This morning was our annual Fall Festival, complete with parade. B went with the cub scouts and Jbird walked with his Kindergarten class. This is the second year that all Kindergarteners are invited to walk in the parade....they are trying to promote all kids graduating. So, sponsors paid for all the K kids to have shirts....made me sad when I saw the shirt....

Class of 2025??? I had never even given thought to when my boys would graduate, but if anyone wants to mark their calendar, it will be 2022, 2025 and 2028. Seems so far away. Jbird said he was excited and nervous, 'that he had never been in a parade before and he gets to walk down the middle of the street.' He was so cute, hugging his friends, holding their hands at one point. I have had parents come up to me and tell me they love watching him on the playground. He is so social and is always the leader with the soccer boys. Every day, I hear a different kid yelling his name across the playground, telling him bye.

It was hard to catch B because when they passed us it was crazy....

JB enjoyed the parade. It lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes....way too long in my opinion. However, I did enjoy the brisket that was cooked all night over an open flame!

Gearing up for soccer games tomorrow.

Could not resist taking this picture....this is one tired little boy. It just relaxes me to see all that hot water cascading down his back. Wish I was small enough to fall asleep and have someone carry me to bed.

Of course here is the littlest one, wide awake because he took a nap today.

Our days seem so busy right now. That is why I so appreciate that my boys are not into an indoor sport...we get a winter break from Nov - March. So looking forward to that!

Off to help with homework!

A few days ago I was treated to a backyard surprise. The boys had some friends over and they made a band, complete with a stage. I was quite impressed...they even used my yellow curling ribbon to hold up the tarp that served as the curtain. They used the 'porch' of their playhouse/lego house. Jbird was on the drums and loved the improvising of the drum sticks...plastic garden tools. Sometimes their creativity blows me away...just wish their cleaning up skills did too - we are still finding yellow curling ribbon outside!

I am tired of fighting with Jbird over his clothes. The other day was picture day and out of a shelf full of clothes, he did not like any of them. So he and I went through what was on his shelf. He kept the clothes he liked and put them into 3 stacks...church, school and weekend clothes. Pretty clever I thought and he came up with it all by himself. Then today he and I spent the morning looking for clothes. We were not terribly successful but we do have about 3 pair of shorts and 5 shirts to add to the mix. I love that he is finally starting to coordinate his clothes.

Went to McDonald's recently..I was craving one of their milkshakes (that I discovered when Jbird had his tonsils out). I pulled up to the drive thru and I guess Mickey D's is trying to get 'healthier'. Listed on their drive thru menu was the calorie counts of their food. Well, 550 calories for a small milkshake was enough for me to change my mind!

Got a music box key in the mail today. Yes, had to order one online because someone locked my music box and no one seemed to know where the key was!

Two soccer games tomorrow....let's hope for a more even match up with B tomorrow. A rather quiet week!

The last week has been a whirlwind...which I knew it would be. Our big fundraiser Fun Run at the school was on Tuesday and all last week was spirit week. One day was Crazy Hair day...which the kids loved. I was hoping that Jbird would participate, because I had all kinds of fun things I would love to try with his hair. However, He was not interested, but here is a picture of the other two. With hair so short, there are not many options except color! B's was a dark red but JB's was a lighter red that I actually kind of liked!

The last day of spirit week was Walk to School Day. We had about 130 kids show up with their parents to walk the 2 blocks to school. It was a really fun time - a beautiful fall morning. Then the Fun Run. Money is still coming in but pretty sure we raised over $11K. Pretty good for a second annual event.

This past weekend B had an overnight scout event. The boys filled some rank requirements and got in on some carpentry, cooking and learning more about the flags. I was not able to stay overnight but B did. As I was going to pick him up, he got stung by a wasp...on the bridge of the nose. Seems like a really odd place to get stung. It scared him but other than puffy eyes the next morning, he was fine.

On Sunday they both had soccer games! B's team got blown out of the water. It is interesting to see how the teams are always distributed. The boys the next town over are consistently bigger and better. When they played 6 boys and we played 7 it was pretty even, but as soon as they equaled the numbers, it was lop-sided again. B played goalie the second half. He did really pretty good. Was surprised at times as to how agressive he was.

JB is doing well. Enjoys school. I am going in tomorrow to observe the school therapy. Trying to get all three of his therapists on the same page so they are all complementing each other.

Off to get ready for a cub scout Pack meeting!

Just a shout out....I am alive!

A crazy, busy last 5 days or so.

Hope to get a post up in the next day or two with some pictures!

Just would hate for my family to worry :-)

We still periodically play musical beds around here. Never know where anyone will land for the night. It is funny to watch, sometimes they all want to be by themselves and other times they don't want to be alone. I took a shower the other night and as I got in the shower, they were not yet asleep. When I came out, this is what I found.

I think a highlight of Jbird's day is pulling everything out of his backpack and showing me everything he did at school. He has really taken an interest in coloring and how well he is able to stay in the lines. We have some pictures of B's hanging up downstairs in frames. Jbird has started getting thumbtacks and putting his pictures up on the wall. Guess it is time to get some more frames! Here are two pictures that he was really proud of.

We discovered a wasp nest above (6-8 feet) our door recently. I got some of the wasp spray and I think no less than 30 fell. We have had to spray it a second time too. I would think with the nights getting colder, they would start disappearing. This is the time of year when all the flies try to get inside and it drives me crazy.

Next week is the big school fundraiser (Fun Run) that I am coordinating again. Hoping the smoke clears so it is all safe for the kids to run outside. Lots of little things still to do, but fortunately I am list maker, so hopefully nothing gets forgotten.

Yesterday was the first soccer games. Both teams won. Jbird's team has two ringers on it. I think we scored 8 goals and pretty sure they were all made by the same two boys. I felt bad for the other team, since in the past we were the ones getting slaughtered. I talked with the coach afterward and told her that we might need to think of an alternative for future games. Both of these boys sat out the same quarter (the 3rd) and that quarter was a really close quarter with neither team scoring. Jbird is proving to take after his brother. When B was younger his tendency was to run back to defend and Jbird is doing the same thing. It is so funny - the ball will come his direction and he will run backwards to defend if needed.

B won his game. He scored the first goal of the season. Starting with 3rd grade, they now have goalies and play off-sides. B does not yet have the off-sides down. He got called several times for it. He missed several other goals when the ball hit the post and bounced out.

A few pictures from the day.

Jbird is in the red shorts....

This is a picture B must have taken...I kind of like it....JB is in the back. (A friend suggested after seeing pictures of JB in the dentist chair that I start calling him Joe Cool...just might do it! Probably less confusing that JB and J/Jbird)

A picture of B in full swing kick

One thing I have been doing for B this school year is putting a joke in his lunchbox every day. He is at that age where he enjoys it. I think our favorite joke thus far....Why did the bacon laugh? Because the egg cracked a yolk.

Enjoy your day!

Well, JB is loving school.  He was extremely quiet the first day, but that was it.  Every day when I go to pick him up, they are on the playground and there is always time to talk with the teachers.  It is amazing how this little guy can get his point across with so few words.  The first day of school, at snack time, the teachers put out a sentence strip.  The idea is for JB to point to each word as he says "I want some more of ....".  He did great pointing to each word and saying the word.  The second day, they sat down for snack and he gave his teacher a disapproving/confused look.  She looked at him and said 'what' and then he proceeded to tap the table as if the sentence strip were there.  She just started laughing and said 'of course, I forgot the sentence strip'.  He nodded his head.

They are also amazed at his athletic ability.  The way he hits and throws a ball.  Will be interesting to watch as he gets older.  He did surprise me the other day at the store.  We were in the produce section and he said 'banana'.  As clear as day.  It for the longest time was 'blah blah'.  Then it became 'nana'.  Was a pleasant surprise, especially since it is not a word we 'work' on.

B has his mouth appliance in.  He was uncomfortable the first 2 days and still gets frustrated when food sticks in it.  The orthodontist suggested I buy a Water Pik.  My response..."Have you ever had a water pik in a bathroom that three boys share?"  I can just imagine 'water' fights!  Maybe I can keep it out of reach, but if it is out of reach, then it is not easily accessible for B.  Maybe it will never occur to them.  I wish I could say that they would keep their hands off of it.

A quiet Saturday.  Nothing on the calendar.  Tomorrow is church and 2 soccer games!  Will be interesting to see how Jbird's team does.

Here is the first day of school picture that JB wanted to take....look at that smile.

The bus arrives, notice the smile that is quickly growing....

Big steps for a big boy

I was glad to see seatbelts on this bus.

I drove up to the school so I could get a picture of him getting off the bus. I pick him up at school everyday with the other boys, so I will never see him get off the bus. He was looking at me and his teachers and back at me. I love the 'what are you doing here mom' look.

He had a great first day! I worked out, got a haircut and sat in my car reading a magazine and listening to music for 30 minutes!!!!

Just a few random things....

A very quiet weekend.  Celebrated JRs birthday.  One of his friends has been staying a few days with us and the boys have been loving it.  The smoke lingers, so stayed inside most of the weekend.

B gets his 'orthodontic appliance' put in this week.  He went last week to have the impression done and did not like it one bit.  Poor kid had tears rolling down his cheeks.  I could hear the commotion down the hall and went to check on him. He was trying to be so brave but was not enjoying it.

JB starts school on Wednesday.  Not sure when will be his first day riding the bus...need to hook up with the bus barn first.  That means I get back in the gym groove this week.

I am continually amazed at how dirty J-bird's clothes get.  Probably 1/3 of his shirts need to thrown away, but he is not liking that.  I have told him he can wear them around the house, but not to school.  So thankful for my 'spray and wash'.

Some of the buttons on my blog have disappeared and trying to figure out how to fix that.  Another reason I am slower on posting, having to jump through some more hoops to figure it out.

Off to clean out the fridge for dinner.