Not So Consistent!

Okay, I have now officially been called out by my friend, KPB. Sorry I'm not as regular with my posts as others, but I do have a somewhat busy schedule. I also don't have internet access at home, so those are my excuses. Maybe they're not good ones, but it's all I've got. I will now try to share with you some of my busy-ness. No, it's not a word, but it's the best explanation.

Here is a typical week in the Sykes house: Monday - Soccer practice, Tuesday - PTA meeting or Bunko or anything else that comes along, Wednesday - church, Thursday - Soccer game, Friday - High school football game, Saturday - MSU football, Sunday - church. Please tell me when I do laundry or clean my house or cook, because I don't know!!!!!

And as if we don't have enough to do........we now have this:



He is a Jack-Rat Terrier named Oreo and I loathe him. Why, Joanna? He's so cute and adorable and blah blah blah. Yes, he is, but he also pees, poops and chews and it is frustrating. But, the boys love him and I guess he's here to stay.



We've had a couple of birthdays, too. Cousin Katie had one on the 8th and then Josh's was on the 9th. We won't mention who had one on the 3rd because she's 31 and not into celebrating anymore. Katie had her party at the bowling alley and it was very fun! We all got to bowl so it was a good time for everyone. The boys, of course, loved it. Here's a pic of the cousins.





Click on one of the pictures to see more shots on my Flickr page.



At one point, Josh was no where to be found. But after a few moments of searching, I found him in a photo booth. He thought it was so cool. It was all computerized and stuff. Not like they used to be. He played in there for a good 15 minutes. Go figure.

Josh's birthday party was at our church gym and we rented a inflatable jumper/slide. It was also very fun. Stacey and Stephan had some of the kids involved in kickball and there was basketball and ping pong, plus the jumper. I think all the kids were worn out by the end of the party, as well as some of the adults. He had a Monster Truck cake that he loved and I think his favorite gift was probably the MSU Bulldog shirts his Aunt Juli and Uncle Cory gave him. We had to put one on as soon as he got home! Look at his face!



Great job on the camera, Aunt Joycelynn! Anyway, just click on a picture and you'll see more bday pics. I tried to get a good picture of Stacey in action on the football field, but it was too dark. I'll try again tonight. I hope everyone's doing great and maybe I'll be a little more consistent from now on. Next week, I'll have some shots from the State game this weekend. Love to all!

Consistency

Okay, I am going to try this new thing called, "being consistent". We will see if it works. I am going to attempt to post at least every Friday, if not more often than that. Don't get too excited, yet, Kimberly. It hasn't happened! But we will see.

I have no new pictures to post this week, so I will ramble about our lives a little bit. We have completed our second week of school. Elijah says he wants to go back to Kindergarten already. It seems that 1st grade requires more work and effort on the part of the student than he is willing to put forth. He hates homework and wants to know why he must "do work" at home. "It's stupid" I believe was the correct quote. The fact that he was not able to go outside until Tues. of this week might have something to do with it, too. I can't imagine why they wouldn't let my 6 year old outside at 1:00 pm when it's only 106 degrees!?! Have I every mentioned that I love Mississippi weather?

Josh loves school! He comes home everyday telling me something new that he has done. One day this week he told me that they read a book about Caterpillars. He said, "And you know what? They turn into butterflies!" It is so wonderful when they have learned something new! I love the look of amazement. He also said, "We read a story about the bears and that girl and the bear said,'Who's been sitting in my chair?'" I said, "Oh, Goldilocks and the Three Bears." He also gets to paint, which he loves, and play with play dough. K3 is wonderful, as opposed to 1st grade, which is apparently the pits.

And then there's the husband. Stacey leaves the house at about 7:30 and takes the kids to school with him. He doesn't get home, normally, until about 6:00. To say that he is tired would be an understatement. He is worn out. But, he loves it and he loves the kids, just like I knew he would. He's very excited about the football season, which starts tonight. He's just really nervous. I'll let you know next week how it all comes out.

As for me, I'm still hanging in there. It's very busy for the Sykes-clan right now. We had something every night this week. Mon.- soccer, Tues.-Bunko, Wed.- Church, Thurs.-Meet the Generals, and tonight - football game. Next week looks better.....I hope. Until then, be safe and be good!

The Adventures of Boxer Man and Brief Boy!

Hello Sykesclan fans. Welcome to the next installment of our wonderful adventure! Elijah has decided that he is old enough to start wearing boxers. I do not know who gave him this information, but I held out as long as I could. Not that I have anything against boxers, mind you, but I'm just not sure about them for my 6 year old. Nonetheless, boxers were purchased at WalMart and immediately worn by Eli. Later on that night, when it was bath time, I told them to go into their rooms and strip. I walked in to see E. remove his boxers to reveal his briefs under them. I said, "Eli, why do you have your other underwear under your boxers?" He said, "I thought that's how you wore 'em." I said, "No they take the place of your underwear." He said, "Oh, no wonder my wee-wee hurts." I love my boys!

Josh is angry because he does not have boxers. I told him 3 year olds don't wear boxers....I don't think he believes me. To make it all better, I let them take a bubble bath. Bubble baths make it all better!



Messes they are! The other morning, I got to lay in the bed for a little while before they forced me to get up, so I got to listen to their conversation. It went a little something like this:

Josh: "What are we watching?"
Eli: "I don't know, something on Boomerang."
J: "Oh. What's that dog doing?"
E: "He's going to steal that banana."
J: "Do dogs eat bananas?"
E: "No, Josh."
J: "Lijuh (elijah), is that a sqwurul (squrrel) or a mouse?"
E: "That's a beaver, Josh."
J: "Oh. Yeah, a beaver. I love you Lijuh."
E: "I love you,too, Josh."

I was just beaming with pride at my well-behaved children watching tv and eating Zebra Cakes together without fighting. But, my shining moment was interrupted by the all-too-common sound of "Stop It" and "Get your hand off my chair". Oh well, good while it lasted.

So, today is the first day of school. Both of my boys are now in school. Am I a basket-case, you ask? NO, not a bit. Josh did so well, that it has not affected me in any way. Well, not really. He did so well! He didn't cry or even cling to me or anything. I'm actually very glad. It makes me feel better. Also, since Stacey is teaching up there, too, it makes it even easier. Oh, yes, you heard me right. Stacey is out of school and working! WOO-HOO! He's coaching football and baseball, too. He's really excited. Or at least he was this morning. We'll see if that changes this afternoon! Anyway, I'll leave you with some pictures of them on their first day. I didn't get one of Stacey, but maybe I can do that for his first ballgame in a couple of weeks.



They would not wake up! We were even in the bed at 8:45. Looks like it will have to move back to 8:30. But, after they did finally wake up, my handsome men looked more like this:



What? Those are the cutest little boys you've ever seen? I know! They look just like their mom! Okay, I know E is the spitten image of his dad, but at least J favors me a little! Well, I think their dad's pretty cute, too, so I'll give him some credit. Happy Hot Summer! It's 98 degrees here, by the way. Supposed to be 102 on Wednesday. I love Mississippi!

Life's A Beach

Okay, does anyone else remember those shirts with that logo on them? That's hilarious! I wish I still had one. The vacation was absolutely wonderful, but entirely too short. But before I get to that, I must share with you all about my smart boy. Elijah just finished Kindergarten and so we have had awards night and Graduation. At awards night, he was presented with the Reading award. I was so proud of him, because I thought he could read really well, but earning the award just let me know that someone else thinks so too. Here he is grinning with the whole proud family!




We also have a graduate! One night,a tv commercial came on for one of those "earn your degree online" things, and they said something about becoming a nurse after you graduate. To this Elijah posed this question: "I've graduated, why can't I be a nurse?" Poor, pitiful thing. If he only knew exactly how many more times he has to graduate! Check him out with his cap and gown. He's so grown up!



Now, on to the good stuff: The Beach! It was great. First we went to Destin with the whole family. We stayed at my aunt's house with a pool and hot tub in the backyard. It was the life....for a few days anyway. The kids swam til they could swim no more.



Sort of a dark picture, but you get the idea. Even baby Rylee went for a dip. She wasn't impressed. Then Stacey, the boys and I drove over to GulfShores for a few days. It was wonderful to get away from everything and relax. The water was very rough, but we enjoyed it anyway.



Right after this picture was taken, Josh started running around screaming that the ants were biting him. I could not figure out what was going on! Then I felt it. The wind was blowing so hard that the sand was hitting his legs and it felt like little bugs biting! Poor thing. He didn't understand! Gotta love it. So I also bought tickets to The Track where we could go play putt putt golf and ride the go carts. I bought 60 tickets thinking that each thing would take 3 or 4 tickets. Well, most of the kids stuff only took 1 ticket. So we had them coming out our ears. I brought them home, hoping we may go back next year and can use them then. Here are some great shots of the boys being boys.



The golf was a bit dangerous, since Josh would swing as hard as he could to hit the ball!





Just some info....this is the same place that Kimberly and I went to when we were about 16 or so and rode the bungee swing. We thought we were going to die. Both of my boys wanted to ride it, but thankfully they weren't tall enough, even with Stacey or me. Whew...dodged that one. I'm too old to do that stuff now!

We all had a great time, but were glad to get home. Even though we came home on Thursday to a house infested with fleas, and had to get someone to come spray and couldn't enter back into our house until Sunday. Stacey blamed the cats. I blamed Global Warming. I don't know who's right, but the cats are still with us, sooo.....

Summer is officially here and let me tell you, it is hot! 98 degrees today, but a little cloudy so that makes it feel a little better. Maybe like 95! If you click on some pictures you can see more photos of vacation and the slip n slide. Fun, fun. Until next time.

Keep on Keeping on!

We have had 2 celebrations recently: Easter and a Birthday. Yes, I am behind, but I'll try to roll it all into one post. Easter was wonderful. We had the whole family here, and that always makes for a good time. I used to think my mom's house was huge, and it really is, but when you try to fit 7 adults and 6 children into a 4 bedroom house, it becomes quite small. Oh well, it's fun anyway. On Saturday, we dyed the eggs and struggled to keep them from breaking. Especially by Josh and Maury. Below are some lovely pics and you can see more by clicking on one of them and viewing my flickr page.





We somehow were all able to get up and make it to church, also. We didn't even run out of hot water! Miracles, miracles. The boys were all decked out in their matching shirts. I wonder how much longer I'll be able to do that! They don't fuss, yet, but I'll bet it's coming. Check out the cheesy grins.



We tried to get a good picture of all of the grandchildren since we have a new addition this year, but when they range in ages from 12 years to 4 months, it's not so easy. Below is a good as it gets.



Thankfully, none of you can see the green stains on Josh's pants from where he ate every bit of his Easter candy that he got at church, on the way home from church.

A few weeks after Easter, we celebrated another special holiday called Eli's Birthday! This is a huge event in our house. We must invite all of our classmates, which includes 14 kids, and all of our relatives, about 8 kids, and then other kids, about 3. Grand Total: 26 kids present. It was totally crazy, but I loved it. We had it at Turkey Creek Water Park, which has a big playground and a huge grassy area great for running and playing ball. And that's just what they did. They ran and played ball for 2 hours. I got them rounded up for about 15 minutes to eat cake, get a drink, and bust the pinanta. Then they were off again. They didn't even care about opening presents! Amazing. The pics are below.







Everybody had such a good time, and that's all that matters to me. Nothing else has been going on really. Elijah has awards night coming up next week, and then graduation on the 18th. I'll post pictures of him in his cap and gown later. He looks so grown up! The boys and I took my mom over to Meridian this week to the MSU Road Dawgs tour held at the Riley Center. That place is phenomenal by the way. It looks like one of the old Opera Houses. Gorgeous! If you ever have a chance, go. Anyway, we ate supper there and listened to some speeches by the coaches. The highlight for the boys was getting to meet Bully and Coach Croom, the football coach. Josh was disappointed because he thought the whole football team was going to be there in their uniforms. He did get a football, so that helped a little. I'll leave you with the prize picture of the boys with Bully. No one would ever be able to tell that we're State fans! Until next time, be blessed folks.

How Time Flies When Your Havin' Fun!

It is so very hard for me to believe that my little boy is 6 years old today! I can remember very vividly sitting in the waiting room on a Thurs. afternoon and feeling those first contractions. Little did I know what was awaiting up ahead! But at 1:27 am, the most wonderful of all blessings was bestowed upon Stacey and me. Elijah Bayne Sykes. And now, 6 years later he is still giving us fits one minute and making us laugh the next. He is growing so very fast, but how I love it when he still wants to climb into my lap and sit for a while. I cling to those moments because I know they are vanishing fast!

We have gone from the white-haired little spunky monkey shown here:



To this big boy:



I find myself looking so forward to his ballgames. I think it's the highlight of my week! He is doing so well, too. His team is undefeated right now. I absolutely love it. I guess when you have children your lives just start to revolve more around there's for a few years. That doesn't bother me one bit, because before I know it, he will be 26 and gone!

Happy Birthday Big Boy! I thank God for you and your brother every day! You are a wonderful son and the joy of my life.

Summertime Fun in the Sun!

Yes, I do know that technically it is not summertime yet, but it has been in the upper 80's here in central Mississippi. Those temperatures are very nice and so we get out for some fun in the sun! Elijah has started baseball practice and I just can't help but have fond memories of my summer's spent at the Little League Field. Of course, it's nothing now like it was back then, but that feeling of nostalgia is so overwhelming! It's funny to me how certain events or places can bring back distinct memories of your childhood. I really hope and pray that I am creating memories like that for my two boys. One thing that is a favorite of these two "yunguns" is to visit their cousins. We went last weekend to Brandon to see all the maternal cousins. They played everything you could think of from basketball to throwing the tennis ball on the roof! (which was a favorite game of yours truly when I was growing up!) I think the hit of the day was the golf cart. Everyone had a blast just riding in circles in the yard. Fun, fun. It kept them busy, so we didn't complain.



Rylee Liz didn't care too much for the golf cart. She would rather be doing this:



Josh is also really good about riding his cousin on his paternal side, Griff, in the Hummer. This is only a temporary substitute for riding on the 4-wheeler, but at least it's entertaining for about 2 minutes. Here's a picture of the 2 cutie pies. Griff chose not to look at the camera in any picture that I took, so this is the best one.



After a long day of outside playing, we go in and get baths and jammies on. Elijah automatically reaches for his Nintendo DS, and you can find him in the LaZBoy until bedtime.



Sometimes after a long day, some of us get ill. I'm sure none of you can relate to that since your children are all perfect angels and do not have evil alternate personalities, but my 2 lovelies do. Not very often, mind you, but sometimes. The other night, Josh decided he would kick the car that his brother was playing with under the chair. I very quickly, but calmly (everyone believes this right?) grabbed my ruler and spanked his little bottom. He bolted around the corner to cry for a minute. Then he sticks his head around and says, "I don't like you." I tried my absolute hardest not to break into uncontrollable laughter, until I then hear him say, "I love you, but I don't like you." How does this 3 year old mind know how to make that determination between "love" and "like"? Or did he just hear me say that? Surely not! Here is the look I got after the altercation.




Absolutely breaks your heart, doesn't it?

Well, this weekend is Easter and my family is all excited. Especially Elijah, because he is at the age where he is beginning to understand alot about the crucifixion and Jesus and the resurrection and all. His Sunday School teachers were explaining everything that would take place at our church on Easter Sunday. They told them that we would have our Sonrise service outside early that morning and that we would have the 3 crosses set up out there to remind us of the great sacrifice that Jesus made and so on, and then we would all proceed to the big cross in front of the church to put our flowers on it. They then told them that we would go in and eat breakfast. To this, Elijah says, "Now that sounds like a good idea!" Just like his momma, always thinking about that next meal! Everyone have a great Easter and remember to thank God for his most awesome sacrifice: his son, Jesus!