The other night I told Levi that he could go downstairs and play while I worked on putting Haley and Jesse to bed. So he was set up as a "big boy" as opposed to one of the "little kids," who are always the first to go to bed. (In that strange family dynamic in which those who least desire sleep get the most of it and those who crave sleep stay up cleaning the kitchen.)
So what did Levi do in his Big Kid moment? First he grabbed his bike and rode round the cul-de-sac. Then he came inside and jogged in place for a few minutes. (Now I've paused the bedtime routine to peek down the stairs and observe.) A minute later he comes into view holding dumbbells retrieved from the garage. He hoists those five-pounders a few times, then slaps his hands together in satisfaction. Workout complete.
We've become a family all jonesin for fitness. Mark sometimes runs and, more often, does a weight bench / ab workout at home. I do cardio at the gym or yoga at home. Logan practices karate forms at random moments. Haley, of course, works on cartwheels and handstands. Occasionally we all gather in the front room and I challenge everyone to try a new yoga pose I've learned. Or we critique each other's push-up form.
But Roscoe is by far the fitness winner in our family. A couple times a week he goes to a Teen Fit class at the rec center, where they do things like lunge their way across the basketball court. A couple times a week he goes to karate. And almost every day, he follows a workout of his own devising:
He's made this chart in his journal. It involves the weight bench and sit-ups, but also things like hopping up the stairs on one foot or hoisting Jesse onto his shoulders and running up the down the stairs. I'm excited for spring if for no other reason than that one of these days Roscoe will take off that big, floppy hoodie and I'll be able to check out his physique.
Who'd a thunk the Qshurst-McGees would become a bunch of exercise addicts?
Jesse's birthday wishes:
All the ways you can discipline without punishment by catching the good. Holds that little kids can’t be good until they feel good. You can definitely take this philosophy too far, in my opinion, and end up with overempowered kids that sap your energy. But much of the time, parents should stick with the positive approach, especially for little kids who aren’t so much naughty as uncivilized.
If your bickering children drive you crazy, you should read this. It delves into the kids’ psyches to reveal why they take such joy in tormenting each other. Then it gives you a great set of proactive strategies to limit the torture. This will change your paradigm of how you view your children, and you will feel great relief from the responsibility for refereeing their fights. The same authors wrote 
Now she's a pro cartwheeler, getting those feet high in the air (but still sometimes crashing into passers-by).
I'm happily kneading pizza dough for dinner when I notice that someone has hidden this menacing weapon beneath the bowl. A reminder? A threat?
Rather than bringing the light of order and civilization to my heathen scalliwags, I have instead succumbed to their native depravity and mayhem.
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