Silly Bill

Jameson (0r Bill as we like to call him) has really been on a roll lately. This kid is the most argumentative, defiant, smooth talker I know. He gets out of trouble so easily by taking his time explaining his reasoning behind his actions, using all of his biggest words he knows so it sounds much more believable. And me, being the push over I can sometimes be, falls for every word that pours out of his big, crooked teeth. He is so smart and he usually does have a pretty good reason for the things he does, most of the time it makes perfect sense and I could see why he feels the way he does. Jameson kind of hangs back in this family. Not that he is any less important in any way, he just chooses to steer clear of the drama. He never really has a whole lot of say on things so when he does, I really listen. His sisters tend to take over any and everything in this family. They are so temperamental, loud and dramatic (down right rude actually) and they are always causing some sort of a problem around here. So James will hang out in his only safe haven he has in this house. His room. Or, he will simply step outside to get away from the constant melt downs and cat fights. I always feel so guilty because he requires almost no attention from me at all anymore. He makes his own food when he is hungry, he does his homework upstairs by himself on his desk, he dresses himself, brushes his own teeth without me asking, entertains himself and never really asks for much from his mom anymore. And here I am at my girls every beck and call. Trying to stop the squealing and fighting. Trying to make sure they aren't burning the house down or covering my walls with lipsticks and nail polishes. Picking up at least 100 baby dolls, 200 crowns and a million tutu's every day. I sometimes don't realize how little Jameson needs me until I have a minute to sit down and then notice he is no where to be found. But that doesn't mean I cant go find him, wherever he might be, and sit and enjoy the silence with him. We have deep conversations, far beyond what I was ever wondering about when I was 8. He tells me his thoughts on aliens, he believes the Mayor of the city is the only one who knows if there are aliens and big foots in this world. We talk about God and what he thinks really happens when you pass on. We talk about the president and the war. We talk about school and how mean some kids can be, we also talk about the nice kids too and what a difference he thinks they can make. We discuss what he should be when he grows up and how much money he will make and if that is enough to afford the house he wants to build, in the mountains, made of trees he cuts down himself. We talk about his future in racing and riding bikes and how he wants to do that after work. I could go on and on and to me everything he says is so interesting and I always love to hear it. Most people don't pay much attention to him, like I said he isn't very demanding of any one's attention. But if you ever manage to escape the constant chaos of the rest of our family and just listen to what he has to say, I think people would be amazed at the things running through his mind. I know I am.

Here are a few funny things he has said lately:
There was a homeless man on the side of the road, James has a real soft spot for homeless people and animals (he gets that from me). The man was holding a sign that said "HOMELESS. Sober and Clean. NEED MONEY." I looked at the man and under my breath said "he's not clean, look at him picking at all the sores all over his face". Jameson heard me and said "YEAH MOM!! THEY ARE FROM CLEANING!! DUH!!!". How silly of me, of course that is what those are from.

I walked into his room today and he asked me "Mom, how hard can you spank a spider without killing it?" This one caught me off guard, so I had to sit and think for a minute. I told him about the equivalent of tapping a ping pong ball off a smooth table. Not very hard at all, but of course it depends on the size of the spider. He ran downstairs to get the names of different species of spiders after that. I'm not sure why he is spanking spiders?

Rory left out of town and he asked why I didn't go with daddy to St. George? I told him someone has to stay home to take care of the house while daddy is away. He told me not to worry, he could manage being the man of the house and would throw the garbage. I said thank you and he said "No problem here... Just a MAN doing MAN'S work is all, I'm just going to go make sure everything is in working order." OK James, you do that.

He has also been writing stories on the computer lately too. He says he wants to write books, the big kind that I read. He thinks they must be pretty interesting since I am always "putting my face in it". I am going to get some of his stories together soon but here is his latest he wrote on the computer:

Made by Jameson.
story
The little boy
　
　
Wanes was a little boy ho was reele mad at his family. so he went out sydand.he went to his friends hose and got lost. he cubit find his way home.and he stirtid to cry.and he felt bad.and he ran to fynd home.but he got more lost.his family cant fynd him enywer at all.the littile boy got more sad after affry steppe he did. His mom and dad cold his frens familes.but they did not no. and the little boy finely thot of a roll to do that is a good role to do. And he did it. It was stay there. And his mom came shooting around the corner And his mom sad I am sorry. I am sorry too sad the boy. And they all went back to a family.
The End.

A New Year In C.A.

What better way to ring in the new year than to spend it with family at Disneyland?! Let me just start by saying that if you think Disneyland is the "happiest place on earth", you're probably not going to like what I have to say...
First off, I think we chose the absolute worst week of the entire year to go. Disneyland reached it's maximum capacity on the day we went!! I didn't know they could do that, I thought they would just keep selling tickets and stuffing you in like sardines?! We never rode the Indiana Jones ride, I wasn't about to wait 180 minutes. Here we are building up the excitement for our kids for MONTHS and we make the 2 day drive, only to arrive and stand in line for over an hour to ride the freakin' TEA CUPS! A 2 minute ride, if that. My kids hated it, we were miserable and all we wanted to do was get out of that chaotic mess. I felt like I was yelling at my kids constantly not to touch things, get off the floor, run or we are going to miss this or that, stay by me, don't run away, yada yada yada!! Not to mention it costs a fortune for a family of 6 to go so you better tough it out and get your monies worth!

Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa!

Did I mention I made my girls wear leashes to top it all off?!

The best part about this trip was when we weren't at Disneyland. When we got to relax and enjoy the time together. We got to spend time with the whole Royce side of the family and play with our cousins! That made this whole trip worth it, we loved every minute of it.

At the beach you can run! You can roll on the ground, you can get dirty, touch everything, lay down, read a book, play in the sand! No yelling, no stress, just good fun. And guess what? It's free.

I'm not sure if we will ever do Disneyland again? I guess we will see in another 5 years or so. This is the second time we have taken our kids and it seems to get crazier every time we go. But one thing I do know is we will be going to back to the beach, over and over again.