Today was back to school. Can you tell from the picture who was not having a good morning, because they were tired! :-)

1st, 4th and 7th grade. This is the first time for Benjamin to be in the middle school (which is 5-8th grade). He was very excited and nervous. I went with him for his back to school night. Crazy layout of the middle school. I was also surprised with how many male teachers there were. In the elementary there are only 2 male teachers out of 22. Benjamin has 4 male teachers this year and they were all younger than me. So glad to see men in those roles. We spent about 5 minutes at his locker. He did not know how to work the dial lock. Fortunately, mom to the rescue. It was comical that I would open it then he tried 3 more times and could not. Fortunately we kept laughing. I told him that he needed to nail his locker combination, otherwise a huge frustration to his day. He persevered. When he realized he could not flippantly pass numbers and turn back to them, it went much better.

The elementary back to school night went well. Jacob's 4th grade classroom has what is called 'flexible' seating. This means, as long as they are behaving, they can sit where ever they like. One table is a tall, stand at table, one table is really low with couch cushions, one has the big bouncy/exercise balls, one is a traditional table, etc. Very excited to see how this new trend in classrooms will go. I think his classroom might be the only one in the school set up this way. I see Jacob on the bouncy balls most of the time!

Jacob out of the blue told me last night "my goal is to only be sent to the behavioralist five times this year". (The behavioralist is the one you go to when you are in trouble). I looked at him and he told me that zero was too hard to make happen, so he is shooting for 5 times instead of something like 10 for 3rd grade!

Very excited for my boys and praying circles around them!

I have my huge to-do list. I need to keep reminding myself that I don't have to get it all done in one day or even a week. I have 185 days home alone. The best way for me to celebrate, is to have it quiet! Does not really matter what I do, whether it is work or leisure, as long as it is quiet, I am fine! Too much noise, commotion and chaos when the boys are home.

Benjamin and I recently helped our church sell ribbon fries at a local festival.  (We were helping to raise money for a missionary family so they could buy a car when they get to Peru.)

He loves to help run the drill.  You put a potato on...I don't even know what it is called...then attach a drill and turn it on.  The potato is quickly sliced and is one long curly fry.

One business there had a tent set up with kids games.  This was the chuck a chicken game.  Joseph took a rubber mallet and hit the catapult, which sent the chicken flying.  Quite hilarious and he managed to hit the bucket.

Then they had the battery operated pigs that they raced.  The pig would take about 4 steps and then stop, wiggle their tail and nose, and then keep on going.

Joseph was the orange one!

Recently the boys and I have had some pretty interesting talks about life after death.  One of Jacob's classmates (they knew each other casually, but never had play dates) was accidentally shot and killed in a home recently.  It is still an ongoing investigation but the only thing that has been released is that the child killed did not live in the home where the accident happened and it appears there were no adults home.  Tragic situation and probably the first time someone has died that the boys even knew.  So many questions.  Fortunately the Bible has some pretty good answers so I was able to field most of the questions.  It has also been a great time, once again, to talk about gun safety.  We have also had to discuss liability issues and why it is so important to obey our house rules and not let anyone else in the house.  Lots of discussions all over the community!  Very sad.  (I have finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase a small gun safe that opens with the swipe of a fingertip.  JR has all of his guns in a big safe, but we needed something small for when it is in the house and not on his person.  His birthday is this Friday, hopefully it arrives in the mail in time)

I think I am finally getting through the last of the 'stuff to do before school starts' list!  It is here.  We are already planning to have a fire pit/s'mores on Monday night, which will technically be our last night of summer, since Tuesday night is a 'school night'.  All of the kids are excited, especially Benjamin.  Even though I have some trepidation, I believe that he is exactly where he needs to be for this school year.  I am working on my school schedule and I don't know that I am gonna have much down time while the kids are at school.  I am hoping for 2 half days or one whole day of just leisure stuff...we will see how it goes.

We have had beautiful weather lately.  Highs in the mid 70s to low 80s and the nights into the 40s.  Perfect weather for sleeping with windows open.  I like getting the boys' room really cold at night so then in the morning, they stay curled up in bed and sleep in.

I recently took the boys to see the movie Pete's Dragon.  The original movie was one of the few movies I remember seeing growing up.  I particularly remember that movie because for some reason I cried through about half of it.  I think the 'parents' in the movie were very scary and mean and as I recall, I did not like the friend I was going to see it with.  I don't even remember her name or all the circumstances, but I just remembered the only opinion I had of Pete's Dragon was tears, so I took the boys to the new one and it was really, really good!   So now when I think of Pete's Dragon it is happy memories.

I took Jacob for another orthodontist appointment.  He continues to turn his both his palate expanders and is set for braces on our next visit in October.  He has several permanent teeth that are coming in and he has not yet lost his baby teeth.  (Speaking of baby teeth...the last two nights Joseph has had a tooth in his tooth pillow and woken up two mornings with the tooth still in his pillow ~ gasp.  Parent fail!  We keep writing notes and hopefully the tooth fairy will have time tonight to stop by.)

Benjamin also went to Jacob's orthodontist for a second opinion.  Benjamin has been seeing a different orthodontist for 4 years and we are still on phase 1.  Every time he goes to the dr., the doctor always leans back in his chair and sighs deeply.  So, I was ready for a new set of eyes to look at things.  This new orthodontist said that Benjamin really does have a complicated case.  (Hopefully I don't lose you with all the details)  If you know anything about teeth, he has a cross bite, open bite, class three and tongue thrust.  In layman terms that means...a cross bite is where the front or sides of teeth hit the inside of the bottom teeth, an open bite is an insufficient overlap of top teeth ~ which seems contradictory to cross bite.  I think one part of his mouth is cross bite and another part an open bit.  A class three bite is again where the bottom jaw is forward of the top teeth.  And then the tongue thrust is a behavioral pattern where the tongue is pushed through the incisors during eating, talking or rest.  So, he has some very contradictory stuff going on.  Plus, he has so many teeth he has not lost yet and all parties seem to think his bottom jaw is still growing out.  The new doctor strongly recommended pulling off the 4 brackets on front teeth, removing all other wires, putting in a retainer and giving Benjamin a year off to grow some more and get some more permanent teeth.  The bad thing, the new doctor said we are past the point of being able to have a more simpler fix for the bottom jaw.  I guess when they are 8 or 9 they can put kids in a night 'mask' to help try to bring the top teeth more forward.  We missed that window and it frustrates me to think the old (current) orthodontist missed that.  So, Benjamin sees the old (current) ortho in 10 days and hopefully he will agree to remove everything and just take a break and wait.  Part of my concern is I have already paid for certain things and I don't want to switch Benjamin over to the new doc and have to pay again for something I have already paid for.  However, the current doc is older and on the cusp of retiring, so I don't see how I could stay with him.  One thing the new doctor mentioned twice, is depending on the growth of the bottom jaw, surgery could be the best recommended fix, which he added, if you can't attach a medical condition to it (sleep apnea, etc) insurance won't pay for it and it costs about 10K.  I certainly trust this new doctor though.  Guess if everything gets removed from Benjamin's mouth and we decide to wait a year, I have some time to save up.  Plus you can't break a jaw until they are done growing, which might even be closer to 16.  

Then the doc took a very quick look at Joseph and uugghh.....looks like Joseph might take after Benjamin.  They are both on recall list for 1 year.  

I decided to jump in and do the home assembly job.  I have already started working on my stuff.   I have to put 1,000 units together a week, which is 6-7 boxes.  So, I am hoping as I get more proficient, that I can complete all of that in about 8 hours!  As long as I stay diligent to a schedule, should work out great.

The count down to school!!  This is our last full week of summer.

We watched a decent amount of the Olympics this year.  So fun to finally have the boys old enough to express interest in certain athletes.  We have had lots of conversations about how athletes are not made over night.  You have to train, train and train.  You have to fuel your body well.  You have to get good rest.  Two of the boys wake up and do some training in the morning....sit ups, push ups, pull ups, running sprints in the driveway, etc.  I tell them every little bit helps.

Our 4H group recently had a big obstacle challenge, that the kids really enjoyed.  There were small teams and each team member rotated through doing different elements.  One caveat...whoever was doing the challenge had to hold a water balloon (Joseph put the balloon in his shirt and that is why his shirt is in his mouth).

They still had their balloon half way through (for some reason I did not get Jacob participating or maybe he was just too fast for me to catch up and grab my camera).

This is Benjamin.  He had to get in a raft and hand paddle across a pond.  The last element was a team member pulled the raft out of the pond and then ran around the pond carrying a worm (not sure why a worm...).

Some of the kids swam (Jacob and Joseph).

We had a podium ceremony for the top three teams.  Candy was the prize!

As the sun set it was getting very cold but they ended with a water balloon fight.  Glad our heater works well in the car because we had to turn it on.

It has been a very, very busy week.  We had vacation bible school every morning and then appointments/commitments in the afternoon.  I am tired!  I headed up games at VBS and it went very well.  We had about 50 kids each of the four days!  There was some excitement in that a fire broke out just north of the church.  Most of it was farm land, so fortunately they were able to save the one house that was threatened.  It only burned a couple of hundred acres.  It started when a combine hit a rock.  I did not know but all the dust and chaff it stirs up is like gun powder.  So, assuming when the combine hit the rock, there was a spark and everything went up quickly.  Fortunately the combine operator was not injured.

Here is a picture of the helicopter going to get water.

Benjamin had a great time at camp last week!  He came back with lots of stories!  I swear his voice is deeper.  As he was unpacking his bag he said 'I forgot my toothbrush'.  I just gave him a look and he said 'I tried to eat good smelling food'.  Yuck.  At least he showered more days than he did not!!

Recent pictures from our days.

Joseph and I played some games....

My favorite drink is by far water.  I have to be in a mood to drink anything else.  However, some days I just get to doing other things and forget to drink water.  So, I downloaded a water drinking app.  (I am shocked at what they make apps for ~ just about anything) This guy is my daily buddy....My phone chimes periodically to remind me.

We have found a group that gets together every Friday night for dinner and to hang.  The group fluctuates every week, but when every one is there (which has never happened) there is probably 25 school age kids, most of them seem to be boys!  Benjamin surprised me by digging into the Halloween dress up bucket and coming out to model for us.....

The cows have been hanging out really close most evenings.

For vacation bible school I requested water balloons.  Someone donated these.

I know it is the end of summer and probably hard to find in stores (at least up here) but they are awesome.  Basically you attach all the blue sticks and balloons (on left in picture) to the end of the water hose.  Then hold them inside a bucket and turn the water on.  In less then 60 seconds all the balloons have filled up, sealed themselves and dropped into the bucket.  A little spendy but a great gift (and time saver for parents) for any kid.  Speaking of gifts, I will throw my two cents out there, go for something consumable, meaning it won't be a toy that will forever be around the house.  Things that can be used up...membership to museum or local pool, movie theater gift card or maybe a cookie of the month club, where you give them a different type of a dozen cookies every month.  (This was meant for no one in particular :-), I just often have this conversation with parents that are overwhelmed with all the toys and gifts they receive from family/in laws.)  I also hear that there are biodegradable balloons that don't have to be picked up.

Two recent bridge jumping outing.
Benjamin surprised me by jumping several times on this first outing.  My best guess is that the bridge is about 12 feet from the water.

Of course Jacob was all over the bridge...jumping and hanging.

Joseph so badly wanted to jump.  He probably walked up there a dozen different times, got out there and eventually talked himself out of it.

More of Jacob...between both trips, he probably jumped 40 times.

Some older boys trying to encourage Joseph on the second trip.

JR joined us for the second trip.  It was so funny.  He would not jump from the bridge but he would hang and drop in.  I tried to tell him the difference was only 5 feet.

JR was trying to talk Benjamin into going out and hanging with him.

The guy on top of the bridge was crazy (probably an additional 15 feet)

He did a back flip off.  The one on the right was our neighbor.  He climbed up and jumped several times.

The guy would also run across the bridge and swan dive over the wire.  One the first trip, we watched a guy do that.  However, before he dove, he did not look over the bridge.  We watched the other guy dive off and he literally came about 2 inches from slamming his head into another swimmers back.  Scary moment just watching a near collision, that could have been fatal.

Last week Joseph had a small 'friend' birthday.

We met at the park.  Had water gun fights, rock climbing, ice cream cookies and soccer.

One of the presents he got was a remote controlled boat.  So he and I got out and took it for a test drive.  He managed it very well.

This one had a lot of fun swimming.

She quickly took off for the geese.  I was finally able to call her back.

Then we headed to the dog park.  I was finally able to get a picture of Bree running toward me, full on.

Bree also loves playing fetch with a stick in the water.  There were two other dogs and the three of them would race for the stick and then fight over it, again and again and again.

Another quiet week and weekend on the horizon.  Benjamin has been at camp all week and the younger two have been at day camp.  I have gotten a LOT done around the house.

I have been contemplating what my fall will look like.  I don't want a full time job.  I desire just enough to keep me busy a few days a week.  With maybe one day going to work with JR and the other day running errands, grocery shopping, cooking for the week.  I went and talked with a lady today who works for a company that is currently hiring home assemblers.  It would be 15-20 hours but pretty confident I could do it quicker, because I have always been good at assembly line type stuff.  It pays decent and I can do it in my pajamas.  It requires a lot of boxes/supplies though so not sure if I have the space for it all.  It would drive me nuts to always be stepping over boxes.  The gal really appreciated our talk and suggested maybe a position in the actual warehouse..where there is some flexibility.  What to do?!  At least I have a few days to think/pray about it.

Next week we have vacation bible school at our church and I am the game director.  So my mornings will be spent there.  I will probably come home exhausted from being in the sun and playing with kids all morning.  I have wrangled the older two into helping me and Joseph will be a participant.

Happy 7th bday to this kid!!! My crazy, loud, fun, full of energy dancer/gymnast! What a blessing he is.

We set out recently on our bikes for a three hour tour....a three hour tour (Gilligans Island is running through my mind). Our goal was Pokemon.

This kid was given a pair of boxing gloves by a friend and had to wear them.

The boys took turns finding the Pokestops and spinning for balls, which are used to catch Pokemon, which the Pokemon are then used to do battle in gyms around the town.

Then we stopped off at the library for over an hour.

Jacob and I battled in Jenga...I think I won both games.

They spent a long time building.

This was Joseph's finished church,

Jacob's finished tower...balancing just perfectly.

This is one of the favorite ways to run Bree.  If you can't tell, she is tethered to the bike with her leash.  Makes me nervous but they tell me she does very well.   She is still too hyper to take out without a leash.  Doing better, but there are those times when you tell her 'no', she looks at you, looks at what she wants to chase, looks at you and then takes off.  I really miss being able to run her in the field with the bikes.

Look at this kids cartwheel...almost near perfect.  He is trying to decide if he wants to do gymnastics or football.  I think football is winning out right now.

Another day at the pond.  Our neighbor recently went there and got some bad bacteria.  I guess as the summer wears on that it makes sense it would get more gross, with all the use.  Maybe our last trip?  We will stick to flowing water.  The boys played on rafts and paddle boards which belonged to friends.

I went this week and registered Benjamin for middle school.  After 2 years of homeschooling, it is time for public school.  As I felt strongly about pulling him out after 4th grade, I feel just as strongly as putting him back in for 7th grade.  The electives he signed up for were Medical Detectives, Video Game design and computers.  For his 4th elective he wanted to take guitar, but I told him he really needs to learn Spanish.  It really frustrates me that JR is ESL (English as a second language) and none of our boys speak Spanish and at this point, can not talk to their paternal grandparents.

JR is going backpacking this weekend.  Sunday is Joseph's bday and we take Benjamin to camp Sunday afternoon for the whole week.  All next week the younger two are at a day camp, so I hope to work a day or two with JR.  Otherwise, I plan on starting my whole house (every nook and cranny) purge.  With school starting soon (Aug 31), it will be a lot easier with huge chunks of time to weed out and clean up.  I am not planning much the whole month of September...looking forward to finally having some extended periods of quiet (except going to work with JR).