Our Son the B Boy



Never in a million years would I have ever guessed that James would do anything other than play sports. I always assumed that he would be a football player like his dad. It's not that I was against him pursuing other interests, it's just that Rollins boys play football. Plain and simple.

 

It has also been pretty evident for some time though that he takes more after me in his physical makeup than he does Josh, which doesn't exactly scream football player. He also hasn't ever really showed an extreme interest in sports outside of playing in the backyard as a family.

 

About a year ago he started doing head stands All. The. Time. He got so good at them that we suggested he try spinning on his head just to challenge him a little. One day after he had become pretty good at spinning in a complete circle we decided to look at break dancing videos on you tube so he could see all the cool stuff that they do. James was hooked. When we told him that we had found a place that offered break dancing classes for boys he went right up to his room and changed his clothes because he wanted to start right that second.

 

Unfortunately we didn't have the money for it right then but told him that when we got our house sold we would look into it.

 

Three weeks ago was his first class and it was so cute how excited and nervous he was all at the same time. We actually just went to check it out on the first day and told him that he could decide whether or not he wanted to sign up. After class he came running out with the biggest smile on his face and said "I want to sign up right now!"

 

We are absolutely thrilled that he finally found something he loves other than video games and I can already seen the change that this has made in his confidence. Most of the other kids were still learning how to do head stands when he started so the fact that he could already spin on his head made him feel really special. Then, just this past Monday he told me very excitedly on the way to class that they were going to learn how to do back flips! Honestly, I was thinking there was no way they were actually going to be learning that but I didn't say that to him.



 

So, they were exactly learning back flips, but I was shocked that he really was teaching them back hand springs. James once again was the best one in the class because he has absolutely no fear. His teacher explained to him what he was going to do and then James said "OK" and jumped backwards. Then his teacher had him do it again several times in a row so that the other kids could see exactly what to do. I know it seems silly, but I was so proud of him!

 

 

Laila loves his break dancing class too. She hears the music start and heads straight to the door to watch and pretty much stays there for the entire 45 minutes.

 

And you should know that I already have big plans to see my B Boy James on So You Think You Can Dance someday!

Picture attempt 2012

 

As it turns out, taking pictures of four children is a lot harder than taking pictures of just one uncooperative baby. Especially when one of the four children is the uncooperative baby!

 

This photo shoot was not quite as bad as Laila's since no one was maimed in the process, but oh my goodness, by the end of it, if I heard "I'm bored!" one more time I think I would have got in the car and left them all with the ducks. Really not the most fun I've ever had!

 

My goal however was to just get at least one good group shot that can be turned into a Christmas card and one shot of each individual that can hang on the wall, so in that regard it was a success. I spent a lot of time making and putting together their outfits though so I was really hoping for some amazing pictures, but when it comes down to it, I'm just not a photographer, so maybe my expectations were a little too high.

 

I keep promising myself that someday I'm either going to really learn how to use my camera, or stop being too cheap to pay someone to take pictures for me. Until then, we make due with me as the photographer and the camera on auto.

 

 

 

 

I love this picture! Josh was trying to get her to hold her hand out and let the ducks take the bread right from her and she became hysterical.

Aahh, done for another year!

Fall time with Friends

We had a couple extra kids for a few days last week, and one day of gorgeous fall weather. There was no way  I was going to let them sit in the house playing video games on such a perfect day, so I shooed them out, intending to do something productive inside, but Laila just stood by the back door watching them and I felt so bad that we went out to join them.

 

I love fall when it's warm! Fall when it's cold just reminds me that winter is right around the corner.

A decade of silliness, drama, and love...

That is what she has given us. I'm the luckiest mom in the world!

 

Ugly birthday cupcakes is what happens when you suddenly realize an hour before the party that the only muffin cups you have left are Halloween ones and your homemade frosting looks like dog poop.

We added m&m's on top to help them out a little bit, and she didn't seem to mind

After the presents were opened and ugly cupcakes consumed, a dance party ensued.

She's probably not going to love us so much one day for putting this on the Internet.

Dancing Queen

Before you start to think this has turned into the Laila blog, I do have one funny thing to share from James.

On our way home tonight James said "For Christmas, I'm going to ask for a real force field." I said "OK" and didn't think much of it, but Macy wanted to know why, so he explained that he wants it so dad cant beat him up anymore. Um. Yes. So. every once in a while I tell Josh that the kids need to be roughed up a little and it usually ends in tears, but it's good for them! Apparently James does not agree however.

Alright, now on to the Laila part. She is by far our most serious child...until you turn on the music! I took the kids to skate night tonight and was a little worried about how to keep Laila entertained, but she had a blast! She ended up entertaining the lady sitting next to us.

Loony Laila

Wow, this week has been crazy! I was planning on having a laparoscopy done sometime next month to remove my IUD that got put in wrong 3 times to begin with and then somehow burrowed it's way out of my uterus and into my abdominal cavity. And then suddenly on Monday I talked to a different doctor and she was willing to do the surgery on Thursday so I said "why not!"

 

The surgery went really well and Josh was able to stay home and take care of me and the kids so I could rest. Friday even seemed like it would be a good day as well since one of my friends took Laila and Macy for me for a good chunk of the afternoon so I could rest some more. By Friday evening though I was utterly exhausted and all I wanted was for Josh to walk in the door so I could go lay down again. Of course it turned out to be one of the worst days he has had in a long time and didn't get home until 10:00.

 

By, 7:00 I was feeling loony, and apparently so was Laila. I gave her some Motrin because her darn top tooth just won't break through and the poor thing has been suffering for weeks now. Afterward she was thoroughly entertained by the medicine dropper so we sat on the stairs for about 30 minutes playing this little game, but I eventually had to cut her off because I was laughing so hard that my incisions were starting to hurt. (keep in mind that I was still under the influence of several medications!)

 



Saturday was the worse day yet, where I experienced some sort of crazy anesthesia hang over, and of course Josh was on call so I was on my own again. Thankfully I have really great friends who helped me out getting kids shuttled to birthday parties and brought us dinner. I would not have survived without them!

Today I am feeling tired still but more like myself again, and that feels great!

Makes me SO sad!

 

One Year Photo Shoot...aka The Day I'd Like to Forget

Warning: I'm going to gripe and complain, and then throw a whole bunch of pictures at you, because I'm that mom who thinks her kid is THE cutest and you all are just dying to pour over 32 pictures of her.

 

OK, let's begin. Josh left for Utah yesterday morning at 5:50am, which means that at 4:30am myself and four sleepy children escorted him to the airport. I should have known just to stay home after that. No good day starts at 4:30 in the morning. I did eventually get everyone back to sleep by 6:30 and Samm and James got themselves up and ready for school an hour so I shouldn't complain too much. Around 10:30 I finally got a call from the Dr's office that I have been waiting for for over a week, with the news that I will in fact have to have a minor surgery, but that is a rant for another day. After that we met some friends at the park, which was the only thing that saved Thursday for me. I need more grown up girl bonding time (name that movie)

 

Anyway, I had been going back and forth all day about whether or not I really wanted to drag all the kids out after school to take Laila's pictures, but in the end I wasn't sure if we would ever have another day that would be warm enough at 5:00 for her to not have a shirt on, and I had already blown up the helium balloons that were to be used in the pictures, so we went. At approximately 5:30 we arrived at the photo shoot location, and around 5:32 James let go of said balloons before even one picture could be snapped. (Just imagine really cute yellow and white polka dot balloons in the background)

 

Laila smiled and laughed for the first five pictures while Samm stood next to me squeaking a little elephant toy, and then she caught on to the game we were playing and pretty much refused to even look at me after that. If she did look up, she made sure to have her hands in her mouth.

 

There were some other lesser highlights in the middle, including James jumping in a creek with his tennis shoes on, me hitting my head on a beam, and loosing the lens cap to my camera, but let me just jump to the end. It's the best part.

 

I was a really great mom and let Laila sit up on a bench next to the other kids that was way too high for her to be sitting on, and then I walked out of reach of her just as Macy hopped off the bench sending her plummeting face first on the ground. Bloody noses don't make for good pictures, so we called it quits. And, the best part is that her nose might be broken. With Josh out of town, I don't know for sure, but the bridge of her nose is nice and purple and swollen. I keep seeing the image of her face hitting the ground in my head, and it makes my stomach lurch every time.

 

On a happier note though, out of the hundred or so pictures that I took, there were some good ones, and a few that are even good enough to hang on the wall. And, Laila doesn't seem to be scarred, emotionally that is, from our little escapade yesterday.

 

Now for the picture spew. Just focus on the cute face and not my picture taking skills. OK. I still have no clue how to use my camera, and after a few frustrating and completely blurry shots I just put the dumb thing on auto.

 





 

She looks so sweet in this picture, but don't let that fool you. She is a diva! What I really needed was a picture of her doing her eyebrow furrow.

I love her face in this one! I'm really bummed that it's blurry.

 

I think this is the one that will probably go on the wall!