was so nervous in the beginning, we wanted to impress them.  Now, we are just ourselves. 

Ms. Charity said she just wanted to watch Tyler play and interact with us today.  So what better way than a baseball game in the livingroom!  This is a game that is a daily occurance between Tyler and Zane where using a badmittin racket and a nerf football Zane pitches to Tyler, he swings and hits it, or not, and runs through the kitchen and back to the livingroom.  When he gets back in the livingroom they both scream OUT or SAFE.  Add 3 more people in the livingroom watching and you have a very busy room!

Through the visit I watched how the boys interacted with Tyler.  They go out of there way to make him giggle, hug him, help teach him new things.  They are so sweet to him.  I started thinking back over the last few weeks and thought of time after time when they nurtured him.  One morning I took Tyler to the doctor and Zane went.  I went to the front to check in and Zane took Tyler by the hand and said, “Come on Tyler let’s go play with these blocks.”   The mom in front of me said, “How far apart are they?”  I said, “5 years”  She continued, “That was so sweet, mine would never treat eachother so well.”  I didn’t say anything for a minute, but didn’t want her to feel so bad about her own kids and I explained they were cousins. I went on to say that wouldn’t have happened with his brother!

Another time was on Zane’s last day of school I took off a half a day because he got out early.  We were going to spend the day together, just us.  We planned on going to a movie and on our way Zane asked if we could go get Tyler.  I said, yes but we don’t have to we can just go if you want.  He said, “No I would really like Tyler to go to, I bet he has never been to a movie.”  Another time after Tyler had been in timeout, Zane said,”Do you need a hug?”

Today we went to Tyler’s first play therapy appointment.  I had to talk to the therapist first so Zach stayed in the waiting room with him.  Before going back in I saw Zach sitting with Tyler on his lap reading to him.   Zach is so nurturing to him.  He is always hugging him and telling him how special he is.  When he goes to a friends house he calls and asks how Tyler is doing.

They get it…