SOCCER STARS

 GOAL!!

 High-five from coach daddy!

 This child was bruised and bloody from her head to her knees today...

RHYTHM RUN AT RIVERFEST

We made it to Riverfest bright and early this morning for their first ever Rhythm Run!

 Denise and Jay ran the 5K (25:15 and 27:25, though the course was a tenth of a mile short - regardless, I had a nice PR based on my average pace, while Jay ran the event to gauge his base as he starts a 12-week training program called "Run Less Run Faster"), and Cora ran the 1-mile Fun Run with daddy at her side (9:51 - her fastest yet!) Michelle and her mom and kiddos graciously came out (in the drizzling rain!) to cheer us on and watch James and Cora while we raced - thank you again for that Michelle, we truly appreciated the opportunity to both run today!

ChickFilA was one of the sponsors, and the cow ran the Fun Run (and Cora was pleased to beat him)

 Adler and Hazel did the 5K with their parents, Eric and Ashley, and ran so well!
(I have no idea what I captured Jay doing in that photo up there...)

The award ceremony was downtown on the south stage, and it took the officials a while to talley up the times, so the kids spent a good 20-30 minutes dancing in the streets. Cora monopolized James for a long time, until Evie almost cried that Cora wouldn't let him dance with her. Eventually Cora gave her brother some space (he told us he was teaching all the girls to dance...) and went to dance with Hazel, then sweetly approached Adler on the sidelines and asked him to dance. It was the cutest thing ever (they totally danced like a couple of 6th grade Valentine's dance kids!)

We found the Robotics Club table and will be signing the kids up for the Kindergarten through 3rd grade team, since they were so enthralled with the Lego robotic contraptions. Cora also wanted a hug from the robot mascot, and they each guessed the number of Legos in his belly for the contest.

Cora won 2nd in her age group (there were two girls in her age group)

Girls Rule! Lori and her daughter Madeline each placed first in their age groups, and I placed first in mine. Hazel and Adler both won their age groups too! And JP and Mack also walked away with awards, as did Kristi (of course! she was over a minute ahead of the second place person!), so our friends really cleaned up at the awards today!

 I'm hoping that Cora stays interested in running. She did so well today and seemed to really love the whole event. She ran hard and smiled through it all. I'd love to be able to do longer races with her someday! I couldn't be more proud of my little "Pink Flash"!

OUR BOY IS BACK!

Last week was rough for James, and so was the week before. He was in trouble every day at school due to lack of focus and participation - all sad faces and 'meh' faces - not a single smile. Too many notes home from the teacher and frustrated texts from her in the middle of my work day because she couldn't get him to start his seatwork or complete it in a timely manner. We tried all our usual discipline tactics (threats and consequences are usually all James requires to get in gear), and when even taking away his screen time (including his KindleFire, LeapPad, GameBoy, Playstation, and even TV/movies) for almost two weeks didn't get him back on track, we had to dig deeper. As far as we could tell (after questioning him and his teacher at length), nothing weird/different/bad was going on at school. Nothing was weird/different/bad at home. The only change we could think of was his age. 

Hear me out on this... Every year, right around our kids' birthdays (from 1-year on up), things get funky for 4-6 weeks. It usually starts about 1-2 weeks before their birthday, with unexplained behavior issues and other random difficulties. Over the years, we've chocked it up to the age change. While it may seem arbitrary, we don't think it is. There is so much hype leading up to a birthday, so much excitement with the presents and party and school celebrations. And then it's over. And all the while, kids are growing (physically and mentally) and changing. Every year we expect more out of them. And it can be hard being a kid. If you don't believe it, ask one...

So once we remembered the birthday behavior issues of years past, we realized exactly what we needed to do to help James. We needed to cut him some slack. We stopped nagging him (or even reminding him) about focus and all the other "rules" (mostly in relation to school, but at home too). We didn't threaten him with any other consequences (losing video games had already lost it's effect anyway, as he wasn't asking for them back - surprising, right?) Instead, we started giving him what he needed. Have you read the book about The 5 Love Languages of Children? (They are the same for adults too.) James' two most important love languages are Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation, with Quality Time a close third. He's a snuggler and a hugger and a kisser and a hand-holder and a nuzzle-your-shoulder-at-the-dinner-tabler. He wasn't lacking in physical touch from us (we're a very huggy-kissy family), but we knew we could give him even more (combining it with quality time). We started laying with him at bedtime again, talking about his day or anything he wants, for as long as he wants, letting him pet our hair, and just holding him close until he fell asleep. We started it Friday night and we saw changes by Saturday (at his Super Soccer game). The good vibes continued through the weekend (and don't worry, Cora has been getting the extra bedtime snuggles too - we've been taking turns laying with each of them), and on Monday he came home with an all smiles report. At the same time, since we were no longer begging him to behave, we focused our words on building him up - telling him all the things he's great at, how much we love him, how proud we are of him - all of it. We didn't let an opportunity pass and he heard it all. Our boy has a smile that will seriously melt your heart, and to see him SO HAPPY again lately has been a huge relief.

  This week he's had all smiles on his report every single day. And he came home on Wednesday with his first ever Super Reader Award AND straight A's on his progress report (not the first time, but the first time this semester - lack of focus during Bible Story time has been getting him B's in Blble)!

(Jay will also tell you that coconut oil is playing a role here... He started giving James a teaspoon each morning to help him with concentration. And because we have so many confounding factors, I can't say that it isn't helping...)

Nobody ever said parenting was easy, and that's ok. I'm just glad we remembered that things change and stuff (routines, methods of discipline, whatever) that used to work great, just might not anymore. It doesn't make the parents or the child wrong, it just means that we need to figure out NEW stuff as we all grow. I'm grateful to have the opportunity for that growth, and I'm beyond thankful to have Jay as my partner in this journey - it's certainly easier together. And because I know James will read this someday (probably sooner than later at the rate he's learning to read!), he needs to know that I am truly happy he's our guinea pig in all this parenting "stuff" - our patient little sweetheart who cuts mama and daddy a LOT of slack (so he certainly deserves it right back!)

LEGO BOARD

Kid and Daddy Built, Mama Approved!

Currently containing all the Minecraft Legos in the house... but it's only a matter of time before the princess castles and City vehicles arrive!

BARLEY'S ANGELS: WISEACRE BREWERY AND A FEARLESS TREAT

Lisa brought 3 beers from Wiseacre Brewery (out of Memphis) for our tasting tonight, but the star of the show was this beer out of Estacada, Oregon, which Lisa had been given by a friend a couple months ago, and which she'd been saving to share with me (because she knows I love Oregon, and I'd missed the past 2 meetings). It was so good that even non-IPA drinkers or hop-lovers enjoyed it!

CASTLE KIDS

Cora finally decided to put her Lego Elsa ice castle together... because James was begging to do it. She let him help, and they traded off each page until it was done (it took them two afternoons). There was minimal arguing (over whose turn it was or where the correct placement of a block or sticker was) and it was pretty cute watching them work as a team (without any help from me, other than to open the box and plastic bags of blocks for them).

 And yes, our current flower arrangement is one of Cora's old toys that has become new again. Cute, eh?

BREW BATH

What? You don't cool your brew in the tub?

CHICKS, CHICKEN, AND BREWING

Jay spent the morning and afternoon brewing (3rd batch of his now infamous Strong Scotch Ale) with his friends Carey and Nate over at Carey's house, so after Skyping with Grambot and PawPaw, we hung out and did a few chores, then packed up a lunch to BBQ and headed over to join the festivities. Carey and his wife Amanda have joined the chicken craze and recently built a coop and run for their 6 juvenile hens and 1 rooster, so we spent some time checking that out (Team Lindsay plans to join the chicken craze this year too, so we're checking out everyone's coops for ideas on how to most easily and least expensively convert our old A-frame swingset into a coop). We're not worried about getting eggs - what we really want is the pest control that chickens provide, since our yard is thickly loaded with ticks and chiggers this time of year, and we need all the help we can get!

 The kids are hugely fascinated by chickens of all sizes (though Cora LOVES the baby chicks) and badly want a coop of their own, so they promise to help with feeding and watering and loving the chickens, to make them part of our family this summer.

 After a break to enjoy some BBQ chicken (store bought, not pets of any of our friends) and sweet potatoes hot off the grill, the kids ran around the yard catching toads and playing frisbee with one of Carey and Amanda's 3 dogs, Maggie, who is sweet as can be. I think both she AND the kids were exhausted by the time we left near dinner time!

BEING PRODUCTIVE

Since we were out of the house most of the day (longer than anticipated), we had to rearrange our spring cleaning goals and save the office for another weekend (why not, it's been YEARS anyway...)

We did, however, manage to thoroughly scrub the tool/cat/beer room (so sorry to Robyn and Kelly and Sophie for having to view it in such a nasty, disastrous state last month), sweep out the sunroom, and clear out the carport (you know... putting away piled up Christmas lights and washing the chalk art off the walls, etc.) Other than the aforementioned recent house guests, we know the grandparents and cat care extraordinaire friends (I'm looking at you, Al and Christina) can appreciate the truly stark contrast of this room today compared to last weekend... 

...even Cannon was in shock! Now to just see how long it stays like this...

(And no, not ALL those kegs are Jay's. A few are Sandy's, in storage here until she gets home from DC next month! There are a couple in the beer fridge/kegerator pictured in the bottom left of the photo too).

NEW CHICKS

After snow cones, we made a trip to the Beane Farm to pick up eggs and some wiring (so Jay can make a trellis for his hops, which are growing directly behind the house), and the kids enjoyed feeding the caged chickens and holding the new baby silkies (rather than purchasing chickens this year, Nathan and Heather bred some of the ones they already have - the crosses between the white male and black female silkies are likely to be gorgeous, since they're cute already as babies!)

Letting preschoolers play with you makes you very, very tired...