Christmas Festivities and Traditions

The day the new Star Wars movie came out

It was a big countdown in our house...to December sixteenth.  Many dinner conversations were centered around rumors about the new Star Wars movie as Annabelle and I looked at each other through glazed-over eyes.  Trailers were coveted, then suddenly avoided in an effort to avoid spoiled endings.  Finally the day had come to see the movie.  The boys awakened to find our elf on the shelf, Buddy being force-pinned to the wall by 2 Lego Star Wars guys (don't ask me which ones...I thought I heard Buddy up way past bedtime digging through the Legos to find characters capable of using the Force).

Next up was Darth Vader waffles!  The waffle iron was my take-away from a gift exchange...lucky me! (actually, I was happy to get something I knew the boys would enjoy...all 3 of them)

Kyle worked really hard to achieve Jedi hair (I think he was going for Hayden Christiansen as
Anakin) and dressed up as a Jedi in a tunic Gigi had made for him.  Barrett wore his Star Wars hat.

And they were off to enjoy the movie.  I think it lived up to their hopes.

Kyle's adventures with homeschooling

Kyle is a square peg to the round hole that is public school.  This is not an account of the shortcomings of the peg or the hole.  I'm just saying they don't go together...which is why at the beginning of October, Kyle began homeschooling.

We heard that Jimmy Fallon was calling kid inventors to send in their ideas and so we thought it would be a fun thing to come up with an invention to submit.  Kyle came up with the iFlush.  It's like a iPod flush reminder.  Here's the video he submitted.

He also made a video about centrifugal force, and created a tin can 'telephone' and explained how it works.  He is very into planes right now and learning all about them.

He put together this model and learned about the bones and organs of the human body.

He's winking (awkwardly).

Halloween Happenings

Barrett went as a werewolf, Kyle was a knight, and Annabelle was a red fairy.  

Fall Campout for the Boy Scouts

I did not go on the campout, so I cannot tell you much about it but I can tell you what hapened before the campout.  I spent the day before the campout going to various stores to make sure that Kyle would not have to eat artificial ingredients and other foods that would result in him becoming defiant and impulsive.  

He is now being homeschooled and there have been rumors about why he is no longer at school.  I am hoping that the parents and kids will be able to put down their preconceived notions about Kyle and see the "real Kyle" who has emerged with his cleaned up diet.  The real Kyle is sweet and patient.  When he doesn't get his way, he is able to see the greater good.  When he is asked to do something, he usually does it without complaint. He is a good person and I am hoping others see that.  It was for that reason that I went to 4 or 5 different stores trying to find the right marshmallows, and graham crackers, why I willingly made carob bars for his s'mores, and why I didn't mind getting the more expensive ingredients so he could make his own clean trail mix.  As they were packing up the car to go, Kyle came in and gave me a hug and said, "Thank you for buying the more expensive food and special s'mores stuff. I know it's extra trouble for you, but it's helping me and I like having more self control. You're the best mom we could ever ask for." And there you have it...the reason all the extra effort is worth it.  I'm not talking about the nice words, although I loved that too.  I'm talking about the sweetness, the gratitude, and the fact that he thought about another person outside of himself.  Seeing the real Kyle keeps me going.  

When they got back, Cody said that Kyle was one of the most well-behaved kids there. 

Another pre-campout tidbit:  We were waiting in the doctors office and to kill time, I asked Kyle to make a list of the items he needed to bring and pack for the campout.  He came up with a list of 25 things before we were called in to see the doctor.  Later when we got home and it was time to start gathering items, I couldn't find the list.  Kyle sat down and started over and came up with 25 things.  Right about the time he finished I found the original list and compared them to make sure he didn't forget or add anything.  The lists were identical, same exact order, nothing forgotten.  I can't even remember more than 2 items when I go to the grocery store! I should have been taking advantage of his skill all this time.

Front Row at Garth Brooks concert

My friend Amy from across the street invited me to go see Garth Brooks in concert.  He perfomed something like 7 shows in Dallas.  All of the tickets were the same price and it was a lottery as to where your  seats would be.  Ours ended up being in the nosebleeds, of course.  As we were making our way up to our seats on the top level, a man stopped us and asked us where our seats were and said he could offer us better seats.  We were skeptical because he wouldn't show us the tickets, but he promised that if these seats were not good we could still keep our original tickets and go to those seats.  We agreed, took his tickets and walked away.  I immediately looked to see what section/row they were for and I saw Row A and I thought that if I was lettering rows, I would start with A in the front.  We proceded to our section and when the usher saw our tickets, she called a guard to escort us to the front row!  I don't think any of us really believed it until we were standing there.  It was awesome!  We could have reached out and touched him but we were instructed not to before the show.  I sang along to every word of every song for 3 hours and came home with a guitar pick for Cody.