halfway through 3rd grade, 9 and a half yrs old

Cade is in 3rd grade now and is 9 and a half. His best friends are Ethan and Mateo. He has been best friends with them both for a few years. It is nice that Mateo lives next door and Ethan lives down around the corner so they can walk or ride bikes to each other's houses. He plays on 2 flag football teams. He also goes to a strength training twice a week to help his agility, strength, balance, etc. He is still too young to use any weights so he just does things such as sprints, climbing up a very tall rope, pushing logs, going across monkey bars- also with hands on the outside of the bars, and I'm not sure what else. While I often go with him to his strength training- moms don't pay as much attention to these things as dads do :) He is also in the bears den in Cub Scouts. With practice, games, strength training and scouts he sometimes gets pooped out and just wants to stay home and play with friends (luckily his best friends are on one of his fb teams), play video games, and veg out. Because he has made commitments to all of these things we make him continue to go. He is fine once he gets there, it's just that sometimes he would just rather not go.
He still does very well in school. He is learning division now and last week while doing some math homework he started to get angry and frustrated. He couldn't figure out how to do the division problems (they had just learned this new style of division that week). After explaining it to him and him completing the entire page of math problems in like 2 minutes he continued to get upset.
I had to lay into him a little bit. He expects perfection of himself. He always has.
As a little boy I would tell him to go get his jammies from his drawer. He would go in and get them from a very full drawer and when shutting the drawer some of the clothes would be in the way. He would carefully remove as many clothing items as needed and carefully 'fold' - which was more of a roll when a 3 yr old is doing it, and replace them so they would fit nicely. He would then close the drawer tightly. I watched him do this with his drawers MANY times. Most kids would just stuff the clothes back in the drawer and shut it, even if clothes were still hanging out and the drawer wouldn't shut tight.
If I left something open- such as a drawer or cupboard in my bathroom, he would make sure to close them. He likes things the way they should be. He used to always make his bed. He has since stopped doing that but really all it would require is pulling the comforter up nicely. He also has taken a liking to having legos set up all over his room in proper fighting stance- good guys on one side and bad guys across from them. On occasion I do make him pick them all up so I can vacuum his room. Being TOO neat and tidy isn't healthy. Expecting perfection of oneself isn't healthy either. So I explained to him how he is human. There is only one person who ever walked this earth that was perfect. I told him how he needs to stop expecting himself to never make mistakes. That is how we learn and grow and if he never makes any mistakes then he won't learn much. I told him to quit being so hard on himself and to not get mad at himself when he makes mistakes. So you drop a football. Who cares?! You miss one on your spelling test. No big deal! You bonk into your sister's head and chip your tooth off. It's fixable! He is getting better and I will continue to remind him that these things are ok. I try to tell him how great he is at everything so he will have good self esteem because it seems he can do 100 things 'right' (in his eyes) but when he does one 'wrong' (in his eyes) thing then he's upset. He IS a great kid and does well in many areas. I couldn't be a prouder mom of this boy!!!!
He continues to love his baby brother to pieces. The first thing he says when he walks in the door from school is, "where's Cash?". He plays well with him and makes him giggle. It won't be long until Cash is looking up to him and wanting to be just like him.
Cade and Cloee are the two kiddos that bicker. It gets annoying and we can't figure out why they do it and who instigates it. They know each others buttons to push. For quite a while now (maybe a few years) Cloee has slept with Carlee. Recently Carlee was sick and so we told Cloee to sleep in with Cade. She has pretty much every night ever since. It is so cute- Cade got out a stack of Dr Suess books (way under Cade's reading level) and will read to Cloee every night. I love it. It is so sweet to see.
Cade is pretty obedient and when asked to do something he typically will get up and do it right then and there. He used to - without fail- do it RIGHT when asked, every single time. Since Cash has been born I think he sees that Mom and Dad are a little bit more preoccupied (having 4 kids and all) and so he doesn't always so things right when asked, but is still probably 80%-90%. It is definitely doable. And even if he doesn't do it right away he will still remember to do it in a while without having to be retold.
He is a great kid and makes us smile many times each day.

Growing Up

Cade is now 9. In fact, he's been 9 for over a month. I can't believe he is growing up. He no longer needs me to tie his shoes or brush his teeth. He used to be my right hand man. I remember the little buddy he was to me. Some of my fondest memories of my time with him was when I was pregnant with Cloee and on bed rest at home. He would sleep with me every night on the mattress that was brought downstairs for me. He would bring me big cups full of water, even if I didn't ask, just because he knew that's what I liked. He would put movies on for me and turn the lights off when we were going to sleep. He would tickle my back. He would brush my hair. He would bring me books so I could read to him. And then he would put them back where they belonged so there wouldn't be a mess. He would ask about the baby and if she was going to come out soon. He would ask if Mommy was going to be okay or if I was going to have to sleep on the mattress on the floor forever. One time he even saved me. I was bleeding A LOT. More than normal. I made it to the bathroom and I was very faint and couldn't get up and could hardly talk. I was not doing well. He got the phone and called Grammy (who then called Sandy Carder to come over). It was very scary and he knew just what to do.

love this picture- proof that my squishy little boy just isn't so squishy anymore

My sweet, sweet boy is growing up. Faster than I can believe. He doesn't seem to need Mom much anymore. Makes me so sad. Sometimes he will even be sassy to me (*mouth drop*). It's like our little bond isn't there any more. I thought you were my main dude, Cade. What happened? Did I just get too busy for you since having Cloee and now Cash? Or are you just growing up and you can now do a lot of things for yourself so you don't really need me as much? I am so sad about it and don't know what to do.
I can't throw a football with you as well as Daddy. I don't build a fabulous LEGO tower like Dad can. I am not into Boy Scouts as much as Daddy. And I don't like to sweat along with you like Daddy does.
I still love you just as much as he does though.
I can cook a better meal than Daddy (most days), I keep your dresser full of clean clothes that fit, and I am very good at 3rd grade spelling and math (just wait until junior high and I will be your go-to gal for homework help). I don't mind cleaning your toilet and I make sure you always have toothpaste and "Man Soap". I provide something different than Daddy but it doesn't involve you and I being together at all. I hope this doesn't last forever, although I fear it will, unless I get my cleats on and start coaching your football or something.
I hope I am teaching you the things you need to know to be a success out in the real world some day. It is little by little and will take until the day you leave me for a mission, college, and then marriage. I really like when you empty the garbages but I like it even more that you are learning how to be diligent and obedient. You have always been very obedient when Mommy or Daddy ask you to do something. I love that about you and I always pray that you will continue in being so obedient that it will carry over to your obedience to our Heavenly Father.
Cade, please stop growing up. I can't take it. Your squishy little legs that could barely walk have grown so long and those round cheeks that I would smoosh my lips into have been replaced by a strong jaw. Your muscles are outta control. Soon your voice will start to change and you will grow hair on your face (and elsewhere- YIKES!).
For who you are and who you are becoming, I am proud of you, son. You are an amazing kid, an amazing brother, and an amazing son. Keep up the good work. Keep being a good friend. Keep being a loyal scout. Keep lovin' your sisters (even when Cloee bugs you or when you want to smooch all over her but she isn't up for it). Keep lovin' your brother, you patiently waited nearly 9 years for him to get here and perhaps one day he may be as big and as strong as you. Keep lovin' your Mom and Dad, you mean the world to us and will always be the Brudder Der (Brother Bear)!
And always love your Heavenly Father and go to him in times of need, or times when you don't need so much and then thank Him for the wonderful life you have been given. He loves you. A LOT!

He's now 9!

Cade just turned 9 and just started 3rd grade and has the same teacher he had for 1st grade. We really like Mrs. Farkas. Cade does very well in school. The first week of school all the kids were evaluated to see what level they were at for reading. Cade was already reading at the level of 3rd grade 8 months. He almost always gets 100% on his spelling tests and he did in 2nd grade as well.
Cade LOVE LOVE LOVES football. He plays flag football and can't get enough of it. He would probably play tackle football but Daddy doesn't want any injuries this young. He is mostly into throwing, catching and running so the whole 'tackle' part of it all doesn't come into play for him. Yes he does pull a lot of flags which is equivalent to a tackle but he really likes to catch that ball and run with it. He is a very quick runner and often outruns the other kids.
Cade likes to eat healthy and he loves to 'work out'. He can't lift weights yet since he is still growing but he can do things such as rope climbs, chin ups, sit ups, etc- things that just use his own body weight. He loves to train like this. And he likes to eat scrambled eggs or peanut butter and celery afterwards. We are teaching him about good eating and how to feed his muscles and not just eat junk such as cereal, which is his favorite food ever!
This past summer Cade did swim team for Gilbert Parks and Rec. He did amazing. You can only enter into a maximum of 3 events for championships. He entered freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly. At prelims he was going against about 60-70 kids and the top 16 go to championships, based on their time. Cade made it to championships for all 3 strokes. Then at the championship race he got a GOLD medal in backstroke, a BRONZE medal for freestyle and a 6th place ribbon for butterfly. He did so great and I was so proud of him I wanted to cry. Unfortunately he likes but doesn't love swim. He would probably swim on a year round club swim team if we put him on it but he wouldn't want to have to miss out on anything football related. The games and swim meets would both be on Saturdays so right now swim team just doesn't work. We will see how he does next summer. He definitely has a talent for swimming though.
Cade loves Cloee so much that he is constantly bugging her. He just wants to be kissing or hugging on her. He also teases her quite a bit. If she would just laugh then it would be funny for everyone but she gets angry and upset and so then we have to tell Cade to leave her alone. Sometimes she will play along but more often than not she gets upset. He just can't get all his love out for his little brother and sister. He loves Cash a super ton as well but since Cash is too young to bug then Cloee gets it all . Cash in gonna start getting in from Cade soon I'm sure. He already kisses the heck outta Cash.
Cade still loves video games, mostly XBOX 360. Someday his kids will think it is so funny that their dad played an XBOX 360. He also likes to play with his legos. Sometimes I walk into his room and land myself in the middle of a battle between lego men.
Cade can say a great prayer and he often has great detail and has asks for some really great blessings. Cade is very obedient, most of the time and this makes life easier for the Mama.

an eyeball that doesn't work

The other night Cade asked me why blind people can't see. I wanted to give a simple answer so I just said that sometimes people are born that way or sometimes they get hurt and it causes them to go blind.
What he really wanted to know was why do they have eyeballs if their eyeballs can't see. He asked me what is wrong with the eyeball that makes someone not be able to see out of it. I had to go a little deeper to explain about the optic nerve and how if it gets injured then the brain can't communicate with the eyeball and make it see. He was satisfied with the answer but thought that if someone's eyeball doesn't work then they should just remove it. Then I told him how people might make fun of someone if they were missing an eyeball. Cade thought that was so rude. He thought "no one should make fun of them, Mom. If it doesn't work then they don't need it so the guy without an eyeball should just tell them mean people that."
Very interesting... the mind of a 6 yr old little boy!

Almost every night Will and I lay in bed and talk about our kids. Especially about how sweet Cade is. He does something blog-worthy pretty much every day. I suppose all three of the kids do blog-worthy things every day. I need to start writing those things down!

The other night Carlee and Cade and I went to run a few errands which included returning the Redbox movies. I pulled up in the fire lane in front of Walgreens and told Carlee to go run the movies in. (I was lucky enough to be parked right where the fireman wanted to park his big fire engine- hate it when that happens. I guess they were returning movies too.) So a minute after Carlee got out Cade started to get out. I asked him where he was going. He said, "I wanted to go check on Carlee. I need to make sure she is ok in there and that she isn't afraid being all alone without you or me, Mommy." It was the sweetest thing and just melted my heart.

I love that Carlee and Cade seem to watch out for each other. I hope they do that always. I hope that even though they are 3 years and 4 grades apart they are always close to each other. They have their moments but nothing too terrible. A little bickering here and there. Nothing unmanageable. When one snaps at the other I love to ask them, "Does this mean I get to go home and have a little fight with Daddy? If you two get to fight then it is only fair that Daddy and I get to fight." (Will and I don't fight too often, it's so rare that they can actually remember the times that we have and the topics we fought about- yikes! guilt!) They don't like that and immediately stop whatever bickering they have going with each other. It's humorous to me, but it gets them to quit.

6th Birthday

I think we took more pictures of Cloee than we did of Cade on HIS birthday. But in our defense- he was off doing a million things with all of his friends: playing XBOX, Wii, trampoline, riding bikes, etc

Cade's 1/2 Day Kindergarten Program

Cade had a great year in 1/2 day kindergarten. After lots of praying and talking it over, Will and I have decided to put him in all day kindergarten next year. He is definitely smart enough to go to 1st grade but due to the fact that he is so young we chose to put him in kindergarten again. So from here on out he will be closer to the same age as the rest of the kids in his class.
On the last day of school all the kindergartners put on a program for their parents. They sang the cutest song. I don't know the name of it but my favorite and the most memorable line says, "I have dreams; lots of big, big dreams." I know that Cade will be able to achieve ALL of his 'BIG BIG dreams'!

Cade and Mrs Newberry

Cade with some of his buddies in his class

Singing some songs during the program

Cade and Cloee

Cade and Tyler