Traditions

12 years ago my husband and his brother, Brent, started making picks of who they thought would win each week in all the NFL games. Whoever wins at the end of each year gets "The Helmsman" award...which is a trophy that they add a medal plate to each year with the date and the winner for the season. That brother gets to keep the trophy for the year along with bragging rights. This past year our son Benjamin wanted to join in...so Eric decided to make a "Helmsman Kids" award. If the truth be known Benjamin beat his father and his uncle with the most picks. Eric found the time to male the trophy and start a new tradition with our kids. They are all excited to join in this year and make their picks....this football season should be interesting!
Kids LOVE traditions!! I would love to hear about yours!

Fishing!

My sweet husband took my two youngest boys fishing this afternoon at a local park. He doesn't like to fish but they LOVE it and he LOVES them so he does all sorts of things that he wouldn't normally do! Don't you just love that! Luke caught 5 fish and he was mighty proud....they threw them all back...they were all really little but still they were...fish! Luke took his shirt off and revealed the art work his sister had given him earlier this morning.

Thumb Sucking

Lindsey had a passie......easy to take away with a bribe to trade it in for a toy at Walmart. Marshall handed me his passie's when he was 20 months and proclaimed that he was a big boy. Emily....somewhat harder.....she reluctantly traded them in for a toy and then cried for several nights wanting to take the toy back! But this soon passed. Benjamin....never took a passie...AAHHH so easy!


Then came Luke....Oh the baby????!!!!! No passie.....he found his thumb on day 2 and we all thought it was the cutest thing we had ever seen....and we continued to think that for some time. Oh but the habit!!! He is 6 now! We first tried the Thumb stuff...it didn't do anything...then we moved to the more serious stuff...it is also a paint on solution....this stuff is aweful and it stays around for days........ after many hand washings! I even tried to put red pepper in the solution....I know it sounds awful...but it didn't work!

He only sucks his thumb at night....during the night...so it is not intentional...just habitual. I have tried putting a glove on him but he gets it off in his sleep? I really don't care all that much except his teeth are paying the price!

Any suggestions??

Boys

Boys are really from another planet! They do the most amazing things! I remember reading in James Dobson's book..."Bringing up Boys" that if you ask a boy why he did whatever it is he did his answer will be, "I don't know" Boys react and then think later ....if they think at all. I love my boys very much...they make me laugh so much.....they make me crazy....and I am sure I will not ever fully understand them! I do know this....the same part of them that makes them do the most ridiculous things and not think about why.....is the same part of them that is willing to go to war and defend our country! For that I am grateful!