A quick check-in.

We are down to something like 30 days left of school.  Hard to believe.

Benjamin is taking the Iowa based testing for the next three days.  It is offered every year for homeschoolers.  Will be a great indication of where he is at, but he also does not often test well, so we will see what the results bring.

Benjamin continues with Tae Kwon Do.  The other two decided they did not want to continue.  (I think part of it was the nice weather and wanting to be outside with their friends.)  Benjamin is continuing weekly dog obedience through 4H.    Jacob starts spring football next week.  Other than that, pretty quiet on the extra curricular calendar.

This past weekend I got a last minute ticket and flew to Ohio for 4 nights.  Kelsey was having a bridal shower.  My mom was the only one who knew about it, so it was fun to pull of a total surprise.  Four days of just hanging with family.  The boys survived back home with JR.

Business continues to grow for JR.  I think we are close to making the jump of bringing on a part time employee.  Work keeps coming finding him, which is wonderful!

Off to get the kids up and moving this morning!

Sorry the posts are so inconsistent right now.  Some days and weeks are so mundane that I feel like I have nothing significant to write about.

This kid has some crazy hair these days.  He likes it long on top and then puts lots of gel in it.  So those nights when he sleeps really hard, he gives us a great laugh in the morning.  He is my 'hair' kid.  He loves doing his hair (unlike the one with long curly hair who fights me...).  Recently Joseph and Benjamin did 4H demonstrations.  Joseph's demo was called 'how I do my hair'.  He did an awesome job and I even got it on video.

We recently attended the annual health fair at the hospital.  This is one of the highlights for the boys ~ understanding what it literally looks like to be under the influence.  The googles distort the vision as if you are just over the legal limit or twice over the legal limit.  They think it is hilarious to watch each other, but more importantly, they see what it is like to think you are operating 'normally' when you are not.

I recently found online a paper city that Joseph has had a lot of fun playing with.  It amazes me how things will entertain him for long periods of time.

We have had some beautiful weather and have gotten out and started walking again.  I took Bree today on a short walk with the leash and for the first time, she did awesome!  We have gotten her a new prong collar and it has made a huge difference.  I actually enjoy going with her now.

Not much happening again this week, or at least nothing that I feel is blog worthy :-).

The boys took off for Tae Kwon Do today on their bikes.  I know I have said it many times...I have enjoyed the boys throughout the different stages, but I really enjoy their independence.  I think I have done a good job thus far of giving them wings and watching them start to soar!  It also helps living in a community/neighborhood that is not too big or busy.  Plus safety in numbers, which is my mantra whenever they head out.

We are 3/4 of the way through the school year.  Hard to believe.  Benjamin and I have already started having conversations about what the fall will look like.  At this point, we are leaning towards him taking one or two classes at the middle school.  He is not interested in going back full time at this point.  What would probably work best would be an English/writing class and then either science/history or elective.  I definitely want them to be first thing in the morning, so he gets out of bed and can walk with his brothers to school.  Still lots of time and the plans might change, but that is the leaning right now.

Bree recently started jumping our fence, so we had to put up some chicken wire.  Her energy is high but never realized how much mental stimulation some breeds need.  A week ago she was riding in the back of JR's truck, for the first time.  Not sure what happened, but she jumped out at 45 mph.  She would not put any weight on one of her back legs.  My neighbor gave me the name of a 'dog chiro' that would come to the house and work with her for an hour.  Two days later she showed up.  She said Bree was very jammed up in several places.  About what I would expect with an injury at 45 mph.  However, the chiro did right by Bree and Bree is now fully functioning.  (I am just amazed at what chiros can do, both with humans and dogs.)  It was also a lot cheaper to go that route than the vet, x-rays, etc.  Bree has gotten better at chewing.  Tomorrow Benjamin is starting dog obedience with her through 4H.  Hopefully we can leash train her!  The other day one of the boys had spilled some vanilla on the floor.  Instead of having them clean in up, I told them it would be hilarious to let Bree clean it up.  (Vanilla smells wonderful but it tastes terrible.)  She was so funny and could not get to her water bowl fast enough.

Benjamin, hopefully, will be participating in a 4H demonstration this Friday.  He is working on a speech about the aerodynamics of airplanes.  He is just fascinated by them.  I am hoping once he turns 12 that he will check out Civil Air Patrol.  Would be fun to have another pilot in the family!

We have had some crazy spring weather.  Blizzard like conditions and two hours later sunny and beautiful.  Our snow pack levels seem to be okay.  If we can get some spring rains, we might just escape a terribly hot, dry summer.

That about wraps things up for now!

I was down the first part of the week, with what I would guess was the flu.  But pretty mild compared to what others had.  So, I am just getting around to posting Easter.  Plus, Bree had chewed my computer charger so I was without my computer about a week.

We dyed Easter eggs last weekend. Boys enjoyed it and so nice that they don't need tons of supervision. For the first time ever, we did not participate in one of the community Easter egg hunts. (Joseph did not get out of bed until 9:30 on that Saturday and it started at 10. I was not upset about this either.)

We had Jacob's birthday party that afternoon. There were 12 third graders. They played football, etc for an hour and half and then we came to the house for cake and ice cream. All in all a great party, perfect weather and the boys burned lots of energy.

Jacob is going to the cabin with his best bud this weekend. The other two boys and I are hitting the annual hospital health fair. For some reason my boys just love this and all the displays, hands on, etc. Then Saturday afternoon JR is taking them to the outdoor show. That about rounds out our upcoming weekend. Pretty low key.