Lance Stats

From Dr Appt on 3/21/11:

BP: 106/58

Temp: 98 degrees

Height: 46.55

Weight: 48 lb.

BMI: 15.57

Lance's First Piano Lesson

 ... And he did great!  Thus the smiling teacher.  Since his first lesson on Jan. 5 (also Dad's birthday, but that didn't stop Lance!)  He has been working hard at it, practicing every day, except weekends, during Cami's naptime.  His teacher also plays the organ at our church, as well as the music for the primary children.  He also teaches guitar and trumpet, two instruments Jace has interest in.
Kyle really wants to know how to play piano and can't wait 'til he can read, meaning he's big enough to start piano lessons.  He gets so frustrated with himself when he tries to play, "Mary had a Little Lamb" like Lance, and is determined to get it.  I'll show a video of that when the time comes.

(Just turn your head 90 degrees to the left and this should work for you) lol* I wish I could have a video of that!  I'll try to turn my phone the other direction next time :)
We do this drill everyday before sitting down to practice.  Check him out!  "Whole note, Hold down, Half note Half note, quarter, quarter, quarter, quarter."  I love the foot tapping action.
Kyle supports Lance every step of the way.  Little clown!

Does X Box Kinect Count as a Video Game?

Lance was playing the XBox Kinect today when I remembered that this week is s'posed to be "TV-Free Week" at his school.

In a panic, I asked Lance,
"Did they say anything in school today about "No TV?"
"Yes."
"Or video games?"
"Yes."  He didn't even blink and kept playing.
"Lance!  What's that you're playing?"
"X Box!  It's better than video games!  It makes me get my exercise!"

And he continued running and jumping hurdles.  He's been breaking world records and improving his skills in soccer, bowling, ping pong, volleyball,Track and Field, and even boxing (which I'm not too crazy about and they don't get to play as much).

I'm not sure.  Does X Box count as video game?  What do you think?  You can also vote on the poll to the right if you'd like. :)

Lance's Birthday

Birthday Morning before school: Lance is wearing the shirt he really wanted me to make for him with Sharpie markers to match one of Kyle's, also marker-made. Jace is being like mom, too busy worrying about their masks to put his own on. I've done that with sunblock too many times. Lance's Birthday turned out to be "a Super, Duper, Plooper Day". As he wrote in his Kindergartin class's Birthday journal:

("I had a batman party. We played batman, ran around my house, ate cake, opened presents, had soccer practice. It was a SUPER DUPER PLOOPER DAY. By, Lance")

When they got here, his friends climbed through the "bat cave", got their capes and decorated masks on, and after running around like wild batmen, they played a few games like "Mr. Freeze" - when the music stops. I didn't even know there was a Mr. Freeze in Batman, but then, the last time I watched Batman was in '89. Hey, I'm one up on Lance, who hasn't seen any of them! He just wanted this party because his friend and our neighbors had one that was really fun back in Utah. That was almost a year ago. Ah, good memories...

Speaking of which, when I was finding batman music on the internet, I remembered the "Batdance" music by Prince. Do you remember that? I would have used it for Lance's party if it didn't have inappropriate stuff in it. I was so bummed. Such a catchy beat. Made me want to start dancing at 1 am when I was finding it.

Anyway, thanks to my sister, Jamie, I was able to find some appropriate batman music from the 60's. It was great. Thanks, Jamie :)

Anyways, playing "Follow the Joker"Waiting in line to-Pin the Bat on BatmanKyle was smallest, so he got first hit at the pinata. Turned out that he got the only hit while it was still in the air. So each kid got a turn beating Batman while he lay on the ground. Whoever thought of making the hero of the party a beating target? Seems like it should be the bad guy, but then that doesn't encourage good or praiseworthy feelings, either. I told Jared that maybe next time we'll go back to beating homemade soccer ball pinatas (his BD last year). At least they would last longer.

(Lance's birthday last year with his cousins, at the cabin - miss those times!)

Later, I found the label on Lance's shelf that got taken off the pinata when filling it. It said: "Pull-String Pinata: A safe, fun party activity! Ask each child to take a turn and stand under the pinata, select a ribbon, and pull it. Only one ribbon opens the hidden door and releases the goodies."

I still think the kids had more fun beating the dude on the ground.

Partyin' friendsMommy and Batgirl

Happy Birthday, my super duper 6 year old!

Big Brother

We were at Kyle's soccer practice, and another soccer mom asked me if she could take Cami home with her. I sat down with her and we chatted for a bit, Cami happily sitting in her lap, Lance sitting on his soccer ball with us. I got up to help Kyle for a minute while Lance and Cami sat with the soccer mom. When I returned, she told me that while I was gone, Lance explained to her,

"You know, you really can't take her with you."

Oh, what will her brothers do in a few years when she goes on a date!

Couldn't Resist

The boys did something naughty today. Luckily they looked so cute with their empathizing sister that I can't remember now what got them there in the first place!

Lance's Graduation from Preschool

Lance made great friends in preschool this year. This is his friend, Jonah. On the first day of preschool, Lance noticed that they both wore the same shoes (crocs). This friendship was meant to be. Their dads both happen to be in medical school. While having a playdate one day, they had a hiliarious conversation about their dad's careers here.

Raise your hand if you're 3 years old! There were two 3 year olds in the bunch that got a turn to run under the parachute while it was up in the air.Cami found her spot in someone else's stroller.This little girl is amazing and inspiring. She has a disability where she cannot use her hands, but she doesn't let that stop her. She writes, eats, and does most things with her feet. The entire preschool class absolutely loves this sweet, beautiful girl.Lance is congratulated and given a certificate by one of his teachers. Wanna see?

Twinners! His other preschool teacher called him "G.I. Joe" because he wore camoflauge every chance he got.

What a great year this has been! Lance has had so much fun this year with his friends in preschool. I can't believe he's going to Kindergartin!

Healthy Lifestyles

All three boys, and I, got strep throat earlier this week. We all took it easy, with help from sweet friends ;) and then the antibiotics kicked in and it was back to life as usual.

Except I had an idea:

"It's been so nice having all of us home. How 'bout if I just take you out of school and we watch movies all day?"
Lance, shaking his head, said, "my bum will get big."


We had cookies tonight after dinner, and Lance said,
"Mom, I thought you weren't going to eat cookies anymore because there's too much sugar."
I answered excitedly, "How 'bout if I eat a cookie today, and have NO COOKIES tomorrow!"
Lance's eyes got wide open as his long eyelashes blinked in realization and he said enthusiastically, "That's a GREAT idea!"

I'm with him. How's that scripture? "Eat, drink, and be merry? For tomorrow we die?"

Just My Cup 'o' Tea

My friend let me borrow her teacup last Friday. I couldn't wait to use it. That night, before dinner, I had the boys quickly throw on their suit coats and ties over what they were wearing. I was impressed that they were such good sports about it. Especially since I pulled them away from playing video games. (Jace gets to play every Friday after he mops the floor - it's a great motivator). They loved getting onto the kitchen table for these shots. Thanks, Jess!

What Are You Gonna Bring?

For Show and Tell this week, the kids in Lance's preschool were asked to bring something that makes them smile or laugh. He said he wanted to bring ME for Show and Tell.

So, today, after hiding from the kids, as I was instructed, Lance showed me off (with some good tickles and laughs). It was so fun.

Aah, he must love me.

First Day of Preschool... This Year

Lance's birthday is seven days after the deadline for kindergarten. So he's going to preschool... again :) I was bummed about that at first, but now Lance and I are quite excited about the idea of him being the oldest in his class!
Here he is just before going out the door. He specifically wanted "Spikey Hair".

As well as missing his buddy at home, Kyle wants so bad to be a part of this preschool experience! Today, when we went to pick up Lance, Kyle put on a backpack that was huge on him and made him look kind of like Chicken Little. I'll have to remember to get a picture of him if he does it again tomorrow. It was too cute.

Cheesin' for one of his preschool teachers.

Kyle and Lance coming home after the first day. It was great! Lance was named the "Monkey Bar King". He was the only one in his whole class that could get across by himself. He even did it backwards! (Showoff! Like his Mom!)

(Note: He wanted to stand in front of these "blue mountains" instead of the regular colored ones)

"Atchoo!"

This morning at breakfast Lance told me, "I was atchooing a lot in my bed last night."

Poor little man!

The Boys and Cami in Camo

In celebration of the first day of the archery hunt yesterday (and one of the dresses Daddy bought), well, Cami will tell you in her own words...

"Oh my goodness! You will not believe these pictures!" "I cannot wait to show you!"
"Okay, guys, this is what we're gonna do..."

Hey, sillyhead, take off your hood!

Lance, the camera's over there!... Hey, Kyle! Come back here!

My brothers are so silly, but I sure do love 'em...

Ya Gotta

Jace and Lance are beginning to share a chore that used to only belong to Jace: Mopping the floor. (Jace's "favorite" chore-not really) I used to sweep it before he mopped, so now one of them sweeps while the other mops. Today, Lance chose to mop. So I asked Jace to do the sweeping, which he was very okay with. I came back when Jace's task was done and did a little inspection. After I swept up a good amount of debris, I called Jace to come observe what I found. I told him that next week, there will be sweeping lessons a couple times during the week.



So tonight at the dinner table, Jace had a complaint.



"I don't wanna have to have sweeping lessons and piano lessons on the same day."



Lance leaned toward Jace, one eyebrow up, and said in his low voice,

"But ya gotta."

When I Grow Up...

(Lance, after church in mid-June)

Oh, the endless possibilities!

In preschool last year, Lance's teacher asked me if he's really tidy at home because after helping clean up the toys, she found him lining up all the boxes of toys so they fit nicely. I had to tell her that, yes, he really is, and I don't know where he gets it from. (I'll just leave it that, you can ask my parents about my room while I lived there.)

Lance's favorite chore in the world is dusting the piano. He gets so excited when the dust has collected again. And so there it is. He doesn't want to be a policeman anymore. He says that when he grows up, he wants to be a piano cleaner. Today, I asked for help cleaning the kitchen before we went outside to play. I expected to have dishes cleared from the table, but he asked excitedly if he could sweep the floor. So I said, "No, you may not sweep the floor." J/K, how can you turn that down? When he was done, he showed me all the wonderful stuff that he had swept into the dustpan and was so pleased with himself. He said when he grows up, he wants to be a cleaner, a piano cleaner, and a sweeper.

Well, I'm glad one of us likes to clean.

Lance stands proudly by his accomplishment

Let's Make Music Together

One of our summer chores this year is to do a service for a sibling. Thank you for the idea, Sherrie! It has been a wonderful relationship builder for these guys. So the older sibling has to play whatever the younger sibling wants to play, as long as it is safe. I have also asked them to watch the other guys face and see if they can make them smile or laugh more. It has been a great tool for helping these super-energetic boys to calm down and think about the other guy... plus, the idea of just getting along is great, too.

These photos were taken a few weeks before we started this new chore idea, but it reminds me of what it's been like when the boys are purposefully playing together with a goal to have fun, together. Ah! Music to my ears!