Tyson Cut His Shirt

My two kids can be a hoot sometimes. And the more I think about this the more I laugh. Here is just an incident that happened last week that still makes me chuckle.
Tyson was working on his home work and I was helping him with a math problem, when I looked over at the sleeve of his shirt and noticed that it had three scissors cuts down it. One was about 1/2 inch and the other 2 were about 1/4 inch long. So I questioned him about it.

Mom: Tyson, what are those marks on your shirt?
Tyson: I don't know. (little stinker knew exactly what they were)
Mom: Tyson, (in a controlled voice) this will go a whole lot better for you if you will just tell me the truth.
Tyson: I cut my sleeve with scissors.
Mom: WHAT?!? (little calmer) Why on earth did you do that?
Tyson: Because my other friends were trying it so I did.
Mom: So if your other friends jump off the school building are you going to follow them?
Tyson: No!
Mom: So why did we do this?
Tyson: (classic answer) I don't know?
Mom: ARG!!!

We then had a talk about why we don't cut our clothes and that I cannot fix them and about the expense of clothing. He and I made a deal that the next shirt he wanted he was going to have to buy to understand the value of taking care of things you have. Plus I threatened to tell his dad, at which point he about had a come apart and promised not to do it again if I didn't say anything to dad. Okay, problem taken care of, back to homework.
An hour later Vaughn comes home from the hospital and what does little miss do:
Taryn: (running towards her dad) DAD, DAD, DAD guess what Tyson did. He cut the sleeve of his shirt.
At this point in time Tyson is trying, with no avail, to stop Taryn from tattling to her dad about what he did and I am trying to do the same. The damage had been done, and Tyson got another lecture from his dad. Not a pretty sight. Taryn totally tattled on her big brother.
NOTE TO SELF: Do not discipline Tyson in front of Taryn, she will tell everyone about it! Good Advice!

Jellyfish Funnies

Taryn goes to a little preschool conducted by myself and a few other mom's out of our homes. Two weeks ago they were working on the letter "J" and they had made Jellyfish out of paper plates and tissue paper. She loves to tell Tyson about her day at school when we pick him up from school. Here is the conversation I heard in the back seat of the car:

Taryn: Tyson, Tyson, guess what I learned in school today? (she never waits for an answer) I learned about the letter "J".
Tyson: That is cool Taryn.
Taryn: Yeah, and we made Jellyfish at Miss Abby's today. And they have chemicals that will sting you and wrap around you.
Tyson: They have what?
Taryn: Chemicals that sting you really bad. (at this point I figured out she was trying to say "tentacle's" and was laughing at her pronunciation of the word)
Tyson: Taryn they are not chemicals, they are tentacles.
Taryn: No they are not Tyson! They have chemicals!!
Tyson: Yes, but they are called Ten-ta-cals, not chemicals.
Taryn: You don't know Tyson, I went to school and this is what Miss Abby said.

HA HA HA. I am about to pee my pants with laughter and finally had to intervene between the two or it would have escalated into a screaming match. Taryn is not one to back down and will tell you what is what, even if she is wrong. Love it. Such fun memories!! She will read this one day and laugh.

The Pinewood Derby 2012

There it is. #13 The War Tank. I was so proud of Tyson for building this car, mostly by himself and doing most of the paint job as well. He was bouncing off the walls all day waiting for the race to start. There were 40 cars that raced and they were all so unique and fun to look at. Not only did they have the race, but the scouts got to vote on the cars that were the most patriotic, most realistic, best paint job, fastest looking and most creative. If you look at car #15 it is the Nimbus 2000 off of Harry Potter. What a creative idea!

Tyson was sitting right in front to watch his car race.

It was quite a track and all computerized. They had a big screen up above where they showed the winners as they crossed the finish line. I was impressed at how high tech this thing was turning out to be. We didn't win the derby, but Tyson had a great time cheering on his car and the cars of his little buddies.

He was picked by his peers of having the Most Patriotic car in the race. He received this big metal and was all smiles. You would have thought he was the overall winner of the derby. And to me, that is all that mattered. He was so happy!

Taryn loves to be in pictures with her brother. So proud of you Tyson. Your first Pinewood Derby and you did awesome!!

WBIR Scouts on TV

The mighty, mighty, Tiger Scouts. For one of our "Go-Sees" we visited a TV news station, WBIR News at 4:00. I was a bit leery as to how all of these little boys were going to act in a closed and quiet environment. Usually it is hard to keep them all quiet at den meetings.

Here they all are holding up the scout sign for QUIET! Gotta love that.

Tyson looks very intrigued as he listens to his scout master talk about what they will be seeing and doing at the news station.

Here they are waiting to go on TV. They got a full tour of the whole news station and were able to ask all kinds of questions. Then, they were allowed to watch a live taping of the four o'clock news and be on the news. The camera man was a hoot. He told these boys to wave at the camera when the RED light went on. So they practiced a few times and it took some of them a few tries to understand what was going on. HA HA HA.

Mr. Cheesy Grin. He thought it was so COOL to be on TV. What a great experience for him. He sure loves being involved in scouting.

Mom, can we have a picnic inside?

The other day Taryn asked if we could have a picnic. We looked outside and sure enough RAIN. Then my smart little girl says, "Mom, we can build a tent inside and have a picnic under it." Brilliant! Two chairs, a blanket, the piano bench, and 10 minutes later we were having an indoor picnic. As an added bonus, Taryn decided she wanted to watch She-ra, while we ate. This little girl read my mind. Love moments like this!

2 Weeks in Prime Review

It was high time that we take a visit to the dentist office. It has been since we lived that first year in Michigan that Tyson and I have seen a dentist. We asked around and the Marlow's steered us into the direction of Dr. Nations, which is only 2 miles from where we live. His office is wonderful. The staff: so nice, the nurses: kind and considerate, Dr. Nations: very gentle and knowledgeable, and great with Tyson. Then came the bad news, Tyson needed to have a cavity filled and I needed a filling replaced. What else is new?

I didn't tell him about the whole numbing process, because I knew the kid might not be very happy about the shot in the mouth. Dr. Nations was very good and Tyson never flinched when he was given the shot. He didn't like the feeling that the shot gave him on the side of his mouth. he kept saying, "It feels like my lip is huge." Here he is trying to suck out the spit from his mouth.

All finished. I am so proud of my little boy. He was such a trooper, never moved or cried or anything. He just sat there like a champ while they worked on him. That is mommy's kid! YEAH! Needless to say he is a lot tougher than his momma; I hate needles. When it was my turn to have some dental work done, I go all natural. I do most of my work without being numbed. I hate the feeling. The nurse thought I was crazy, but I assured her that I wouldn't flinch or cry out. She didn't believe it, but I made good on that promise. Finally, some clean, well taken care of teeth. Now I need to get Vaughn and Taryn in for their cleanings.

Two beautiful princesses. The other day we had Julia over to play and the girls dressed up immediately, and then it was off to set up the tea set.

After the "tea party" it was time for the painting of the nails part of the party. Pretty in pink and blue were the chosen colors. Look at those pretty nails, wish mine looked that good.

Off to the Knoxville, Ball Park Olympics. Our friends, the Daily's were having a make shift Olympic Games at the park and we were invited to participate.

It is a foot race to the end. Taryn, bless her little heart, ran as fast as her little chubby legs would go. She is a hoot to watch run. She gets her arms just a pumping. She runs like her Aunt D which is a good thing, because if she ran like her mamma, it would be scary.Next, the older kids ran. Tyson had some older kids with longer legs in his race, but he still ran well. He was a bit disappointed when he didn't win, but then I showed him their height and leg span he understood why he didn't win. That helped.

The "Roman Shield Race." The kids lined up and down the run way every 25 yards, and then handed off a shield to the next runner. Just like a relay race in track. Taryn was right on Rylan's heals the whole time. Love watching this.

"I got this." My son's exact words as he Long Jumped across the cement. He has some hops. Not like his momma. Good thing he get that athletic ability from dad, else we would be in some serious trouble.

This was the javelin throw, but we used noodles. Rachel Daily, the lady in pink, organized this whole fun filled afternoon. Thanks Rachel for the fun and food. At the end of the games she even had a little medal ceremony where she crowned the winners with Laurel Leaf crowns. Tyson got one for the long jump. He was way excited!

The Tank is Finished...Bring on the Race!

(Drum roll please...)Introducing the Tank which will represent Tyson at this year's Pinewood Derby on Jan 28th. Check out that tough looking tank. It will instill fear into all the other racer's hearts. HA HA HA. Okay, so it may not do that, but it looks COOL! Tyson and his dad worked really hard to put this together. I also added my flair, the camo and the flag were my idea.

This is to show support for all our troops. We love you all! This one is for you!

Taking down Christmas

They are so enthusiastic about taking down the Christmas tree. I have two of the best kids in the world. They are quite handy and helpful. Here we are cleaning up the rest of Christmas. They were both sad that Christmas was really over, but after about 10 minutes they forgot about it and were happily taking the branches off of my tree. Notice: Taryn is in her princess outfit. Yeah, we wore it all day!

And she wore her crown when she ate too. This child loves to dress up as a princess. She says she wants to be one someday. AHH...She is mommy's princess and daddy's. What a doll!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!! I am amazed that it is 2012. It has been 17 years since I graduated high school. YIKES! That dates me. Yes I am old, but in my defence I do not look that old. (At least that is what I am told. If I am being lied to, that is okay. It is a good lie.)
We spent the New Year's Eve night hanging out with some friends playing Catch Phrase, eating good food and laughing till my sides hurt. It was a great night! What a way to begin the year.

And to throw in some fun, we had 9am church New Year's Day. YEAH! That didn't go over well. We made it, on time, but my kids were less than happy. Welcome 2012.