Toby on Ice

On Sunday toby went to an ice skating birthday party for a girl in his class ("oh, that's Toby! Kate is always taking about his smile!" Said her mom!), and I thought it would be a nightmare so I asked Scott to take him.

Of course it turned out to be hilarious!!

Since many of the boys were new to ice there was no shame in looking like Bambi!!  But the video is priceless!!

(https://youtu.be/Tw8IxCRqwu8 if there's no video - not sure why it's not working fully)

Saturday soccer

Tackling Brendan, his buddy from school (Brendan's mom took these pictures!)

Chatting with his pre-school buddies!

Celebrate

Instead of a big party with friends this year, we told the kids they could choose one friend for a special activity.

Toby went back and forth on who to choose (and told several kids that he was  not choosing them! No social skills!!), eventually settling on Landon, grandson of our beloved third mom, Mrs. T.

The boys were born 6 months apart in 2009 and we hoped they would be friends, but we did not get to see them much until about the last 12 months.  That said, they've always had a blast when they were together!

So today, we met up with Landon, his little sister Hailey and mom Gina at one of Toby's favorite places, the family fun center.  Emma came too, and they all had a great time, topped off with dinner at Chick Fil A!

Compare to when they were only about 9-15mths old!

With Mr. T.

And with their moms!

Grounded

Discipline is not my favorite part of parenting, but I realize how important it is, and early on, to avoid harder time bringing in rules when kids get older.

Emma is pretty simple - she totally understands cause and effect, and one hint of consequences is usually all it takes for her to know why she should make a better choice.  She responds well to "no TV", "no playdate" and "early bedtime"!  I try hard not to use food as a reward or punishment.

Toby is a whole different animal.  He is actually more responsive to relational consequences than Emma - she is fine to play alone or do her own thing!  Toby is not interested in the TV unless he's super bored, and he goes to sleep whatever time we put him to bed!

However, Toby is scared of being on one level of the house if no one else is there.  For example, if he refuses to go upstairs to bed, the rest of us just go up and he will run up the stairs as fast as he can!!  He also is very active, so if he is told to sit alone, and still, in time out, it's hard for him!

Today was a day of action after many days of warnings.  Toby does not like to get dressed and do his checklist (yes, I have a printed list of things they both need to do before school!  Includes dressing, eating, teeth and making the bed) without a lot of vocal coaching!

And today, after playing with his bowl of Cheerios (thankfully dry), he spilled them all over the floor.  I told him to pick them all up, and I went to take my shower and get ready. By the time I came down, 15 minutes before it was time to leave I found the Cheerios as they were.  I called him to clean them up and he pitched a fit. 

Thankfully I've been working on my own morning routine, to benefit us all, and it seemed that prayer time and having Christian music playing has had a good effect.  I let him do his thing, and left the Cheerios there when we left.

As soon as we got home this afternoon I asked him to pick them up and he did, with no fuss at all.  I was thrilled. 

I decided that he really needed some more consequences.  So when he saw the neighbor outside playing and wanted to go out I told him "no".  He was upset.  Then his friend from across the street came over to see if he could go and play tennis.  Again, I said "no" and he lost it! 

Understanding his feelings, I ignored the tantrum and did not engage in arguing.  He got over it and started playing with Emma. 

It remains to be seen if he will clean up his act in the morning, but for sure, he knows what it means if I tell him he will be grounded!!

Scott got cornered by one of the catering managers on a walk through of the hotel he's currently working on, to be in a picture for their Facebook page!!

While that is a cheesy picture, the hotel is nothing but classy!!  Check it out at http://www.theloganhotel.com/.  Scott is foreman for the fancy junior ballroom, The Stenton.

It's got him working 10 hour days downtown, but I think he's enjoying the detailed work and showing his skills!

Picture Perfect

School Picture is in, and they finally started to offer digital downloads!!  I'm pretty happy with this one - maybe because I got to talk to the photographer before hand!!

Flashback

I decided to show the kids some of Toby's baby pictures, and instead of the few in the album, I opened Snapfish.  There were pictures I'd forgotten all about!  Crazy to think these were only 6 years ago, but feels like a lifetime!

First family selfie:

Compare to now!

That little guy is going to be 6 tomorrow, and it has been so much fun seeing his crazy, funny, energetic life each day.  Definitely more fun than stress.  Honest!

Little moments like these are precious!

Vader and a storm trooper watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

And within seconds they start fighting!

Precious, fleeting, moments!!

Silver Lining

So, Emma's awesome teacher got back to me today regarding the lunch room thing.  This was her email:

"Thank you for letting me know about this.
Both the guidance counselor and I spoke with the aide in the cafeteria about the comment that was made to Emma.  The aide was so upset about it!  She feels awful and would like to apologize to Emma if that is okay with you.
We then spoke to all of the cafeteria/playground aides and distributed your letter.

We read a poem in class today called Smile and Emma shared with the class that she could not smile and why.  I then asked her if she wanted to tell the class about Moebius Syndrome.  She said that she did but not at that moment.  I think she was caught off guard.  If this is something she would like to talk with the class about, please let me know."

So, that's good.  I was interested to know what Emma told the class, and what the poem was, so I asked the teacher.  She said:

"After Emma shared that she couldn’t smile because she had Moebius Syndrome, one of her classmates said, “If I were a doctor, I would find a cure for that.”

It was the sweetest thing and said in such an innocent, genuine manner.  (one of the many reasons I love being a teacher!)"

I'm going to see if Em would like me to come in for Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day and we can talk to the class.

Happy Birthday Toby!

Tuesday is Toby's 6th birthday, so we planned a small family party for today.  We decided we should tell him ahead of time so he didn't get freaked out.  But this morning he said he wanted it to be a surprise party!  So, at his request, everyone arrived while he was out and he came in by himself and we all jumped out!

Emma wasted no time trying on the costumes Toby got!

Toby joined in...

Then emma put the storm trooper costume on!

And that was the first half hour!  We flipped the traditional party schedule so that my parents and grandparents could watch him open his gifts.  So we did cake and gifts as soon as he came in, then he played and we finished off with pizza!

Our friends also came and gave Toby a razor bike!

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. 

But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. 

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 

All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.”

1 Timothy 1:12-17 NLT

Saturday mornings

It's raining, windy and chilly.  Soccer is cancelled, so Scott went to work overtime (he is so great!) and the kids are chilling watching tv.

Seems like a good day to do the switch - put away the summer clothes and get out the winter 😞.

I will be wearing black as I mourn the end of summer!

Lunch room

As I got emma ready for bed tonight she nonchalantly dropped a bomb on me.  "At lunch time today a lady told me to chew with my mouth closed.  By the time I was done chewing she was gone so I couldn't tell her that I can't."  Grrrr.

I explained that she was likely not being mean, and reminded her that we do encourage her to cover her mouth with her hand when she's eating.  She said that she didn't feel like it was a big deal.

But I do!

Em doesn't know the lunch lady's name, but I'm still going to email her teacher.  I'm sure it's normal for lunch ladies to police the table manners of kids, I'm fine with that.  But I do not want emma to be self-conscious about eating in public, or for adults to give the kids ammunition to tease her with.

Just when I think we're going along smoothly, we hit a bump in the road.

Parenting win

This morning Emma told me that the previous day she had been asked to deliver a note to the school secretary.  When she got there the secretary was on the phone.  So she waited until she was done before speaking to her.

Proof that they do listen!!

Of course she told the secretary what she had done, and the secretary told her teacher, and Emma got credit for it!

We will continue to work on humility!!

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 6:1

Spelling bee

We've been working on the first ten sight words with toby since the end of August. He's at a disadvantage really because we never encouraged reading with him as much as emma.  It's not his natural choice but I think we could've done more.

Anyway, he really enjoys playing the memory game with two sets of the words,

And slowly but surely he's picked them up to where he can read them on sight and can spell them!!