Tyse's Bits of paper

I have all these little bits of paper that have been lying around my desk. On them I have written a load of cute and adorable things about my kids that I keep meaning to post about so they are written somewhere (other than on my many little bits of paper). Here are the ones that have to do with Tyse.

Tyse is getting older and more ...something... not sure the right word... every day. He is serious about every thing he does- school, sports, games, you name it- it is a BIG deal. A couple months ago he came home from school visibly upset. The first thing out of his mouth was, "Mom, I've really GOT to have a haircut." Upon asking why, he informed me that the kids in his class had been teasing him about his hair. I must have given him the "huh?" look, because then he said, "well mom, not ALL the kids. Just the girls." Again, he got the "huh?" And then almost in tears with his voice quivering, "mom, they just say how CUTE it is. Over and over. And ask if they can touch it!" Well, that was the day we went for the almost buzz in the wintertime.

He is also completely obsessed with Chess. He wants to play all day, every day. I, myself, don't even know HOW to play chess. He keeps volunteering to teach me, sweet boy. I keep trying to find good excuses to NOT learn. Luckily, Kent enjoys playing with him, and just a couple weeks ago, he got his first victory over his dad! He was so excited- and Kent didn't even see it coming. He brings it up every time they get the chess board out. It is the only game I have ever seen him continue to play even though he loses almost every time.

Sports continue to be his first love. Soccer season is in full swing and his team is 3-0, and his goal count stands at 17. We have really been working on getting him to pass to his teammates instead of just dribbling it down and scoring himself, and this past week he showed it is finally sinking in! This past week at lunch he had been quiet for a while and finally said, "mom? I have been thinking about my game this week. Sometimes when I am getting ready to score I have 2 or 3 guys guarding me and I have to be pretty fancy to get it past them. But... what if I just passed it to the middle? Tate is always standing there, and then HE could bury it! I think it would work!" I was very proud to hear his brain starting to work in a bit of a team fashion- and then to actually see him tell Tate the plan and then try to execute it was even sweeter! I was so proud of him!

His last great moment of the past few weeks came one morning when I was downstairs getting Kent off to work. Tyse stumbled into the kitchen straight out of bed and instead of saying his usual- "can I have breakfast now?", he uttered 4 words that I didn't expect to hear at the age of 6- but now plan on hearing every morning for the next 12 years. They were, "Where's the sports section?" My boy is getting big!

Like Mother Like Son

Yesterday morning, I was laying in bed watching the news when they started talking about Punxsutawney Phil and how he saw his shadow. What is my son's response? "YESSSSS! 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!"- legitimately thrilled with the forecast! Just like me, winter is his FAVORITE season- he dreads the day when it stops snowing- but I am sure that when the time comes, waving his swimsuit in front of his face will convince him that the warmer weather is acceptable. I am so glad my son loves the winter! I get tired of everyone complaining about the winter and begging for it to warm up! So my sweet 6 year old son MADE my Groundhog's Day!

Tyse-isms

I love how kids come up with their little sayings (not that we are any different). Tyse has definitely learned the value of the spoken word and uses it to his full advantage and 90% of the time I love it! (10% of the time I end up somewhat horrified!) Now that I have you wondering, here are his latest phrases:

1. He loves to say "what's the difference?" he just hasn't yet gotten the idea of it. He says it to me often, sometimes out of the blue and I am supposed to know exactly to what he is referring and come up with the brilliantly correct answer. This is often when that horrific 10 percent makes a showing. He doesn't like that I don't read minds well. Anyway, the other day he says to me (good luck keeping up), "What's the difference with skin? The difference is that our skin looks like this (pointing) and other peoples skin is brown or really white. It's just different. That's the difference."

2. He has the most wonderful primary teacher. She does a great job and he learns a lot from her. In class they have been talking about President Monson and his counselors, whom he refers to as "president monson's presidents". Anyway, he asked me if I knew who president monson's presidents were one day and I actually understood and tried to explain that they are called counselors. He said, "Never mind mom with the right word. What matters is that we know who they are. I know. They are President Eyring and president Orkdoof." I love how he says that!

3. He has started soccer practice and loves every minute. He thinks he needs to practice non stop, and I had to hide his jersey and shin guards so they make it through the next week until his first game. One night he was out playing with Kent and Kent told him it was time to come in for bed. Tyse says, "But Dad, my coach saysbthat we need tom practice a lot! if I go to bed, I can't practice and then I won't win." Sheesh. But if I was concerned about him being a bit timid on the field, it was solved after the second practice when the coach said to me, "Man, Tyse has a lot of aggression!" I am hoping he meant that he is aggressive. I know you are all thinking, Tyse? Timid? no way. But it was a bit of a concern.... for a second or two. Anyway, That's all I can think of right now, but I know there was more to share, so I may have a part 2 later...

Serious lunch meeting

The other day Tyse and his friends were over playing together and I made them lunch. They had been playing superheroes all morning, and were still in character at the table- I was eating with Popeye, HeMan, and a very intimidating ninja. Well, the table conversation turned very interesting...
Popeye- "I love that movie, Enchanted. It's soooo good!"
He Man- "I haven't seen it yet. We have it, but I haven't watched it. It looks girly!"
Ninja- " No, it's not girly at all. It's about this princess girl that is so pretty!"
Popeye- "Yeah, it's sooo good. She has this bad witch lady and then goes into this big city and gets totally lost"
He Man- " You mean the girl with the huge dress? She gets lost? And she is pretty?"
Ninja- "Yeah, man. You gotta see it. It's so great"

They spent the next 15 minutes or so discussing the princess and her pretty dress and he predicament in the movie- I thought when we were given this movie, I would be the only taker. Surprise- 4 and 5 year old boys like it, too!

Tyse has some new best friends...

For mothers day, Tyse got new friends. Not that there was anything wrong with the old ones, but you know how 4 year olds are...
He wanted to catch some spiders that he saw crawling around outside. I gave him a jar and a gardening shovel and sent him on his hunt. He returned a short time later with 3 little brown spiders in his jar, some rocks, sticks, and grass. Not a bad little habitat!
It was then time for his quiet time, so he asked if he could take them upstairs and show them his room. I put a lid on it and we punched some holes and up he went (willingly, for the first time in months!). He was upstairs all of 20 minutes before he was back down telling me that he was ready to let them go. 3 less spiders in my house? GREAT! He started out the back door, and then turned around and told me, "but mom, they are my best friends. I am REALLY REALLY going to miss them!" Nonetheless, he went out and dumped them, and then returned inside to tell me "I miss them already!" I guess we have gone through our next pet stage. At least it was short lived.

Hot Runners

Tyse is totally obsessed with Race Cars. He loves riding down Bangerter every day because there are always teenagers with their suped up civics tearing down the road. Well- he has come up with his own name for them and I think it is so funny- they are called "HOT RUNNERS". He won't believe me that the true name of racing cars (not these, however,) are Hot Rods- he only calls them hot runners. And he is so excited that gas prices are so high because that means that instead of driving the durango around, we have been reverting to my formative years and driving the spacious sunfire. We barely fit with all the baby seats in the back, but it gets more than double the gas mileage of the durango. Since kent's commute is about 10 blocks, he gets the family car and I get the commuter special. Anyway, it has a small spoiler on the back, which makes it eligible for the HOT RUNNER label and he has been raving about it everywhere he goes... I love how excited he gets about these things!

The 4 year old concerned with his future...

VS.











The other night we were eating dinner. I have a radio that is mounted under the cabinets in the kitchen that is always on, and it is mostly on a country station. Tyse is very quick to figure out who sings what and likes to sing along. Some of you may remember a past post about Carrie Underwood, but she appears to have competition...
A Taylor Swift song came on the radio during dinner and he was singing along. After the song he announced, "That was Taylor Swift. I am going to marry her." Well, I thought, at least he seems to be developing good taste in girls...?
Then, 2 nights later, a Carrie Underwood song came on. He then told me the following-
" I am going to marry Carrie Underwood in dad's temple." OK. I proceeded to tell him he would have to choose between the 2, and he said, "I choose Carrie because she is just so much cuter."
If Kent would have been there, I don't think he could ever have been more proud! I guess taste is genetic!
Then this morning...
Tyse-"Mom, will Taylor Swift have to divorce her husband to marry me?"
ME- "Taylor isn't married, Tyse"
Tyse-"But she is so cute. Why not?"
ME- "Because she is only 16 years old. The same age as Jordan (neighbor girl)"
Tyse- "OH! Well, that will work out then."

Since when do 4 year olds concern themselves with marriage? At least he dreams big!