Friday, since we were going to be home most of the day, I decided to be a little more intentional with potty training JB. I never used a particular technique with the other two boys. I decided with JB to giving him unlimited Crystal Light to drink while I set my timer every 15 minutes to take him to the bathroom. I put regular underwear on him. I poured him a big ol' cup and he drank away. The timer went off at 15 minutes. I turned to him to tell him time to go to the bathroom and there he was peeing. I was late. So next time around I set my timer for 15 minutes. It went off and I was late again. The next time I set it for 10 minutes - yep, I was late again. Just about every time my timer went off, he had just gone to the bathroom. I never got him to the bathroom before he had to go. It got to where he would come up to me as soon as his underwear was wet and he would just smile. I would ask him if he had gone to the bathroom and he would kind of laugh and shake his head. I told him it was not funny and we needed to make it to the bathroom. Every time, even though he was wet, he still went into the bathroom to sit. Surely he is making some kind of connection. Guess I will be hand washing underwear every night!

B is at the stage now where if he says something at the same time you do, he will say "Jinx, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...you owe me a coke." He also loves to say "hey mom, were you under there?" to which I am suppose to say "under where", to which they crack up laughing and say "you said underwear!" You forget all those silly little phrases.

Saturday was the Pinewood Derby. The boys are divided up in their rank (grade level). They race in their rank. They run 4 heats and each heat is in a different lane. Then they take the top 5 in each rank and they compete in the Pack championship. Benjamin won his first heat and set a track record (for the day) of 4.06 seconds (which calculates out to about 270 mph). He won his second heat and he won his third heat. Most of them were at least a car length win. Then the fourth heat, he won but when we looked at the computerized score board, he was in 3rd place. I told one of the 'officials' that there was a lane mix-up. They looked at it but then I guess decided it was too late to do anything about it. I knew I was not seeing things because 5 or 6 other parents saw it too. My competitive nature wanted to tell them it was not fair and he would have been 4 for 4. But I decided what did it matter. I figured he would still finish first or second in his rank. He finished fifth. I was glad for fifth because he just made the cut off for the championships. (But it showed how that one heat where he was 'third' cost him dearly.) Sure enough the championships started and he won the first heat, the second heat, the third heat and the fourth heat. He was 4 for 4. When they finally announced the winner, he ended up 3 over all, out of 67 scouts. He was so excited and got a nice size trophy. I think they realized their mistake when they had a kid that got 5th in rank but 3rd overall. B never knew what had happened so it really did not make a difference. Here is a picture of him with his trophy.

This week I have been waking up way before my alarm (around 4 or 4:15....) so no excuse when my alarm finally goes off at 4:45. I have been at the gym every morning and still had time to come back home, spend some time reading and praying, getting lunches ready for B and JR, cooking breakfast, cleaning the kitchen, taking a shower and getting ready for my day, all by 8am. Amazing how productive I can be when I set my mind to it.

We were in the car today and Jbird recited his Awana verse out of the blue. "God came into this world to save sinners." Taking a chance to expand on that, the following conversation ensued.
Me: Are you a sinner J?
Jbird: Yes
Me: Is mom a sinner?
Jbird: Yes
Me: Is our pastor a sinner?
Jbird: Yes
Me: Is President Obama a sinner?
Jbird: No, presidents are NOT sinners!!
Me: Oh, yes they are, anyone living and breathing is a sinner, so I guess Jesus died for us all!

Went to the grocery store today and walked out with $30 worth of groceries. The best part, the unhealthiest thing in our cart was yogurt. I told the boys we have never had so much fruit (and few veggies) in our cart. I bought a Magic Bullet today. Just could not bring myself to buy a Vita-Mix, especially when I realized it was too tall to fit under our kitchen cabinets. We have used it a couple of times already and really like it. Something the boys could use to create their own smoothies.

B had his follow up ortho appt today. Still in the waiting game on the palate expander. Seems his 6 year molars are very slow in coming in.

Gas is still holding at 2.99 a gallon. Sure wish it would stay that way, would make a road trip more possible this summer.

Here is the only decent picture I have gotten of the boys recently.

One of the perks of JR's job is food. When homeowners leave, he will often be given the perishable items. That often means food that I would not buy. The boys have discovered how good a Velveeta grilled cheese is. They may never go back to sliced cheese.

I think I have finally gotten a meal plan together. I have a weekly menu and have included dessert every night. So far so good. Since the boys can anticipate dessert every night, they are not asking for sweet stuff throughout the day. I am also amazed at how the food seems to stretch further. I am trying 1-2 new recipes a week. My goal is to come up with a 4-5 week rotating menu. We had chicken enchiladas tonight and gasp - B ate them, even though they had chicken. The boys just raved about how good they were...must have been the homemade tortillas. However good Jbird thought they were, he chose not to finish his. So I told him if he wanted dessert he would have to have 2 bowls of salad. Guess what, he ate 2 bowls!

I have hit my gym goal for the 3rd week. This week I am shooting for 11.5 miles for the week. Hitting that number is not the issue, more the issue of finding the time to get to the gym to hit that number.

This weekend is Pinewood Derby. B's car is in the final stages. His den leader is putting the wheels on. I guess there is a fine science that he has figured out. We will see how B does this year!

JB continues to make small steps forward. I am working on him stringing 2-3 words together. Mom - up - please, is probably all we have gotten but it is forward progress.

Not much else comes to mind right now! Will try to post a picture of all three boys in the next couple of days!

It is a good thing that I am not trying to be a blogger for a living. Seems I am so inconsistent from week to week. Some days I just live life and other days I am more intentional of taking pictures and remembering what the boys were up to.

Last Friday for my birthday we went out for donuts for breakfast. The boys had gotten up and gotten dressed, while I was at bible study. I heard JR make a comment about B's pants being short, but just figured it was because all my boys are outgrowing their clothes. It was not until we got to the donut shop that I actually looked at B for the first time. He was wearing J's pants. I had put the clothes away on the wrong shelf and it did not even occur to B that they were not his pants. He insisted he did not want to go home and change before school, so he set out once again with his younger brother's pants on.

Definite high waters!

It has turned winter again. A little bit of snow but temps down in the single digits with fierce winds. Always reminds me of the time I spent in North Dakota. I was just telling someone last night about the blizzard I got stuck in while travelling. It was 1am, we were in the middle of nowhere. The wind chill was 100 below and I crawled out of the car three times to go to the bathroom. Fortunately we happened to have a cell phone (it was 1997). A snow plow came out around 11am and we drove to a hole in the wall bed and breakfast where we had to stay 3 days because the whole state was shut down. Sure taught me a lesson in being prepared.

B continues to excel with his reading. So fun now to give him different books, devotionals and have him be able to read! He is loving his magazines too! Jbird has been exhausted lately, not sure why. He is getting 12 hours of sleep but seems that most days he just does not function well. JB just cracks me up with his facial expressions. Amazing what the eyes can communicate when words are not plentiful. I can only imagine what he will be like in 20 years - very, very expressive.

I have set upon a new goal. I enjoy going to the gym but seems that with an inconsistent schedule of when I can get there, I struggled with making any goals. I have decided to set a weekly goal and increase it 1/2 a mile each week. Most of the miles are logged on the treadmill, but some times I hop on the bike or elliptical. This week I am shooting for 11 miles, so very much doable and I am not hemmed in to trying to go on certain days, etc.

Not much else going on, or at least not that I remember.....

Just a quick picture. This is the newest way to clean up, not the most efficient, but what ever gets the job done. (I guess the hat has to be just so because he kept adjusting it.)

My computer was down again. When my friend cleaned it up last time, I was not able to get it connected to the internet. He was out of town and I could not reach him. Not knowing what to do, I called Dell and they talked me through some stuff. Never found any answers so the Dell tech had me restore my computer to a day before it was worked on. Therefore, everything my friend had done got undone. Turns out my friend had changed my IP address and forgot to change it back. So, he graciously worked on it another time and it is running great. I have actually enjoyed being unplugged. I get so much more done!!!

I walked into the boys bathroom the other day and found toothpaste on the shower curtain. I know the boys have a habit, when they brush their teeth and don't see a towel, they will wipe their mouth on the shower curtain. I assumed this to be the case. I turned to one in particular little 4 year old and asked him why he wiped his mouth on the shower curtain, again. He quickly told me he did not wipe his mouth, he wiped his toothbrush! Why....who knows why. It is so much easier to wash a towel than to take down a shower curtain. Doesn't he know this.

Recently I got JR to show me how to use his saws in the garage. I have had a project I wanted done for so long that I decided I should just learn myself. He showed me everything but then quickly offered to do the project for me. Maybe when it warms up I can get some more hands on experience and become a 'builder' of things. I had him make some game board art. I saw this on a blog (infarrantlycreative.blogspot.com)and loved the idea. A special frame for board games that allow the pieces to be stored behind the 'picture'. Now, no more broken board boxes and frees up room in my game 'closet'. 7 of my games are hanging up the stairwell. Hopefully it will encourage us to play more games since they are visible too.

Some friends recently bought an Xbox so we bought some of their Wii games. The boys have had a ball with Just Dance 2. Jbird is not too sure what to think of it yet, but B and little JB now how to shake things up. We also got Zumba. I put it on yesterday and I am not sure who got a better workout. JB or me. He was just cracking himself up, running in circles. I forget how kids at that age try to mimic your every move! He even attempted push-ups the other day with me. He had pretty good form!

With the unseasonably warm weather, have gotten into some spring cleaning! I recently attended a Gold Party. Did not really think I had much gold, but found several pieces that either had a broken clasp, missing a matched earring, or stuff I just never wore. Several pieces I thought for sure were dollar store finds, only to realize they were gold. I walked away with over $350. Makes me want to go out once a month and hit the second hand stores! Now trying to think of something special I would want. The two things I am leaning towards, a Vitamix blender or a (new to me - ie used) fridge. Tired of all the food getting lost. Would love more room on the doors and everything eye level, with freezer on the bottom.

The rest of the week should be pretty quiet and slow. Few things planned this weekend...wish one of them was sledding with the boys, if the snow will ever fall.

A quiet week here. We have struggled with bedtime for a while here. Particularly B. He will get in bed but it takes him 1-3 hours to fall asleep. I know by the daytime behaviors that my boys were tired. So, a friend tipped me off to melatonin. I checked with our pediatrician and she said go for it. So, I have been giving it to the boys. (I originally got it for B, but Jbird and JB saw him get some and they wanted some - figured why not try it. I do quarter JB's tablet, so he is getting less than 1 mg.) It has worked like a charm. Within an hour everyone is fast asleep. I was worried that they would be waking up early, but they are not. They are getting close to 12 hours every night. I think B actually enjoys it because he knows he does not struggle with going to sleep and it helps to calm it. One of the best things, my evenings are very long and productive. Most days I don't even turn on the computer until they are in bed, because I know I will have a quiet evening. I have also been able to get back to the gym in the evenings, knowing bedtime is not drawn out!

With JB's diagnosis of apraxia, we kept getting asked by the medical professionals if an MRI had ever been done. So, we decided to go ahead and do one, not expecting anything to show up but wanting to answer that question. My precious little 2 year old climbed up on that hospital bed at 7:30 am. He sat there very quietly while they did the blood pressure, listen to his lungs and heart and while they put the numbing cream on his 'future' IV sites. Then he sat back and curled up under a blanket and watched some TV. Once the radiology tech came in, they decided they might try the MRI without sedation, since he was so calm. I told them best if I stayed behind so he would not look to me to 'rescue' him. They carried him out and I prayed and prayed for a calm for him. About 30 minutes later, they brought him in and said he did stellar and he had no IV or sedation. I think a first for them to see a 2 year old so still. He even fell asleep once he was inside the machine. Such a trooper!! The results came back negative or positive (how ever you look at it). It did show a sinus infection though so I guess there is a small chance that it could have had a small affect on how he hears sounds. I don't know how long sinus infections can hang around, but he is on antibiotics to see if we can clear it up.

Yesterday at speech/occupational therapy, the OT said that she thinks what she was seeing as a weakness might be more of a motor planning issue. So, not only is there verbal apraxia, but motor apraxia (or whatever it is called). She has given me some things to work with him at home. Just over the last 5 days or so, we are getting more sound combinations. Not words but like what you would hear a baby as they babble new sounds. The words he has though are still very consistent!

We have been in the mid 50s most of this week. Absolutely unheard of. We have no snow on the ground (other than shady spots). The boys have not been able to try out their new sled. I must say I don't mind the lack of cold and snow but it could possibly make for a very, very dry summer!

On Friday I took my computer over to a friend's house so he could clean it up. I got it back Sunday afternoon and my internet did not work. Finally got it working today. Here is one picture before I head to bed. I took the Christmas tree down on the 30th. The boys saw the mess the pine needles made, so they eagerly wanted to help. Their most favorite part was spraying and wiping down the floor. Here is a picture of JB. Notice the gloves and cowboy boots. This is what he wanted to wear to clean the floor.



I love my boys and their individuality.