My dad called the other day around dinner time. He jokingly asked what was for dinner. My response "one is eating pizza, one taco, one lasagna, one pulled pork and I am having chocolate milk." That was the truth. Fortunately it was one of those leftover nights instead of me cooking up 5 different meals!

I heard today from another neighborhood mom that a 1st grade girl from our neighborhood snatched one of her mom's cigarettes to go try smoking. One of B's 2nd grade friends happened to have tagged along and was going to try it, before they were busted by a 13 year old neighbor boy. I made very sure to convey to B my thoughts on the situation. He is quickly learning what guilty by association means. Mom will not tolerate stuff like that. I have told him numerous times that I have eyes and ears all over the neighborhood and that we moms talk. Conversations again about how we need to honor God with the things we do. Just seems so backwards, and I know it is, from when I was young. Since when do you have to worry about that kind of stuff in 2nd grade. So I was very thankful when two of the school boys ended up at our house recently on early release. I would rather have 15 boys at our house than my one boy out. More reasons to always pray God's protection.

Speaking of protection....we were running late today for something and I was a little annoyed. Only to realize that we missed seeing a man get hit and killed by a train by a mere 30-60 seconds. So thankful, with the boys in the car that we did not have to witness that.

Recently JB had a terrible night. He woke up probably 8 times, not screaming, but using his 'uh' voice loudly and calling my name. Not sure if he was dreaming but every time it took him a few seconds to settle down. After I would sit with him he would start saying 'off' but when I would start to unzip his footed pajamas, he would say 'uh uh'. I have also noticed this past week that he is asking me to take his shirts off more. Sometimes he will let me put one on him and sometimes he won't. Not sure what that is all about. We are looking into the possibility of him going to a daycare a few hours a week. The therapist and our 'family advocate' both think it could be really good and maybe helpful if he had more interaction with other kids. Not sure if it will pan out but at this point, I am open to all suggestions to get words coming. He can often imitate (approximate) sounds but usually can not recall them on his own. I have also had several people recently tell me that like 80% of kids who are in speech therapy also do occupational therapy. I have also heard mixed reviews on testing kids for OT before 3 because so many issues don't develop until closer to 3. The speech therapist and I have also had the hearing talk again. I know he can hear but could there be certain frequencies or tones he is missing? Who knows and still too young to accurately test. He is just very much below where he needs to be and we are getting a little more aggressive in trying to sort through it. I think the therapist thought after a year of speech that he would be further along, as did I.

Went to our local fall festival over the weekend. The cub scouts were in the parade, handing out candy. Here are a few pictures.







Here is a picture of JBird and his school teacher. (He has made it very clear to me that he does not like the word pre-school.


Our ladies retreat is this weekend, so looking forward to getting away. It might be one of our last nice weekends, as I hear there could possibly be some mountain snow in the next 10 days or so.

Either I can't seem to find much to write about, or the days fly by too quickly for me and before I know it, it has been almost a week.

Just living life and keeping up with the boys. Today we headed to the football field at the school. Jbird is getting into his football. All the boys, JB included, ran up and down the field, throwing, kicking and punting. Might just have a football player on my hands, although I certainly don't think he would be one of the big players - maybe special teams.

Have not played much tennis this past week. Was having what appeared to be a hip issue but according to chiropractor, seems to be a hamstring thing. Some stretching has helped tremendously.

Jbird loves preschool. He is so excited because Wed is early release which means big brother B can go with us to pick him up and B will be able to see Ms. Tina - who was his teacher too. I ordered a book online that I have heard a lot about. Something along the lines of How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 lessons. Jbird is showing some interest in learning. We will see how it goes.

JB is starting to show a little interest in potty training. How nice that will be when we don't have, not only the diaper expense, but the hauling around a diaper bag thing. When we can just leave the house with nothing but snacks and water. Speech therapy is still really slow for him. Not sure what the issues are but they are starting to create frustrations. He is so adamant on wanting something but I don't know what he is saying. The other day we were at B's soccer game. He would look at me and say "up". I would pick him up and then he would start crying and screaming and say "up" and pointing to the sky. After about 15 minutes of me looking at him and saying "I don't know what you want", another mom came over with her umbrella. She said he kept looking up at all the umbrellas (it was about 90 degrees) and pointing. Sure enough, he wanted an umbrella. Another time it took about 10 minutes of him screaming and crying in the car for me to figure out his 'sign' for music. He is also starting to display some of the oral stimulation issues that Jbird has/had. I don't know the number of times I will find JB chewing on something. When he spits it out, it is a wheel off of a hot wheel, a small lego or other odd toy. Gonna hopefully get him some 'toys' ordered that will help with that and give him some appropriate things to chew on.

The Women's Retreat for our church is this weekend. Looking forward to a night away. Then 2 weeks later is the Fun Run at the school that I am coordinating. It is coming together nicely, now all that is left is getting all the information out to parents and teachers and then lining up all the volunteers for the day of the run. Will be glad when that is over and I won't have to think about it!

Will try to be better about posting more often, but no promises!

This past week I decided to do some more cleaning/clearing out. I had about 10 years worth of old bills. I had recently gotten rid of our paper shredder because we never used it and figured if it was anything real important we could throw it in the fire pit. Well, not such a great idea when you throw piles of paper in the fire pit and try to burn them. I thought I did a pretty good job of layering them so they would easily burn. NOT. After about 20 minutes things were really smoldering and I got concerned someone would send the fire department out on a scavenger hunt. (Our backyard backs up to a huge field, so the smoke was only visible coming over the top of the house). I doused the thing with water and intended to go back out later and clean up. Well, later did not happen. A huge wind came up. I still had lots of un-burned papers stacked in the backyard. B comes into the kitchen and said there were papers flying all over our yard. Sure enough, all my bank statements, credit card bills etc from early 2000 were all over the place. As we scurried about, I found 2 twenties and a ten in all the mess. Neighbors on both sides of me have returned things they found in their yard. I just hope it did not make it any further. I don't think so, at least not as far as the eye could see.

B has become quite handy in the kitchen. The other night he fixed himself a breakfast burrito. He cracked and cooked the eggs, heated up the hot dogs and got everything rolled into a tortilla. Maybe they will be capable of cooking me a hot breakfast before too long. I have started keeping the bar stools on the kitchen counter. Seems little JB is getting into the habit of helping himself to whatever he can find in the cabinet when I am not in the kitchen.

The boys have been in to painting this week. We are finding all kinds of scrap wood that they have re-purposed in fun colors and then turned them into ramps for all of their cars. Just today Jbird learned that he can lay a piece of wood across the two couches and make a bridge. JB does really well balancing on it. The boys have also been into sliding down the stairs on their stomachs, head first. They also figured out quickly what a rug burn was.

Cub scouts started back up for B. His den leader is a husband/wife team that have older boys (not one in the den). They are super organized and wanting to hit the ground running. Will be nice this year to have a gung ho leader that wants to accomplish alot, although it will be lots of time and energy on our part! Last year our leaders were new to scouts and both very busy so we seemed to skate by with the minimum.

Gearing up for a beautiful weekend. I will work about 8 hours on Saturday and teach Sunday school and have a soccer game on Sunday. Maybe get in some more tennis!

The youngest one has found a new purpose for my metal mixing bowls.....



Few pictures from our recent BMX track outing.....




A recent painting project for me....


Jbird woke up early Saturday morning throwing up. I ended up sleeping on the floor with him. Thankfully, it once again, was something that did not stick around. Not that I want it to, but we have never had a stomach bug work it's way through our house. Anytime the kids have been sick, it has always been very isolated!!!

B had his second soccer game today. It was pitiful. I think we lost 8-0. I think the boys got it past middle field maybe 3 times. The boys had fun though. Hopefully the next time we play this team, we will have it a little more together.

JB had his follow up appt with the ENT. The ear tubes still look great and we are hoping they take us through the winter before they fall out. At this point, he should be old enough not to cause more problems with ear aches. Remembering how much the tubes helped his speech the first time, better watch for regression though when they do come out.

I hit the tennis court 4 times this past week! Woo hoo. Slowly things are coming back. I think I will be in my full swing about the time the snow flies and I will have to hang up the racket for about 6 months. For the first time ever, I had a blister on the palm of my hand from my grip. Waiting for the callous to form so it no longer bothers me.

Enjoying the fall weather that is quickly approaching! Nothing but our regularly scheduled programs this week (Awana, soccer, cub scouts and speech therapy). So thankful every thing is close. Most times, I can go almost 3 weeks on a tank of gas.

Just a quick update of things happening around here...not much, but something!

I have handed the crib off to a friend, so for the first time in 7 years, no crib in this house. Slowly getting rid of all things 'baby' as the boys get older. Jbird has learned how to tie his shoes and he can tell right from left. He is such an eager learner. All of the boys get so excited when they realize things have changed in regard to their height. Today Jbird sat in the back of the van and was able to reach up, while buckled, and grab something from my hand while I reached back from the driver's seat.

I think the older two boys have each grown about 2 inches in the last 4 months. Jbird put on jeans for the first time recently and he looked so long. All summer he has worn gym shorts that come past his knees (what he prefers)and seeing him is jeans was weird. JB did not know what to think of jeans. When he put some on, he looked down as if to say "where are my legs".

JB has hit the 10 word mark!!! Yeah. He has "mom, dad, up, open, uh-oh, uh-uh (his 'no'), off and can't remember the other two right now. His motto continues to be slow and steady wins the race. Baby steps!

The boys have been out of bikes more. Loving the BMX track. I think next summer if they continue, we should look at getting some more helmets. I have been hitting the tennis court again. Jbird has taken to tennis so bought him a racket today. Would be really fun if he picked up the sport. JB loves to chase the ball around.

B is in full swing with soccer and enjoying it. Cub Scouts officially starts up tonight. He is becoming quite the proficient reader. Sure is fun to listen to him!

JR is busy working. His responsibilities are going to change the end of this month. He is looking forward to doing more property management for vacation homes instead of the huge multi unit complexes he has been doing. A promotion of sorts for him! He has been out hunting a few times but the elk are not quite in the rut and answering his 'calls'.

Another week has left us. Not sure where the week went, since it was not particularly a busy week for us. Jbird started preschool on Wednesday. He was so cute, as he got up and asked lots of questions. (Where will we have snack? What will we have for snack? What room will we play in?.....) He just beamed anytime I mentioned preschool. When I went to pick him up, he was all smiles and told me all about the day.

B's first soccer game is this weekend. I taught the first story time at AWANA Sparks this week and loved it. It is 10 - 15 minutes and there were about 30 kids there. We were talking about sin and how it use to be an old archery term that meant 'to miss the mark'. I was telling the kids about how I mess up and sin everyday and they could always ask B if they did not believe me. Well, as soon as I finished talking B came up to me and told me I needed to make an announcement to everyone that if they wanted to know how bad I mess up to just come talk to him and he would tell them. That's my kid for you.

After soccer practice today the kids were playing on the playground. I had one of those moments where JB could not be found. 2 other moms and myself canvassed the playground and realized he was not within the fence. We all ran out different gates. (All I could do was silently pray that God knew exactly at that moment where he was.) He was found within about 1 minute. He had wandered off to a dirt pile that he had played on the prior week. It really surprised me because he is not the type to wander off without making some type of contact with me. He usually likes to be right in the middle of it.
Then a few minutes later they were all playing tag (about 8-10 kids) and I heard a faint cry. I looked up to see JB face down in the dirt at the bottom of the slide and there were about 4 kids all jumbled up on the slide. He was laying right under the slide and as each child stepped off the slide they did not see him so stepped right on the back of his head. He would raise his head again and then get pushed back down. I just screamed at the top of my lungs to stop. He thankfully appears okay, had a little bloody nose and a mouth full of dirt. I could hear him chewing on the rocks. It was a great teaching opportunity for another mother and myself. Stressing how important it is to watch out for the little ones. None of them realize what was going on in all of their haste. It reminded me again of all the times I pray for a hedge of protection for my boys. Just never know in that split second when something will happen or something terrible will be avoided.

Another quiet weekend ahead. Dinner and a movie with some friends, a soccer game and hopefully some tennis!

Fall is creeping in. The mornings have been really chilly. Probably one of my highlights from the last half of the week had to do with the cold. We had slept with the windows open and when we woke up, it was 43 degrees. Got B off to school and later that morning JB took a nap. I was still chilled so Jbird and I shared some hot chocolate in our 'cheers cups' (wine glasses that never get used, so Jbird has taken a fancy to using them). Had so much fun hanging with my little guy, just sitting on the floor sipping our drinks.

The other day the boys were riding their bikes. All of a sudden I heard B crying. I looked down the street and he was face first, flat on the ground in the middle of the street and not moving. I ran down there. He was stuck. He had gotten on his bike without tying his shoes. He shoelace had tightly wrapped around the peddle. I guess he stuck his foot out to catch himself, except that he could not get his foot off the pedal. The shoelace had pulled so tightly I could not get his shoe off. I really did feel for him because he was at such an awkward angle, but also had to bite my lip so that I would not laugh at the situation. It took us about 5 minutes to untangle him. I have, and will continue to, mention this experience in the event they hopefully learned a lesson. I was thankful that it had not happened while he had ridden around the block, because he would have been at the mercy of anyone who could hear him cry or a car that drove by.

This morning we drove about an hour away to a mining town. Played at a couple of different parks, went to a lookout for the mine and strolled the business district. We walked into an antique store and after looking around a while, B said, 'this is just junk.' I told him we were in an antique store and antiques were old things. He was looking at some china and I told him "for example that could have been dishes that Granny ate on." He said wow, so some of this stuff could be from 1974". I had to chuckle. He has no concept yet of years. Speaking of, the other day JB was in the bathroom taking care of business. (He loves to just sit in there and talk, to no one in particular.) He was carrying on a conversation with himself and I heard him say "well, yeah, my mom is 61 and my dad is 62" He repeated this emphatically several times. I can only imagine who he was pretending to talk to.

Here's a few picture from the day.....(can't get pictures to load, will try next time)

This evening I took the older two to a production of the Shakespeare play "The Merchant of Venice". It was held outside in a nearby park. A great play, although I remembered why I struggled with Shakespeare. Have such a hard time with the language. I got the general gist of the play but will have to find some online cliff notes to fill in the missing pieces. It was a gorgeous evening. The play was just over 2 hours, without an intermission. The boys did awesome but we were really chilled by the time it was over. I don't know that B caught much of what the play was about but he sure got a few laughs at the characters.

Not one plan for the rest of the weekend. JR is hunting. Suppose to be beautiful, will get in lots of bike riding.