The boys

I am so thankful right now that there is a little age gap between the two. Amazing the difference. The last few days we have enjoyed playing games with B, he is starting to get it. We have moved beyond Candyland! Yesterday afternoon it was mid 40s. We did not get out when it was that warm, but we did take B sledding. There is a good size hill by the church. He got probably a 5-6 second ride. At the end there is a little bump to catch air. I think the 'air' scared him but once he figured out how to put his hands down to keep from toppling over, it was all good. He loved it and went down every time by himself. More importantly, he trudged up the hill dragging the sled all by himself too. So nice that he is getting older and more capable of doing things by himself.
J on the other hand! He loves to get himself dressed and if you try to help him, he will grab his clothes and run away from you. I have already taken the bar stools away and put their art table chairs up. The next thing to go is the dining room table chairs. Everything gets put in the garage cause I just can't trust him. He has figured out how to open the microwave and loves to put misc. stuff in there. If he ever hits the right combination of buttons, I am in trouble. Today he decided to get a coffee cup out of the cabinet. For reasons unknown to me, I decided to scoop out all the water in the toilet and dump it on the floor. I know he has never seen me do that. He is something else.
JR had to work today and works again tomorrow. I guess it breaks up his 10 days off, but it sure was nice and convenient having him around.

Christmas

Had a quiet uneventful Christmas. The boys are still young enough that they don't know you can wake up really early on Christmas. I have B trained not to wake me up until 7. We started with prayer thanking God for Jesus' birth and then we headed downstairs. The stockings awaited us. Everyone had candy in theirs and that was all J needed. He got a little bowl, poured himself some whoppers and sat on the floor eating them. He would not put the bowl down and open a present, otherwise Mom might take the candy and put it up. B had a lot of fun exploring/playing with everything he opened. From start to finish it took us over an hour. We made a birthday cake for Jesus and it sure was good.
We received 3-4 inches of snow Christmas night and it looks like we could hit the high 30s by late weekend. That will be shorts weather compared to 2 weeks ago!
Christmas Eve day JR took a sled out to the field behind our house. B got to ride along as JR wrapped the rope around his waist and got a workout pulling B.
J has not had any ill effects from the hand, foot and mouth, which is a huge praise. B has not shown any signs, so he appears to have fended them off. (J did get one little boy from church sick though).
Having problems posting pics, will try tomorrow!

Sick again

All indications are that J has hand, foot and mouth disease! Quarantined again. At least the weather is not conducive for playing outside. I sure hope B does not get it.

Instead of Na, now we are getting a full on No with J. He often will walk around the house saying No, No, No, No (emphasizing the O). He usually comes to find me as he is saying it. He takes my hand and proceeds to take me to the "No". Recently it was an empty bowl of chocolate. He had eaten every last bite and was telling himself "no". Or it was the red dry erase marker he used on the white fridge. Or the bottle of B's mouthwash that he took the lid off of again and spilled.
J's skin is doing much better now that we have taken him off of most dairy. I also bought some Aveeno Intense Relief Overnight Lotion. I noticed a huge difference after one use.
B, J and I are starting to get into a routine in the evenings. I have shown B how to put towels and pajamas in the dryer so they are warm when they get out of the bathroom. They think this is awesome and then they both crawl in my lap and we sing songs. I can only hope this will continue to last.
Another cold weekend, so around the house, doing odd projects, working puzzles, etc.

B's Christmas Program

B had his preschool Christmas program Monday night. It was short and sweet, 20 minutes. What did I expect with 70 preschoolers. I think he had a lot of fun.
Both boys went to the dentist the other day. B has 2 cavities (guess he has deep grooves on his molars). Both boys have orthodontics in their future! Guess we better start saving now.
The weather has warmed up. Surprising how warm 20 feels when you have been -20.
Speech therapist continues to hear more new sounds each week. We have added "p" and "v" and he is starting to vocalize more instead of signing.
Some more pictures. I keep thinking I will have time to explore more features on the camera, but not yet. Maybe when JR is off the week between Christmas and New Years. (His work is closing that week to try to minimize expenses so as to keep everyone on until work really gets going strong again.)

Not Warm Here

I had to laugh at my post 2 days ago. As I write, it is -2 degrees and the windchill is probably -40. This morning JR left to go hunting at 5:30. When he returned 2 hours later, there was a knee deep snow drift in front of the door, where there had been no snow previously. (The guys hunting turned around after they missed their interstate exit and drifted onto the shoulder of the interstate several times due to low visibility.) Not a good day for the ol' heater to quit working on the black car. Took it to a shop 'around the corner'. They said they would look at it and call me in about an hour. I said 'I think I will walk home, it is just 3 blocks'. Bad, bad decision. With a wind chill of probably -30 in my face, I considered several times knocking on a door to warm up. I should know better. Bitter, bitter cold and I did not have a hat. I had my really warm coat and gloves on. I ended up wrapping my scarf around my head and that minimized things a bit. They called to say the problem was more extensive and they could not fix it. JR warmed up the red car to take me back (I was not walking back). It sat in the driveway warming up for 20 minutes. We got in it, backed into the street and the car died. After about 15 minutes we got it pushed back through the snow into the driveway (we were able to laugh through this) and my neighbor took me to get the car. I bought some antifreeze for the red one and after it was added, it started right up. Let's just hope that was the reason for it dying. The black one either has a blown fuse somewhere that I can't locate or the fan/compressor is out. Not a good thing, but what does one do?
Saw Santa yesterday, it was an uneventful visit. At first J was hesitant, but warmed right up. Our gingerbread house had a tragic end. The icing did not hold and coffee got spilled on it. Managed to salvage a few pieces so they will just have to lean against the wall until they can be eaten.
Here are pics from the last few days. If you move your mouse over the picture, the caption will show up. I added a little music. (Bit by bit I am figuring this out)

Warm here

Today we were close to 60 and it snowed in part of Texas. Crazy weather these days. However, we are suppose to be in the negatives this weekend.
A friend from North Dakota is due in any time, so not sure if we will get any snowshoeing in. We are also suppose to go Christmas Caroling this weekend with the church. Will be interesting to see the turnout if it is -10. I did promise the kids a trip to see Santa, since the line was too long last weekend. As B said "it was all my fault they did not get to see Santa". We did see some reindeer (aka Caribou) though.

Camera

J has gotten pretty sneaky these days. On more than one occasion, we have found him fully dressed without a diaper on. He is somehow undoing the 'tabs' and then the diaper falls down around his feet without us knowing this. Once he had on overalls and we could not figure out why we found a misc diaper on the floor, until his overalls turned up all wet. The second time he was in bed with footed pajamas on. Fortunately I checked him before he went to sleep.
The other day B woke up with a barking cough (it has since gone away). It was obviously the first time he had had that cough cause his reaction was, 'Mom, you need to call the doctor, I am making a really weird noise'. Every time after he coughed he would say, 'mom, did you hear that'.
We have been playing around with the new camera and here are some pictures.

Christmas cards!

I mailed the Christmas cards today!! Yeah, it is always nice when I get that done. (I have merged two lists so if for some reason you don't get a card, let me know).
Today we were at Costco and the boys love sampling the foods. We tried Godiva chocolate. I was very excited that J ate his entire bite without any 'chocolate saliva' running down his chin. It appears he is beginning to understand what his lips are for. It is getting to where I cannot let him out of my sight. B and I will be playing and then one of us is like "where is J...it sure is quiet." We have found him on top of the 4 1/2 foot dresser. I have found him barricaded in the bathroom standing on a chair eating a candy cane. JR found him the other day sitting on the computer desk eating a lollipop. Whenever I ask him to do something, he looks at me and gets this 'are you talking to me look'. He stands there and does not obey. As soon as I stand up, his expression is priceless. He makes a 'uh gasping' sound and does a big 'o' with his lips, then immediately acts. I really need to get this on video. Such a ham he is. He is certainly getting his share of discipline though.
The new camera arrived yesterday and hopefully I can start trying it out tomorrow. We are going to a birthday party so will try taking pictures there.
Here is a pic from when he got on the desk, notice the two lollipops in his hand that he was trying to eat before he got busted.

Allergies!

At least J's allergies are mostly contained to one family. Milk and Cheese. A moderate allergy to eggs. So, that makes it easy since B is allergic to the same things. Although J's allergies seem to be much worse.
Another gal involved with J's speech therapy stopped by today and was very impressed with what she saw. He is making a lot more sounds and will even mimic you when asked to do so. He knows all of his body parts and can point them out.
Today I felt really bad. We have put a different lock on their door that locks from the outside, to cut down on getting up at bedtime. J was not happy when he saw me lock the door and shut it at nap time. He cried, banged on the door and carried on for 10 minutes or so. I finally went up there and he was laying on the other side of the door. He had pooped in his diaper and had started to take it off and then realized the potential mess. He was desparately trying to hold his diaper on and get my attention to come help him. Oh I can't wait until he learns 'help'.
It is snowing here. It was 60 yesterday and we already have about an inch on the ground. It is December....

Christmas Movies

B never likes it when I pack the Christmas movies away every year, but he sure enjoys them when I pull them out. We have watched more than one every day. I really enjoy the short days and the Christmas tree lights glowing! Although today we were close to 60 degrees!
J had speech therapy today and the therapist said he did good. She is starting to hear a lot more sounds and not just growls and grunts. We are working on him using appropriate communication for most things even if it is sign language. He is getting the word 'mine' down a little better. Instead of a form of 'ma', we are hearing more of a 'mi'. I am convinced that it will all come together for him in the next couple of months. He has a lot more inflection in his voice too. Tomorrow we have an appt with the doc to go over his allergy testing results.
B loves watching, as he says it, Rudolph the Reindeer Red-nosed. Today his teacher told me that she finally separated him to another table during their '20 minute' work time. She said he is just so social and loves to talk. She has a hard time getting him to focus. As she is telling me this, I am laughing cause I can see it all unfolding. He was not in trouble, so to speak but she figured he was far enough into the 'school year' that he should be able to start adapting and focusing more when needed. I told her not to give him an inch but to correct things after asking the first time and not waiting 3-4 times before separating him. He does much better when the lines are very clear.
Off to finish a few more projects before bed. Will try to post tomorrow about the allergy results.

Thanksgiving

If I ever want to know who is reading my blog, just mention a special post coming tomorrow and see how many people let me know I forgot to post!
We attempted our fun little post but I did not like the end product so we have not been able to redo it yet. I will just keep you all waiting for a bit.
Had a quiet Thanksgiving. One of JR's co-workers joined us. Him and JR went hunting that morning. They went to a new area and they found grizzly tracks and mountain lion tracks. A pretty sure sign you are not gonna see elk or deer. The guys were excited though for the tracks. Mountain lion tracks are somewhat rare (the tracks were probably a day old....)
The boys and I stayed home and watched the Macy's parade. At one point the Uncle Sam balloon came on and B asked who it was. I said that is Uncle Sam. His first response was "oh, that is Yankee Doodle's cousin." I had to sing the song and then I said "close, it is his uncle." The kid does not miss a beat. The other day he said, in it's entirety the Pledge of Allegiance. I have never taught him this so it is obviously something they are learning at preschool. I was really touched by that and maybe I can get him to say it on video sometime.
Today we went out looking for a Christmas tree. Last year, we were unsuccessful, namely because just any tree won't do. Most of what I usually find are Charlie Brown trees. JR got frustrated so last year we cut our hunting short and borrowed an artificial tree. This year though I spotted a little drainage 200 yards off the road. The trees looked full and perfect. I ran up for a peek and I was excited! I called everyone out of the car. No snow on the ground, a short walk and wa-la.
Attached are some photos from yesterday and today!

Thanksgiving week

Hard to believe it is here! We are gonna stay home and one of JR's co-workers will come join us. They are thinking they might go hunting in the morning, so looks like it will be the boys an I for the Macy's parade.
More B stories - The other day I put J in his room because he was throwing a fit. He settled down and got quiet. A little bit later B opened his door and said "Now, J, do you have a better attitude? You just shake your head yes before you come out of the room. You have to have a better attitude before you come out"
Last night we were driving home and B said "hey dad, what is that blue jellyfish thing?" We were both perplexed and he said "that blue jellyfish thing up there". I realized what he was talking about and just cracked up. He had seen the 'high beam' headlight indicator on the dashboard of the car. I think he has seen a picture of a jellyfish once or twice. And he was right, it did look like a jellyfish swimming through the water.
J, on the other hand, might get him checked out for some sensory processing stuff. Maybe after the holidays can have the occupational therapist observe him. Not anything major but could explain some things. I noticed the other day they were playing in the backyard. It had snowed and there was that ice/snow pack on the patio. J was out there barefoot and was not the least bit bothered by it. He had been out there 2-3 minutes! Not sure if it is related, but made me think twice about it.
B and I are scheming a fun post tomorrow. Hopefully it will pan out and you all can check back!

praises!!

As you can see, a mild, very mild case of the pox. Praise God. I guess the vaccine he got at 12 months kept him from getting a worse case? The only time he seems to scratch them is when he gets out of the tub and sees them. Otherwise we try to keep them all covered up with footed pajamas. I finally solved the puzzle as to where the boys got the chicken pox from. Remember about a month ago when 3 middle school boys stayed with us while they attended a local conference? Well, I found out this week that they all came down with the chicken pox just after leaving here. Just glad to know how we were exposed.

A conversation with B recently. It went something like this:
"Mom, why do people do bad things?"
"Because there is evil in the world"
"Why is there evil in the world?"
"Because this earth is satan's kingdom"
A slight pause, then
"Mom, now who is satan again?"
"Remember satan was the one in the Garden of Eden that convinced Adam and Eve to do bad. Satan use to be an angel that lived in Heaven with Jesus. But he got kicked out of heaven."
"Why did he get kicked out of heaven?"
"Because he did not like the rules and did not want to obey the rules. He wanted to be just like God, just like he tried to convince Adam and Eve they could be like God by eating the fruit. He got kicked out of heaven and now he is trying to convince others to do bad things here on earth."
Just as quickly as the conversation started, it ended. Nothing like a child to keep you on your toes and always be ready to give an answer. My greatest prayer for my kids is that they will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and accept him. When I have conversations like this it really encourages my heart. I know he is taking in everything from Children's Church, preschool, family devotions, etc. He is starting to process everything.
The second thing I pray for the boys is for a hedge of protection. The other night JR had put the boys to bed in our bed (which is not the norm). We thought both boys were asleep. B was, but J was not. I had not heard a word from them. Finally, J gave himself away as I heard him on the stairs. The stair light was not on but I could tell he had something all around his mouth. He was acting a little strange and quiet. He kept pointing up to the top of the stairs. I turned to JR and said, "he got into my lip liner earlier today and it looks like he got back into it". I grabbed the camera to get a picture of the aftermath of his make-up drawer raid. JR then grabbed him and headed up the stairs. He walked into the bathroom and then yelled for me. Come to find out, it was not make-up he had gotten into. He had found JR's razor and had managed to cut his tongue twice and his lip. It was blood and not make-up after all. All I could think was this is exactly why I pray for a hedge of protection on both of them. The strange thing is, he never cried. Just appeared he had knicked his tongue and lip and my guess never really knew he had cut himself or was bleeding. Here is the picture I took on the stairs, before I realized what had really happened. You can just see him smiling away like 'look at what I did'.

Random stuff

The boys are suppose to be having a quiet time in their room. Ha! Oh well, at least they are in their room and sounds like they are having fun. Best yet, I get some alone time!
We just drove past the bank today and it said 70 degrees. Now, having 4 ski resorts within an hour of here, 70 degrees mid November is not good! The 10 day forecast calls for cooler weather but not snow. Also puts a damper on the hunting. JR has gotten a buck and then a friend gave us his doe. He will go out 2-3 more times and then call it a season. With no snow, the animals tend to stay pretty high up.
The first day of speech therapy for J went pretty good. She literally sits there and counts the number of different sounds as she interacts with him. She got him to say 'mine' or very close to it pretty consistently. She is hearing more new sounds so that is very good. Maybe he just needed a little outside intervention.
I cut J's hair the other day. It was just such a mop. Looks okay but some of the 'curl' did not come back when I cut it. He looks much cuter with the curls so haircuts every 6 months or so!
(B just came out of the room and told me J bit him on the bottom. Then J comes around the corner with the 'aren't you proud of me mom' smile. Both of my boys have that little grin that just brings a smile to my face. )
One thing I have really noticed lately, when we are out in public, so many people make remarks about J (like they use to with B) and go on and on. Then there is B standing there going "I am four, I am four". People don't even notice B. Sure makes me think twice when I interact with a child in public, to be sure and include the older sibling in my remarks.
One thing I am hoping we can buy in the next 6 weeks or so is a digital camera. I miss so many shots because of our camera. I think it takes one photo every 20 seconds and then sometimes it is tempermental and won't take when it is suppose to. So, that being said, if any of you have a digital camera you like, let me know. I am starting to research them. Honestly, the one quality I am looking for is the rapid shoot. I will never have the time to learn all the ins and outs of a camera but just want something that takes good photos without missing too much action.
Will try to download some video in the next day or so!

Chicken Pox Round Two

Yep-they are popping out at this point! We are homebound again this week. Fortunately B has two friends whose mom wants to expose them so they are coming over on Thursday for a play date. Hopefully they won't be too bad for B.

Na

Yesterday the boys got into it over a water bottle. Seems J had it first and older brother B wanted it. J kept running from him and B just cried and cried. (B was not feeling good and really tired.) At one point they ended up under my feet while I was cooking in the kitchen. JR was getting very frustrated as the noise level steadily increased. B would run for J, J would shield the bottle and turn his back yelling 'na, na, na'. J would put the bottle on the floor, B would make a move for it, J would grab it and infatically yell 'na, na, na'. All I could do was laugh. He was saying no! I was excited. He appeared to be using it in context too. He has also started (appropriately) shaking his head yes. Maybe he will surprise us all and just be a really late (stubborn) talker.
He will go for his first therapy today, since we missed last week due to the chicken pox.
All day yesterday B was not feeling good and I thought, better not be the chicken pox coming on. He was vaccinated. This morning he has about 5-6 small spots on him. I am definitely going to be watching him throughout the day to see if any more appear. He has school today and I should probably do the responsible parent thing and keep him home until I know for sure.....

Woo hoo

Yesterday was our first outing in a week. Everything is healing up nicely and we can close the chapter on Chicken Pox. (We will see how effective the vaccine was for B. If he gets them, it should be middle part of this week.) J had his blood drawn yesterday for his bloodwork for allergies. He did not even flinch when they stuck the needle in. It took about 30 seconds for him to start crying and then it did not last very long. The test is a lot more specific than the one we had for B (instead of listing just cheese, it listed some of the different kinds of cheese). Maybe down the road I will have it done on B again.
J has started taking off his diaper when it is dirty. Which is a good thing, but a bad thing when you are in another part of the house and he shows up naked. Fortunately I have yet to have a big mess to clean up.
I was unloading groceries yesterday. As I brought another load in from the car B greeted me at the front door. "Mom, I am just so frustrated with you. So frustrated and I don't know what I am going to do with you." I don't even remember what the issue was, but nothing major. This past week has been a grim reminder of how I speak to the boys, especially in my frustration or anger. Not too long ago we were memorizing a Bible verse a week. One of them was "a soft answer turns away wrath". Another one was "children obey your parents for this is pleasing to the Lord". While we were memorizing them, B and I often would get into a verse showdown. I would raise my voice and he would say "Mom, a soft answer turns away wrath." To which I would reply "Children obey your parents". I have now told B to help me again and remind me of the soft answer verse. Thank goodness for little kids and helping to keep us honest and in line. We were in the grocery store recently and I often times will buy crackers, etc and open the box and let the kids eat them while we are shopping. However, with the bulk stuff, I am trying to teach B that you don't eat any of it until you pay for it (because you buy by weight) or it is stealing. Now he reminds me that we don't eat anything in the store until you pay for it or it is stealing.

Video of B

Sesame Street Live was a hit. He sat in my lap the first 15 minutes or so and then settled in and joined the show. He is just such a social boy and enjoyed the show most when he could be sitting or dancing next to others his age. Here is a video that JR took that I found. It is about 5 minutes but enjoyed watching B at gymnastics. The video is about 7 months old but amazing to me to see how B has lost his little boy look since then. He is starting to slim down more and his dimples are coming back! A few random shots and J. and I. (As I was downloading this video I went to check on J - he was really quiet. Never a good sign when he carries a chair in to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him.)
I just found out the video never posted...must have been too big a file. Will try at some point to figure out how to cut it and then repost.....

I hear my words

J's chicken pox are getting better. He still has never seemed bothered by them. They seem to be healing pretty quickly. I will keep him home another 2 days.
Tomorrow night I have free tickets to go see the Sesame Street Live Show with Elmo. I am taking Benjamin and I have not told him yet. I just hope he will be a more willing participant than he was when we went to see Veggie Tales (at that show he hid under the pew on the floor for the whole first half!).

Two conversations I had with B today:

"Get in here and put your clothes away the right way." (He had stuffed everything into one drawer so it was all hanging out.)
About 30 mimutes later he walks out of his room.
"I put all my clothes away, Mom"
"Did you put them away correctly"
"Yes"
"Are you sure?" I say
"Yes, just don't look in the bottom drawer"
"Why not?"
"Just don't. You won't like it"
Ratting himself out again - will I be fortunate enough for this to continue??

Later in the day, he sees an empty candy wrapper on the microwave
"Mom, who left this empty wrapper here"
I look at him with guilt on my face
"Mom, did you leave this here"
I sort of smile and nod.
"Why didn't you throw this away. You know you are not suppose to leave your candy wrappers laying around the house. You need to get over here and throw this away right now. Now you better do it, right now! I said right now."

My little tape recorder. I think I need to rethink how I ask things of him, cause I could totally hear myself telling him that - because I say those things to him all the time! That one keeps me on my toes! He has gotten to where when he asks us to do something and we say 'just a minute', he will wait but when he asks a second time it is always "Dad, I have asked you twice to come up stairs. Now you need to come upstairs right now". It is never a disrespectful thing cause his attitude is right. He is just learning how the communication thing goes. So, on one hand I have a 4 year old that speaks as a 12 year old and I have another one that won't speak at all! Oh, I can only imagine the conversations the two of them will have when J does start talking!

Weekend winds down

The gal I was suppose to play in the finals decided she needed to get back home so defaulted the match (she lived 2 hours away).
JR went out hunting this morning and nada. Said he thinks the area has been picked over pretty good. He also recently took another book test towards his electrical apprenticeship and he made an 85.
Headed up to put both boys down for a nap and then do some grocery shopping.

Itching

The itching started last night. Still not too bad. He just did not sleep well. Made a grocery store run at 5am. The Aveeno bath treatments seem to help. As you can tell from the pictures, the back is the worst. A few spots on his face (huge one on his eyebrow).
I won my match today, although I had to work for some of the points. The lady I played just started playing in June and was very good. I guess that is what happens when you take lessons 3 times a week! I play the Consolation Finals Sunday afternoon.

It is always something

Well, J has the chicken pox. Have no idea where he got them from. None of our friends have them. Fortunately, at least at this point, they are not too bad. He does not itch at all and is not really acting sick. He does have them all over his trunk though and sprinkled on the rest of his body.
I was able to find someone without kids to come watch the boys while I played tennis. I lost, but same old story, should have won. I was quite impressed with how well I moved on the court though. Just wish my timing would come back. Last week when I practiced last I broke a string. I forgot to get my racquet restrung so I played with a back-up racquet. One I have used for more than an hour in the last 20 years (your old Wilson Prostaff Scott). Did not do too bad, but hopefully with my other racquet I can finally score a win in the consolation bracket Sat morning.
A night of cards with the gals...will be a nice break!

Mid week

JR cooked up some of the backstraps from his buck and they were very good and tender.
B has been exhausted the last couple of days. He has been getting up before 6 the last couple of days and someone just mentioned that the daylight savings time is messing him up. I had never even made the connect. Fortunately J slept in until normal time this morning. It sure makes for a long day when they are both up that early and B does not have a nap.
I play my first tennis match at noon on Friday. Up against the number 2 seed.
J had speech therapy today. I left him (woo hoo - 45 minutes to myself once a week and it is too short of a time to go home and do anything productive - hot chocolate with a book just might become the norm!). When I went back to get him the therapist said she heard a lot more sounds from him than last time. She was able to identify 15 or so different sounds/noises so that was good. She said he 'growled' about 30 times. How do you teach a little boy not to growl. It does seem that since we have found out that he 'has a delay' that he is whining more and we are not encouraging the words like we were. She also said he was pretty stubborn with using some of his sign language until he realized he was not going to get what he wanted until he made the sign. After we left I read through her Evaluation. I did not know whether to laugh or cry when I read the following: "An open mouth posture and drooling were evident during play. Jacob was not aware of his drooling and made no attempt to manage oral secretions or wipe his chin." That sounds so pitiful but the truth. He just drools away and his shirt gets wet, etc. She did mention that he seemed to be drooling a lot more today than her evalutation.
One positive note, last week we all in the car and out of the blue he started making the 't' sound and JR and I both looked at each other and said 'that's new'.
Off to take a hot bath, the days are getting colder and the mountain snow is starting to fall.
Here's 2 pictures of J's attempt to get himself dressed. His shirts turn out to be skirts. Oh, he is also starting to show some interest in the potty. He has several friends that were potty trained before they were two (they are boys), how nice would that be - not that I am holding my breath!

Firsts

JR has gotten his first buck of the season. Nice big body, small 3x3 rack. It is currently hanging in the garage and it will make it's way to our kitchen probably tonight! Not my most favorite but at least it is meat for the freezer and we have disinfectant. He will also be voting for the first time in his life this evening. Interesting to see what he thinks of it all. I have tried to tell him it is not just the presidential election, but other local elections and issues. I don't know that he is very prepared for the other stuff.
We did go see the movie Fireproof. If you did not receive an email from me about it, it is worth the time and money. Just a phenomenal message, very good, clean movie. Two action scenes, quite a few bust out laughing scenes, just a very good all-around movie. One that we need to support and send a message to Hollywood that good family movies will be supported. Kirk Cameron did not even receive a salary for his leading role (however, the film company made a contribution to the camp him and his wife run). Another interesting note about the movie, there is one scene where Kirk kisses his on screen wife. He has made a commitment not to kiss anyone but his actual wife, so they flew his wife in just for this one shot and she was the stand in. Way to go Kirk, standing up for your values! I will get off my Fireproof soap box. Go check it out. It will be the first 'non kid' movie I have purchased in probably over 5 years.
Dad says it is just about time for another haircut, what do you think?

Halloween

We survived the weekend and mom has somehow stayed away from the 10 plus pounds of candy that I think we came home with. We had Spiderman and a cute little green frog this year. JR and I took the boys downtown to all the stores. Crazy. They do it from 3-6 and in years past it was nice because none of the older kids made it until 4pm because of school. But for some reason there was early release so it was a mad house. I would be willing to bet that businesses spend over $100 on candy because a lot of them hand out chocolate. J mostly stayed in the stroller, much easier to keep up with him. Then we headed to a few friends houses. B had the best time running with the other kids. He was not as concerned about the candy as he was with being able to keep up with Indiana Jones, the fireman, the police man, spiderman 2, etc. When we came home JR put J to bed and I went around the neighborhood with B. Poor kid, he would just mope about how his legs hurt, how tired he was, etc. Then, off in the distance, I would see shadows of kids and off he would run to catch them. Seeing him run in the spiderman costume, with his spiderman snow boots (despite having no snow) he just looked so funny. Next year I am gonna have to be sure and line up other kids to go with cause mom just is not fun enough.
J had an appointment with a naturopath doctor on Friday. We are hoping to get the allergy testing kit from the lab and have the bloodwork done up late this week. The Dr. was also wondering if he has some GI issues going on.
JR has not been out hunting this week but hoping to hit a private ranch tomorrow for a deer or two.
I just registered for a tennis tournament this weekend. Seems odd to schedule a tournament this time of year with only 4 indoor courts. I just signed up for singles. Hopefully I will have a little better showing this time around than last time.
We are off to see the movie Fireproof this afternoon. Suppose to be a very good movie!
Here are some pictures from B's Harvest party at the preschool and from Friday night.

Therapy update

Just a quick update. Had the meeting to get us going with the government program and appears with J's delay we qualify for services up until his 3rd birthday. We contacted a local speech therapist and she had an opening today so we took it! She too said the same thing, he is way, way behind on his expressive language. She actually said the testing tool she was using often overcompensates things so if she had been using another tool, he probably would have tested much lower on the expressive. They all say every other area is right on or above average. So, we will have our first real session next Wed. The only potential bad thing is that I don't know if insurance will cover it. There is a clause in our policy that states speech therapy will only be covered if it is due to trauma or an illness. The gal at the therapy place said sometimes she has seen Blue Cross cover it and sometimes she has seen them not cover it. So, worst case scenario, Family Outreach will cover about 2/3 and we will have to pick up the other 1/3 or best case scenario, Insurance will cover 2/3 and Family Services will pick up the other 1/3. Either way, we are sure hoping to get him talking soon so the whining will stop. He gets his allergy testing on Friday. (One of the nice things about living in a lesser populated area, seems that the waits for docs are not very long - my dermatologist has been the only exception).
On another note, JR has not been feeling well lately, losing weight, just vague symptoms, etc but I finally convinced him to go to a doc for a check up. The first check up he has had since we got married. The doc called today and said all the bloodwork, etc was perfect and he has the insides of an 18 year old. That is wonderful news but it just blows me a way that an almost 40 year old man can quit working out, eat lots of bread, ice cream etc and still lose weight. It is just not fair. He looks at workout equipment and loses weight, I look at food and gain weight. Oh well, atleast he is healthy with no signs of trouble on the horizon.
No mountain snow predicted for the next week or so, bad for hunters. Our fridge is empty.
B has his Harvest Party tomorrow at preschool, hope to download some pictures tomorrow.

Nada

Nothing. JR saw nothing out on the trail today. The elk and deer were pretty elusive. There is no snow on the ground and until the snow comes they will stay pretty high up. He said when he started hiking there was a guy in front of him with a dog. How irritating. Who takes a dog with them on opening day of rifle season. Hoepfully next weekend will be a little more productive, although it is not going to cool off too much.
I woke up this morning to B counting....twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, twenty ten, thirty. I had to laugh quietly.
When we had the 3 middle school guys with us last week, I moved J's crib out of their room and in to the computer room. Decided to not put it back and see if we could get J to sleep on a mattress on the floor. So far so good. Some days he loves his freedom and will stay up and play in the room, but on those days he is almost begging to go to sleep by 7pm. Several nights ago he woke up and sat on the mattress whining. I came to check on him and he settled himself back down but forgot to lay back down. I laughed at him as he went to sleep sitting up swaying.
Was tempted to grab the camera but he laid down before I could.

Speech Therapy here we come

I was very impressed with the appt for J this morning. They observed him in several different settings and environments. At one point they even watched him and another little boy interact. It was odd seeing about 8 adults standing around watching the boys play.
His coordination and fine motor skills are great. He is also a great communicator just not with words. I don't recall all the technical lingo but basically he does have issues going on. They determined that by several different factors.
He often holds his mouth open and his tongue out. He drools alot. He retracts his tongue quite a bit. He stuffs his face with food. His receptive language age is 15-18 months and his expressive language is 6-9 months. Bottom line is, he has low muscle tone in his mouth/jaw area and is orally aware. There were a couple of times they could tell he wanted to talk, but just could not get the words out.
Because of this evaluation, we qualify for services through some kind of county program. Someone will come out next week to do a home study and then let us know our options for speech therapists. They said an occupational therapist would work too, but using a speech therapist he will also get additional help with his language. They were pretty optimistic that once he realizes what his mouth can do and increases the muscle tone that he will begin to talk.
They also strongly recommended getting him tested for food allergies. They said his tonsils are not huge but definitely enlarged and that can affect how the tongue lays. Given B's allergies, it is very possible that J has them too. So, have another new doc to try out for the allergy testing (most docs don't like to do allergy testing on kids this young).
I am just thankful that it is nothing serious that cannot be overcome.
It was interesting when we were talking about the food allergies and how they can affect the body. The speech therapist told me of a child who was diagnosed as autistic. They did allergy testing on him and he had an peanut allergy. As soon as they cut out peanuts, it was like night and day. He started talking, interacting, etc.
Heading out to play tennis in a bit and cards (Pinochle) later on tonight!

Distractions!

This past Monday and Tuesday night we hosted (3) 14 year old boys that were in town for the Annual State Student Council Association. They were all from a town 1 hour west of here and just a lot of fun. I imagined what it would be like in 10 years when B is 14. They did not have much down time but what little they had B loved chasing them around and "gettin' 'em". We have been staying pretty close to home this week. The crisp cool days have been nice but after about 10 minutes the nose is very cold. Plus I have been thinking a lot recently about how busy everyone is - even us stay at home moms. There are so many good things to get involved with but what do all of those things take us away from. My hope is as the snow starts falling, that I will be diligent enough to get work around the house done in small pockets of time and use the other time to get on the floor and play, paint pictures with the boys, etc. I am just really starting to see how so many 'good' things in my life crowd out the best things. That is probably why I have not been on the computer as much lately. Seems like I save my big chunks of computer time for when the boys are in bed, but by the time everything is clean and I have made it to the gym and back, I am tired. Just unbelievable the society we live in (the instantaneousness of it) and how easy it is for us to get distracted and how Satan loves pulling us away from the important things and it opens us up to being more vulnerable. We take J in for his evaluation on Friday and I guess I am feeling like the last couple of weeks I have not spent as much time with him as I would have liked, trying to encourage words. It will all come in due time. The more I watch him though, I am pretty sure that his not speaking is a large part of his stubborness but we will see. J sure has his own opinions. Today we were heading to bible study and J had put on B's dress shoes. I attempted to take them off and he screamed until I quit. We tried to leave the house without his coat and he screamed until I put it on. He was sitting at the table eating snack and I grabbed a small bite. He screamed until I went and got him another bite of snack from the counter. He can now turn door knobs and climb on top of the bar stools. Any given point during the day you can see him pushing a chair, step stool etc across the room because he wants something. B is still enjoying preschool. We have started restricting foods again and it has made some difference in him - I just really miss the convenience foods (crackers with cheese, pasta, nachos, mac-n-cheese, yogurt) that are quick and no brainer to whip up. He has also started digging his little heels in. Today I found myself starting to get drawn into an argument with him. I finally stopped the car and turned around and told him to watch the attitude. He stared me down, let out a really deep sigh and started to roll his eyes. I don't know why some of his expressions just crack me up, but they do. I somehow managed to hold off the snicker and think I made my point, atleast for the moment. JR heads out to the mountains this weekend as rifle season opens up. We also have some gift certificates to the local hardware store so hoping to finally agree on a few colors to paint the downstairs and try to knock it out this weekend. JRs dad has started checking in on the blog. Since he can't read the text I am going to try to start having more pics and videos, so here is one of them roughhousing.

Warmer weather

As this past week progressed, we did get warmer. I think we were in the 70s today. This is the time of year where you just never know. You need coat and gloves in the morning and shorts for the afternoon.
Been a quite week. I have a cold, so have not been online much.
JR is anticipating the opening of rifle season next Sunday, so he went out today to sight in the rifle. Got a shot or two of B.
B has started snoring, so it is probably 100% the allergies. So, we have backed way off the allergy foods again. This time next week he should be better, not to mention having kleenex all over the floor. Who taught him to blow his nose and just throw the Kleenex on the floor?
J still diggin his heels in with talking. He has added a few 'words' although not recognizable to anyone but me. We take him this coming Friday to the other appt I scheduled a month ago. We will see what they say.
Off to put them in bed.

Miscellaneous

The bad news is, it is snowing. The good news is, we were forcasted to get up to 10 inches in the valley but I don't think we have accumulated an inch yet. I am not quite ready for Ol Man Winter to come and stay, so hopefully it will warm back up a bit.
Have not made much headway with J and his words. Either we get busy and forget or run out of time after 20 minutes. One of the words we are working with him on is 'down'. Down from crib, down from chair, downstairs, etc. The first time I tried to get him to say it, he said 'da' (different inflection than word for dad). I got excited and started clapping my hands and then immediately got him out of his bed. Well, the other day I walked into his room and the second he saw me he started clapping. So, he now thinks down means to clap. He has started using his tongue to make clicking noises and making a popping noise with his lips. So, he can use his lips and tongue. I think he is a stubborn little guy!
Whenever B is looking through a magazine or sees something in the store, he is always saying 'hey mom, look, Ike has this movie (or Tristan has this car or Evan has this book, etc). I was starting to think that he just likes to hear himself talk. So, the other day he saw a movie in a magazine and told me Colter had that movie. Now, we had been at Colter's house about 6 weeks ago and I had personally been through all the movies several times. J kept pulling them up and I kept cleaning them up, matching movie to case, etc. So, I knew that Colter did not have that movie. I told B that he did not have that movie. He said yes he does mom. I told him no, he said yes. I said, okay, do you want me to call Colter's mom. He said sure. I knew Colter's mom would not think I was nuts wanting to prove B wrong. (I have been working with him on lying and not just saying things to say them.) Well, she told me they did have that movie. She had told me that the case had been up in Colter's room behind his bedroom door for the longest time. I had to apologize to B. I just cannot believe his memory. I am sure amidst all the toys he had found the case, remembered the man and dinosaur on it, studied it and then went on playing. I know he did not watch it over there. Not only does he remember stuff, he remembers the details behind it.
Today I was making a cake and he was helping me. I had him smell the vanilla and he immediately said 'oh, that smells great'. I was so excited. The first confirmation I have gotten that he appears to smell. His congestion has gotten a little better but we still have him eating some of his allergic foods. While I was making the cake, I had creamed the butter and sugar and added the 6 eggs. He really wanted to try it. After telling him no, that he would not like it, he insisted. So, I figured why not. At some point he will have to start trusting mom. He took a small spoonful. I watched him and said 'is it good'? He nodded his head as he smacked his lips and muttered 'it is really good'. I kept looking at him like 'whatever' and he looked at me very matter of fact and said 'i am really serious'. I don't know where he gets all the grown up talk. Oh, they are such joys and blessings. Here is a short video clip of the monkey at the park the other day.

First Field Trip

B's preschool class went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. They had a great time, despite the cold wind. They took a hayride to the pumpkin patch and found pumpkins. They all brought apples and got to put them in the grinder and press to make apple 'cider'. There were about 60 apples and it made over a gallon of drink. It was cool to see them make the connection that what they were drinking had been the big apples they brought. Then they played in the hay bales. J had a great time and will have to post a video of him climbing in the hay soon. He took lots of face plants as he would hit a hole or soft spot and fall. I was prepared for hay in the pants but not in the mouth. Rocky Creek Farms (the pumpkin patch) has a huge tree with 8 or so tire swings, etc. A really neat place to go with the kids and let them run wild for a few hours.
They say snow is heading our way, at least for a day or two and then I think it is suppose to warm back up.
When the pics are rolling, if you move your cursor over the pic, a caption should pop up. The bottom left corner is how you can speed up or slow down the pace (with the + and - buttons.

day to day

Just a 3 minute video showing you the day to day life around here.....

Little J's words

One thing I have been watching the last couple of months is J and his speech. So, when he finally hit 18 months I decided it was time to get him evaluated. Not that I was really concerned but not having ANY words at 18 months is not the norm. He is very social and communicates a lot, just not with words. I made an appt for the end of Oct through a program I saw advertized at the docs office. Seems there is a group that comes in once a month from a neighboring town to evaluate kids. They can be parent referred. So, we have an appt in about 3 weeks. Meanwhile, this past week the local schools were offering a free child screening for kids up to 5 years old. Decided to make an appointment and take both boys.
B did really well and passed his hearing (so that makes it selective hearing). The most interesting observation they made about him is that when he writes or colors, he does not put his elbow or pinky side of his hand on the table. So, they really encouraged us to help him with this so as to increase the amount of control he has. They also noticed that he does not skip, how have I forgotten how to teach him to skip? Not sure what skipping shows, other than coordination or the movements across the line of the body. They said he was also not able to problem solve - they asked him 'what do you do when you are thirsty', 'what do you do when it is dark', etc. Assuming it was him just being shy, we started asking him questions. He picked up on it immediately and always answered "I don't know". Once I asked the 'what do you do with candy', he immediately answered and finally figured out how the game worked.
With J, of course my biggest thing was his speech. They observed him for a while and through some questions, determined he was at about 14 month level for communicating (at this point he should have at least 10 recognizable words). She said it was not a concern at this point but said she would give him 2 months. If by the end of two months he does not have words, then we would probably get referred out for services. They observed that most of the sounds he makes are from the back of the throat and he is not using his lips or tongue. So, our main homework assignment is to try to force him to speak. When he is in his crib, keep repeating 'up' until he says it. So, we tried it this morning. After about 10 minutes of wailing, he finally said 'uuu'. I immediately picked him up. However, when we tried it later that morning he dug his heels in until we were on a time crunch and had to get on with the morning, so he won. They told us to expect lots of meltdowns the first couple of days! There was not anyone to assess his hearing but there will be at the end of the month appointment. Will be curious to see what kind of progress he makes between now and then.
A cool, overcast day. Expecting some mountain snow showers tonight. So glad we don't live in the mountains anymore!

The Kleenex are flying

Well, seems like the runny nose is starting with B and I heard him snoring a little last night. Not sure if it is a cold or his body starting to react to the foods we were reintroducing. It the past the perpetual runny nose and snoring were the strongest indicators for his allergies. The chiropractor has finished the general stuff for his allergies and is now starting with the specific vials. Still not sure how it is all suppose to work, but we will see. Every week we go I inquire about more success stories he is having with his laser. He said he is seeing remarkable results for those with carpal tunnel.
One thing I love (among other things) about B's age is his exploration of the English language and how it all works. He is getting really good at using verbs in the past tense. However, instead of "I jumped" it is more like "I jump-ped" - making it two syllables and stressing the -ed ending. Yesterday he was watching a Charlie Brown movie. (Which by the way I had never watched Charlie Brown from a parent standpoint, but could not believe how negative and rude everyone was to C.B. I took the teaching moment about how not to treat friends and call them stupid, insecure, etc.)Anyway, during the movie Schroeder sat down to play the piano. I said "oh, he is playing so nicely" to which B replied "no mom, he is not playing nicely, he is playing naughty"
J has now figured out how to climb on the bathroom counter and bypass stepping on the toilet paper holder. He just climbs on top of the tank and leans across. The kid is way more adventurous than his older brother. Our day in the ER is coming....
Not much on the docket for the weekend. Looks like the weather will get a little cooler but as long as no snow in the forecast, I can deal with it!

An Awesome September

As we near the end of September, I think there has been one, maybe two days this month that have not been gorgeous. Fall is becoming my favorite season. I still like spring because it signals the coming of warmer weather but fall takes it for me. Just can't seem to get enough of the beautiful weather. Today I took a nap on the bed as the sun was streaming in through the open window!
More photos enjoying the weather!

First Fish

Attached are pics/video of B catching his first fish. So begins the long standing race. B - 2, JR - 0

Oreo Cookie

I'm not sure who had more fun...J enjoying an Oreo cookie or B taking the pictures all by himself!

Boy stories

A friend asked me for a new B story. Seems like I always have something to retell regarding B and his articulation. I hear myself in him more and more. I did not think that was suppose to happen at 4 years old.
He was in his room for a quiet time and I was at the computer. I don't remember what he came out to 'talk' to me about but as he was going off, I had to cover my mouth to conceal my huge smile - he was just cracking me up. He looked at me and said "Do you think that is funny? Do you really think that is funny? Why do you think that is funny?" I finally said, "Yes I do" and then he began to smile. The last time I was updating the blog B and J were in the shower. B called me in there and I told him to hold on. He proceeded to call me a few more times but I was trying to get the pictures downloaded. Finally he appeared in the bathroom doorway and said "Mom, I have told you to come in here 3 times now and you have not come in here. Why have you not done what I asked you to? I have told you 3 times."
Today some friends were over with their kids. As everyone was getting ready to leave one mom was picking up a few last minute toys that the kids had missed. As B sat on the couch watching this, he turned to my friend and said very matter of factly "Beth, there are some over here", which was right next to where he was sitting! That got a big smile out of all of us.
J on the other hand. Time to shut the bathroom doors. He can now, standing on his tippy toes, just barely reach into the bathroom drawers and pull everything out. Funny he has not figured out how to put it all back. He also figured out how to climb on top of the bathroom counter. I asked him to show me how he did it and with a huge smile he did. The bad part is, he stands on the toilet paper holder, which I know will soon break. That will be a bad fall and he will get wedged in between the toilet and the counter. But the look of accomplishment on his face is precious. Too bad this is one stunt I have to put the kabosh on!
My healthy great niece made it into the world on Monday morning. All are well and we are awaiting pictures!
Gearing up for some more tennis and bike riding tomorrow. The days are cooling off and the snow will eventually be here!

Billings

Had a great time in Billings at the Beth Moore conference. Forgot how nice it was to get away with other women and leave the kiddos behind for a while. The verses from the weekend were Isaiah 32:1-8, but we focused on verse 8. "A noble man makes noble plans and by his noble deeds he stands." A very interesting passage that I had not every looked at in depth. It was an encouragement for us to be noble (a "willing volunteer" is the meaning of the original hebrew word)and be a benefit for others.
Some quotes from the weekend that I really liked were:
1-Until we are in the kindgom, the kingdom is within us
2-We are not left here to be good but to be good for someone (if you are still alive-God is not done with you)
3-Enjoy the simple victories
4-We can't plan our circumstances but we can plan our faithfulness
5-Not everybody is called to be a speaker, but we are all called to speak
6-Are we going to be whimps or warriors for the army of God.
I could go on. She was really great speaker, very animated, witty, authentic. She only does about 10 events a year and she does a different talk for each one. She did not even know what she was going to talk about until God showed her this verse 3 weeks ago.
The boys and dad survived without me! But of course they were so glad to have me back home.
Tomorrow is suppose to be B's last 'treatment' with the chiropractor for his allergies. I still don't understand how it works but supposedly he has been resetting the nervous system. The Chiro has had some remarkable results with some other patients using the laser treatment for other things. So, I guess in the next couple of days we will reintroduce cheese and see how it goes. The hard thing is that he has such a delayed reaction to foods that it takes a week or two before you even symptoms (mainly congestion, snoring at night, etc).
Here are some pictures taken over the weekend! The boys looked so cute. In their khakis, denim shirts and jeans.
Oh, I just got a call - within the next 2-3 hours I should be a great aunt! I am not old enough to be a great anything. Jose's 15 yr old niece recently found out she was having a little girl!

More fun

Hard to believe it is already mid week! The past 3 or 4 days we had a tent set up in the boys room and they loved it. The best part, J loved being able to get up in the morning by himself, instead of waiting for me to get him out of his crib. One morning I sent both boys downstairs to get breakfast while I stayed in bed. I had one huge mess to clean up when I finally made it downstairs.
AWANA is back on, they found a director - yeah! Looking forward to doing the books with Benjamin.
Played tennis on Monday and Wednesday. I am not sure how I will fill the afternoon time (while B is in preschool) once snow is on the ground! I sure love my time on the tennis court and the bike with J. On Monday I have invited all the preschool moms over - would like to get to know them better. I don't think there will be too many that come over but should be fun.
I am headed to Billings this weekend (Friday -Sat) for a Beth Moore conference with some women at the church. Will be nice to get away!
Not much else. Will try to post some more video soon!

Time marchs on

We are in the middle of another quiet weekend. Lots of outside time with the boys and their bikes and helmets.
The bedtime routine is working wonderfully and probably 8 out of 10 times the boys are both asleep by 8. I have actually brought the sewing machine out and am working on finishing up some long overdue projects. Oh to have time each evening to read, sew or I even watched a little bit of tv last week.
Last week I took B to see a Live Veggie Tales Show. He loves Veggie Tales and it is not often these kinds of venues come close to us. We were both so excited. The church was packed, the stage was set, there was a buzz in the room. The lights go out and B sits on the floor. We are sitting in pews and before I realized what had happened, he is laying underneath the pew in front of me. My child was scared and did not want to come out. I tried coaxing him with lollipops, no such luck. He stayed on the floor the whole first half (40 minutes). At one point I thought he had gone to sleep. Then at intermission I got him out and he loved the second half, up dancing, singing, etc. It was a really, really good show. I did not know what to expected but this far exceeded my expectations!
His AWANA has been cancelled. Seems they can't find a director for the Cubbies, so until one is found, no AWANA. Was really bummed because he enjoyed it so much. But he still has his preschool. I am hoping to invite all the moms over to the house soon to get to know them. Would love to have playdates with some non-church friends!
Off to run errands, just wanted to check in!

Man Cave and bikes

J climbed on B's bike today and low and behold, he can reach the pedals! B climbed on the big wheel we gave him when he turned 2 and was finally able to reach the pedals to comfortably ride it! J seems a lot longer, at least in the stride, than B was. Here are two pics.

Here is a video that I finally remembered to post.....

Veggies!!!!!

Weather is great

A beautiful fall day here. The high was about 65, with a slight breeze. Last night the temp dropped to about 35. The aspen trees are starting to change colors.
Loaded the boys up in the bike trailer and headed to B's preschool. Then J got some park time in and I got an hour of playing tennis! He was so good and sat on the sidelines about half the time watching us (okay, he was eating his lunch too) but we were both very impressed how much he entertained himself. J and I found a 5 mile loop on the bike that does not require lots of intersections or stop signs! Just a perfect day for outdoor exercise.
Headed to the chiropractor. He is getting some new kind of laser on Friday that he is excited to use on the boys. Can really help with the allergies for B and should be able to run some testing on J. Was talking to him about B's allergies and he said an egg allergy is most likely a deficiency in Vitamin A. So, will be interesting to see how the boys respond!
Here are three pictures from the last week!

Tennis anyone...

I am sure the tennis tournament director is glad the weekend is over. There were 180 people that signed up to play, 52 more than last year. At the college they only have 4 indoor courts and 8 outside courts (with no lights). There was a rain delay all three days of the tournament. I had a lot of fun and learned that I don't move as fast as I use to and that my timing does not come back as quickly. I lost both my singles and doubles matches but certainly made my opponents work for a lot of the points. Because of the rain delays, the consolation matches (which were suppose to take place) ended up being cancelled. So, I am ready to get geared up for another tournament in Nov. Maybe then more of my game will be falling into place. I hope to also figure out my weekly schedule and sign up for a winter league. With winter being 6 months out of the year, sure wish they had more indoor courts. Because of the high demand, courts for non-members are $30 an hour! Year memberships are $550, not too much less than a season ski pass!
The boys are doing well. I think I have deciphered another of J's words. Whenever he wants something I hear a very high pitched "mine" of sorts. Not exactly one of the first words I want him to learn.
B is excited about another day of preschool. He is really getting into the mode of having conversations while he is playing by himself. It is so funny to listen to him and the things he says. Maybe sometime this week I can listen more closely and share them.
Off to get them ready for bed!

The Fall Schedule has begun

B had a great first day of preschool and Awana. His comment over and over after preschool was "I had so much fun". It is nice because we are not real crafty at home and now he will be bringing home lots of papers, etc for his keepsake box. I hope to post some pictures soon.
After we dropped off B, J and I headed to the park. He played and I enjoyed some time in the grass. We then headed to the tennis courts, hit some balls. Just so nice not to be rushed. I sat for a while and watched J chase tennis balls. Then I went for a 30 minute bike ride. Just a beautiful fall day here!
I just checked the draw for the tennis tournament. My first doubles match is 8:30 Friday night and my first Singles match is 6pm on Saturday. Very strange schedule. I saw were some matches were starting at 10:30 Friday night. I guess they had lots more entrants than they anticipated. Just goes to show that maybe Bozeman needs a few more tennis courts in town.

Quiet Labor Day

We had a great time at our friends's house. It was nice to get away and enjoy some peace and quiet - however much peace and quiet you can have with 4 boys. They live on 20 acres and far enough away from the highway that you get no road noise. When we went to bed it was cool to see all the stars outside as we laid in bed. We don't get those views anymore
Not much happened over the weekend. I had planned on playing lots of tennis but waking up to 40 degree temps and rain did not allow for any tennis. Yes, we actually got snow in the surrounding mountains. Seems a little early, but it is September.
Tonight we head to B's school to see how classroom and teacher. Then it is off to school tomorrow. I think he is excited!
Other than that, not much going on this week. Trying to stay close to home as the gas is still high - 3.89. When it was at it's highest of 4.19, some friends from Bozeman went on a road trip. They said a town just a few hours from us had gas for 4.00. Not sure the difference but it does not seem to be dropping as fast around here.

September is almost here

Some exciting stuff going on around here! Yesterday we were at a friends house and Jacob fell off their deck (only 1 1/2 feet high). When he landed he must have bit his tongue because it bled and bled and bled. Now, if you have never experienced holding an 18 month old down and stuffing a wet rag in his mouth, you have missed out! He was so mad at me and kept biting me! After about 15 minutes it finally stopped. If I had thought they would stitch the tongue I would have taken him in. However, I had always heard that mouth injuries tend to heal quickly and I could not believe how good it looked today. Of course it has not slowed him down a bit.

Earlier in the week I went and played tennis with a new gal I met. She is just getting back into the tennis scene after years of not playing (just like me). She convinced me to play in the upcoming tournament....next weekend. So, I registered today for singles and told the tournament director if someone needed a partner I would be willing to play doubles or mixed doubles. The only thing I am a little concerned about it the level I am playing. The national website has me listed at a 4.0 because of a team tournament I played in 5 years ago. I was told rankings are good for 3 years and I could probably appeal the ranking and be moved down to a 3.5 since I have not played much in recent years. However, I kept getting kicked around the website so decided not to appeal but just to play as a 4.0. I think going to the backboard for the next week will get my strokes back but I am concerned about my conditioning. I guess I will have to run sprints all this next week to atleast warm the ol' body up to that kind of moving! I am excited though to get back into it.

Today B had his pre-school play date at the park. His teacher is a lot of fun. It appears that there are about 10-12 kids in his class and he is only 1 of 3 boys. I have also found a local church that does AWANA and am excited to get him into that. One more avenue I can use to help instill God's word into his little heart! However, it means for very busy Wednesdays. I will have Bible study from 9:30-11, B has preschool 12:15-2:45 and then Awana 3:30-5:15. I don't think I will have to worry about B sleeping that night.

We are headed over to Livingston (30 miles east) when JR gets home. Some friends recently moved over there and we are gonna get away for a night or two. JR and Mike can do some hiking and all 4 boys can play! Should be a beautiful weekend! Here is a video of the boys playing at the house!

YYIIPPEE

Two nights running. We have done our bedtime routine/schedule for 2 nights and it has worked like a charm. There has not been any fighting or coming out of the room! I pray it continues. JR and I almost don't know what to do with ourselves when the house is quiet at 8pm. Feels like I can get so much done in an hour without little feet underneath me. (Maybe the verse of the week that B and I have memorized and repeat often has helped - Phil 2:14 - Do all things without complaining or disputing!)
Also, fruits of my labor starting to peek through. The other day I went for my weekly chiropractic appt. I decided before we went in there that I was tired of the boys reeking havoc while I was getting adjusted. So, I put J on the chair and told him to stay and not get up. The chiropractor looked at me and said "Good Luck". J sat in that same spot for my whole adjustment (okay, maybe only 4 minutes, but still, pretty good for 17 months)!!!! He did not get up. Then after my adjustment it was his turn and I looked at him and told him he could get down now. It was his turn. He got off the chair, climbed up on the table face down! He has never been adjusted while laying down but I guess this was the first time he had sat still long enough to actually watch everything. The Chiropractor was quite impressed. He has a daughter a few weeks older than J and he said he must be too soft on his girl. I just told him this stay at home mom is tired of it and ready to whip everyone in to shape.
I even bought two new books today - The Five Love Languages for Children and Boundaries for Children. Can you tell I am getting my arsenal ready! Will have to let you all know how we like the books.
Thursday B has a one hour time at the park where he will meet his other classmates and his teacher. They will play a few games, sing songs and do a craft. I am looking forward to hopefully meeting some other kids (boys) for him to play with that might live in our neighborhood!

Fall is in the air

I actually woke up this morning and wanted to put an a sweatshirt. However, then I realized that we were to hit high 90s and decided against it. But it is that great time of the year where the Aspens will be turning soon and the cool crisp air.

I don't know what it is about the start of school, but seems like everytime this year I get motivated to whip things in to shape. We are starting a new bedtime schedule this week. The boys have never been on any kind of a consistent bedtime routine/schedule. It certainly cannot hurt or disrupt things.

I have found myself starting to pray a lot more for the boys. Just knowing that as they get older and are exposed to more things, how critical it is going to be for them to have that protection. Also trying to instill scripture more in them and teach them how to apply it to their daily lives. We have a great book called My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt. It has a verse for every letter of the alphabet and a story about Missy and Bill (siblings) that incorporate just how that verse can be used and applied. One of B's favorites is the verse "Even a child is known by his deeds" (Prov 20:11). (Missy and Bill don't argue with their mom in the grocery store when they want candy and chips - the store manager notices and tells them how well behaved they are - Missy and Bill tell the manager that it is because they know Jesus and try to obey Him - the store manager and his family start going to Missy and Bill's church) On more than one occasion I have used that verse and story to help remind Benjamin how people are always watching him and how his behaviors and attitudes can affect/influence other. He seems to understand it but, like all of us, forgets to apply it. I am also trying to pray outloud more to model that for them - when we hear sirens, see a car wreck, etc. we pray outloud for those involved. I am even finding, and it is pretty effective, when I get frustrated with him, if I will stop and pray outloud about my frustrations and for God to help both of us. Not only does it redirect me, but it also perks him up to 'hey, this is serious, mom is praying'. I just don't think you can overdo it/over model it to kids at this age.

One really cute thing - yesterday B was really tired and probably frustrated with me. I kept reminding him of his bad attitude and how it needed to change. He sat down in the chair and sighed. He said "I think I am just going to spend some time with God." Then he got out his picture bible book and sat for about 10 minutes looking at the pictures, etc. Those are the moments that touch my heart the most.

Not much going on this week. Pretty quite. We are just hanging low! Oh, yesterday for church we had a boot day. The whole family wore their boots. We put Wranglers and boots on J for the first time. It was hilarious watching him try to learn to walk in them. He is getting it though! Here are the pictures.

Getting smart

Today the boys and I took a bike ride. We had to stop as several stop signs so B could sound out the letters. He also was wanting to read the street signs. He is reading Exit signs too. I sure hope he picks it up quickly so that he can start reading to J. However, I anticipate it will be another 6-12 months though.
Little J cracked me up today. I often tell him no toque (no touch in Spanish) and then I often will give his hand a little hit. Well today I told him no toque and then he immediately started hitting his own hand! Too cute.
Boy, they are getting big! I am trying to be more consistent in training J than I was with B. He is learning now how to clean up toys, put clothes in laundry basket, throw things away, etc. Not that B was not taught, but somewhere along the way he stopped doing it and I started doing it. Enough of that. Today I did a major clean and once again, we will see how long we can keep things someone picked up.

A great weekend!!

What a busy weekend it was. The boys had a great time at their 24 hour playdate/sleepover! Mom and dad had an equally good time. We hiked 11 miles round trip to a nearby lake. Spent most of the day out there. (I have realized that I am in dire need of some more hiking boots. I guess after 9 years, it is time to get a new pair. How many miles have they hiked?? Into the triple digits for sure!!!) The weather was beautiful and the lake will be a perfect spot for an overnight. There were tons of fish rising, although J did not have his pole.
On Sunday it was more softball for me! We are now 0-3! We really have a decent team. At least we are getting beaten, versus beating ourselves!
J went on a 20 mile bike ride. We have decided our next date we will load up the backpacks and set off on our bikes and see how far we can go in an afternoon. Let's just hope the mountain snows hold off for a few more months.
Here are some recent pictures!