Third year is a charm!

Sweet Benjamin, your third year didn't start out quite so charming. In fact, you were our first child to give us a true glimpse of the "terrible two's" that so many parents are afraid of! You had always been a mild mannered, even tempered little guy, and then you turned two..... I think it was a very textbook case of your desires not matching up with your abilities and the frustration that would build (and explode!) as a result. It was so hard for you to see your three bigger siblings having so much fun around you and not be fully able to join in! And on top of it all, your verbal skills had not caught up to your internal processing and that just drove you over the edge. There were tantrums. Loud tantrums. Tantrums that left us all wanting to throw tantrums of our own.  I remember saying more than once that it was lucky for you that you were so darn adorably cute.

We've always taken the full month of December off from school and I remember this past December, after a particularly difficult semester of teaching the older kids while working through your fit-throwing issues, asking Daddy what he thought the chances might be of you being a new kid come January. He humored me (and gave me hope!) by saying that he supposed anything was possible... Well, guess what? Call it coincidence, call it a miracle, or just call is God's mercy on your poor, tired mommy, but by January you really were a new boy. A delightful, hilarious, pleasant, grateful little joy to be around. And that description only fits you better and better every day.

Your preschool this year has been a bit unconventional as you studied the Middle Ages right along with the big kids! You read with us stories about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, learned about Vikings,  took a field trip to Medieval Times (where you were enraptured for the entire 2 hours), talked about things being "beheaded" very matter-of-factly, spent many days dressed as Robin Hood, tracked the paths that Columbus took as he sailed west, and learned to credit Patrick Henry as you shouted, "Give me liberty or give me death!". You still enjoy spending some time coloring, cutting and pasting and playing with play doh, but you much prefer reading about knights while wearing your armor. I felt a little guilty about your less-than-conventional preschool for a little while, but I'm learning to just go with the fact that the preschool days of fourth children will naturally look very different from the preschool days of his older siblings. You may still spell your name, "B-E.....S!", but you know a good bit about Paul Revere and the Red Coats, so that counts for something!

There are so many things about you right at this very minute that I hope we never forget. For example, your favorite book for the last few months has been Are You My Mother. You especially like to read it to us and I love that you read with the same inflection that I've always used when reading it to you. I also love that you say "muvvah" for "mother". Please say it like that forever? And while you're at it, you can also keep "fank" for "thank". You love to play house with Caroline, any type of fighting or war game with your "buvvahs", battle with your knights and horses and Connect Four. You sit and loot at books for a long time and you absolutely love to be read to. Books about animals have always been your favorites. Basketball is your favorite sport to watch with daddy and you turned into a huge Kentucky fan this year. John Wall is your favorite player and you call him, "Da best guy." Your favorite snack is a "pile" of cereal, you like your oatmeal with a few chocolate chips in it (like your mama!) and you can eat so much yogurt in one sitting that I had to find a way to make it in large quantities. You don't love plain avocados but can eat your weight in guacamole. when you want seconds of anything (which is most of the time), you say, "Can I have some nor?" The word "super" is one of your most-used; you put in in front of most any other word. For instance, you're never just hungry or thirsty, you're "supah howngy" or "supah firsty". And your knight set-up isn't just awesome, it's "supah awesome" (said in an awed whisper). You are quite independent and enjoy doing things "all bine self". You and I have "love talks" at night before bed where we say sweet things about each other and it always progresses to you saying, "I think you're hot dog soup!". It cracks me up every time. You love to pray. You are really good at learning hymns and your two favorites are Amazing Grace and All Creatures of Our God and King. You have an adorable stutter that you struggle through whenever you're trying to tell a story with any details. Your brain just works so much faster than your mouth! You have impossibly long eyelashes and ridiculously cute freckles on your nose.

Ben, I can't even begin to tell you how much you are loved and adored. You bring such laughter and joy into our family! You are growing and changing so quickly right now and we are loving every minute of it. I can't wait to see all of the things you learn this year and the big boy that you will grow into. We are so glad that God put you in our family! Happy birthday to our precious Benjamin. You're...... da best guy.

Sherlock

Peek-A-Boo

Where's Jack?

 There he is!

Snow days!

Lest my previous post give the impression that wintertime is only an endured season and not an enjoyed one here in the Kyker family, I'm back to set the record straight. We love winter. We welcome winter. We actually look forward to that wonderful Saturday in late October that we turn the clocks back an hour, and not only because it means we get more sleep for one blessed night. We love winter because it means cozy evenings snuggled up on the couch reading good books. It means hot chocolate and hot tea and yummy coffee. It means comfort foods. It means Christmas and the music that comes with it. It means lots of birthdays to celebrate. It means that since the days are shorter the early darkness helps us reign our people in a little earlier in the evenings and we are even just a tiny bit more likely to arrive at bedtime on time. Yes, we embrace winter. And yes, I know that it's easy for us to say that because our winters here in the Upstate are mild and they arrive right on time in late December and then they are gone in late March, just when the calendar says they should be. It's not too hard to look forward to a winter like that.

This winter our family enjoyed all of the above along with several good snow days. Each one was welcomed by the Kyker kids (and their daddy) with much excitement. There was much backyard sledding (with only a few minor injuries as a result) and a couple of trips to a golf course nearby with great hills. I'm sure the groundskeeper was thrilled to find that it was such a hot spot!

Having lived in Florida for so much of my life and being accustomed to only one season (summer) for most of the year, I'll admit that I am still pleasantly surprised every time a new season rolls around. And as much as we've enjoyed our hearty winter this year, the warm, sunny days we've soaked up this past week are quite refreshing. Spring is officially here, right when the calendar says it should be.

WWJD?

It's been a long, cold, wet winter (for wimpy South Carolinians, anyway). There have been many days where I'm certain I've not been the only member of our family who is ready to pull his or her hair out by the time evening comes and there are only so many books to be read, games to be played, even floors to be scrubbed before the cabin fever gets the better of us.
So at the height of those pent-up energies one evening when things (and by "things" I really mean "people") had reached an insane level of crazy, I was tempted to send each and every child off to a different relative upstairs to their rooms to read (silently!) so that we (I) could pull things together again, when I suddenly asked myself, "WWJD?". Jimmy, I decided, would not send the kids off to their own silent corners where the burning energy would just be forced to simmer below the surface. Jimmy would figure out a constructive way to get that burning energy OUT. Jimmy would crank the iTunes and host a dance party. So we did. And it worked.

A day in the life of Ben

This is what I found on the kitchen floor recently and I thought it captured this moment in Ben's life perfectly. A cowboy hat, a weapon, and pictures of battles. What more could a little boy need?

The awesome number NINE

Dear Travis, so how do you feel about being nine? Because daddy and I are really kind of liking nine and we'd, like, you know, be totally fine if you wanted to, say, just hang out here for a while? You know, kind of skip the whole "getting older and eventually moving away" thing? Don't feel like you have to answer right away...

Seriously though, each new stage has seemed to have been great, especially with you as our oldest boldly paving a path through us as ever-growing and changing parents. But your ninth year? Your ninth year has been just plain fun.  Your sense of humor has matured to a point where daddy and I will seek you out to share a funny moment (usually at one of the other kids' expense - we try to be sly), your creativity has exploded (there is almost always some sort of paper craft being constructed; airplanes, weapons, crowns, stocks...) and your need for independence and responsibility have left us me (daddy doesn't have trouble with this) scrambling for ways to allow you to spread your wings a little. As the first-born, you've always kept us on our toes wondering what stage would be next, and I distinctly remember looking forward to the day when we would begin, very slowly, to relate to our kids as friends. That day has arrived much more quickly than we had thought it would!

We've been able to have a lot of big-kid fun with you this year, from Sunday afternoon games while the little people rested, to late night wake ups from daddy to come watch a Sherlock Holmes movie, and even big things like day trips with dad to nearby ski resorts. It's a lot of fun for me to talk through the great books you're reading (since it's highly likely that I've never read them myself) and to hear you easily explain the message behind the story or the subtle humor or the different characters. You can still certainly get yourself lost in a good story! Just last night you explained the meaning behind your favorite verse (the last one) of Amazing Grace to Sam and Caroline. I just love that you have a favorite verse.

 Your third grade year has been very full. You understand math very easily and enjoy it a lot (you get that from Daddy), you've liked learning cursive and have very neat handwriting (you do not get that from Daddy), and you've absolutely loved studying the Middle Ages through the early days of America. We covered a lot of battles. : ) You began taking guitar lessons from Mr. Sibley and you're picking it up well! You and Sam started baseball and love being on the same team. You also decided back in the fall that you wanted to remain in worship with us during the sermon and have not gone back on that even once (even though we said you were welcome to go back into Sunday School if you wanted to). We absolutely love having you in there with us and wouldn't trade those post-sermon discussions with you for the world. Daddy and I are always proud of your achievements, but nothing can describe our feelings of thankfulness over the wisdom and maturity that God is working in your heart. 

Travis, we are so thankful for the fun and joy that you bring to our family. I seriously don't think that Sam could make it without you, you are fiercely protective of Caroline (sometimes to a fault! We're working on that...), you are patient with little Ben who just wants to BE you and you positively adore Jack, doting on him every chance you get. The relationships that you have developed with your brothers and sister are priceless and we look forward to the day when you are all adults and the best of friends.  Daddy and I are so proud of you and look forward to watching you change and grow even more in this coming year. Happy ninth birthday, T-man!

Guess who....

.... finally lost that loose tooth? That's right! Sam finally decided it was time to get that first loose top tooth out and he gave me the honor. We're all loving the cute lisp that comes as part of the tooth-less territory!

No More Thumbs!

Caroline has been diligently developing a new habit over the past thirty days, so we created a chart we called No More Thumbs! where she could watch her progress. Her reward at the end of the month was what she called a "big girl" haircut! Friday night she placed the very last sticker on her chart and she's officially no longer a thumb sucker (mostly).

 

She woke me up bright and early on Saturday morning, so excited to remind me that it was the big day! So, instead of laying down for a rest like all of the other kids after lunch, she and I headed out for our girl day at the salon, where our friend Ali would work her magic. 

  

measuring for Locks of Love 

 the first cut!

 

  

  

  

 

I'd already prepped Daddy for what he'd see when we got home but he was still surprised by how grown-up she looked! 

 

I might have had to let go of the braids and pony tails, but thankfully I still have the bows. The bows aren't going anywhere for a long time!

Fun with Fulfords

This past weekend the Kykers and Fulfords joined forces for three days of fun here in the Woodland. With eight kids, eight and under, there was certainly no lack for entertainment! Our families have been enjoying each other for many years now and this weekend was no exception. Some of our earlier visits (back when there was only one small child to be considered in the day's plan) consisted of shopping excursions that included long car rides (Ikea in San Diego), insanely crowded football games (go Gators!), and even grown-ups-only cruises! But now, with two new little cousins added to the mix even since our last get-together, we stick a little closer to home. We create our own fun. We spend less time in the car and out in public. We still laugh a whole lot.

Our time with the Fulfords is always full of laughs and it only gets better as our kids get older and are able to more fully enjoy each other. There was a lot of dressing up, many battles fought, legos built, games played, magic shows performed and kids dazzled and amazed, ice cream eaten, creeks played in, deer stands climbed, hair curled and slumber parties had. We adults were pretty simple, our needs easily met mainly though Jimmy's yummy coffee (with froth!), though the new Mocha Silk pie recipe didn't hurt anything.

Baby Thomas was a little darlin' and very willingly allowed me to get my camera on him. His huge blue eyes practically beg to be photographed! He is such a little love and just fit right in with all of the crazy.

 

  

As always, a wonderful time was had by all (Gannett's really bummed that the party is coming to an end in this picture. you're not the only one, buddy, trust me!). Love you, Fulford's (very much)!