Another One Bites The Dust

I know there are some who think that these toothless smiles are cute but I am a little squeamish about it all.  However, this little girl lost another one!  This time it's the top front one!  Yuck... and also congrats little girl!  Love you! 

Mac's Graduation

It's probably note worthy to say that Mac finished his first of three years of preschool.  I know that is silly but we decided to put him in early to give him something to work towards.  He has done really well.  I would send him to Kindergarten earlier but his birthday is on the dead line and I think he will do a little better if I hold him till he is older.  This way he will be the oldest in the grade and not the youngest.  Any way, he did his graduation program and I was really proud of him!  He sang all his songs and did his parts as asked!  What a great kid!  I am so proud of this kid.  He learned a lot and as you can see below... his muscles have grown too!

Oh Mac!

Just yesterday Ryan came in to where I was getting ready for the day and informed me that Mac was very upset.  Just as she said this, Mac walked in crying the saddest cry I had seen for a long time.  When I asked why he was so sad Ryan told me it was because he found out that he is the youngest in our family.  (My first thought was... I wonder where he got that idea... RYAN!)  As I rubbed his back and he hugged my leg sobbing I came up with a stroke of genius.  I said, "Mac, who is the youngest boy in our family?"  He of course said in a very sad sob "me."

"Who is the oldest boy?"

 "Jared."

 I corrected him by telling him that parents didn't count, only kids count.  "Who is the oldest Boy kid?"
This time he responded with wonder "me." (you could all but see the light bulb go off!)

"Who is the oldest girl kid in the family?"

(In his sad voice again) "Ryan."

"And who is the youngest girl kid in our family?"

(this time he is just in shock with what he has found out) "Ryan."
(Ryan has also caught on to the reasoning I have used and is looking a little surprised at this point too.)

"See Mac, you and Ryan are both the oldest and the youngest!  That's nothing to be sad about!"

It worked, Mac put that sorrow behind him and moved on... at least I thought... it was only about 20 mins later that I heard the sad weeping again.  This time I went to him in the kitchen to see just what would cause this young boy to cry so sadly.

"What's wrong Mac?"

"I wish you and dad were gone and would never come back."  As you can imagine, I was a little taken back by this comment.  There is no reason he should wish me away, we were having such a good day.

"Why would you want me and Daddy to be gone forever?"

"So that I could eat all my treats whenever I wanted."  Now I was catching on.  He had been begging me for days to eat the enormous chocolate and peanut butter bunny that he had gotten for Easter.  Each time he asked I had to say no because of the amount of candy and sugar that he had already eaten that day.

"So you are telling me that you want me to pack my bags and leave today so that you can eat your candy?"

"Yes."

"And you will never see me again... EVER, but you will be able to eat your treats as much as you want."

"Yes."

"Ok, well, I guess I'll go pack my things and go then.  I'll never see you again if I go though."  At this point he walk up to me and gives me the most tender hug, tells me how much he loves me, and waits for me to go pack my things!  I was shocked, he loves me deeply, but is willing to trade me for candy!  I had to tell him that without parents no one could take him to the store for treats.  No one could buy the treats.  No one could pay the bills for him to stay in the house where he could eat his treats.  After that, and only after all that, he realized that parents are a necessary EVIL!

Turtle in a half shell

Those of you who know McCallum will not be surprised to see him dressed as a ninja turtle.  Here is Mac in his new favorite costume that his daddy wore as a young child.  If you know Mac you know that the blue ninja turtle is his favorite and why.  If you don't, let me catch you up to speed.  The blue Ninja Turtle is the best not because he is Leonardo, or because blue is the best color on a turtle in a half shell.  No, Leo is the best ninja turtle because his weapon of choice.  If you know your turtles and you know Mac, well, then you know what I mean.  If not... Mac likes Leo best because he always carries two swords in his back!  Its the only way to go when your job is to protect the world from bad guys! 

Also, just to share a quick laugh, Mac was having a hard time eating his lunch this past week.  He was getting really distracted by pretty much everything around him!  So, finally after asking and asking and asking Mac to go finish his food Jared finally laid down the law!  Jared said in a firm, yet kind tone "Mac, get up to the table right now and finish your food right now!"  To which Mac raised his hand to salute his dad and replied, "aye aye captain."  We laughed pretty good!  But the best part was... he ate his food!!

SIX

Wow, how the time gets away from me!  Not only am I blogging this late, but my girl is now six years old!  What happened to that baby?  Now I have a six year old who reads and goes to school!  Wow, how the time goes!!

Well, I can happily report that this girl got what she wanted.  She got to shop with her Nana and Grammy for clothes.  She got a bike, and her brother got her a bow!  Pretty good.  Plus, I was able to make the barbie cake to her liking too!  Silly girl!!  She knows what she wants and that's for sure!!

Happy Birthday to my FAVORITE girl I know!

Christmas

I got so busy with some home projects that I have neglected to write about Christmas!  Needless to say, Santa found our house, the kids were spoiled, and we had a great holiday!  This year the kids both got little tents.  They were great.  Our kids are really interested in building forts so we figured this would be an easy and fun way to keep doing that while also cutting down on the mess that comes with building forts.  In addition, Mac got some cool blocks with army guys so that he can build forts and shoot the bad guys off the walls.  The funny thing is that he has named the army guys "Armians."  He wont let them go by any other name.  Ryan got the dream lit she had been asking for and a new bed spread.  Among countless other gifts, the kids were really happy with Christmas!  I think that it's probably a good thing that it only comes once a year--we would have to get another shed for storage if not!

Thanks to all our family that made this holiday so much fun!  We love you all!

More for the books

Mac has been really making us laugh as of late.  Just the other night I was reading him a book before bed and he asked me about Jesus.

Mac: Mom, does Jesus have ALL the powers?
Me: Yes.  He even mad you and the earth, and the animals.  He even made the water and the stars, the moon, and the sun.  He has power to do anything.
Mac: So where does he keep all the powers mom?
Me: I don't really know buddy, I just know that Jesus has a lot of power.
Mac: Probably in his pockets.
Me: Probably, that seems like a safe place to keep powers.

I was laughing so hard on the inside.  Here I am thinking that I had a good opportunity to talk to my son about the creation and possibly share my simple testimony of God and Mac is thinking Literally.  Oh that boy!  I think he still got something good out of it all though.  Hey, I think I learned something too... I know where Jesus keeps all that power!

Last night Jared was talking with his parents about the power outage at our house.  The power went out at 8:30 in the morning and didn't come back till almost 11 that night.  As he was talking about the power outage Mac came up to him and was tugging on Jared and hitting his leg to get his attention.  Finally, Jared stopped and gave Mac some attention...

Daddy, does Jesus still have his powers?
Yes Mac, Jesus still has all of his powers.
Okay... and just walked away.

I guess he is really thinking a lot about the nature of God these days.  I love it and hope he keeps asking his questions!!