I am not sure how it has happened, but I have a worm lovin' boy.  Jbird gets so excited when he can dig in the yard and find worms.  We have a worm bin going.  Given all the fishing up here, I think there could be some money made in selling worms.  The overhead has to be next to nothing (just buying styrofoam containers), since dirt is free and worms create worms.  I was trying again to convince Jbird that he should try to sell worms and he finally looked at me and told me he would rather sell lemonade.  He was on the lemonade kick because big brother B had mentioned it. We just might have a lemonade stand this summer.  Now that B knows how to count money, could be really good for him.  I can only imagine how long they would sit outside at a table selling something.  But if I can build an entrepreneurial spirit in them young, why not.

I have been reading in the evenings with the boys.  A friend let us borrow some books from a Christian Heroes: Then and Now series.  We are currently reading about Nate Saint, who died in 1956 while trying to reach a savage Indian tribe with the Gospel.  Such amazing books to see the hand of God playing out in the lives of others.  The younger two are not really into them, but B sure can't get enough.  Also opens up great conversations about how God works in our lives and His plan for our lives!

This past Friday B's 2nd grade class had a sleepover in the classroom.  They had a great time.  Two parents helped chaperone.  From what I heard, the best part was a flashlight dance party.  I was at the school today because the B got to celebrate his birthday in the classroom.  His birthday is not until late June, but he had the option of celebrating early.  I took root beer floats up there.  The birthday person gets to sit in a special chair all day long.  Then just before we had root beer float they circled up around him and sang happy birthday and one other song.  I was so tempted to break through the circle and give him a kiss on the cheek - just to watch him blush.  I decided against it...

I love seeing how excited the boys get about them growing up.  We have a spot on a wall upstairs that shows their growth progress.  Periodically one of the boys will walk up to it and have me measure them.  They get so proud to see how tall they have gotten.  J can reach up touch my shoulders without standing on his toes.  B can now reach the temperature dial on the stove.  (Speaking of stove, today we walked into the house and the oven timer was going off.  I had set it to remind me to change the laundry when we got back home.  JB heard the buzzer going off and became very concerned.  He then went to grab a wooden spoon.  I was a little puzzled until I realized he had seen one of his brothers use the handle of a long spoon to turn the timer off.  Like big brother, like little brother!)

Off to curl up in bed with a book!

I am glad I was not the optimist and was hoping for nice camping weather this weekend. It was overcast, rainy, cold and tried to snow several times! So, we moved the camping inside. We started by roasting marshmallows over candles.

Then we set up a tent in the living room. B tried it all by himself.

Of course he needed some help from JB.

It proved too much with the small space, so mom stepped in. Then they kicked back and watched a movie from the tent.

I find it interesting how they all managed to switch places within the 5 minutes the pictures were taken.

I got it wrong last post. B moved from being a Cub Scout Wolf to Bear. This year he will learn how to handle a pocket knife and once he gets his Whittling Card, he can officially carry a pocket knife when he is wearing his uniform. He will also, next summer be able to start participating in overnight regional cub scout camps! JR has picked up some side jobs. One of which was clearing and hauling out stuff from a foreclosure unit. One of the nice things about this is that he scored a lot of barn wood (great from woodworking projects) and tile. We are hoping to use the tile in our upstairs bathrooms, since the pergo/woof floors are starting to buckle. Seems like it does not matter how hard we try to keep water off the floor during showers, it just does not work. Because of this 'loot', our garage was getting full. So he has been working this weekend on rearranging things. Jbird jumped at the opportunity to work along side his dad. He learned how to use the drill and made several airplanes. One for JB and one for me.

Off to Burger King to let the stir crazy kids burn some energy inside where it is warm.

Last night was the Cub Scout graduation. The tradition has become that the Cub Scouts have a cake contest....with the idea that they cook and decorate the cake by themselves. B came up with the idea and pretty much pulled this off by himself.

I was quite impressed with some of the other cakes!

This one obviously was not done by just a 7 year old....it took him and mom 2 days to pull this off!

Here is one last picture of our Bear before he crosses over to Wolf. Starting year 3!!!

OCongrats my precious B!

This past Tuesday was Jbird's preschool graduation. He looked so sharp and I was so glad we did not have a 'fight' over what he wanted to wear. He dressed himself.

Then the next day was the last day of preschool.  They had a fun day but because of the weather, it was moved inside.  They ran an obstacle course that concluded with jumping on the mini tramp.  One of the parents commented on how fast he was....the kid cruises.

Then we quickly moved outside to shoot/blow bubbles and watch a 'volcano' explode!

Looking forward to seeing what great things God has in store for this little guy! He is so excited for the fall and going to school like his big brother B.

Yesterday JB's therapist said she will start introducing some new words.  He has mastered the consonant, vowel, consonant words that begin and end with a closed mouth (mom, bop, etc).  He is responding very well to the cuing technique.

The other day he wanted his animals to have a snack.  So he sat them at the table and I heard him saying 'one, two, one, two, one, two'.  A while ago I was counting with him and after I said four I stopped and he said 'five'.  I love listening to him try to sing along to Old MacDonald Had a Farm.  He is producing the names of his brothers' friends consistently now.

Here is a picture of him with his animals at the table.

Was hoping to try to go camping this holiday weekend, but looks like rain and cool all weekend.  We did not camp at all last year, so really looking forward to getting out.  With the boys getting older, it can only get easier and easier.  I love being at a place to sit back and watch them interact and use their little minds.

Here is a picture of the bountiful basket I picked up last weekend.  It had lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, avocados, potatoes, bananas, apples, mangos, blackberries, pineapple, honeydew and apricots.  Definitely way more food than I could have bought at the store for 15 dollars.  There are in about 15-20 states - check it out on bountifulbaskets.org.  (They are in Texas).  I will probably order every other week or so.  Everything has been really good.  I finally got B to try fresh pineapple (they eat canned) and he loves it.  Ended up giving away some of the tomatoes and the lettuce was somewhat wilted when we got it so it did not last, but most everything else has been eaten.  We even ate the 8 pounds of strawberries that I got as an add on.

B had a soccer game today and he tore it up.  Scored 3 goals!!!  Yes, I know sports are to be fun and it does not matter if they score or not, just fun when they finally get to where they can compete with their classmates.  He took quite a few tumbles and always got back up.  The entire second grade at their school is doing a reading project right now.  For every 15 minutes they read, they score a 'run' in their baseball reading.  They have to score 4 runs by the end of this week and then they participate in a 'field' day the last week of school.  The teacher told the kids that they could either read or the parents could read to/with them.  That was all my precious little guy needed to hear.  Give him an inch and he figures out how he can take a foot.  He is convinced that I can read to him while he plays the Wii.  NOT.  He has to make 3 more bases before Friday!  Otherwise he will learn the hard way about procrastination.  His class is also having a sleep over this Friday in their classroom.  Sounds like a lot of fun - I volunteered to help but some of the other parents that don't get the opportunity to be in the classroom will be spending the night.  At Jbirds Mother's Day program I saw a lady that I recognized from the school.  She came up to me and asked if I was B's mom.  I said yes and she went on about how much she adores him, he is one of her favorites and how he has the best personality...always excited to tell you something.  The kind of interaction that just brought a huge smile to my face!

This week Jbird has his preschool graduation and B has his cub scout graduation - moving on up to the Bear rank.  Half way through Cub Scouts.  Not sure if he will go on into Boy Scouts but we sure do have an active Boy Scouts.  They camp once a month all year long.  Recently they had an outing where they invited the older Boy Scouts.  It snowed that night.  They started a 5 1/2 mile hike at 9pm under the full moon.  Not my idea of fun but I guess no better way to get them to be 'always prepared' unless they get out there.

Several days ago I took JB to a developmental pediatrician.  He still has some weakness on his right side.  She was great and spent about an hour with us.  As with everyone else that observes him, the weakness is definitely there but no one seems to know why.  Probably the most unifying theory is that he in fact did have a small stroke in utero in the left part of the brain.  Apraxia is also about motor planning and the lack of it.  So, whether  it was a stroke, bodily motor planning issues or something else, he has compensated well.  The weakness is not easily detected but very present if you know what to look for.  She saw no major flags and assumes he will outgrow it.  If it does get worse, our next step is a neurologist.

This past week JB started putting 3 words together.  Momma Help Me never sounded so good!  He still plugs away with therapy 3 times a week and seeing his improvement, makes me a huge proponent of early intervention!

We are down to the last 10 days of school.  Getting excited to not have to be out of the house early every morning.  The boys are also getting older and more independent that they don't require as much supervision when we go to parks, etc.  I can sit back a bit and watch!  B is still on track for perfect attendance.  He has worked so hard at staying healthy and so thankful he enjoys school.  I am sure it is more because of the social aspect than the learning aspect, buy hey, he enjoys it!

This weekend I am heading to the northwestern part of the state for a conference with some women from my church.  A quick trip but looking forward to some great music, fun and fellowship.  I think JR might take the boys camping!  I just need to make sure there is some food around to eat!

Off to grab B from school and help a friend pack up her house, who will be moving out of state in the near future!  One of the pinochle gals....:-)

The weather the last couple of days has been gorgeous!  The 'not a cloud in the sky' gorgeous.  With just a little snow on the mountains...beautiful.  Had a very quiet weekend.  Saturday was our 11th anniversary.  Had planned to get out Saturday afternoon/evening - something like hiking or bike ride.  However, our babysitter forgot and made other plans.  Oh well.  The older two boys and I were at a bbq so we were able to stay another 2 hours over there.  Then the highlight on Sunday was watching B tear it up on the soccer field.  That kid focused.  He had a drive I had not seen.  He even had a shot at a goal but missed, but at least it meant he was ahead of the pack and moving quickly down field!

Recently I took the boys to a Farm and Ranch show.  We were looking at the tractors and saw one of the 'jumping displays'.  Where they have small trampoline tires set up and they hook kids up to harnesses.  The boys were begging to do it.  I was not real excited about forking over the money, especially when you have to times it all by 3.  I told them if they were willing to take money out of their allowance to reimburse me for half, they could do it.  They quickly agreed.  Turns out you have to be 30 pounds so JB was just big enough.  The guy running it said they were very slow and they would give me a deal, all three kids for $15.  I said sure.  I gave him a $20, he handed me a $5.  He walked away and then came back to give me a $5.  I told him he already gave me my change and he insisted he had a $10 in his hand and had gone to get me a five.  He insisted, so I relented and let all three jump for $10.  They loved it.  JB was just heavy enough and he was grinning ear to ear.  Not scared in the least.  He probably went close to 8 feet high.  Jbird and B were having a ball, probably getting 15 plus feet.  Of course my camera was in the car.  After they were done they watched some older kids do and have told me next time they will try a flip!

Every time we ride in the car, JB is pointing to all the familiar landmarks.  Just amazes me how he remembers things.  We will pass a friends' house that we have not seen in weeks.  As soon as JB sees it, he is pointing and making noises.  The dentist office, the donut shop, Aaden's house, Joe's house, the doctor office.  Jbird has been going around singing the song 'I am sexy and I know it'.  Could not figure out where that came from!  I was talking with his friend's mother and she said her son sings it in front of Jbird.  Her son learned it from all things, an M&M commercial.  Really....???  Who ever thought to put a sexy twist to a candy commercial.

We have new neighbors.  Always scary until they move in...hoping for good, nice, clean, quiet neighbors.  They are!  JB loved supervising them as they were unloading the truck.  I don't know how many times I told him to shut the door and leave them alone.  No kids but a dog that barks a lot when they are gone.  The boys miss their little friends who moved!

This past week there was a Mother's Day Tea at Jbird's school. They gave us cards, flowers, served us tea and cookies and sang some songs. Here is my favorite song. (Unfortunately he was right in front of the window and by the most animated kid...)

I love this dirty face, especially since it means that we are now in a warmer season and there is dirt on the ground - as opposed to snow!

I am sure there will be lots more dirty faces appearing here and that is just fine by me. If I let my kid play soccer in the street with no shorts and red rain boots, what is a little dirt on the face.

Pictures from our day. The boys again wanted to go out and play soccer/baseball in the street. It was such a gorgeous day, they put on their shades. Here is JB, who likes to play soccer with his basketball.

My ragamuffin rockstar Jbird

I think kids hit a few milestones that really change their appearance. One of those being when their permanent front teeth come in. I tried to get a picture of B with his two teeth coming in, but oh well.

Random sentences.... Jbird is so proud of his recent accomplishments. He can do 15 bars on the monkey bars. He can ride his bike while standing up. He is writing his "J" the correct way, instead of backwards. He is beginning to read a few words -making those connections between sounds and letters. JB has sat on the potty a few times and gotten a sticker. He cruises like you would not believe on a scooter. People are always amazed at how well he rides for being 2. He connects two words together quite frequently! Lots of baby steps he is taking in his language journey. B is almost a 3rd grader. He is reading very well and getting better at carrying numbers in addition and subtraction. You forget what it takes to teach certain concepts. I just take it for granted! All last weekend the boys wanted to do nothing but play baseball. I am missing baseball this spring, but there is always next spring. B starts soccer today! It is neat to see sports finally start clicking with him. He might have more of a competitive edge to him than I thought. Our local community participates in what is called Bountiful Baskets. Every week produce is delivered from all over the country. You never know what you are going to get when you order, but it is about 50% fruit and 50% vegetables. I finally ordered my first basket for delivery this Saturday. I have a feeling we will have no problems with the fruit, but I might need to get creative with the vegetables. You can also order 'add-ons' and I ordered 8 pounds of strawberries for $11. The basket costs $15 and I am told you get about $30 worth of produce. Just excited to be getting it and maybe it will catapult me into the vegetable world. from what I understand it can be anything from lettuce, beets, corn, asparagus, cauliflower, brussel sprouts....the list is endless. Off to pick up kids and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Here is a picture of Jbird riding bikes. It is not the best picture, but I love how his hair curls around his hood when he is riding fast. He still does not want a haircut. It has been probably 6 months.

It just amazes me how little things excite my boys. They recently discovered how you can get old wood from the garage and make a ramp. They will spend lots of time out there circling around. They just hoot and holler every time they 'catch' some air.

Of course JB will not be outdone on his scooter. He stacks his own wood and goes for it.

Having a hard time with one of the boys sneaking things. So I have cow bells hanging on the kitchen cabinet that has all our snacks in it. I have also tethered myself several times this week to one of the kids. Just seems when mom turns her back, they get into trouble. Does not take long them to straighten up when they realize they have to follow me around the house and not leave my side! The apraxia conference was good. Learned more about speech and a greater understanding of how to best work with them and WHY you need to work with them in certain ways. Different games, books, songs, etc that can help facilitate learning for them. I was also excited to see some videos of other kids with apraxia. JB seems to be further along in the game and I know it is because of early intervention! Heading out on the bikes to the school.