Family is a team sport

   It is barely 8 am. I am in bed, mickey mouse and a chatty number 2 in the background. I am sipping some adequate coffee and coming up with today's game plan. It looks something like this:

Jealous about how perky I am in the morning? It is ok to admit...
   Yesterday, number 1 and I had a conflict (conflict is a nice way of saying number 1 made a bad choice and I got really, really angry). I told both kids that the next day, we would need to pick out three toys to donate to others (the boys have a nauseating amount of toys and number 2 is having a birthday party this weekend. The time to purge had come).
    Anywho, cue attitude, nasty comments, and defiance from number 1. Introduce irrational anger from me and BOOM! We spent the next few hours going through EVERY toy holder in their room to find things to donate. It worked. We donated a huge box of toys and some of my clothes. While we worked, I explained how lucky our family was to have food, a house, and toys. I explained how there are kids who don't have those things and it is our job to help out other people. Did it sink in and make a difference? Probably not yet but then I had a brainstorm!
    One random act of kindness a day program! Everyone was to do one random act of kindness for others everyday but after marinating on this idea for a few hours, I downsized the idea into a once a month thing. I decided I wanted to make the random act of kindness bigger and have it take a whole day to complete. For example, bring pumpkins from the pumpkin patch to a retirement center or children's hospital with markers to decorate, sing Christmas carols to the neighbors, pass out thank you cards to our police officers, firefighters (meow!), etc. I think starting big like this will help them understand the importance of helping others and I am hoping for a trickle down effect.
    So September was donate old toys. Next month will be Halloween themed cause I love Halloween. And I dig the delivering pumpkin idea. I like pumpkins.
    It has been a while since I have posted a family update and I know you all have been anxiously awaiting for one....
    Number 3 moved out the beginning of September. His contract was up. Was he stable? No, far from it BUT the violence was not occurring at the same alarming rate (yay!) and he was starting to utilize the coping skills we had talked hours, and hours, and hours about so he is moving in the right direction. I hope it continues.
    Number 1 started football. He loves it. When we went to the first practice husband said to me, "It looks like we brought the ringer" as he is inches taller than all the other 5 year old kids on the team. He wants to practice all the time. We are no longer a homeschool family with football on the side. We are a football family with homeschool on the side. The kid is good. I am talking perfect spirals 90% of the time. Husband and number 1 love having this hobby to share. They are constantly throwing the ball around and talking football rules. I am starting to feel a little left out (insert pity party). Number 1 doesn't want to play football with me as much as I don't do it the EXACT same way as husband.
    I started number 1 on kindergarten work a few weeks ago (we are talking workbooks, gag. But I wanted to gauge where he was). He could do that work in his sleep so I got him a first grade workbook and he enjoys it more than the kindergarten work. We have also started working on our epic popsical kingdom and he is writing a book.

Number 2 is number 2. He is still an inflexible thinker who likes things his way. He is a chatter bug. He is still my little shadow. He is turning three in a week. THREE. I am in denial. He loves to build with magna-tiles which are magnet building blocks. He plays with them for hours a day. He like to build houses for his little toy animals. Number 2 continues to have no fear and do crazy stunts that strike fear in adult men. He likes to climb to high places like a little cat and then jump down. His dismount is never as graceful as a cat though.