Gross!

In fifth and six grades, the boy and girls have a special assembly. I am sure each of us remembers this "special assembly" ....the girls and boys maturation program. Conner is growing up to be a fine young man. He brought his note home and showed it to Niel and I. It was topic of conversation at dinner. Niel said he would be willing to attend. Garrett had a funny look on his face as we discussed a few things about the topic.

Conner said, "At least I am not a girl. And I am glad I don't have to go to the girl's part"

"That's gross!" Garrett said with a disgusted look on his face. Niel and I just looked at each. I am sure we were thinking the same thing, "What does Garrett know of the maturation program? He is only 6 years old?"

With much wonderment I asked Garrett, "Gar. What do you know about the girl's maturation program?"

"The girl's part is gross!! They talk about how to put on bra's!! Yuck!"

haha... I couldn't help but laugh!!

Birthday Party Crash

Our cousin Brynlee was celebrating her 6th birthday and invited the entire family to come along. The big event was being held a Boondock, a local mini golf, slick track, indoor video game, laser tag with pizza place. It happens to be one of the boys most favorite places. Because of the cold weather the party was held inside. The arcade kept all the kids entertained while the parents were in the pizza parlor enjoy small talk.
It was time for cake! All the kids were gathering up.... coming from the arcade into the pizza parlor. Now, the pizza and cake area were separated by a nice, shiny clean window wall that was very think. The thick glass wall was a perfect way to quiet the pizza room down, allowing the arcade area to be extra loud..... but it also gave everyone a view from either side.
I was standing inside the pizza parlor with my back turned away from the glass wall. Zander had just finished playing a really awesome game and wanted to tell me all about it. He started to walk through all the many rows of arcades, making his way to the pizza parlor for cake but also with much enthusiasm to tell me all about his game experience. Once he was past the games, but still quit far away from the pizza parlor, he saw me through the window. Immediately he took off in a quick run. "Mom! Mom!" He was all smiles and running as quickly as his small little feet would carry him. His small little eyes didn't see the think, see-threw glass wall.

**SMACK!!! **BANG!***

He hit the think glass wall head first. The hard hit threw his little body about 4 feet into the air and onto the floor. The sound of the hit was extremely loud. It drew everyone's attention. People on both sides of the glass turned their attention to see what the loud bang was. I turned myself around to find Zander, laying on the floor, with a dazed look in his eyes. I don't even think he knew what happened. His amazed looked soon turned to pained look as his head started to protrude ever so slightly with a nice little goose bump. Tears of shock and pain welled in his eyes and his arms stretched out for someone to help him. Good thing Niel was close by to comfort him. I ran over to see if he was all right.

"Mom, I just wanted to tell you I won the race!" I laughed just a little and then examined his head. He seemed all right. Zander has had many head bumps in his life, this one wasn't too bad.... just really loud. Together we went over to the think glass wall to see if he left a mark, just a slight smudge....laugh!

After a little cake, birthday songs, and presents..... Zander was as good as new and ready to challenge me to an arcade game race!

Snowboarding

It was a beautiful, wintery Saturday. Stockton and Garrett had been practicing their snowboarding skills on a nearby hill in a park close to our house. The three of us thought it would be a great idea to see how well their snowboarding skills had become. We headed up to Sundance with very happy faces.
We received several smiles and fingers pointing at Garrett, as he was the smallest little snowboarder on the mountain. I thought it was very cute and I was proud of both of them for taking on the big challenge of snowboarding. I also was prepared for the patience that would be required for the day, but I was looking forward to the challenge.

Our first lesson was learning to get off the lift. I remembered how scary getting off the lift was for me my first time down. I was not sure what the boys were expecting, but I gave them a few pointers. Then, we climbed up the hill a little ways and we pretended we were all getting off the lift together. The boys seemed all right with the instruction and anxious to get on the mountain.

We got in the long line and each of us waited with anticipation. When it came our turn we all shuffled our way out in place. Stockton's shuffling was a little to slow for the fast lift. I tried to grab him, but I didn't help him at all. The lift came and knocked him right over.... then, it ran over him. The lift operators stopped the lift immediately. They had to swing the lift up and pick Stockton up off the icy ground. Stockton was all smiles! He told them thanks and just laughed!! That is Stockton for you.... everything is funny! I don't think I have ever heard him cry in pain, unless he is trying to get one of his brother's in trouble.

Once we were all safely on the lift, we laughed, talked, and watched all the other snowboarders. The boys were super cute and I loved to being up there with them. Getting off the lift was simple. Garrett was a little scared, but he made it off well. We buckled on our boards and started going down the mountain. Garrett took off with no problems. Stockton got off pretty good too. They both fell a lot, but they got back up a lot too. They were doing pretty good! Well, as long as they were on a hill.

The next part was fairly flat. It meant they couldn't fall because falling would slow them WAY down and make it hard to get moving. It only took one fall for Garrett, he completely lost it. He started crying. Stockton fell too, but he kept getting up and doing his best to keep his board moving. It wasn't long before Garrett got so frustrated he was beyond reasoning. As I watched and tried to help Garrett, Stockton kept at it. He got up time and time again..... and every time he did it with much excitement. He went all the way down the mountain and by the time he was done, he was pretty good. He had learned the basics by falling and getting back up. Stockton absolutely loved it!

Garrett made it down the hill too but we decided to spend a little more time practicing. He is pretty young to tackle the big mountain just yet. I learned a valuable lesson from Stockton watching him getting up when it was hard, maintaining a positive attitude in a difficult situation, and making it fun! When we got into the car Stockton said, "Mom, now I am so bored! I am going to be bored until I get to go snowboarding again! That was the most exhilarating day of my life!!"

Not only can Stockton make himself happy, but he knows how to make me smile too!