How?

Have you ever seen a kid so terribly cute you could just eat 'em up? You probably even have one...come on, you know you do. I know I do....This is Grant...


This is a curly haired, brown-eyed, angel-faced, little devil.....yes, you read that right....devil....

He delights in torturing his brother....this could be in the form of singing loudly while Garrett is watching tv....standing outside the door of the bathroom while Garrett is needing his privacy and singing or yelling....taking every opportunity to say the opposite of what Garrett says and therefore provoking an argument that sounds like this..."yes I can....no you can't....yes I can....no you can't....yes I can....no you can't..." this can go on indefinitely until I have a meltdown and put an end to it....

He also delights in the game of chase me to put my clothes on....EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! He doesn't seem to understand that Mama is ALWAYS running late and every single second counts....giggling the whole time he is running from me.....then when I do catch him he thinks it is double funny to kick his legs around so that it makes it nearly impossible to put his socks, pants, and shoes on....and roll his head around so that I can't get his shirt on...

This sweet faced child also tortures the poor dog...he thinks it is funny to chase her around the house kicking at her and making her growl and bark at him...

When I tell him to do something that doesn't appeal to him...he doesn't hesitate to yell at me or talk back to me....telling me what I am going to do.....and he is not above throwing a fit or having a melt down if he doesn't get his way...

What's that you are thinking? Discipline him....yes....I know....I do try.....but look at this face....


How?


How do I discipline this little cherub who crosses his eyes on purpose when I am fussing at him....thereby making me laugh....how can you discipline when you are laughing?

How do I discipline this little toot who tries his best to explain his way out of any given situation complete with hand motions and very animated facial expressions?

How do I discipline this little man when seeing that adorable little bottom lip droop and tears fall from his eyes breaks my heart?

But....I know I must....for his own good....for his future....for my sanity....I must....


But it's NOT gonna be easy.

Inked?

The other day I caught a glimpse of what my future with my oldest son may hold....We went out to eat with my in-laws and my MIL gave Garrett 50 cents after our meal and I assumed he was going to use it to get gum out of one of those machines they have at the exits of restaurants.....well he came back literally beaming and holding up his prize for all to see.....a tattoo.....yes, a tattoo.....you know those fake kind they put in those machines? Well, this was a Monday night and I made him wait until Thursday morning to put it on since he was leaving that afternoon to go on a Father/Son Canoe trip....I put the thing on his arm and you would have thought it was Christmas morning he was so excited.....


You could tell by the way he was acting that he thought he was the coolest thing ever and I tried my best to be a cool mom and "ooh" and "aah" over his cool tattoo....by the time he left for school his "coolness" level was at an all time high....


When I picked him up that afternoon....he was bursting to tell me what his friends thought of his tattoo....."Mom, my friends loved it!!! Graham said it was "tight.".......Do what? What does that mean? Good? Oh man, I have so much to learn don't I?

My first baby

I don't think that I have ever introduced you to my first baby. We got her in August or September of 1998. She was such a tiny little thing. She is a registered miniature schnauzer and her name is Ally.

We spoiled her....took her everywhere, played with her all the time...my mom even called her the granddog.
We had her for three years before we had Garrett. Unfortunately she didn't take kindly to being upstaged by a human baby....
She tolerates our boys but that is about it. She is getting old too....and her attitude seems to be getting worse as she gets older. She is a great dog and I hope that she is with us for a long time to come.

My Goofball

Just when I realize that my boys are no longer babies and how fast they are growing up....and yes, I'm very sad and on the verge of tears....one of them does something to make me see that the best is yet to come...We had Garrett's sixth birthday party several weeks ago and in the goody bags that we handed out Garrett decided to put in what we call "Bubba" teeth. Well, we had a few extras and Garrett found a pair the other day and walked up to me with this face...

I immediately burst into laughter and of course the scrapbooker in me had to snap a photo or two....My oldest child who doesn't often turn into the class clown, made me realize that as they get older and mature....they are going to show me all the facets of their incredible personalities and who they ultimately will be....you know what? I LOVE what I see and can't wait to see what they will show me next!!

Roller Derby.....

I have failed to tell you about Garrett's roller skating birthday party. I hate to admit I was kind of dreading it....I mean all those kids on roller skates....kind of freaks a person out right?....and most of these kids had never skated before. Well, all my worrying was for naught...it was a great day and Garrett had such a good time....all of his "guy" pals were there as well as a couple of his "girl" friends. Here is a pic of Garrett and his buddy Graham....these two get into LOTS of trouble together....


Skatetown is a GREAT place to have a party....they play games with the kids and really help them out alot....here is Garrett doing the limbo on skates....quite funny....


And as we all know...Boys will be Boys and this group that Garrett is with is no exception and I think they take "rough-housing" to a whole new level.....here are Graham and Collin giving Garrett his birthday spanking.....


Garrett chose a Monster Truck themed party and Granny made him an awesome cake complete with his own Monster Trucks on top...


Everyone had a GREAT time...Garrett got WAY too many gifts and enjoyed his party immensely which is what it is all about right? Here is the final pic of him blowing out his candles....


I can't believe that my baby is six years old....what will this exciting year hold for us? I can hardly wait to find out!!!