Tyler's 7th birthday

Tyler turned 7 on March 26. He had a fun day. He got a talking/interactive globe which he can't stop playing with. This kid loves geography!

Tyler wanted a Cold Stone ice cream cake, so we took it over to our neighbors house and had pizza and cake with them. I have two wonderful neighbors on the next street over who also have husbands on deployment right now. I also have two neighbors on either side of me who are P3 pilots like TJ. We are surrounded by NAVY families - and I love it. I think it helps the kids to realize their daddy is not the only one who is gone right now.

St. Augustine Alligator Farm

Today for a field trip we went to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. For science about a month ago Tyler wanted to study alligators. I figured we would go to the alligator farm when we studied alligators, but it just never happened until today. It was a really neat place - holy alligators everywhere!

Yes, they talked me into stuffed animals from the gift shop...
It's funny because I can't stand stuffed animals. My kids on the other hand love them. They play stuffed animals all the time together.


Alligators everywhere! Yikes!!

This crazy guy got into this area with 39 pretty large (and scary looking) alligators.

There were some really big turtles...

Even two albino alligators!

When we first got to the park Brenalee wouldn't go near this glass because she was afraid the gators would get her. I think this picture is funny because it looks like she has her hand on the gator.

However, she isn't afraid of snakes. Tyler, on the other hand, is.

Does my heart good

to see this:

I walked into my room a couple of weeks ago and found Tyler with his daddy's scriptures. He likes to use Tj's while Tj is gone. Tj has his little red military set with him and left his big set here. I have to say the best part of homeschooling is snuggling with my little buddy and reading The Book of Mormon every morning.

I had gotten a picture book of The Book of Mormon, with lots of pictures and shorter passages for homeschooling. Actually, here is the link for a really cool Book of Mormon curriculum that I bought and wanted to use: http://www.bookofmormondiscovery.com/bookofmormon.html which is really, really cool. It has neat games, worksheets and other info for kids on different chapters in The Book of Mormon.

Well, this little guy won't have any thing other than the real thing. He says "I want to read real scriptures."
One great thing about technology now is webcams and Skype. We can usually read with Tj and we have even read with Grandpa before. Tyler really liked that.

Sparring

Tyler started sparring in Tae Kwon Do last month. It's a little strange to see your child fighting another child. But, it's all controlled and it's just part of the sport. Tyler's instructors tell me "he was born for sparring!" My very quiet, shy, meek little boy must carry some deep rooted emotions down inside of him because he is a monster when he is sparring! They have him do sparring against the older, higher up belts and he thinks he is pretty cool to beat a red belt (one step from the highest belt - the black belt) while he is only a senior orange belt - a very long ways from red or black.

Basketball Season

I didn't think Tyler was really into any sport except Tae Kwon Do. Boy, was I wrong. He LOVES basketball. I got him his hoop back in December and he shoots hoops every day. When sign ups at the Y started, he wanted to play. He started playing back in January. His last game was last Saturday - so it's all over now. But, he had a great time. The coach told him he was the best shooter on the team. That made his day. Way to go buddy! TJ and I are proud we passed on our basketball genes and tall genes!


I really don't know why it is so hard for this child to just smile normally. One of my friends here saw a picture of Tyler from a couple of years ago and asked "Did he have a cleft palate?" No, he just has a really hard time smiling for the camera for some strange reason.