No Fear

Hayden has been wanting to go off the high dive at the neighborhood swimming pool all summer! I have found every excuse in the world for him not to do so. The rules said you had to be 7 so I was safe until August 8th! Then August 8th rolled around and he has really been all about it. One weekend it rained all weekend so "I" was safe. See, Hayden has no fear but his mom on the other hand has an unnatural fear of heights and this diving board was no exception to this fear. I saw kids going off that board every time we were there, no one got hurt but ... well you know. Yesterday morning Hayden and I were at the pool when it opened at 10 and were the only people in the pool for the first 40 minutes or so. It was great. However, about 15 minutes into being at the pool, that brave fella looked at me with those incredibly blue eyes and said "Mom, call Dad and tell him to bring the video camera, I AM going off the high dive today". There was not any chance he was going to take no for an answer. Harold loaded up the video camera and headed to the pool. Why did I worry? Hayden climbed right up that ladder and jumped right in the water. As soon as he came back up, he said "Want me to do it again?"

I think a little fear would go a long way! Ha The kiddo is just not afraid of anything with the exception of freaky looking mascots at ballgames. Blooper about does him in every time!!! That's a story for another day though. Enjoy the photos.

Going up.....

Hmm, still holding on....Checking out how far down.....
Here I go.......Still coming down......Can I go again?

Do We See A Pattern Here?

During the first week of second grade, Hayden's class did a little booklet on what they did this summer. There were other pages to it but this one particular page caught my eye when his work from the first week came home. Got me to thinking maybe we should broaden this fella's horizons a little bit. :-)

There were 7 sentences for the kids to finish

Here are Hayden's responses:

(1) I went to....."Sant Luis". (we did not go to St. Louis so I was confused. Hayden thought that was where we were when we went to see the Memphis Redbirds play a few times / I can see it now "Redbirds / Cardinals" same thing right?)

(2) I read ....."lots of books" (yes he did. We were very proud of him he read 101 books for the library summer reading program)

(3) I made....nuthing" (Now I have to say in our defense we did make birthday cake and cupcakes for friends and he made a volcano at Summer Quest but.... guess we will work on that next summer)

Now check out the remaining four answers

(4) I played....."baseball"

(5) I learned about..."baseball"

(6) I also played..."baseball"

(7) I saw .... "baseball games"

Hmmm, does this fella have a one track mind?

Here on some photos of his baseball filled summer......

Racing Shelly at a Travs game in August

First day of Travs Baseball Camp in June

Hanging out with Ryan after camp Getting a hit during his last game of his seasonWaiting for one of "his" baseplayers to come out of the visitors dugout in MemphisGoing to the batting cage with Ryan

A Happy Kid

There is just nothing in this world like a happy kid. Hayden was definitely that today. He called me at work as soon as he got in the truck with his Dad and said Mom it was a GREAT day. I think I might have been the best kid in the class and maybe even in the whole first grade pod. When I asked what grade? He said oh you know Mom the second grade pod, maybe, I don't know, but maybe. Now how is that for a glowing report? His treat for behaving and doing well at school was for us to go to the playground and let him play for a while. This is great fun for both of us. It makes him so happy! In addition to getting to play outside at the playground, he got to see Mrs. Parker and tell her he had a great day. She bragged on him and then told him she was the only first grade teacher to get a summer writing journal and it was his... He is thrilled even though it was painful oh so painful to write some days. HA As you might imagine I took some photos of our happy kid while we were at the playground. Have a great week.

Sliding right at Mom....The upside down boy.....Stretching.....Swinging and concentrating....
Being a wee bit sad that we have to leave.... You can see he was really about to smile because he was pulling my leg about being sad. He knows another great day at school gets another great time at the park.

Birthdays and Family

Today, we all went to my sister's house in Conway to celebrate her birthday a little early. Her birthday is not until Thursday but with all the kids in school and all the grown ups working, we wanted to get to spend some time with her and not be rushed so this was the day. We had a lot of fun with gag presents from each decade. It was just fun. The kids enjoyed hanging out together. There was a lot of laughter. Mom and Dad were there and that is always a treat to get to see Mommaw and Poppaw! (It about makes Hayden's head explode to have his two favorite people in one place though....Poppaw and Mattison together for so many hours....oh my)

This photo just says it all


It was nice to have lunch, enjoy watching Sis open presents and then have birthday cupcake. Then we listened to Mom talk about the night Sis was born. The one thing I remember (I think because everyone has told me) is that all night when Mom was at the hospital, I told Ms. Bea I was going to have a baby sister. Well you know they did not know and Ms. Bea would say but it might be a brother. Oh no, she is a sister and I knew it!!! How blessed I am that the Lord gave her to us! I love you Sister!
Poppaw, Sis and the doggie! (Mommaw, there is not a photo of you on here until you tell me it is okay!)

Amelia and Sis - what pretty girlsSis and her first born...isn't he handsome?Hayden and Aunt Sara

Pretty Little Miss AmeliaYou know who - who could not stand not being the center of attention..........

Friends, Swimming, Pizza and Good Times!

Hayden got to go hang out with Ethan and Scarlett on Friday after school. It was great fun for all of us. Hayden and Ethan had not seen each other much since baseball was over. They have seen each other a few times but not to just hang out and play. Hayden was over the moon about going. He told me on the way to the pool "Mom, you know what the best thing about my baseball this year was? That Ethan was on my team!!" I have to agree. It was so neat that they met and chose to be friends, not because they were going to the same school or because their mothers were friends and had them be together. They made the choice and I believe it is a great one.



Now, don't get me wrong along in this process, Harold and I both developed two new friendships. Jack and Michelle are amazing people and incredible parents. You don't have to be around their kids long to figure out what incredible parents they are!!


An extra bonus for me in all of this is that I also get to be around Scarlett. I think she is the neatest little girl. She just exudes personality and she is SO cute.



Isn't she absolutely adorable?




Watching all the kids was so much fun. They swam and they ate pizza. They all three played together so well.



For a while they were storm troopers in the water and around the pool.



Ethan is being a very brave storm trooper here! (What amazing imaginations these kids have)Then they were Water Ninjas. These Water Ninjas caught fish, made sure there were no bad guys around and they even ate jellyfish!!!!

These are our water ninjas hard at work.

A close up of our hard working water ninjas

I'm not sure but I think one of our water ninjas has taken up playing the banjo!One of the water ninjas resting and not doing his work!

What an amazing afternoon and evening for all of us (well maybe not Mr. Jack since he got caught at work and could not be there for while - we are counting on that not being the case next time).

Ethan just hanging out, relaxing and enjoying the afternoon in the pool

Poor Ethan, with Hayden around, there was no relaxing for long!

Now Michelle likes to say that Scarlett can pout, but I ask you have you seen a more pitiful pout in a swimming pool before....I think he runs Scarlett a close race!! HAThis picture sums up how Hayden felt about the afternoon though.....YEAAA.

Being Negative

A good friend of mine gave me a book a couple of years ago called "Daily Wisdom for Mothers". I have to confess that it has been in my window at work for lots and lots of months (sorry Diane). Today, for reasons only known to God, I took the book out of the window and read the entry for today

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philipians 4:6

What an awesome Bible verse. The discussion on it is even better for me! It begins with Do you pray\for your children every day? Well, I DO pray for Hayden every day. I pray that he will feel God's presence and know that God is with him all day. I pray that he will think twice before yelling out in class (he likes to be the first one to answer and sure gets excited about learning) and that he will sit still and listen. I am his prayer warrior for all things like that.

The next part of the entry asks "But, are your prayers effective, or are you canceling them out?" Hmmm. "You see a negative will always cancel out a positive. You can't pray about something and then talk against it, or your mouth has just cancelled out your prayers." YIKES. How many times in my little buddy's school years, have I prayed faithfully for him and then had someone ask about his school and me make a negative comment about behavior or card pulling.

I don't even like to think about it.

So my prayer today for me and all other Moms praying for their kids (and I know you ALL do so) is Heavenly Father, help me to only speak words of faith" Amen.

On a side note, isn't it amazing how the Lord speaks to you (and sometimes just smacks you on the head) to get your attention and help you live a life in honor to Him?

Have a blessed day!!

Rainy, Rainy Day

My buddy does not like rainy days. There is no outside recess at school and no playing outside at home and he IS an outside kind of kid. This is how he looked when he first got home today...

Isn't that just pathetic? But check this out -- it gets worse....

Now, being the ever so loving Mom that I am, I explained that since there was no outside playing to be done, we should just take care of those Thank you cards that had not been done from the birthday. Oh my..... check out how we felt about that....

If you think that is just awful looking, check out the blurry one of him writing one of the first cards....

Hayden saved Poppaw and Mommaw's card to write last....

This photo is of him right after he asked me if he could just write it to "Bill and Sam" because it is shorter and "Mom it's their names!" (I know grammatically that is incorrect but that is what he said!)

This next one is when I had the camera up and he was telling me "REALLY Mom it will be okay!"

Just so you know, he wrote "Poppaw and Mommaw" reluctantly (because oh how his hand hurt) but he did so!!!

Hope you all enjoyed your rainy day!!!

The Big Day

How exactly can it be that Harold and I have a 2nd grader for a son? YIKES. This fella was excited this morning. He woke up too early and was ready to go TOO early. Don't get me wrong, I am very proud that he was excited to go to school but come about noon or so today, he is probably going to start overcompensating for being tired. :-) We fixed Mrs. Faith a basket for the beginning of school. It had all kinds of goodies in it. She was pleased with the "energy snacks". Hayden was not happy with me because I put a box of extra strength pain reliever in there for those days when the kids give her a headache. "Mom, that is NOT nice. We are NOT going to give her a headache. We are all going to like her and be good!" Hmmmm, we shall see. Here are some photos of this morning before and at school:
Having breakfast - specially made by Dad Being a little "ham" with his breakfast....


Getting those teeth clean and shiny.....Wouldn't Dr. Hixson be proud?
Not enjoying the smooches from Mom.....too bad...he will never be too old for Mommie smooches


Mrs. Faith and Hayden

Heading off to 2nd grade for the first time......Yes Mommaw if you were able to see it, Hayden wore his new birthday belt to school today. When I told him that it might not be the right kind of "school belt", he told me we would never know unless we tried....and "it is my favorite, you know."

Poppaw

Is there anything better in the world than a Poppaw?

Not in Hayden's world, there is not. These photos were taken on the day of Hayden's birthday party. He was so wired and ready for the party to start ALL day long. However, just as it has been since he was born, Poppaw calmed him down and they rested for a bit.

When Hayden was just a wee baby and no one could get him to go to sleep, Poppaw would sit down with him (anywhere) and place Hayden across his chest and the calmness began. Something about the beat of Poppaw's heart just was the key. It still is!

The only thing missing in these photos is for Hayden to have on his white t-shirt. All of you who know my dad know EXACTLY what I mean.

Poppaw was / is a great dad but he definitely got his calling as a Poppaw. His grandchildren think he is the best thing ever. My sister and I became second when those three came around. :-) I cannot say that we do not understand though because those are three of the finest kids around!! (I'm not biased at all)

Poppaw and Mommaw have bought all the grands cowboy boots over the years. They bought their first ones and have just continued. Poppaw has lots of cowboy boots and the kids like to have them too. Before Hayden's birthday party, Poppaw and Mommaw took him to get a new pair. This is what he wanted from them for his birthday "new boots that actually fit". (his words) So as grandparents who do a fantastic job of spoiling, off they went to get new boots that fit. When they came home and Poppaw put his boots by the couch to rest, guess who followed suit?

I don't have a photo of him but at one point Hayden had on his Levi's, his new boots, a white t-shirt and his new leather belt (which of course Poppaw and Mommaw bought). As he was walking around the house, he said "Hey look at me, I'm Poppaw, just better looking". Shame on that kid! Shame more on Mommaw who thought that was just hysterical!