not trying to neglect the others

I think more than 90% of my posts have been about Isabel, which is not a terrible thing by any means, but the others (especially the boys) haven't gotten much attention on my blog posts.

We attended a "Great to be 8" fireside put on by the stake last Sunday. It's for all of the kids who will be turning 8 next year and getting baptized. I can not believe that I have kids that are old enough to be getting baptized!!! I feel like they were just toddlers, causing mischief, laughing and giggling all the time, running around in just their diapers.

It terrifies me sometimes that the twins are now the age that I can remember things from when I was their age (if that makes sense). I remember things about being 7 and in second grade. I guess before, I felt like if we messed up, we were given a little leniency in the parenting department because they probably wouldn't remember it.....(.yeah, we don't have one kid to screw up on with being the first child, we have two!) Despite my mistakes, and there are many, we have two wonderful boys that try their best, are kind, want to please others, and do what is right. They bicker back and forth and drive each other crazy sometimes like siblings do, but I haven't had to deal with a lot of physical fighting, cruelty, or drama between the two boys.

School is going well. We met with Mrs. Trapp a few weeks ago for Parent/Teacher conference. She had all positive things to say about the boys. As much as I care about them succeeding academically, what is most important to me is how they treat others. I'm always relieved to hear they are kind, sympathetic, and friends to everyone. I appreciated that Mrs. Trapp has tried hard to get to know them both individually. She recognizes the differences in them, how they learn differently, what drives them, etc. I found it interesting that she was able to pick up on their competitiveness. She recognizes that Bryce is very competitive with Tyler, but Tyler is not with Bryce. It drives Bryce crazy when Tyler is better them him at something, he doesn't like, and his worst temper comes out when it comes to thinking Tyler is getting some type of unfair advantage over him. But Tyler rarely cares if Bryce is better than him at something.

Both boys are involved in the "Miles for Smiles" running program at school. Once a week, at lunch recess, the kids can go run/walk as many laps as they can. Their laps are kept track of each week, and there are different clubs they advance through. They were recently awarded with pizzas for reaching the "Squirrel Club", meaning they've run more than 10 miles now! I love it! I did something like this when I was in Elementary School and feel like there are so many great benefits. I think Tyler & Bryce are consistently keeping their class in first place for most laps run in second grade, how awesome is that!

Tyler is really getting into reading. He struggles with putting books down (hmmm...wonder who he got that from?) I'm totally fine with that, except he's been hiding books in his desk at school and reading when he's not supposed to, silly kid. I love to read his stories. He's got such a fun imagination and puts things together that I wouldn't have ever thought to. He absolutely loves the game "Plants vs. Zombies". When the weather was nice, he'd go outside and launch a full out attack on pretend zombies with his make shift "plants". All of his drawings lately are of the game, he makes lego creations mimicking the characters, etc. Both boys have really gotten into "Ninjago" which are Lego Ninjas. I've heard them talk about it before, but the tv series was recently added to Netflix and they can't get enough of it. Brilliant marketing by Lego by the way. They have books that go along with each episode, and of course different Lego Sets available for purchase.

Bryce still loves creating. His drawing is getting really good. He puts a lot of effort into details and takes his time making things look nice. He can duplicate lego creations now just by looking at a picture which is pretty cool. I enjoy that he has taken an interest in the "Box Car Children" books. I used to love that series! I owned a ton of the books, but must have gotten rid of them when I was in High School and figured I wouldn't ever have a need for them again (if I had only known!!) Bryce has an impressive memory. He can remember a lot of facts from the books that he reads and he's able to form connections with all the different books. He teaches me new things all the time. Definitely my logical child, I overheard a conversation the other day between him and the other kids that he didn't believe in Santa any more because how could Santa possibly get all over the world in one night? He almost got beat up by the others for saying he didn't believe! They were really upset about it. Future Christmases should be interesting, I just hope he doesn't ruin it for all the others. One talent I didn't realize Bryce has, is his ability to pick out the different notes in songs and figure them out on the piano. Without ever having lessons, he can plunk out several songs on the piano, some of them include "Armies of Helaman", "There Are Children Holding Hands Around the World", "I Am a Child of God", "Star Wars", just to name a few.

My boys are growing up too fast. They're starting to ask hard questions and see the world in a new way that I'm not ready for yet. I'm grateful they have each other. They bring each other strength and comfort. I feel truly blessed to be their Mother.