Are You Ready For Some (MORE) Football?

Ethan & Kamden started flag football several weeks ago and let me tell you, it has been COLD! But they are enjoying it & it's fun(ny) to watch these little guys running around trying to figure out the game. Here is a schedule of their upcoming games if anyone wants to attend. All games are on Saturdays at Settler's Park in Meridian.

Kamden:

March 24th 9:40am

April 7th 11:10am

April 14th 9:40am

April 21st 3:20pm

April 28th 12:30pm

May 5th 3:20pm

 *All of Kamden's games are on Field #1

Ethan:

March 24th 9:40am Field 3

April 7th 9:40am Field 3

April 14th 3:20pm Field 3

April 21st 9:40am Field 3

April 28th 11:10am Field 2

May 5th 11:10am Field 3

May 12th & 19th will be tournaments but of course we won't know about those for awhile yet.

a-POX-icillin

I took Kamden in to the Dr last week because he'd had a cold but had started complaining of his ear & throat hurting.

Since Kamden isn't really one to complain about that type of thing, I figured I'd better get him in to see the pediatrician. Turned out he had an ear infection so they put him on Amoxicillin, which he was supposed to take for 10 days. 

A week later, I was helping him change his shirt & discovered he was covered in little red bumps which hadn't been there the night before when I helped him with his bath. My first thought was that he had Chicken Pox, but then I remembered my brother is allergic to Amoxiciilin so I called my mom & told her what was going on. She said it sounded like the same thing so I called the Dr & they had me bring him in. Since he didn't have hives, they said it wasn't a technical allergic reaction and that he could still use the antibiotic in the future. His ears looked clear so we could stop the Amoxicillin and give him an allergy medication for the itch. 

Luckily my mom was in town & was able to help me out with the boys while I got Kamden checked out. He is doing much better & his a-POX-icillin spots are almost completely gone.

When My Phone Goes Missing...

 I find pictures like these...

 

 

 I am so thankful for this kid.

He has for sure been my biggest challenge so far, but someone once told me that we clash the most with the child that is most like us...

Not sure if I wanted to hear that, but it's beginning to make sense to me. I was reading a book titled 'Contentment' by Maria Covey Cole & she tells a story about one of her sons that caused her to feel frustrated and angry. When she went to his room with the intent to reprimand him, she found him lying on his bed and she writes, "For just a moment, my soul comprehended who he truly was, and I felt overpowered by a profound love and reverence for him. The Spirit chastised me, inquiring, 
"Do you have any idea who this boy is?"

I love that.

It has strengthened and comforted me at times when I felt I was completely failing as this boy's mother.

But I love him more than I can describe and I am thankful to have him in my life, and I feel so blessed as I begin to learn "who this boy is".

Batman The Yoga Instructor

 

Recently I spotted Batman doing Yoga in my room. He may be a little young to be an instructor, but he had most of the basics down. First he did some stretching...

 

And it's always fun to roll around like an armadillo stuck on its back...

Then, in a tribute to one of his fellow crime-fighting accomplices, Batman did several Superman poses...

 Next he moved on to Bow pose...

And even Batman knows that it's important to take a little time to mediate...

Even Vampires Need Their Sleep

I got some things for Ethan's class Halloween party & Kamden ran around for most of the day wearing these red fangs & a spider ring on every finger. Owen wasn't a fan of his brother's get-up & he spent most of the day running away from him, screaming.

All that running around wore him out & Jeff found him like this when he went to check on the boys. So much for the myth that vampires don't sleep!

Politely Rude

While driving down the mountain yesterday to get Ethan from school, Owen had a lot to say and he was being really loud and noisy. Kamden didn't want to listen to it so he leaned over to his brother and asked very sweetly,
"Owen, I would LOVE to see your mouth shut."

I Am A Human

This morning after finishing his breakfast Kamden came walking down the hall, burping loudly.
He found me in his bedroom packing for our upcoming trip to Emmett where I told him he needed to excuse himself and that he sounded like a burping machine.
His matter-of-fact reply...
"I'm not a burping machine, I am a human who burps all the time."

Ah-Choo

While making meatloaf a few days ago, Kamden was sitting on a barstool at the counter watching me.
I added a bit of garlic salt, some onion flakes, and a few other items.
As I did this, Kamden asked, "What's that?"
"Oh, just some seasoning." I told him.
"SNEEZONING?! Why you puttin' that in there? So that when we eat it we will sneeze?"
Oh, Kamden, you keep me laughing!

Kamden {almost}5-Year-Old Photos

The Graduate

Kamden Earl Stoker

announces his graduation from

Speech Therapy

May 9, 2011

He isn't necessarily pleased to announce it, though, since it means no more visits to his "Ladies" and he isn't very happy that he is done with school and Ethan still gets to go. Ethan, however, is jealous that Kamden is done and he has 9 days left until the end of the school year. The grass is always greener...

Anyway, Kamden is a Speech Super Star and has made noticable progress over the past 4 months of going to Speech Therapy and has loved working with Mrs.Hale. He will most likely continue therapy next year in Orofino since he has another year until he starts Kindergarten. We have a packet with information and activities to continue working on over the summer so that he doesn't backtrack, but he has done an excellent job improving his pronounciations.

Way to go, Kamden!

Belly Buttons: Every Belly Has One

I've been noticing a trend in Kamden's drawings lately...he likes to add a belly button to everyone that he draws. Take a look:

This is a picture of me & Kamden...I'm choosing to ignore the fact that I have horns.

Some people enjoying the sun and the moon:

This is a self-portrait of Kamden blasting off inside of a rocket ship:

And the babies have belly buttons:

The people have belly buttons:

Even the mouse has a belly button:

So, you see, no matter how different we might be, we ALL have a belly button.

Soccer Ends...

 Soccer has come to an end. Finally. I can't say that I will miss the rushing around every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening and having the boys complain occasionally that they don't want to play, even though I asked them countless times before we signed up to make sure that this was what they wanted to do.

They both had a lot of fun, for the most part. Kamden still gets discouraged if his teammates make a goal and he feels like he "didn't win". His favorite part about the entire experience was looking forward to snacks after the games.

Ethan was a bit reluctant at first because he got smacked in the face with the ball twice, but tonight was their last game and it was a complete turn around. He was right in there trying to take the ball, blocking the other team, and he made several great blocks when he was goalie.

 

His team is pretty good at defense, so the ball didn't make it down the field a lot, which left him plenty of time to relax...

Here he is racing by, making sure his cheering section is paying attention to his efforts...

Look at his perfect form...

Right before the game ended, Ethan and his teammate tripped over each other and bumped heads. This was quite traumatizing for Ethan and he had a difficult time recovering from the injury...he refused to participate in the team cheer afterwords but he was quick to get up and get snacks.

Owen also enjoyed the snacks...

And was quite pleased with the medal he won for the oreo-eating contest...

He was also more than happy to spend time with Uncle Wade and Aunt Lauren...

After the game, Ethan's coach had a bbq for the players & their families and after everyone was done eating, we broke out the waterballoons:

Coach Jeremy getting Ethan:

Ethan getting Coach Jeremy:

As we drove away, Ethan kept telling me how much he liked Coach Jeremy and how much he is going to miss him. He also mentioned a little girl that he had been running around with during the waterballoon fight. I told him that was Coach Jeremy's daughter and Ethan said: "He is lucky."

I asked him why Coach Jeremy was lucky and Ethan told me it was because he really liked that little girl. Kamden replied, like any good brother would, "Why don't you marry her?"

Ethan's entusiastic answer was: "I would!"

It was a good season, short and sweet.