Had our first snowfall of the season yesterday. (A few weeks early in my opinion). The boys had a great time getting out in the back yard.


Jbird has gotten into the card game Slap Jack. As he was waiting for me to play, he started 'shuffling' the cards. Had to laugh because all he was doing was running his hand down one end of the cards to make the shuffling sound. Then he would flip the deck over and do the other end and declare them all shuffled.
When he is mad now, his favorite thing to say is "I am not going to play with you any more Mom." Thankfully he forgets that 2 minutes later.
We got a huge box of Jalepeno peanuts in the mail from my dad. The kind in the shell. Jbird just loves them. I love eating the shell along with the peanut, but these are way too hot for me, but Jbird just eats them hand over fist. The other day JB was napping and Jbird and I just laid on the bed and talked. He was telling me all the sports he was going to play when he turned 5 and was old enough. I am seriously considering getting him a free standing basketball goal for Christmas. I am amazed at how many baskets he makes on a 6 foot hoop. He is the kid that would stand out there in the cold and shoot and shoot and shoot.

I had a huge victory with my eldest son. He finally tried my most favorite comfort food of all times and then asked for seconds. It was chicken fried steak with gravy!! I can't believe the foods my kids miss out on just because they won't even try a bite. I
B has tried out for the 2nd grade Christmas program. I believe they will all be singing but he tried out on Friday for the Director position for the 'play' part of it. A position that would suit him VERY well I think.
Teacher conferences are this next week. Report cards came home on Friday. Just laugh at some of the same comments from last year.

Last night JB was just chattering away while sitting in my lap. Did not have any words just stringing sounds together. The frustrating part, I was trying to watch some TV and found myself telling him to be quiet. What was I thinking. Tomorrow we will have a pow wow with his therapist and see what she thinks of the 'diagnosis' and their recommendations. The one thing in researching Dysarthria further, is it seems a huge component is slurred or slow speech, of which he does not really have. He very well could have a few components of dysarthria and apraxia, the other 'diagnosis' that his therapist has thrown out before.

I am embarrassed to say it, but we hit a milestone this week. For the first time in probably 5 years, the boys and I have been having family dinners. See, JR gets home to late for the boys to eat. So, normally the boys sit at the island and I stand in the kitchen. I seem to always be getting them this or that, so I always figured what was the point in sitting down. Well, things changed this past week. I decided we needed the structure, needed to work on some 'table' manners and the boys needed some chores. It has gone well. At the end of dinner, I ask them a bible question and if they get it right, they get a piece of their Halloween candy. I am also being intentional about asking specific questions about the day. How easily it is to spend a day with my boys but not really connect with them. They seem to be enjoying it too.

I mentioned chores. We officially have chores now. I have tried chores, chore charts etc but to no avail, mainly because of my inconsistencies. However, I went to the bank and made sure I had all the coins and dollars I needed for 2 months. Since B is 7 he gets $7 a month or $1.20 a week and Jbird gets $4 a month or $1 a week. They have been doing really well about staying on top of their chores. The boys switch chores every week. Some of them are daily and some are twice a week. I of course have had to spend some time with them showing them how to do it, but when they switch, each boy with train the other in how to do the chore. They also each have parts of the house that they are responsible for. They don't necessarily have to clean that area, but have to make sure whoever made the mess cleans it or they themselves end up doing it. Finally pushing some of the burden on them. In the long run it will be great for me and them, it is just hard getting it going and knowing how long it is taking. I am determined though not to step in and do it for them. Today is the first pay day. They have containers where they put some money in to spend, save and give away.