A day in the life of..

Last night I called to talk with Tyler and Linda answered. She was telling me about all the fun things they have been doing and what a sweetie Tyler has been. (Of course!) Linda told me the night before they had went to Paul's house and that they had such a great time and how they all loved Tyler etc. She went on for at least a couple minutes about what a fun time they had. Then, Linda called Tyler over to the phone and I asked him if he had been having fun, what he had been doing, and all the normal questions. Well, as we all know, Tyler can be a man of very little words when he doesn't want to talk on the phone. So, I told him he could go if he told me what was the best and worst thing he has done so far. Of course he said playing video games was the best and then for the worst he goes, "The worst was when I had to go to some guy named Paul's house!" I laughed so hard. When Linda came back on the phone I told her that he may have made an impression on them, but they sure didn't make one on him! Kids are so honest right? He is a funny one.

My mom has these two dogs, Shorty and Lucky. She has had these dogs for years. Never has Tyler showed any interest in the dogs. I think he could care less about either one of them. So, imagine my surprise when this time he was like loving Shorty! He was following that dog all around and carrying him everywhere. It was the funnist thing. Shorty likes to lay under a blanket, so Tyler kept trying to make Shorty stay by him with the blanket. When it was time for bed, we brought Shorty's bed out and put it right next to Tyler. It was so sweet! At one point, Tyler was fading fast and Shorty got out of bed for a minute and Tyler called me, "MOM! Can you do me a favor? Tuck Shorty back in his bed." It was such a hoot. Anyway, now he loves Shorty and wanted to take him home. The next day when he was back with Max and Linda he called me to tell me not to forget to bring Shorty home. I hate dogs, but guess who will be getting a dog soon? Love knows no boundries!

I took Tyler to the mall to see Santa weeks ago, and he asked for two things. A Yugio Duel Disk and the ESPN Game Center. I had no idea what either one of the toys were. Luckily, I was shopping around Wal-mart and found the Duel Disk. I am glad I picked it up right away because it ended up being one of those hot items that are hard to find. Anyway, Mike knew what the ESPN Game Center was because he was with Mike months before when he pointed it out. So, I saw the thing at Wal-mart and thought nothing of it. I mean, the thing was in a HUGE box and it cost $180 so I didn't think the thing would be flying off the shelves. The plan was that while he was in Jacksonville I would buy the thing and set it up so when he came home he would know that Santa was there. I think the first Monday he was gone we went to Walmart to pick this thing up and it wasn't in the place it was before, so we asked the store associate. They practically laughed at us and told us it had been sold out for months. Of course I am like heartbroken but I figured, no big deal, I will just go to another Walmart. Well, when we went home and looked on the internet to see if we could buy it on line. It said, "Item not available - Sold Out." I thought to myself this can not be good. I was crying at the thought of my darling child not receiving one of only two things he asked for! (No, I was really crying!) I was prepared to drive to every Walmart in the nation to get this thing. I figured I had two weeks to get it! Of course I call Deborah and tell her about it because she is the only person who will understand my dire need for this game! So, like 2 days later Deborah went to the base to shop for Christmas gifts and just asked to see if they had that thing and of course the salesperson laughed at her and told her they had been gone for weeks, blah blah blah... So Deborah is shopping around and they say over the intercom, "Will the lady looking for the ESPN Game Center please come to the front of the store?" They had found one!!! To make it even better, the thing only cost $140 there and no tax! It truly was a Christmas Miracle!

Christmas is such a magical time and kids are just the center of the whole thing. They make us so happy and proud right? Wrong! Tyler was showing his monster baby side this year. Tyler asked Santa for a Yugio Duel Disk and a ESPN Game Center, so you know he was looking for those two things. Of course he was with Scott and Max and Linda for Christmas, so he didn't get either one of those two things and I guess he was being a real pain about it! I called him early Christmas morning and right away he said, "I didn't get anything I asked for!" I felt so bad for everyone over there because he was being pretty bratty, but I aslo felt bad for him because to give him some credit, the child only asked for two things and he has been good this year, so where is the magic in that? Of course I told him that when he talked to Santa, he was with me, so maybe Santa thought that he would be with me at my house. (Because the presents are at my house, right where Santa left them.) I think he accepted that answer. Scott said once he actually piad attention to the other things he got, he was really happy. What a little brat! But I do still love him! He was fine at my house when he opened gifts. He was excited for his transformers from Nana and the money from Grandma and Grandpa Hill. That kid is rich! He has so much money! I want to open a savings account for him, but he likes to have it in his wallet. Funny. I think he had a great Christmas, I will be so happy when he comes home and we can have Christmas together there!

Here is Tyler bowling at his buddy Logan's birthday party. He loves to bowl. He is actually pretty good too. I think he has beat Scott a couple of times. 

I am almost forgot to tell you! Tyler scored his first goal of the year!! He was so proud! He plays in a league of 6-8 year olds, so it is rare that he gets to score because the older children normally dominate the ball, but he got it this time. He was so proud. Papa and Lilly were there to see and of course me and Mike.

Tyler with daddy and Papa at his Christmas Program.

Tyler and Garrett for soccer picture day. 

Mommy and Tyler after we decorated the tree. (Sorry it is sideways, I can't figure out how to straighten it!)

Tyler picking the "perfect" tree! 

Sunday night we went to the Limardi's for dinner and then we went to Largo Central Park to see the lights. It was so fun. It was actually cold, so we were all bundled up and got hot chocolate! The lights were pretty nice, but of course Tyler and Gregory could care less, they were running around just having the time of their lives. I kept having this vision of these huge light structures just tumbling down! Luckily, that didn't happen. Tyler doesn't seem to be thrilled with the lights or even Santa. I am trying to figure out if he is starting to find out, or if he is just not into it this year. It was funny because when we went to the mall to get his picture taken with Santa, I acted like "Oh my goodness!! Look who is here! It's Santa!" And Tyler just looked at me like - I don't think it is a coinsedence that every time we come to the mall at Christmas time Santa is here... The kid is too smart for his own good. He also asked me why he doesn't have any presents under the tree and I told him that Santa hasn't come yet, but he didn't look convinced. I wonder if he will ask me? I would think if kids at school are talking about this, he would come home and ask me right? Oh boy. Hopefully Scott is not the one filling him in!!

Friday night, 12/10 - Tyler was in the Clearwater Holiday Parade with his Boy Scout Troop. He was so excited all day for it. He promised me that he would throw me some beads! They had such a nice float and they all looked so cute and happy! They were number 13 in the parade, so it was very close to the beginning. My dad, Lilly and me and Mike found a spot really close to the end of the parade that way we would be able to pick him up and watch the rest of the parade. By the time his float came by he was out of beads and he saved one for me! It was so cute. Of course, the kid has an arm on him like no other, so when he threw it the beads went flying past me. Lilly caught them, so that was good. At the end we picked him up and then watched the rest of the parade. Tyler really loves parades - he gets so excited to get beads and candy. He said he is going to collect beads now. He got so many! After the parade we went with the Limardi's to Mugs and Jugs. They had karoke going, so Tyler got up there and sang Chicago. Isn't that funny? Everyone in the place was cheering him on. He is such a show boat!

Last night was the Big Christmas Program! Tyler was, of course, a big hit! I swear that child was made for the stage! He loves being up there. He was singing and smiling and just having a good time. He was SO happy to see that his Papa (Max) and Papa (Garry) were there and Deborah and Scott and Mike. He had his own cheering section. When he came out on stage he looked over at us and was so happy to his Papa there. What a cutie. Of course he sings like an angel, so that was nice! : ) Now to the funny part - when the 5th graders came out to sing, there was one girl who was like in the middle and she started throwing up! She tried really hard to get out of the row, but too late! She threw up on one boys head! It was just horrible. Of course, none of the children missed a note. They just kept on singing. The one little boy had throw up in his hair and the boy behind him was telling him all about it. I felt so bad for them. Scott and Max were dying of laughter in their seats! Those two were laughing so hard I had to pull their ears and tell them to stop. They were sitting right in the front row and the poor kids probably saw them laughing! Scott called me this morning and said he was submitting the whole thing to America's Funniest Home Videos.

Ok, so on Saturday Scott took Tyler to the Derby Workshop for Boy Scouts. What a HUGE mistake!! They were given this block of wood and some wheels and needed to turn it into a Pine wood Derby Car. Basically I think they sawed two lines into it and that is it! We have a lot of work to do now. What was so funny, was Scott said that when they came in and handed them the tools, they went and sat down and Tyler looked at Scott and Scott looked at Tyler and they both just bust out laughing! It was like Tyler knew there was no way in the world that Scott was going to be able to help him on this one. Funny.