It's all fair.

It's been on my mind since my girls were little.  How can I possibly keep things fair? Even?  Although I tell them it all comes out even, what my heart really wants to tell them is that is impossible for it to ever be fair.  Life isn't fair.  Tough lesson.  Learn it now and adulthood will be much easier.  There is no possible way for me to all the time make it completely even.  Unless, of course, I go the drastic route; everybody has the same snack, the same dessert, the same clothes, the same social life, etc.  Not really how I like to treat my kids.  Doesn't really even fall in line with the "values" I hope to instill in my kids.

With all that being said, having twins throws a major curve ball into the learning "it's not all fair" game.  I don't want either of the boys judged as not as smart, not as good a baseball player, not as tall, not as outspoken, etc as the other one.  It gives them(and me) a sense of one being inferior.  I guess I'm finally able to put a finger on why I am so defensive when someone points out a difference in the two.  Who cares?  Why bring it up?

So as my previous post mentioned, Caleb received the game ball the other night.  He played an awesome game making 2 outs.  On Monday night, Joshua received the game ball.  His coach told me before the game that there were 2 boys that still needed to get the game ball.  He was uncomfortable leaving any of them "ungiven" for the last game.  Just too big a risk.  He told me that he would be looking for anything Josh did to warrant the game ball.

Wouldn't you know it - the ball didn't come to Josh one time.  He was on second, third, the outfield and at catcher.  The only time he touched the ball was when the umpire threw it to him to give to the other coach to set on the tee.  Caleb on the other hand had several hit his way.  I felt so bad for Josh.  Thankfully, he is a bigger team player than his Mother and just relishes in the fact that his team is getting players out.  I just wanted so much for him to make a big play and get to bow up his chest a little.  His day will come.  I know it will.  And I know life will not be even for them.  But boy is it hard on Momma when it's not for these little identical fellas!

He is a Super Fast base runner!

Basketball teams

We now have 2 wildcat basketball teams to cheer for:

AND

Congratulations to Hayden for making the middle school girl's basketball team!  

We are SO proud of YOU!

Baseball MVP

Caleb earned the game ball after last night's game.  He made 2 outs:  one while playing center field and beating the runner to second and the other while playing second base and getting a runner out.  They have learned so much in just a couple of weeks.  Kudos to Coach Donny, Coach Thad, Coach Nina and Coach Pop Pop Ralph.

You might be wondering what Joshua thought.  He was excited they no longer had to share the one baseball we own.

He's READY!!

I'm thinking by high school, these 2 are going to be some superstar ball players!

Guess who??

Here's a hint:  the girls are in school.

They did request I not show Daddy, but asked me to put it on the computer.

First day of school.

Don't worry.  I'm used to that look.  I get it all the time.  She is such a pretty girl!

Typical.  Takes after her father.  She is a cutie!

What a cool dude!  Josh is ready for school.

He picked it all by himself.  Sporting the "blue shirt" so his teachers know he's Caleb.

Multitasking.

I'm back . . . at least for today.  I've been having trouble finding the time to write anything.  Today, however, I just had to find the time.

I found proof today that one of my kiddos can, in fact, multitask.  Now I just need to make sure she understands which tasks to "multi".

Can you regift a finished gift?

So Hayden received this dollhouse kit for Christmas when she was 5.  We worked on it, put it aside, worked on it, put it aside, made a list of things to finish on it, put it aside and found someone to complete it.  They did an awesome job!  I just wondered if we could put a big bow on it and give it to her again, finished?  She really never thought she'd ever see the thing put together . . . and honestly, neither did we.

You don't even want to know how I got it out of the back of my van and into the shed.

Biker day at church

That's probably not what it was called, but being the not so politically correct person I tend to be . . .

We were the last ones in the parking lot, drooling as they rode by to leave.  And by we, I mean those 3.

I'll get you my pretty.

It was the perfect assignment.  The perfect mix of butterflies, rainbows and engineering stuff.  The perfect scenario for some father, daughter bonding.  Perfect for me since it was not my area of specialty and I knew she would take full ownership of making sure it embodied everything she could imagine within the limits of my craft box.  And what was this assignment?  

Make a fairy trap using at least 2 simple machines.

The fairy sees the magic wand and as she lifts it to take it, the cup with the butterfly on it falls and traps her.  Yes, she got the perfect grade too!

In the spirit of . . .

Today was spirit day at school.  The kids can take a dollar and the cheerleaders will paint a little school spirit on their face.  Just so you understand, we are the wildcats.

Wish I could've seen the cheerleaders face when she asked for this!

All you need is a shake.

Hayden got some very expensive mouth jewelry today.  Uppers and lowers all in one visit.  On the way back to school, as tradition runs, I bought her a milkshake.  That should fix her up.  Once at school we realized she had missed part of lunch and needed some food.  Being the nice mother I am, I ran out and bought her favorite baked potato from McAllisters.  I delivered it to the lunchroom without much invasion of her territory and left. On the way out the principal saw me and here is our conversation:

Her:  "Hello, Michelle"
Me:  "Hey, Mrs. Maddox"
Her:  "Did you eat with Hayden today?"
Me:  "No, I just brought her lunch.  She got braces on this morning and the appointment ran into lunch. "
Her:  "Did she get both uppers and lowers?"
Me:  "Yes"
Her:  "Wow, that's going to hurt.  Did you give her some aspirin?"
Me:  "Nah, she had a milkshake.  She'll be fine."
Her:  "Uh, huh.  Well, see you later."

So I skipped happily out the door , feeling successful in taking my daughter through this transition and being able to share with her something my mother did for me when I had braces.

Unfortunately, I received an email from the school an hour later informing me that Hayden had come to the office for aspirin due to "severe mouth pain from braces".    Way to go Me!

She's smiling now . . . 

Parking.

. . . and just look what ended up next to my nice, new van at Target.  Would he dare put his Truck in this "predicament"?  To borrow a line from John Pinette, "I say, Nay, Nay".

Chocolate milk.

How does a 4 year old fix himself a cup of chocolate milk?

Puts chocolate in the gallon of milk and then pours himself some. 

I'm sitting with the kids next time.

 Adult Table = BORING!!

Kid's Table = FUN!!!

Ben's old stomping ground

We had a swim meet in Scottsboro today.  This is Ben's old stomping ground.  He still holds a couple of records at the pool.  Must be something about the water because Ally had a great meet.  Maybe because it was inside and there were no butterflies???

John's Birthday

As I have said before, you never know what you are going to get when you have us all together.

So, Happy Birthday John and here goes:

 . . . it doesn't help that he has several grandchildren that like to encourage him!

Tubin' in January

This free picture slideshow made with Smilebox

I'm swaggerin'.

I'm just that cool.  I have a swagger wagon.  Really thought I'd be leaving the soccer mom image in the dust and be styling in a crossover of some sort.  But, the idea of kids climbing over and back a million times a day didn't really excite me.  Plus, this is a really cool van.  Rides nice, smells nice, doesn't have unidentifiable goo on the ceiling and crusty stuff in the cup holders in the back.

Has bluetooth so I can drive like "test track" and talk on the phone.

Has a DVD player, but I'm holding off on whether or not it is a positive or negative.   Will there ever be a time when my kids can agree on the same movie?

Has XMRadio so I can listen to all the Radio Disney I can stand.  Nothing like picking up Hayden in car rider line with the windows all down and the radio BLARING "I whip My Hair".

And it makes me feel a little sporty . . . in a mommy with a bunch of kids sort of way.

Thank you Honey for buying me my van.  I hope the swagger lifestyle is all you thought it would be.

All nice and shiny.

Best Wife EVER!!!

Be warned - this is not Michelle blogging...  For those of you expecting her witty remarks and funny stories, well - lower your standards for this one.

Michelle spends most of her time writing about everyone else in the family, but she never brags on herself.  I think it's time for someone to brag on her a little - I have the best wife ever!

I know all husbands are supposed to say that about their wives, but in this case, the rest of them are wrong.  Michelle knows how much I love the traditional holiday foods I grew up on - cornbread dressing, cranberry relish, coconut cake...  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.  Over the years, she got the recipes from my mom and grandmother or she researched recipes on her own so that she could make all of those dishes I love.  Now don't misunderstand, Michelle is a great cook on her own, and she's created a lot of wonderful dishes that I consider "hers" (apple pie, carrot souffle... mmmm good!) However, there are just certain foods that we all grow up with that mean "holiday" to us.  At Thanksgiving this year, I thought she reached the peak of "good-wifeness" when she nailed the cornbread dressing.  For a girl that grew up eating stuffing, she can cook a mean dressing.

Well, I was wrong.  Michelle was far from her peak of culinary greatness.  Yesterday, she got there.  My favorite dessert of all time is French Silk Pie.  Not one of those store bought or restaurant bought embarrassments of a dessert, but the real, homemade thing with the meringue crust, rich chocolate filling, and real whipped cream.  This was my special dessert that my mom made for my birthdays and holidays.  I'm not sure where the recipe came from, but as good as that pie is, I'm certain that it has been passed down from generation to generation through some secret mother/daughter ritual and written in a code that requires a secret decoder ring of some type.  It appears that Michelle passed the test to inherit the recipe and decoder ring, and on New Year's Ever, 2010, she reached the peak of the culinary Mt. Everest...  She made her first French Silk Pie.  All I can say is WOW.  It was great.  The crust was perfectly fluffy and sweet.  The filling was smooth and rich and firmed up just right.  What a great end to 2010.

Of course, the point of this post is to brag on Michelle's cooking, but I would be remiss if I didn't take a minute to say how much I love this woman.  God has truly blessed me with a "wife of noble character" (Proverbs 31:10) and I love her dearly.  Thank you Michelle, for being my wife and loving me.

Everyone else can look at the pictures below and drool over my pie.  By the time you read this, the pictures will be all that is left - and yes, I did share - a little.