Being a Brother

My boys are like most male siblings. On a typical day they wrestle, tease each other, compete, and blame each other for the trail of popcorn leading from the kitchen to the television downstairs messes around the house. But deep down I know they love each other. So it always warms my heart to come across scenes like this: Brandon was playing a game of chess with Tyler. And he wasn't trying to beat him. He could have of course, he is six years older and has much more chess playing under his belt. But he wasn't. He was just playing a friendly game and showing his brother the ropes. If he could see that Tyler was about to make a wrong move, he would start shaking his head, and Tyler would re-think it. You could just see the confidence building on his little seven year old face. I don't know who ended up winning the game, I don't know if there even was a winner. But for 30 minutes, a seven year old felt like he was holding his own against his thirteen year old brother. And that's what being a brother is all about.

Are Your Feet On Backwards?

From the time he started to walk, I could tell that Justin dances to the beat of a different drummer, so to speak. It has taken me four years to figure it out, but I believe I have figured out the cause. I think it might have something to do with his shoes. Shoes? Is she crazy? What is she thinking? I know some of you are having these thoughts. But check these out:
When you look closely, you will see that his shoes are on backwards. And here's the thing. He wears them like that every day. On purpose. He says he likes it better that way.

So I'm thinking it either has to be the shoes or his feet. And since he has way more pairs of shoes than he does feet, it must be the shoes. But since he had feet before he had shoes, it must be the feet. Oh I don't know. All I know is that it is hard to dance to the beat of any drummer when you think your feet are on backwards. Wouldn't you agree?