They say...

Lance keeps saying, "we only have a month left..." before everything linked to Maddox.  He prefixes his goodbye kisses with it each morning, and his snuggle time too.
We aren't sending him to military school-- so it is a little dramatic, we also have closer to 2 months before school starts rather than one--
However, in the spirit of our entire world flipping up-side-down, we do only have a little time left to stay up until midnight, sleep until 9:30 and soak up the sun....
I have promised myself that August will be my month to fix our schedule, and get us ready for the next 13 years of structure....
Until then, July is just for play.

***

Sticking with the Maddox theme, I have a list in my phone that is begging for a blog.
There is a little B in there too, since he has not just come out of his shell recently but EXPLODED and rarely meets a stranger.
His personality is still so different from Maddox's, but he definitely didn't miss the funny gene.

I try and write down the things that I want to remember, with hopes to casually looping them into the next blog, but I always forget.
And when I read back through my list, I realize that the moment and pizzaz is lost, without the expression and energy and 100% sincerity in their voice.
I bet I only catch 10% of the hilariousness in my notes-- because it is constant.
Since I am not sliding them in to a blog, expect choppiness-- I have no creative segway from each funny into the next.

But I want to document it anyway.

Here goes.

Thursday night of church camp last week, was family night.  While giving a lesson, the pastor would ask questions out to the audience, expecting us to shout out the answers back.
Like, "is there anything bad in Heaven?"... while we shout, "NO!"
Or, "who died on the cross for our sins?" ... "JESUS!"
All was well until he asked, "who were the first people on Earth?" and the audience shouted "ADAM AND EVE!", and Maddox turned to me as serious as a heart attack, and said, "seriously?  It was Adam Levine?"

***

Beckham talks really well, considering I was certain he was a mute at 18 months.  
However he changes most G's to D's, Fs to Ps, a lot of Cs to Ts, a couple of Ts to Ps, Th to D, and Like Maddox did, Ls to Ws-- so there is some de-coding involved.
He can also be very abrupt, a little Sling Blade, if you will.
Last week (also at church camp) we ran into a family that I knew growing up.  They just had a new baby, so while we were talking, I was oohing and awing at their new little gem.
Beckham never cracks a smile, or softens his voice, just abrasively says, "I wike you baby."  She said, "you like my baby?", still stone-cold, he said, "uh-huh.  I want that baby, and I tall her B."

***

Maddox: I am a karate master.
Beckham:  This is annoying me.

***

Maddox:  They just said that a girl on the tv has fake boobies!  Why did they say that?
Me:  (avoiding the issue)  I don't know Maddox, I didn't see it.
Maddox:  They must have used oranges.  (he sits quiet for a second) Maybe lemons.

***

When Beckham knows that he is getting in trouble, he starts saying, "you a beautiful pincess, momma!", and the other day he hit me with a hard-to-turn-down negotiation, "when it's morning, I'm going to give you a beautiful flower."

***

My friend Amanda and I were talking the other day around babies and jazz and she said, "correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think that kids of the same sex would be much more competitive with each other ."  And I had never thought of it until that moment, but (as of this point in our lives) my boys are the opposite of that.
They are honest-to-God, each other's biggest cheerleaders.
Beckham thinks Maddox is the fastest, biggest, best, most awesome brother, and Maddox encourages B with everything he does, and shouts with excitement over even his smallest successes.

The other day they were playing Pokemon cards and since B obviously has no clue how the game goes, Maddox was helping him.
I heard Maddox excitably say, "you won Beckham!!  You did so awesome!"
I asked Maddox why he let him win and he just simply said, "He's little mom.  I want him to win sometime too."

They will no doubt argue, bicker and fight with the best of them, but there are times when their love for each other amazes me.

A few weeks ago we went to Texas Roadhouse to eat.  There is a store next to it called Five Below.
It is like a dollar store dipped in gold.  They have Legos and Spiderman stuff and other brands that you have actually heard of-- but nothing in the store is over $5.
Lance had promised them both a visit to the store after we ate but B refused to eat.  We told him over and over that if he didn't eat 3 bites, then he could not go to the store.
The stubborn little twirp, didn't fold-- and I had to hold true to my word, which was admittedly hard.
The person who took it the hardest, however, was Maddox.

Lance kept B in the car, while I went in with Maddox.
Maddox asked me right as we walked in, how much he had to spend.  I said, "Five dollars is your max" (knowing that nothing in the store cost more than that anyway.)
He kept a few things in his hands, doing the math each time, trying to decide quantity over quality.
He finally picked up a pack of Pokemon cards for $2 and walked over the package of Big Boot Guys for $3 and said, "can I buy them both?"
I knew what he was doing... Beckham LOVES Big Boots.
And as we were paying, I told Maddox that it was really sweet of him to use his money on Beckham, but Maddox had earned his visit by doing the right thing-- and Beckham had the option to do that also but chose not to.
Maddox matter-of-factly said, "we all mess up sometimes, mom.  I just wanted to give it to him."

And even though Beckham hadn't earned it, I wanted him to know how much his brother adores him too-- so I let Maddox give it to him.

***

Lance took Maddox to his softball game a few Fridays ago, and B and I stayed home.
I asked Maddox if he had fun, or met any friends.
He said, "I did meet a new friend today and he's a Minecraft enthusiast also."

***

Maddox had a rash right before we went to Red River.  I stood him in the living room, snapping different pictures to send to my nurse-friends and doctor for a diagnosis, when Maddox said, "take a picture of this group.  It looks like a constellation."
It did.
Although I would have never thought of that.

***

B is still obsessed with all things red and if it is tiny, that's a huge bonus.
His catch phrase right now is, "impossible".

***

One day, my mom and I were sitting on her back porch while the boys were riding their bikes around.  Maddox fell and hit his bottom and then back onto his head. 
He yelped, "oh!  I landed on my dignity!"
Mom started laughing, and said, "what's your dignity?"
Maddox looked embarrassed and said, "you know Gigi...." and then almost embarrassed to talk said, "where I grow hair..."
Still thinking that he was talking about his bottom, she said, "hair???"
He said, "yeah.  My noggin."
We couldn't stop laughing.

***

Maddox can make a PB&J by himself these days... And B loves to help.
It is a guaranteed mess, but something I let go.

One night, at like 11:00, Maddox was trying to convince me that he was STARVING and wanted to make himself one.
He said, "mom, jelly sandwiches are good for your colon."
Sold me.

Although, I can only assume that he knows what his colon is-- since he's been calling his testicals his intestines.  When I asked him what he was talking about, he said, "you said it is a nicer way to say my balls."
Close.

***

me:  whatevs.
Maddox:  don't talk like a teenager.

***

me:  why do you boys keep coming into my bed every night?
Maddox:  We like to stay with a  pattern.

***

"when I'm seven, and in highschool...."  --Maddox

***

me:  your hands smell good.
Maddox:  thanks.  I moisturize.

***

Annoyed by another kid, Maddox said, "that boy's a menace!"

***

We had friends come over this weekend.  One couple has a little girl who is just a month older than Beckham.  She sat down by him on the picnic table and he kept scooting further away and finally said, "I' stared of dirls."  My sister-in-law said, "no you're not!  I see your pictures with your friend Audrey all of the time!"  Beckham snapped back, "betuz she's my only dirlprin, sometimes."
He's loyal like his daddy.

***

Maddox prays like a Southern Baptist pastor... long, windy, but full of passion.
I love to hear him pray more than anything in the world, and my favorite line he says is, "please forgive me for all of the sins I blessed you with."

***

I wish I had more on my list...
And a video camera on them at all times.
They say the best things, all day long!
And I wish I could remember it all!