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!

Rah Rah Rahrahrah

A couple weekends ago Kent actually worked from home for a few hours so we decided to head to Provo and take in a Men's Volleyball game- our first of the season and ONE of the best things about march! I started to make dinner before we left, but we then decided that if we were going all the way to provo....

why not visit Los 3? (Note to those with UC: NOT a good choice, unless you are willing to have a rough couple days... which I guess I was!) This is our favorite mexican restaraunt EVER! The boys have been a handfull of times, and the thing they remember the most is the jukebox, which is no longer there. But never fear... they have a new "balloon distractionist!" did you know these people have a title? She was probably the best we had ever seen- she made a helicopter for Tyse, an adorable little monkey for Ollie, and Emitt requested the coolest...

MOTORCYCLE! I had never seen one done by a balloon artist before-but it was ultra cool!

After dinner, we headed to the volleyball game where Tyse and Emitt hung out with Cosmo.

Ollie, of course, would have nothing to do with him when he was close, but his finger followed him around the field house anywhere else he went. He is just like Tyse was at this age- petrified of anything in costume. (Side note- He can't stand Chick Fil A's cow, but Harmons has an adorable purple hippopotamus that he actually accepted a sucker from- I think it is the "anything for the sugar" mentality!)

Anyway, at the game we asked the boys where they wanted to sit- it was a pretty low key crowd- and of course they couldn't agree, so we let them sit apart. Tyse chose...

I know, shocker- he had to be in the front row. Emitt, on the other hand, chose...
He wanted lots of his own space!
Anyway, the game was a lot of fun and the boys had a blast! Of course we won, so here is a (sideways) video of Emitt finishing the evening with the cougar fight song!

GO COUGARS!

Ollie at 2

Ollie at 1 yr and at 2 yrs.

My sweet Ollie is two! You may say, "Beka, he turned two almost a month ago," and you would be right, but I am just getting to writing a little about our baby.
I have posted before about how he is a bit of a neat freak and likes things to go in patterns. Everything has its place- and it can't wait until I am ready to get it there, even if the item is currently in use. Things run on HIS time frame- or he will scream and scream until it does. He is super picky about which bins his toys go in, where his books lay, and most pointedly, how his blankets are folded and hung over the side of his crib in the correct order and then his taggie and stuffed animals placed on top. Then it is time to get dressed. It can't wait for later- it happens immediately. I think maybe there is a bit of Grandpa Kirt in him!

Ollie loves to play in my makeup. Unfortunately, he also knows how to unscrew things. He also really likes to suck on my makeup brushes and stick his fingers in my chapstick and deodorant. One morning I got out of the shower to find that he had unscrewed my mascara and brushed it up and down the sides of his face from hairline to chinline- vertically over his eyes. I now wake up an hour and a half earlier so that I can make sure all grooming on my part is finished before he even thinks about waking up. I know you are thinking- "an hour and a half? Yeah right, I see you often enough. There is NO way you spend that much time in the bathroom." Which is true. I don't think I have ever purposefully spent that much time in the bathroom. But I have found it nice to get some of the other things done that Ollie is not so helpful with... that list is neverending!

Ollie has NO volume control. It reminds me of that part in Austin Powers when he says, "I am having trouble controlling THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!" Almost every word he speaks comes out a yell- and if you don't acknowledge that he spoke, he will keep yelling louder and louder until you do. It was really pleasant just today in the middle of the sacrament prayers when he noticed daddy helping pass the sacrament. The congregation loved the repeated scream of "DADDY!"

Ollie CANNOT be distracted from what he wants. The whole parenting technique of trying to channel the child into a different distraction is pointless on this boy. Yesterday he began a screaming fit in TOYS R US- and we weren't even making him leave! Anyway, he was screaming so we finally gave up and headed out of the store. He also hates the car, so buckling him for the 20 minute ride home was fuel for his fire. I tried EVERYTHING- toys, suckers, candy, songs, windows, pointing out all the construction vehicles- he finally stopped screaming after he had laid in his crib for about 20 minutes. As far as I can estimate, that was about 50-ish minutes straight of screaming, shaking, flailing, red-faced madness.

Ollie is really finally trying to talk. He has been a terribly persistant grunter, which has driven me mad. Some of my favorite things that he says are "kepup"- ya know, for "ries", "cake and ciky (cookie)"at snack time, "hep" when things are a little too difficult, and I know there is trouble when I hear "Oh, boy, mom." He also loves to "-mell" the "wowies"(flowers)and point to the TV and say, "GAME?" His speech often reminds me of my nephew Bryce, when he started to talk. Ollie leaves many of the beginning sounds off his words, so we play "leap -rog" and drive behind "-rucks" as we pass the "-ple" (temple). He has mastered his first knock knock joke- "knock knock," "who's there?" "Banana." "Banana who?" "Banana. Haa Haa Haa!" There are also times when he says things that melt my heart- he is so quick to say "thank you" and loves to say love you on the phone.

Ollie is a terrible eater- unless we are talking about inedible items. Why he can't eat potatoes or corn or apples like he eats mud, sticks, and rocks, I will never know. He does eat suckers, licorice, mnms and pez like they are going out of style!

Ollie is a total adrenaline junkie. Just this week he has gone over the handlebars of his big wheel twice. He has quite the fat lip to show for it. But he gets really angry at me if I take him off the bike, so I guess that bodes well for his mountain biking future? He loves things fast, bumpy, and if there is a chance of getting that little funny feeling in your tummy, he is all laughs!

Ollie is the grunt work in our family. He is the strongest 2 year old I know! I mentioned above about how he unscrews jars and bottles and what not. If he wants into a bottle bad enough, there isn't much I can do about it! He can get into anything! He also is very smart when it comes to getting to whatever it is he can't have. He has taken a chair from his room all the way downstairs to climb onto the countertop after various whatnots. This is when we finally stopped tying the chairs to the table. There was no point to it anymore!

Ollie loves music! He was my first to actually enjoy and ask for more opera to be played in the house and often asks for songs to be played "adain". I think his favorite songs are pretty standard for his age- Old McDonald (yah-yo), Popcorn Popping and A You're Adorable. He also loves the Cougar Fight Song and can clap along, knows when to stand up, and can do the Rah Rah part all on his own. On a not so great side note, I have been singing "I Am A Child Of God" to him every time he goes down for a nap since the day he was born. Now every time he hears this song he bursts out in tears. I think I have scarred his primary years to come!

Ollie has finally discovered toys! HOORAY! He has never really paid much attention to toys in the past- but now he can't get enough! He wants his trains and trucks and "guys" and blocks and stuffies and on and on... all the time. What a great milestone!

Best of all, Ollie is my only cuddler. When he gets out of bed, he just wants me to rock him for a couple minutes while he lays on my shoulder and then wants me to read him a couple books before he braves his brothers. His smile melts our hearts and his peekaboo and eyebrown games at the dinner table keep us laughing over and over. He is a little piece of happiness in our family and will keep us on our toes for years to come!

Other random facts-

Favorite food- cheese, bread

Favorite color- Red. Unfortunate.

Favorite book- NFL opposites or A You're Adorable

Favorite animal- Cow

Favorite thing with a motor- tractor (tihtoh)

Favorite things to do- playdough, Play Don't Break The Ice, trains, paint, bubbles, stack plastic cups, swing on monkeybars, play catch

Favorite things to wear- hat, snowboots

Fears- the dark, being alone, charlie biting him

Favorite playmate- DAD!

We love you Ollie!

Old McMadsen walks the plank

Ollie loves everything about farms and farm animals, so we had decided on a farm party for his birthday. The first go around got canceled, so we ended up with a million different plans for the next week. Origionally we were going to have a traditional madsen birthday party at our house with all sorts of farm games and what not. But... after the duration of illness, I wasn't up for such an event. So we decided to haul the party down to the farm and Thanksgiving Point instead. Enter the 6 inches of snow we received the day before the party. Although we love winter, our guests don't, so we showed pity and planned for a sledding party instead (Here is where the theme becomes nonexistent). Apparently we were getting a little more Colorado weather, because by the time I returned home that evening, all 6 inches were gone! So we were out of luck again. I still didn't want to try the farm because of the mud, there was no snow for sledding, so....

we decided to give it a go at Pirate Island instead. We had never been here before, but it ended up being great! It's pretty much a combination of Chuck E Cheese and Casa Bonita. Despite the fact that Ollie was PETRIFIED of the skeletons they had all over the place, the boys and the few friends that were able to make it had a great time!

The boys loved the balloon swords that the balloon guy made.

I think we had all the little pirates in the joint up on this stage having the grand master fencing battle of all time! Ollie also found a worthy foe in the balloon bouquet grandma brought.

Of course, there were more candles to blow out- and Ollie shared this one with his best buddy, Great Grandma Ruth. He also had a great time in the arcade! He got to...

But his favorite of all was the basketball shooting game. This is Luke, Emitt, and Ollie all doing it at the same time. They found this a great way to stretch their tokens!

Thanks to all who joined us for a great celebration!

Happy 2nd birthday, Ollie!

We celebrated Ollie's 2nd birthday at the end of last month. I can't believe my baby is 2! Because we had spend the previous 3 weeks puking, with the last of the puke coming just a day before, we decided to postpone the festivities a week and hopefully not share our joy with the world. I think he scored on this because he ended up with 3 birthday parties!

We had to do a little something for him on the actual day, puke or no puke. Usually Kent and I decorate the boys' rooms on their big day. But I found out this year- Ollie is still too light of a sleeper! I woke him up 3 times before I finally decided to decorate the front room instead- which never happened, by the way. Anyway, I walked in to get him out of bed on the big day and this is what I saw...We had gone to burger king a couple days earlier and I had forgotten that I had left his crown on his dresser, which he can reach from his crib. It was as if he knew it was HIS big day or something!

Ollie's favorite food is muffins, so we indulged him in a few (more than half of the batch) on his big day.I love that cute little smile!

That evening, Grandma and Grandpa Cox braved the bodily fluids and came up to celebrate. I don't think that Ollie even really likes cake that much, and I was feeling pretty badly that day, so I passed on the cake and we had birthday sopapillas instead!

One of my favorite things about Ollie is his neat freak side. It isn't that he doesn't ever make a mess- because he is a champ at it- but it better be cleaned up precisely how and when he wants it to be when the time comes. This rolls over into birthday present opening. He meticulously pulls each little strip of paper off the gift- including tiny little pieces of tape- and it all has to be off before he can even start to really see what the present is. Then, after he has figured out what the toy is, the rest of the opening is on hold while the last batch of paper goes in the garbage (or his garbage truck toy). It was extreme enough that the cousins have made "no wrapping paper" stipulations on all Ollie's gifts from now on.He recieved some very nice gifts- but I think his favorite was the bag of goldfish that Tyse picked out for him, or the watercolor paints that Emitt picked. In fact, when bedtime came that night, all 3 boys were wailing about putting the paint away. I guess that means they liked it.

I must say that for a sick birthday, it was pretty fun! Happy Birthday, baby boy!

Getting around to valentines

Sorry, a few weeks late. But the bright side? REALLY only a few weeks late! hooray!

Anyway, being the ridiculously overambitious mom I am, I let Tyse look through some magazines and things to choose which kinds of valentines to make for his class. His pick?...

Why I let him choose, I am not sure... they looked so simple in the magazine. So unfortunately for Emitt's friends (or maybe fortunately), I made him take Little Debbie snack cakes instead. That was the only thing we found in the store that would be "cooler" in his 3 year old eyes than the robots I was NOT going to finish.

After their valentines, I made grown up ones...some chocolate truffles and a little card. I thought they turned out OK- we put mint in the truffles for the first time and they were my favorite! Next time maybe we will try another flavor.

With valentines day being on sunday, we didn't go out- instead I talked some friends into getting together- what better babysitters than their friends to keep eachother busy so we could be grown ups for an evening. The menu was fondue and we had a great time! We made a broth fondue and had all the best dippers- steak, chicken, salmon, shrimp, mushrooms, broccoli, potatoes, cauliflower, and on and on! Here are the girls getting it all set up...

thanks, Sid, for showing us what we SHOULD have been doing! (even if it was pretend!) WE also had a chocolate fountain and tons of dippers for that as well! The kids LOVED this...Even though Kent isn't much of a Valentinian, we managed to go out together the next weekend. We finally saw "The Blindside" and had an amazing dinner at Tiburon. I got Kent a back massager thing- but bought the wrong one. Dang it! He told me that I could take it back and get myself my present. Maybe one year he will plan ahead. It was a great night! Thanks for the trade, Sid!

Tyse's Notes

Tyse has gotten so good at writing lately and he is starting to really like to write and leave notes for people. Here are some of my favorite things he has written as of late, remembering that in Kindergarten they are told to spell phonetically. Tyse takes this very seriously, as you will see!

Here is his short story about the groundhog...

In case you can't read it, it says "The grawndog cums awt win it is spreen." Apparently I don't enunciate very clearly when I speak to him.

Next is his 100 days of school bookmark...It says..

"I wish I had 100... aleen toys (alien toys)

I wish I could eat 100... hot dogs

I wish I could see 100... aleen ships (alien ships)

I wish I had 100... frode cheero's (fruity cheerios)

But I'd never want 100... dog poops"

So proud he can spell poop, of all words.

And lastly, my personal favorite, a note he wrote me at centers one day...

"Dere Mom

I hop yow fel ber." (Dear Mom, I hope you feel better."

Priceless. Even after poop.