Kevin at Eleven

I am well aware that it is nowhere near Kevin’s birthday. I am also well aware that I have missed at least one or two of Kevin’s birthday posts b/c his birthday falls right during our family vacation every year. Though I have every intention of whipping out a post for him when we get back, the time just keeps on flying and then we go to the cottage and then back to school and then . . . .well it got missed again.

So since my last three posts are birthday posts for the other three kids, I figured that there is no time like the present to get a Kevin post done too!

How to describe my firstborn son? Well perhaps I should start with a limerick about him.

There once was a boy named Kevin

Back in August he turned eleven.

He really loves to play

Hockey all day.

That is our boy named Kevin.

Or how about a quatrain:

Kevin likes to go to school,

Phys.Ed, recess, and lunch.

He thinks these subjects are quite cool,

And likes them a whole bunch.

As I sat down with Kevin to work on his poetry project with him last week, a few things about Kevin were reinforced in my mind. Kevin really enjoys school . . . but certainly not because of all the nifty things he can learn in a day or week. Kevin rarely has homework and rarely studies (much to my chagrin!!). He seems to get the job done . . . but I think the effort is most definitely lacking. As I read over some of Kevin’s poems, I just had to shake my head. There was a whole lot of “get the job done . . . and the sooner the better!” kind of poetry going on. His imagination was not having some of its finer moments. So to try to poke and prod him on to a bit of fine tuning was a job!! Now I realize everyone is not a poet, but some of his poetry was bordering on pathetic. It took a lot of restraint to not make him start over!!

There was also an opportunity to gain bonus marks on this project by doing a bit of extra work. Kevin wasn’t interested. At all. I can’t say I get it, but I’m kind of figuring him out. He is not like me. That is okay. Figuring out how to blend our two very different approaches to learning/school is a work in progress. Anyhow, Kevin does love Phys.Ed, recess, lunch and the bus ride and social time. The rest is just putting in hours, though he is very fond of his teacher!

As for Kevin and hockey? It is still his passion. It is his favorite sport and I’m pretty sure that our basement has not had a break from him, since we moved in – except when we were in Florida. He spends hours down there on roller blades or shoes, just taking shots or having shots taken on him. Mostly he is alone, but he does get Kade and Jonathan down on occasion and Kylie and Karter take their turns too. Through the winter, Kevin plays hockey/ learns hockey skills once a week with a group from church with Jonathan and another dad teaching. He loves it . . . . not so much the skills part, but he loves the game. Then in the spring, he does 3 on 3 for 8 weeks. This is where we see that the skills part is so important. He does all right, but you can definitely see the difference b/w him and the kids who grow up in the minor hockey system. It’s been really good for him though.

Kevin will say his next favorite sport is volleyball, and then baseball and then soccer. I think he shines the most on the soccer field. I absolutely love watching him play (soccer and other sports too!). He plays with determination and passion. He likes to be on the field and would play the whole game (in soccer) if he could. He’s got energy. His competitive nature is still there, but I think it has waned hugely. He still likes to win, but I think (from what I see anyway – maybe his phys.ed teacher would say differently!) he is quite gracious about losing. Maybe it’s because he’s gotten so much experience in this department over the years. (The teams he has been on lately all seem to be ummm. . . .inferior?) But that is okay.

Kevin also likes to watch hockey, though we haven’t been able to do it at all for the last NHL season, but he does like to watch the highlights the next day (when he is allowed) and keep up with things a bit that way.

Kevin loves Karter and I need to record some of his quotes here for future reference. Lately Karter has shown a very evident love for hockey as well. He actually goes down to the basement on his own and plays. I’m not kidding. So we like to remind Kevin that he will likely be the one that Karter is bugging in 5-10 years to “play hockey with me!!” Kevin promises us that he will be an awesome big brother and play with Karter whenever he asks. (this is a bit of an intended guilt trip for Jonathan) We then remind Kevin that he may have a girl friend or a cell phone or an ipad or some other interesting things that might be a priority at that time. He paused only briefly and reinforced that he’d rather play hockey with Karter. We really hope so!! Now it’s here for the record. I may have to pull this up in the future!

Kevin and Kade, although as different as night and day, have been spending a lot more time together lately too. I still think Kevin’s choice of “things to do” wins most often, but they do have enough shared interests, that Kade gets his fun in there too. They enjoy the woods and fort building, soccer, baseball, lego, and making messes.

Kevin is a fairly social kid. He enjoys his friends and I think they enjoy him too. He also enjoys his many cousins . . . even the girl ones! These two are two peas in a pod and have great fun together. They enjoy being in the same class and one of their favorite jokes is to compliment the other on their good looks – b/c then they are complimenting themselves too, since everyone says they look so much alike.

Kevin continues with his piano . . . though it’s been rather sporadic (especially with the arrival of spring). He continues to dislike it, but does like to plunk out a hymn from his piano book once in a while without being told. I still think he is fairly quick learner (though we plod along b/c of his amount of practice time) and I think he has good potential, so we carry on. I think it is a good discipline and remind him often that if he gets to enjoy the things he loves – like arena time, then he can also give a bit of time to this “talent” as well.

Kevin has been our in house babysitter for the last little while and we really enjoy it. He usually does a good job too . . . although there are things he still needs to learn! We appreciate that he is willing to do it!

We had a beautiful Alaskan Malamute for about 6 weeks before it got hit at the road. This was very tragic for most of us, but hit Kevin the hardest. He really bonded with “Julius” in the short time we had him and really enjoyed his companionship and energy. We now have a much more mild mannered (ahem . . . lazy) dog whom we are all enjoying very much too. (more on that soon)

Kevin enjoys a good book – but usually only in bed. It is very rare for him to be seen reading during the day . . . and if he is . . . it must be a VERY exciting book.

Kevin’s goal as of late is to be a farmer. He wants to have nice tractors and a barn full of cows I think. He really wants to get a job helping a farmer and we remind him that he needs to work hard. He used to be very diligent and hard working. That has definitely slipped lately, though he is working on it again. It is easy for him to focus on the fun and games, and think he is entitled to do whatever HE wants. This is somewhat our own fault, as we have fallen into the “it’s easier to just do it myself” mode lately. But we are seeing the results of that and are trying to crack down on this tendency to be lazy. Being a hard worker is very important to us and is something we really want to instill in each of our kids.

As with most kids, Kevin has bouts of “severe attitude”. He seems to go through phases/stages rather often. He mostly thinks he knows best and probably better than mom and dad anyway.

Kevin is also a talker. In fact it is often hard to get him to stop. When we are having a “discussion” or “teaching moment”, it is hard to get anything across b/c he just doesn’t’ stop. He needs to explain and explain and explain . . . despite how often we ask him to “stop talking and just listen!!!”. The joys!!

Kevin has taught us much. In a lot of ways, he is our guinea pig. He is our first and therefore has a lot of responsibilities . . . but also a lot of privileges. He mostly takes his responsibilities seriously . . . often looking out for his siblings just because he is older and “responsible in a way” for them.

Kevin, we love you very much. We love your passion for life and for fun. Some advice for you right now . . . Always work as hard as you play!! Also, make sure you make time to grow spiritually. You are diligent with your devotions most of the time, but make sure you are loving this time and cherishing it. It is easy to rush through the bible reading at the end of the day and snuggle in with a good book. (I know!!) But there is so much value in really loving God and His Word. Make the time buddy and you will grow. Make sure you let it go past your head and into your heart too. You will never regret the time you give to God. This is our challenge for you. We love you dearly and pray that you will continue to grow in grace and in your love for the Lord. That is most important!

Kylie at Six

 I’ve been pondering for many days (you can do that when you post over a week late) just how to describe and give glimpses into our life with Kylie. As I was tidying her room last week, I came across remnants of a “Surprise Bag” that Kylie got from one of her favorite aunts:) – the kind of treat bag you grab from a barrel in a store and never quite know what you will end up with. Most times it is the stuff the store couldn’t quite sell and a lot of it is quite useless . . . BUT!!! . . . there is just something so exciting about buying one and seeing what you will pull out.
This is Kylie on any given day. She comes down stairs in the morning, and I’m just not quite sure what lovely treasures I’ll get to amass on any given day. She is THAT unpredictable. But even unpredictable has a certain degree of predictable in it. (Confused??? So am I most days!) 

 One certainty in the morning, is that the first thing she will look for is, what is for breakfast.   Three days a week I torture my kids by giving them porridge.  I am the meanest mom ever . . . except if giving you child porridge makes you mean, then my mom was twice as mean and more – b/c we had to have it 7 days a week, 362 days a year!!!  Anyhow, back to Kylie.  As she does a quick glance of the counter, she will immediately break out into a whine about porridge, and “Why do we have to have it?” and  “I hate porridge.” and “I’m not eating that!”  and “It’s so disgusting.” This is all accompanied by a lot of drama and pout and arm crossing.  I’m usually running around enough at this point, that I really don’t give her the time of day . . . but this doesn’t stop her.  Same thing --three times a week.  GOOD MORNING!!   And it actually gets even better.  I usually feed her.  Yes Kylie, this is your sixth birthday post, and someday you will be embarrassed by this!!!  If I feed her, she can be done it 90 seconds or less.  If she feeds herself, it will be 90 minutes or more, with repeated microwaves to reheat . . . and at that point, the porridge is not the only thing getting heated up!!   It teaches me patience.  Needless to say, I usually feed her.  Cereal days just start out a whole lot more cheerfully.  But, she is not the only stubborn one and therefore porridge WILL remain on the menu!

(Her rose from Jonathan for Valentines Day)

 The next beef I get to deal with is “Where are we going today?” except lately it goes more like this, (insert pout and grumpy face), “I bet we’re not going anywhere today or doing anything fun.”. Such a gem.

And then it is playtime. This is where Kylie shines. She has always had fabulous imagination and it certainly hasn’t diminished. The concern we are having with this lately, is she can imagine just a little too good!!! She has lately begun to tell about her day, her friends, her family and we have no idea what is fact or fiction anymore. I used to believe it all, but I have caught her too many times lately. She doesn’t mean to be disobedient in her lying (most of the time), but It becomes so much a part of her imagination, that it really happened. For example, (and this is minor!), Jonathan came home the other day and she promptly told him that we had gone to McDonald’s for lunch. . . oh! And Brooke and Aunt Steph came too. Jonathan totally believed her . . . except her details kept getting more and more specific . . . a little too specific. “Oh, ya, the kids had a P.D Day. All the kids were there. Uncle Josh was too . . . but he didn’t come in. He just went through the drive through.” And on and on! Soon half of the family was there and Jonathan was wondering why he didn’t get invited to this impromptu McDonald’s lunch gathering! The things I hear home from school are believable . . . sometimes. I am now leaning towards not believing too much. (and if you are hearing stories about our family . . . maybe you should not believe them either:)! Ha Ha!! So this is something we have been trying to deal with . . . without completely squashing her imagination. Could take a bit!

Kylie is our tomboy princess. She loves to dress up, but she is also anything but a princess most of the time. She is dirty and messy and her hair is usually crazy. I can send her away in the morning as neat as ever and more often than not, it is completely undone when she comes home. This drives me a little crazy – especially when she is taking out ponytail holders etc. I don’t mind if her hair starts flying away, but when she is adding to the chaos, and taking things out, it just doesn’t look good! The irony of all this is that she LOVES to be beautiful. If she ever feels down on herself, she’ll say, “You think I’m ugly. You don’t like me. Nobody likes me. Everyone thinks I’m ugly!” We are working on this too! She is sometimes too hard on herself and gets quite upset with herself.  

 Kylie loves books and reading. She is reading quite well and even brought home a chapter book from the school library last week – a fact she was quite proud of. I love listening to her read (though she guesses a bit too much for my liking on the hard words). She loves being read too as well, and if she sees me sit down with my book, she will immediately grab a book or two of her own and beg me to read to her . . . which I do like to make the time to do . . . even if it means it takes me a week or two to get through my own book (which is crazy for me!)

Some of her favorite things to play are: Store – When I sit at my computer (working of course), I am interrupted many times to scan in her purchase, put them in her bag, take her money and give her her change. Teacher – I’m pretty sure Kylie’s teacher has made a huge impact on her.  She walks around  (and takes it to bed) these plastic covered papers, all day . . . b/c that is what her teacher has.  I have told her not to take them out of my binder many times, but she just can’t resist and she gets her “tappy shoes” on and clip clops around and teaches her class.  It is pretty cute.  Restaurant – when I make lunch or snack, she usually likes to put in her order and pay for it too.   Singer – she has a couple of microphones that she loves to use. She gets up on our fireplace hearth and sings it out.  I think she has a beautiful voice too. I love hearing her sing. She also loves to stand by the piano while I play and sing with me.  She “plays” the keyboard too.  Bookkeeper – she loves to have a clean sheet of “paper” on the computer and loves to type away like a secretary.  She also loves Polly Pockets and Barbies, though they are a bit on the back shelf right now.  The other things I’ve mentioned are what occupy her the most. 

(Sometimes we make her a little fortress so that she is safe from Karter)

Kylie loves school and does well there . . . her school work often comes home lacking and I’m quite sure that she has her mind on other things during school work time and rushes through far too quickly.  She can get the answer quite easily when she is at home.  I know she is smart, and her school work doesn’t always prove it! But I am glad she is having fun.  She loves her friends and her teacher.

 Kylie is very interesting to discipline. Sometimes her heart is so soft and we can really have a good talk and other times, she is so stubborn and we feel like we get nowhere.  She needs time to think and process things, so we often send her to her room (which makes her very angry) and she will often come down after a while and say sorry for what she has done. One time she wrote an apology in her notebook - - this was pretty precious.

 Kylie is a both a big helper and a huge mess maker.  She loves collecting things from all over the place and then she plays with them, but at the end of the day, she isn’t too keen on putting it all away.  We have learned to limit the amount of things collected in order to limit the grumbling at clean up time.  If she is in the right mood, she loves to help me clean. She likes to make a big list at the beginning of the day and get to work on it and then cross things off. She can handle quite a few chores (IF she wants to!). There are other days when setting the table is as big a job as building the CN tower. 

 Kylie is also a big boss.  She loves to be in charge and have everyone around her listen to her. This obviously doesn’t always work and she is figuring this out too.  We have seen her mature in this way a bit lately.

Kylie doesn’t like to be laughed at at all. If she ever says something funny, and we retell it to someone in her hearing, she will get quite upset. She thinks she is being made fun of – which if most often not true at all. We are trying to teach her that it is good to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes.

 Kylie has a real thing for shoes.  When around friends, she is rarely wearing her own.  Everyone else's are just more exciting.  It is one of her favorite things to look at when we second hand shop, and she is always convinced she needs just one more pair. I am getting smart here. There are just too many pairs at home that are purple, pink, sparkly, glittery and were wonderful in the store (and cute to me too), but when they come home they just aren't quite as good for some reason.  So unless they are super super cute and comfortable and cheap, the answer is now "No!".

Kylie is rarely (except when she is sleeping) quiet. She jabbers constantly.  I will really miss her chatter and singing when she goes to school full time next year. I will miss A LOT of things about her!!!

Kylie loves her dad. She wishes he would stay home every morning (the days she is not at school) and have coffee with her.  She loves it if he pops in during the day and she wishes she could go to work with him. 

Kylie loves swimming and does really well there too. She was a fish in Florida and is looking forward to swimming lessons this summer.

Kylie also enjoys skating, rollerblading, soccer, and most of the other things the boys are doing. She is not usually one to be left behind.

(Kylie wearing Kade's Tae Kwon Do suit and pulling some moves!)

I’m sure there are so many other things I could write about this treasure of ours . . . but this is a lot!! (I don’t have too much trouble writing about my kids! I want them to get a glimpse into what they were like as kids. This may help them some day when/if they have kids of their own;)).

We are both very thankful that we were blessed with this girl. She is exciting and beautiful. She makes our life interesting and crazy. We are definitely blessed by her and have learned much from her. Kylie, we pray for you often. We pray for your heart to be tender and teachable. We pray that you would love the Lord. We love hearing you pray. You pray exactly what is on your heart and mind and it is cute and refreshing to hear. We can learn from you! We are thankful for the six years you have been in our family and pray that God would bless us with many more years with you!!

We love you!!!