Last Friday we headed out to campsite JR had set up, with his 'outfitter' tent. Jbird and JB spent the night, but due to another obligation, B and I only stayed for the fishing and s'mores.

Here is a picture of B's 2 brackets....

Before headed out fishing...forgot night crawlers and could not find out.  Tried pizza crust but did not work very well :-(

The tent...pretty nice, has spot for 6 cots, complete with cup holders!

The inside....JR had just gotten the stove...amazing how quickly it warms things up.  He still needs to work out a few things before it is 100% 'safe'.

The tall 'chimney'

Always amazed at how he can split wood....hardly ever misses!

Practicing casting

B doing some whittling.  He officially earned his whittling card through scouts recently.

My silly boy..whenever he sees the camera, he always poses with an open mouth.

Last weekend we had a spring activity with the scouts. It was windy and cool but still a good time had by all.


We got to look at a pictograph cave.


Beautiful view....one of the places Lewis and Clark passed through.


We had a Fish, Wildlife, Parks representative who gave us a tour.  He had lots of stories to tell and the kids had fun keeping up with them.


We came across two moose.


Mama moose had just stood up for a picture (in the middle....tried to crop it, but couldn't)


B went back to the orthodontist yesterday.  He has decided not to put the appliance back in.  It seems that he thrusts his tongue a lot when he eats, so he weakens his appliance unintentionally every time he eats.  They put brackets on the two front teeth and will eventually add brackets to the next two teeth.  They will watch the palate and later on possibly put a different bar across the palate to continue stretching it.

JB has worked weeks to be able to flash his 'spiderman' pose.  He has finally gotten his hands to cooperate and the correct fingers in and the correct fingers out.  He runs around the house like this.  So precious.


Had a lot going on this weekend....JR has gotten a new 'tent'.  He ordered a wood stove for it that just arrived.  Camping with the new stove is on the agenda.  I am going to a friend's house tomorrow to learn how to can meat.

More pictures coming soon.

I have been meaning to post all week...even had pictures to share. Now it is Thursday. I was just writing in all of May appointments on the calendar and we leave in one month for our road trip. Yikes...time is flying.

Jbird is getting along just fine with his cast. Shortly after he got it, he was getting in the shower and JR told him not to get the cast wet. Jbird responded "I can get it wet, it is made out of boats!". He meant fiberglass, what boats are made of. The waterproof liner is made out of gore tex - crazy how things have improved. Last Friday all the Kindergarten classes dressed up as their favorite book character. No surprise that Jbird choose Cole, from the Ninjago series.



The other two did not want to be left out....


This past Monday B had to turn in his first ever school report. They were assigned states and he got Florida. Here is the finished project.


He was determined he could do it all by himself and did not need any help. He would start to lay out the pictures on the poster board. I would make a suggestion and surprisingly, he heard it and liked it. He decided when it was all done, that mom did have some good suggestions and I probably had worked on a project or two during my life :-) I typed up the report (he dictated), but we both saw it as a great opportunity for him to learn some typing. So, we found a program online and he is making some progress. I told him if he would practice 10 minutes a day, by the end of school he would have it mastered.

The boys recently had their class pictures taken. I was very surprised when they both picked up nice clothes to wear - no sweats!

Recently Jbird was amazed at something I was doing when he exclaimed "Mom, you are strong for a girl". Just love the things that come out of his mouth at that age.

B heads back to the orthodontist tomorrow. Fully expect them to put brackets on the two front teeth to pull them together. Currently, his other teeth don't have adequate room to come in. His appliance broke yesterday at lunch, so looks like they might have to make him yet another one!

Finally warming back up - yay. Heading outside for some much needed Vitamin D. The sun has been gone for too long!

Well, it finally happened. I wondered when the first broken bone would arrive. This last Monday evening the boys were horsing around. Jbird ended up falling off the bed. He left wrist (he is right handed) swelled up a little, he was not using it and it woke him up several times that night. He demanded that next morning to go to a doctor before he went to school. Headed to the local Urgent Care and sure enough, a small fracture. What they call a buckle fracture - a pretty common thing in kids that age. Since it was on the growth plate, we got the orthopedic referral. They splinted it at Urgent Care and sent us on our way. He was convinced that his life was over, kids would laugh at him and he would not go to school until he got it off. Fortunately by Wednesday morning, he was ok with it. Today we went to orthopedic doctor. They put a short cast on it and we have a follow up in 3 weeks, which I anticipate the cast will be removed.

I found it interesting as she started to prepare the (blue)cast, she made a comment about not being able to get the cast wet. I asked her if they still do waterproof casts. She said they do, but insurance won't pay for it, so I would have to pay the extra $25 out of pocket. The reason insurance won't pay for it, the waterproof liner is not medically necessary! For my sanity, I paid the $25. It was way worth more than that to me. No more putting a bag over his arm. He is armed with a black sharpie for all his friends tomorrow at school.

He has yet to let me take a picture...he has informed me that he does not like me telling everyone what is going on in his life. JR told him that he was the first one in the family with a cast and Jbird said "no, momma has had a broken body lots of times". Let's just hope he does not take after him mother in that department.

JB is rocking occupational therapy. She already has seen great improvement in a few areas. Just like all the other therapists, she talks about what a hard worker he is. He has finally learned how to say B's full first name...so fun to hear it. At preschool they are talking about what a chatter box he has been lately!

B gets to go out to eat tomorrow with his teacher for lunch. It was part of a special deal they made. B kept us his end of the deal, so off to lunch they go. Due to some recent happenings at the school though, it has been recommended (by the principal) that I go with them. So, I am picking him up and we are meeting his teacher at the pizza place. I told them I would happily sit at a table by myself and eat a nice quiet lunch!

Not much happening this weekend...just a cub scout activity!

JB did great on Friday! We were at the hospital at 6:30am and left at 10 for his Myringoplasty. They did end up doing the 'fat patch', where they took fat from the ear lobe to cover up the ear drum hole. Other than picking at his few stitches on the ear lobe, no other problems. We are suppose to keep it dry for a month and then hopefully he will get the word that he is good to get in the swimming pool! The Dr. said the ear drum had great blood flow, so did not anticipate any problems with the surgery not working.

Two pictures....
As usual, the favorite parts are laying in bed watching cartoons and then the popsicles afterward - while watching cartoons.

Not much happening this week. Been cooler so have been staying indoors more.

I am almost finished with the t-shirt quilt I have been working on. It is so wonderful going over to my friend's house and working in her quilt room. I think she has lit the fire for me to become a quilter. She said she has a quilt that she is just waiting for me to finish :-). Every time she looks at it, she thinks of me, so she is passing it along.

JB goes in for his ear drum patch on Friday morning. Anticipate 2-3 hours at the hospital. Not sure about the recovery, but the Dr. has indicated he probably would not be up for much activity for a few days.

We are going to start kid swapping with some friends, so looking forward to some time away on Saturday. One last hurrah with another couple before they move out of state.

Off to wind down for the evening.

We have been in the high 60s and low 70s this week. Unbelievably beautiful! There is however a small forest fire already nearby.

We have completed the third quarter at school - one more quarter to go!

One thing we are working on with JB is correcting his "me want/have" language. He has been given an 'I' sign and 'want' sign. He is slowly starting to correct himself! He came home several days from school telling me Matthew was being mean to him. I finally asked the teachers. Seems that Matthew has a hard time understanding JB. When JB talks at school, Matthew yells at him and tells him to quit speaking Spanish to him. Of course JB continues and Matthew gets mad at him. It makes me smile but also prayerful for him that he will have the personality to overcome questions and teasing as he gets older. People that know him are shocked at well he is talking. Those that don't know him, are really starting to pick up on his speech delays. Seems as he gets closer to 4 years old, on paper he is falling further behind. He still chugs along though! He started Occupational Therapy this week so will be interesting to watch the progress there.

The Cub Scouts recently went on a field trip to the Detention Center. Very interesting place and hopefully a place the scouts learned they do not want to be in. It is a newer, 'green' facility. One thing I never realized is that every guard/policeman checks their gun in. No guns are allowed on the premises. Their rec room has a huge garage door at the top that opens up in warmer weather. I guess there is some lawsuit in a nearby town where inmates did not have access to fresh air.

The boys have discovered some of the old TV shows on Netflix. We watch Adam 12 and The Andy Griffith Show. The boys find it so strange that policemen have to ask to use the phone or look for a pay phone. Interesting to see how far we have come in 40-50 years. B gets a huge kick out of Opie on the Andy Griffith Show. I love to listen to him laugh.

Few odds and ends planned for the weekend, nothing huge!

It was a beautiful weekend. Don't know that we have ever had a nice Easter here! On Saturday we went to a community Easter egg hunt. Did not really get any pictures, except before hand - of fashion conscious (not) JB. Notice the shoes, on the wrong feet and the shirt and shorts, both of which are 3 sizes too big!



They hunted eggs inside Sunday morning and then when they realized there were eggs outside, they quickly put on shoes and coats....again, my JB makes a fashion statement.






Then they insisted on hiding eggs after church for JR and I. I gave the camera to B and he got a few good ones.






Hope you all had a blessed Easter.