On your marks, get set...go!

Maxwell T was elated the other day when Tyler invited Max to go with him on his run that afternoon (Tyler's second run of the day...we're getting Ragnar ready).It was so cute. Ty had a paper he was writing and Max kept asking when I thought Dad would be coming downstairs for their run. He could hardly wait. Finally, the bedroom door opened and Ty bounded down the stairs with clothes for Max to wear running. They got in their fastest running shoes and then headed out the door.
Such a sweet mom moment to watch his excitement about the whole thing. That boy LoVeS his daddy. They (mostly) ran over to the school (.75 miles, I think) and Max played while Tyler ran at the track and then they (mostly) ran home. A few short breaks in there for those little legs.
"Whew! That was a good run!" were Max's words when he walked through the door. Love those men in my life - the little, excited, daddy-loving one, and the bigger, thoughtful, handsome one who knew how much his boy would love the experience with his dad. I'm so lucky to have them both!

Man alive...

Max is FIVE!

This was on his actual birthday at my parent's house in Vegas with cousins...he makes the weirdest faces

My firstborn turned FIVE and I didn't blog about it?! If that's not neglectful mothering, I don't know what is. Ha. :) We were in Vegas on the big day, we came home and had a little party for the Maxster that I wanted to have before I blogged, life is busy...but really, I might be in denial about the whole thing and that's why I haven't blogged. Maybe if I refuse to accept it, he'll stay little forever. However, as he grows he gets even more hilarious and helpful, so maybe I will commission a few more years of aging.

Don't feel weird that you have the impulse to kiss the screen or squeeze it in an effort to squeeze those cheeks

Five+ years ago I became a mother, specifically this little dude's mom. I had a hard labor that I thought would never end, but end it (thankfully) did. They put a tiny, perfect little man in my arms who was quiet and had strong enough neck muscles to turn his head to look at my face when I talked to him in those first, perfect, amazing moments. I will never, ever forget those moments. I know that my relationship with Max began before either of us stepped foot on this earth. I am so glad it gets to continue and grow here.

Oh my gosh, this picture makes me want to cry and giggle at the same time

We had a great little party to celebrate. This was Max's first official party with friends and games and stuff. 5 is the age we decided on for the first of those. Max settled on a superhero dress-up party and I found some great ideas from creative moms on the internet. Oh, how I love the internet.

These were the invitations, made to look like official folders for superhero candidates:

We decided that Max would dress in his black church suit and wear sunglasses to look like a superhero agent delivering the invites. He was SUPER serious about this and thought that they really wouldn't be able to tell that it was him when he went to the door.

Max had me, Kelly, and Everett hide around the corner of the house so that they wouldn't know it was him. At the first house our neighbor, Ryan, opened the door and said, "Hi, Maxwell!" Max delivered the invite and came around the corner punching his fist into his hand saying, "Darn! They knew who I was." We were off to the second house and Max wags his finger in the air and decidedly says, "I think they knew who I was because I was smiling." So for the rest of the walk up the street he squished his cheeks together like you do when you're trying not to smile. I was trying so hard not to laugh. I LOVED delivering the invitations. It was so fun!

The night of the party came and we had these signs posted on the lawn.Ty dressed in a suit and sunglasses and had an app on his phone that scanned retinas and one that did fingerprinting. Each kid had to be checked before they entered the Super Secret Superhero Training Facility.

We did some pictures with all of the superheroes and then had dinner before getting started on the superhero training (the games).

First they decorated some superhero masks.

Then we did a line of passing the ball under and over, a really fun web game, and a kryptonite game of passing the ball quickly around the circle until the music stopped.

I told Max a few days before the party about the games I was planning. He listened intently and came to me a while later saying, "Mom, you're games are good....bu-ut....I was thinking we could play a game where we make bad guys out of cardboard and learn to fight them!" (with an accompanying high kick, of course) So I rounded up some cardboard from a few friends and Ty made these pretty sweet cardboard bad guys. He printed out faces of Syndrome and Lex Luther (is that his name?) and then drew their bodies. {I have to throw in here that Tyler is a pretty awesome dad and husband. He got home from work, threw these puppies together, decorated the house, and put on his suit to greet the kids while I was sewing the capes I'd underestimated time-wise.} Max's game, of course, was the biggest hit of the party.

After everyone had a turn knocking down the bad guys, we let all of the superheroes go crazy on them :)

We gave each of the kids superhero diplomas and capes once they'd completed the "training".

Then it was on to cupcakes and ice cream. Ummm....I know I'm a biased mom, but Max is such a sweetheart. The kids shouted that he had to make a wish before he blew out his candle and so he says, "I wish...that my family can be together forever." Melt a momma's heart.
Such a great and appropriate celebration of this 5-year-old's life. I love him. He loves life and has a very FUN imagination and says the funniest things. I think God knew I would be in the rainy Pacific Northwest and that I would need some extra sunshine...Max is sunshine for me. I love you, Maxwell T! Especially because you strike funny poses when I ask you to smile for the camera. Being your mom is a delight.

Max-isms

Tyler calls Kelly Sweet Daughter or Daughter Dearest quite often. The other day Max came into me quite sad and said, "I don't like when Dad calls Kelly Sweet Daughter." I asked why and he said, with tears in his eyes, "It makes me feel like he doesn't love me." I asked what Dad calls him and he sadly said, "He just calls me son." "Well, what do you want him to call you?" I asked. "Tough son" was the reply. I encouraged him to go and talk to his dad about it. He did and Tyler felt really bad. I've heard a whole lot of Tough Son around here the last few days. :)

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Overheard while he was playing by himself:

"This Batman mask keeps me safe from sin. If sin comes and hits me on the head...NONSENSE! I won't do anything bad."

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Max: Do you know my favorite tool that a fireman uses?

Me: Yes!

Max (before I could say what it was): A pick ax!

Me: I already knew that. I know my son.

Max: You don't know EVERYTHING that I know.

Me: Like what?

Max: Like...that I like shutting doors.

Me: I didn't know that. Why do you like shutting doors?

Max: I just like the way that it sounds (makes door-shutting noises)

Me: What else don't I know about you?

Max: That I like watching fans spin around.

Me: Why?

Max: It looks like they're having a race...around, around, around. Like on Cars because the track is a circle.

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Max (as he's putting his dishes into the sink after breakfast): Mom, my belly won't ever look the same, will it?

Me: What do you mean?

Max: I'm gonna get fat.

Me: Why do you think that?

Max: I don't know. I'm just gonna get fat.

Me: When?

Max: When I'm really old.

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The next few I've posted on Facebook, but want to put on the ol' blog because this will be made into a book and I don't want to forget them....

The other day Max asks me what hostage means. I told him it means that you are like a prisoner. He says, "I'm not a hostage, Kelly's not a hostage, you're not a hostage, Dad's not." I told him that we are lucky to not be hostages and he says, "Well, Kelly and I are KIND OF like hostages when you guys get mad at us." I couldn't help but laugh. Yeah, time out is pretty darn rough, dude.

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Max has started interpretive scripture reading (like interpretive dancing) when it's his turn to repeat the scripture. It makes scripture time so much longer, but so entertaining.

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This morning I was reorganizing in the kid's closet and Kelly came across her baby blankets. She was exclaiming over and over about their cuteness. Max said to her, "YOU'RE cute." Made my day. :)

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Positive self-talk is important, even on the potty. Max, age 4 (overheard): "You can do it, Max, come on! Push it out! You can do it. I know you can." I know, kind of gross. But funny.

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Loved Max's logic behind his NCAA bracket picks - Georgetown because Curious George is cool; Penn State because you're using a pen (to fill in the bracket); Pitt because Gary (a guy in our ward) likes the Pittsburgh Steelers; NOT Morehead because that's a weird name - More Heads!; and choosing between the Huskies and Cougs for the final (of course) he went with BYU because they had 30 wins and Mom is 30. :) Love him!

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Tonight the song My Favorite Things came on Pandora I had playing on a speaker. I could tell Max was thinking about something and just as the song was ending he said, "She says these are a FEW of her favorite things, but there are actually a LOT of things." Ha!

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Tonight as I put the kids to bed Max asked how exactly we get to heaven. I told him I wasn't sure and he offered that maybe stairs come down and our spirits walk up them after they leave our bodies. I told him that was a good thought and that we'll find out eventually how it works. He said, "Yeah, maybe in Kindergarten they'll teach me about how we get to heaven." :)

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Kelly just came into the room, freaking out about a bug on her book. Max went to the bathroom, grabbed some toilet paper, and marched toward the book, exclaiming, "I''m on it, Kelly!" That bug doesn't stand a chance.

Our little man is growing up and, as you can tell, brings regular entertainment to our household. We love, love, love him.

Lots of excuses...

but really, I have no legitimate excuse for not posting in so long. Do you want to hear the excuses anyway? No? Good, because I don't feel like writing them.

I decided I will post according to pictures. I was trying to think of what I've missed posting about and just looked through the pictures on my phone (only working camera we have these days)...they jogged my memory a bit so I'll just throw up some pictures with commentary and then we can move forward as if this whole month-long hiatus never happened. Deal? Deal. (Max always says that to us, "Deal?" and doesn't wait for an answer before he responds with "Deal." I like him lots.)

Let's just get this one out of the way. Tears first, laughter later. He's registered for Kindergarten. I know. I only cried a little when I handed the papers to the nice lady in the office. I would have liked to see the expression on my face when she said, "and the bus will be picking him up from your house." I'm sorry, the what?! That was a little much for me. I didn't know a stinking bus was going to be involved. I only got misty-eyed twenty more times throughout the day when I would think about it. I will get emotional every time I look at this picture for the rest of my life.

Are you okay? I know, it's a little hard to handle. That's why I wanted to break the news and then move on to happier things.

Like this.

"Sometimes when people dance they hold hands like this. Right mom?" Right, Jimmer...errr..Max. I know you were thrown off because he was wearing Jimmer's number. You should have heard the squealing and cheering when Dad brought this home from his trip. Oh wait, you probably did.

This is Everett's favorite game with the kids and I LOVE watching it go down. Everyone can be doing their own thing, but when Ev comes up and clamps his little hands on one of the kid's shirts they know what to do - let the Ev Man push them all over until they run into a wall or door, they act hurt and laugh, then he turns them around and pushes some more. I love it because no words are spoken and they can literally be mid-play, but the clamping of those tiny hands signals fun. Like here, Max and Kelly were dancing, but it all came to an end when Everett changed the game.

Sunshine, blessed sunshine! Waterfront Park...we're baaaack!
Oh my. He came out of the bathroom with his pants like this. I about died laughing. Can you believe those skinny legs?!

Creative carrier. They walked around giggling like crazy with this on for about twenty minutes.

FHE before Conference was all about King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon and how the people pitched their tents with the door toward the Prophet to hear him speak. So we drew some pictures to put on our tent and then pitched it for Conference weekend in the living room (can't take credit for the idea). When I told the kids that we were going to pitch our tent like King Benjamin's people did they asked, "And are we going to fall to the ground too?" There's a part in the story where they all fall to the ground because they want to repent and are so overcome by the King's words. :) I told them no, probably not, but they insisted that they wanted the falling down to be part of it.

Max was a detective solving a crime committed in the garage. These were the clues he found and each one had a hilarious part to the story. I'm sure he still remembers it; this might be on another post in the future.
This is why I floss. You never know when someone is going to take a picture of your teeth. You just never know.
Tyler was upstairs slaving away on school work one Saturday morn, so Max to the Max flashed pictures of each stage of the pancakes cooking and then took them up to Tyler so that he would know what we were having for breakfast and that it was done and time for him to come down and eat.

I love finding pictures like this.
We're Husky fans! That's where Ty is getting his MBA and so we have become full-fledged shirt-wearing fans. Though if BYU plays the Huskies, we are rooting for BYU. Let's make that clear. Tyler went on a week-long trip with the young men from Church and Max wanted to have a Husky day. So we took pictures and sent them to Dad in Utah.
I had to show Ty I was in on the action too.
My baby boy is growing up so fast and he is delicious. Just look at those cheeks! He signs like crazy, is saying a few words and offers to say the prayer by raising his hand and then grunting sounds to repeat what I tell him to say. His favorite activities are throwing balls, reading books, and being outside. Brother seriously LOVES to be outside. Sorry you live in Washington, little man. He's also the cutest hugger and wraps his arms around as far as they can go for a really great hug. He loves making us smile and has a very ready smile for everyone. I maintain what I have stated before...he is a delight.

This little gem of a girl is pretty awesome too. Her standard nighttime song requests are Mamma Mia! and Super Trooper. She sings a ton and loves to play with princesses and be super girlie, but will put on Wolverine claws and kill the bad guys any time of day. Her toenail polish really must be maintained and she is getting much more vocal about how I do her hair every day. I'll post videos of her singing some of her favorite songs soon. Her voice is just so cute.

This dude isn't so little anymore and it's kind of breaking my heart. BUT I really love the boy he is becoming. He can hang with both younger and older kids. He'll incorporate Kelly's princesses into play with his soldiers, which I so appreciate. He is sensitive and absolutely LOVES his daddy. I know that both Tyler and I are going to be super relieved when Tyler is done with school...but I think that Max might be the most excited. I can't wait for the weekend when we don't have to tell him, "Dad's got to go upstairs to do some school work." Luckily, he has an awesome dad who makes the very most of the time he does have with the kids. I am so lucky to be Maxwell's momma and thankful that he is my oldest kiddo.