BB’s and Water?

What do BB’s and Water have in common?  Guns.  And what else? … my kids.   I promise I don’t set up these activities in order to have ‘boyish’ things to take pictures of. Or to blog about.  Gage just somehow remembered that there was a BB gun hidden in the dining room and wouldn’t let up until he was allowed to shoot it.    

He’s had his Red Ryder BB Gun before he was even born.  How ‘boy’ is that??  His Grandpa purchased it for him the day after the ultrasound told us that the first grandson was on the way…

Cooper insisted he could shoot the ‘BabyGun’ by himself, but given that he couldn’t even call it what it actually was, Matt gave him some assistance. 

The BB Gun shooting was slow going because after every shot, the boys would run up to see the whole the BB made in the target, or to look for the stray BB if it missed the target. Matt and I enjoyed some quiet visiting time while they looked and looked for the bullet the size of Kaden’s baby-toe nail. 

(we gotta take those opportunities when they come)

And then we said ‘Why not?’ when they asked to take their water guns to the pond…

They had some safe, non-destructive fun putting leaves and other tree debris over the whole of the gun and blowing out the water – sending the object flying into the air.  

Its kind of an anti-climactic post when they play safely, and non-destructively… oh well… maybe next time I’ll have photos of one of them falling into the pond while sucking up some water. For entertainment’s sake, one can hope.  

My Heart – Part III

My three children have such distinctly different effects on me as a person and on my heart specifically… they each fill my heart with such joy, in their own way thanks to their distinctly different personalities…

Kaden:

You make my heart beat slow. Your presence, your touch, your smile… sooths my soul. While I watch your brothers run around like maniacs, I often see your precious face through the fog of chaos and I’m brought back to a state of calm. I smile at you and you smile back, as if just to remind me what a gift my children are.   Maybe I am still feeling the effects of being apart from you for the first 2.5 weeks of your life, but when I hold you… when I even think of you… I often get teary eyed. 

When I hold you in my arms, with your hands tangled in my hair and warm breaths against my neck, I feel like dancing.  In fact, last night, we did.  Just you and me.  You were having trouble falling asleep so we stood in your room in front of the window, swaying to the music of the fan and your occasional sigh. Even though I should have been wanting to go to sleep and should have been wondering when you ever would… it was the calmest I’ve felt in a long time…

Time will tell, my love, what your personality will be. Until then, I’ll just enjoy watching you become your own little person and will continue soaking up all the goodness you give.

I love you to the moon and back my sweet boy, Tado. 

My Heart – Part II

My three children have such distinctly different effects on me as a person and on my heart specifically… they each fill my heart with such joy, in their own way thanks to their distinctly different personalities…

Cooper:

You make my heart race. You keep me on my toes.  You excite me.  Anyone who comes to know you say, “That Cooper… he’s quite a character!”  Character.  That’s you.  And I deal with that truth everyday as I try my darndest to raise you. 

With you, we never really know what we are going to get.  Your unpredictability is about the only predictable thing about you.  When you are told ‘no’, a number of things can happen: 1) you can make a goofy face and try to get us to laugh and then charm us into giving you your way. 2) you can throw a terribly mean tantrum. 3) you can give a completely blank stare that lasts on and on and on. 4) you can walk away. 5) you can run away as if nothing ever happened. 

You are an interesting kid, Coop.

You are dramatic, emotional, sensitive, hilarious, charming, and loving. To the extreme.  I’m not just saying that… your behavior was tested by a Kaiser Medical group when you were 2 and the outcome was that you are an extreme child.  You can cuddle so well that your body melts into my arms.  And you can cry like you are hurting in every inch of your body… because you bonked your cheek on the doorway. 

But even though you are unpredictable, I still know you like the back of my hand and you most definitely make everyday an adventure.  For that, and your energy, goofiness, and passion, I am so grateful. You make me and your Daddy feel SO loved… your hugs are priceless and I can never get enough of them.  You welcome Daddy home from work better than anyone else in our family… (he said so today…)

My love for you runs deeper than the ocean… my little Tupu.  

My Heart – Part I

My three children have such distinctly different effects on me as a person and on my heart specifically… they each fill my heart with such joy, in their own way thanks to their distinctly different personalities…

Gager:

My heart beats steadily because of you.  You are predictable, dependable, and consistent in your behavior and thoughts.  You crave routine, just as much as I do, furthering your predictability. You and I are on the same wave-link most of the time because we are so much alike.  That, in-and-of-itself is challenging, but it makes me understand you. And because of that, we make an inseparable pair.

You are passionate, protective, and responsible beyond your years.  I depend on you, already, and you’re only 5! I know that most of the time, you think before you act and not only consider what Mom and Dad would like you to do, but also what Jesus would like for you to do (fortunately, those two things are usually the same!).  And when you consider this for yourself, you always instruct Cooper to do the same.  You take your role as the biggest brother very seriously (sometimes, too much so) and guide and encourage Cooper and protect and adore Kaden. I honestly know I can trust you to be kind, thoughtful, and careful with your brothers when I’m not around. That’s a lot of trust to be able to put into a little guy like you, but you’ve proven over the years that you are simply that dependable.

I love knowing what I’m going to get with you, Gager. You love red, creating things, challenging yourself, and holding my hand. You love telling Cooper what to do and carrying Kaden.  You love to ride your bike, shoot your bow, and are begging for a skate board.  You are devastatingly hard on yourself when you don’t accomplish what you set out to do.  You correct Cooper if he calls you anything other than ‘Doot Doo’ but introduce yourself to strangers as ‘Gage’.  You have more bruises and scratches and scabs on your legs and arms than I have blog posts. 

My thanks to Jesus for you is eternal.  And my love for you is ever-lasting. 

Boys… Bales… Bows…

We’re pretty simple people.  It doesn’t take much to entertain us.  Take 3 boys (not counting Kaden and Bosley), 3 home-made bows, and lots of bales of hay, and we have ourselves a pretty good time.

And while they’re waiting for the walk, they simply entertain themselves by making faces.  

The shooting is even more fun when you pretend that a stack 3 hay-bales high is an elephant… 2-high is a lion… 

And 1-high is a cougar… 

And when there is time spent in the hayfield, especially with freshly cut hay, we have to end our walk at the pond, because it is inevitable that Bosley will have found a dead snake or two to roll in and surely a gopher to dig after.  Resulting in a stinker (than usual) and dirty, dirty doggy. 

So we relax in the grass (in front of the old cabin in which Matt and I used to live) while Bosley swims, Cooper picks at the grass and Gage runs 5 laps, (in rubber boots without stopping) around the pond.  After which, he should have joined Bosley in the water. 

Kaden and the Hay…

It is hay cutting time around these parts and hay cutting means hay baling. Consequently we’ve had hundreds of bales scattered across our fields, beckoning to me.  I knew the guys who bought it were to be coming soon to load them up and I knew I’d kick myself if I didn’t at least attempt it…

So off when his shirt, on when the over-alls and out we went to the field.  Camera on my shoulder, baby slung over my arm, white balance tool in my hand, I kicked around a few bales to find the lighting and tentatively placed Kaden on the bale (praying he wouldn’t roll off).

I wasn’t sure how it’d go, but figured it was worth a try…

 

Within 2 minutes I’d taken 20 pictures… … and by the end, he was either going to eat the hay…

… sleep in the hay…

… or cry in the hay…

… he ended up crying.  A lot.  But it was kind of worth it.  Someday, I’m sure he’ll thank me…

 

(**Sorry if these photos look weird color-wise on your screens… I just realized after getting back a full order of yellow-tinted prints, that I need to calibrate my monitor.  If Kaden looks overly yellow to you… its not your eyes… and not really his skin… he’s not jaundice, I promise.  Its just my processing with the lack of color correction. Soon to be fixed, hopefully!)

And, They’re Off…

What is more motivating to a little boy than seeing someone your own age doing something you can’t?  Seeing a GIRL doing it.   

Case-in-point… on Friday night, Gager watched a fellow 5-year-old riding a bike without training wheels.  He was both impressed and determined.  She was a she, and if she could do it, certainly he could. 

Actually, that was more mine and Matt’s train of thought than Gage’s, so whether he liked it or not, Saturday morning the training-wheels were coming off of Cooper’s bike (because it was the same size as the one the little girl was riding) and he was going to try it out.

Fortunately, he was up for the challenge.  And off they went…  

 

Why Matt thought it’d be best for him to go solo for his first time down a bark-dust hill, I’m not sure.  Maybe because he’d have momentum on his side and maybe because after that, the patio would seem easy…

  Either way, off he went…

… like like it was no big deal. (And yes, it appears Cooper really had to go potty)

After a few more runs down this mini-hill, rather than moving onto the patio, he went straight for a bigger hill in our backyard and after a drawn out build up on his part, he finally sped down down down, started losing control when he hit the grass and totally ate gravel when his tires skirted in the driveway. Down he went, adding yet another gash to his knee.  And oh, did he cry.  He swore he’d never ride again.  Swore he couldn’t stand. 

A minute later Matt was tickling him. Two minutes later he was breezing along the lower dirt road, which we call the rail-road grade, blood streaking down his shin. 

By this morning, Gage was riding in the quickest, tightest circles around the patio.  I spent most of my time watching him with my jaw on the floor because I couldn’t believe how quickly he’d picked up on this new skill.  Thankfully Cooper didn’t put up too much of a fight about Gage now using his bike; probably because he felt like an even bigger boy riding Gage’s bike (which he surprisingly did quite well on, considering it probably weighs about as much as he does). 

And as I was initially preparing this post, I looked out my window and caught the sight of Gage zipping through the trees.

I quickly grabbed my camera because I knew no one would believe me…

 

He was even riding over Matt’s jumps. 

However, this boy is really hard on himself.  He threw quite a fit at the end of his first mountain biking experience because the tree roots were getting in his way and he couldn’t catch air over the jumps.  

I assured him it was because this was only his second day of riding without training wheels.  All in due time… maybe at this rate, tomorrow!