Jacob has always had very bad seasonal allergies (pollen).  To the point where he is miserable and his eyes get really swollen.  A friend of mine told me about a naturopath that has great success in getting rid of allergies.  I have taken both of the younger boys to her.  If you have never seen muscle response testing, it is crazy how it works.  Anyway, she found out that Jacob is allergic to pollen, but not bees.  She did her muscle response testing and lasers on him.  So far, Jacob has done really well.  He has sneezed a little and had a little bit of a runny nose but nothing consistent!!  She determined that Joseph had an issue with cheese.  He has also had some bumps on his foot for a while we could not get rid of.  She tested him and everything was pointing to a virus.  She did her cheese stuff on him and some virus stuff.  Dr. Jill also gave both of them some naturopathic drops to take.  Joseph's bumps are still there, but appear to be getting smaller (he has had them for probably 9 months).  Just fascinating how other things than modern medicine can work on the body. 

As I headed to one of Joseph's baseball games, the National Anthem started on the main field.  It was so cool to even see the kids get off the swings and stand for the national anthem.

Joseph is really enjoying baseball.  During a recent game he was at bat 3 different times.  He hit two to right field and one to left field.

The way their age group league works, is that every team gets three outs, but you can only bat once an inning.  So if the outfield team has not gotten three outs when the last batter gets up, then when the ball is hit, every one base runs home.  The kids love it.  Joseph was last batter and look at that smile as he heads home.  Never mind that the catcher has been at home plate with the ball long before he rounded third base.

Love this shot...

I wish I had gotten this shot closer to first base line.  He slid into home and not even sure if he slid under the glove or not.

This ball rolled to the left field fence!

There he is in right field...a beautiful night for baseball.

Today Jacob had a track and field day at his school.  He signed up to run the 100 yard dash, 800 m, mile and a few other events.  (Because of the field trip with Joseph, listed below, I was not able to go watch him.  He said he got 3 ribbons though, although he has not received them yet.  He told me he ran the 800 (1/2 mile) in 3:10.  He ran the mile in 6:22!!  I pointed out to him that his mile time was almost exactly half of his mile time, which meant he paced himself almost perfectly.  I told him he should get with his cousin, who ran track in high school and collage, and get some tips from her.  Who knows how he could improve by the time he is in 7th grade...which is when you can run track at the middle school.

Joseph finally got his 10,000 page reading prize. The principal took 45 kids and I got to go as a chaperone!! That is 450,000 pages read at the school. We went to West Yellowstone to the Grizzly and Discovery Center and then we saw Amazing Predators at the IMAX (Joseph had never been in an IMAX). I loved the movie, just incredible photography, or is it videography.

All of the animals were born in captivity. Once an animal is maimed or has become a problem (not afraid of people), they are relocated. Of course once they are relocated, they can never live in the wild again. Some of the wolves were howling and it was amazing to hear.

To keep thing interesting/stimulating/real life for the animals, things in the habitat are changed/moved daily, food is buried, scents are put out, etc.  We kept waiting for this bear to stand up on all fours, but he was way more interested in rooting around.

This was a pond in one of the wolf habitats.  Every couple of weeks they restock the pond.  We happened to be there on restocking day.  Too bad one of my pictures did not show the fish shooting out.

The wolves had just been let back into their area, so not too concerned with the fish.  It was neat though to watch them find the scents and hidden food, although they did not immediately eat the meat, so I think the ravens flew away with it.

One of the displays in the museum

They had a display of bear proof containers and containers that bears had gotten into.  If something is 'bear proof', it is filled with something very enticing for them (fish) and then put in their habitat.  If after 90 minutes of bears messing with it, it is still intact, then they truly call it bear proof.

This picture was by far the most hilarious one I took all day.  I found it taped inside of a bathroom stall.  I know toilets are different all over the world, but can't imagine someone trying to post on the left!!!!!

Speaking of the world, there were lots and lots of tour busses of asian people.   They were fascinated by all of us.  They would video us walking by, they kept saying hello and loved for opportunities to high five/fist bump the kids!


Now that the snow has melted, the new favorite thing at the house is pogo sticking.  The younger two are getting pretty good and Joseph has been practicing at least 10-15 minutes a day.  From the looks of the pictures, I need to find something more challenging, or build something more challenging for him.

I keep telling him he must wear a helmet because if he fell backwards, look out.  They make really nice (professional) pogo sticks, that allow you to get 4-6 feet of air, which would mean you could do flips, etc.

My niece, Kristine, and I have decided that we are gonna hike 100 miles this summer.  Okay, maybe I just decided it and told her she was gonna join me!  Anyway, we are 2% toward our goal, as we did a 2 mile hike last weekend.

Joseph celebrated his 9th birthday recently at school. (None of my kids have ever had a birthday during the school year, so they always celebrate it early. His classroom treat, which was a huge hit.
Chocolate pudding with crushed oreos and gummy worms....aka dirt worms

Flag football season is here!!

I love how easy he is to spot in pictures.

This is the last week for baseball for Joseph. However, some of the teams are talking about extending the season, so looks like it will still be crazy around here for 3-4 more weeks.

That time of year, where things get crazy with school.  Joseph has an all day field trip next week and I am going as a chaperone.  Then Jacob has 2 different all day field trips.  Benjamin has a 4-5 hour field trip and I have signed up as a chaperone.  Not to mention all the field days.  Of course two of them have stuff on the same day, so I can only make it to one of them.  14 more days of school!

One more week of baseball!  Next week the team gets to play on the big boy field ~ our local minor league, of sorts, team.  It has been fun to see how the kids have improved.  I think half the battle is figuring out the rules and learning how to move with the ball and keep it straight as to where you are suppose to throw the ball, based on where the base runners are.  During tonight's game, one of our boys was playing third base and the ball was thrown to him and he forgot to touch the base to get the runner out.  The coach, who loves baseball and can be pretty intense, started talking to this boy. He is always looking for teachable moments.  I was sitting next to the boy's mother and when she saw the tears in her son's eyes, she got upset and walked over to the coach and told him to stop, that the kids are only first and second graders.  She went on to say that she was tired of seeing all the kids cry.  A coach, from the other team, who was coaching third turned around and told her that the coach was only saying positive things and building her kid up.  A very tense situation.  After a bit she came back and sat down.  I tried to encourage her with how hard it is to watch those interactions...she was not really interested in a conversation with me at that point.  I just wanted to tell her she might think she is helping her son, but she really should sit back and let coach handle it.  I think too many parents rescue their kids and try to shield them from life.  He was not being spoken to rudely, the coach was bringing constructive criticism and trying to encourage him at the same time.

Totally random thought...  .One of my boys has this thing about clipping toe nails.  Seems like every other day he is clipping his nails.  Actually, you can't even see any whites to the toe nails because they are so short.  Sure enough, one of them got infected.  We headed to the doctor.  Ended up getting medicine for it and was told if they continue to clip, it could mean removing part of the toe nail.  I was hoping that might be some good motivation, but not sure that it will be.  Time will tell on that one.   Yet one of the many ways that I have tried to came along side them and instruct/help and they are not really interested, so I just remind them that it is their toe nail, not mine!

Our neighbors have their townhouse for sale.  Their unit is an interior unit, just like ours, so I have been anxiously watching to see what it sells for, so we would have a direct comparison for our place.  It has been on the market 3 weeks and no offers.  In our market, some homes are getting offers in less than a day.  So a little disconcerting.  I do think they priced it a little high, as my realtor thinks the same thing.  However, the biggest concern prospective buyers are mentioning is the building in the back.  In the end we will be like any neighborhood, but maybe all the noise, etc for the next year or so has people concerned??   I guess it has made me kind of back of on actively looking, knowing we might have a hard time selling at the moment.  I don't think our place will lose any value through it all.

Bree sure enjoys all the gophers in the field.  Anytime I see a field of gophers, I just imagine Bree.  So many little critters.  It would be hilarious if the gophers would play that game like I have seen in arcades...where they pop up and then back down.  Would drive her nuts and keep her running and digging for hours.  She also uses the pool daily.

We put this kiddo on a plane earlier this week for Washington DC. After all the fundraising this year, great for him to finally get to go.

Some of the itinerary stops: Ford's Theater, Kennedy Center, White House area, Capitol Building, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Holocaust Memorial, MLK, FDR and Jefferson Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Iwo Jima Memorial, Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, WWII and Signers of the Declaration Memorials, National Cathedral, National Zoo, Professional Baseball game, Mt. Vernon and Old Town Alexandria. Typing all of that makes me tired. The rumor is they walk over 10 miles a day!!!

He also got a phone just prior to leaving. I was hoping that might mean we would get some pictures along the way, but does not appear the case! That's okay, know that he is having a great time!

Also fun family news....I am a great aunt as of yesterday! My niece Kelsey had her baby (a few weeks early). They did not know the gender but it is a boy. Colton Michael. Having 3 sisters, she is in for a huge learning curve!!

JR and Jacob recently returned from a 9 day road trip. They took his 1985 little Toyota pick up down to south Texas (Laredo) to hunt on some private land. Remarkably, the truck had no issues at all!!! They could not always hit top speeds, but supposedly they got lots of look from others on the road. It is hard to miss.



The bunk house!!

A vehicle that had the blind up top.

The ranch manager had caught a rattle snake (in shorts none the less) and then Jacob had fun finishing it off.

The total fish count for the week was JR 1 and Jacob 12!!!!

The lone fish JR caught.

Sitting and waiting for the hogs.

They had hoped to see a lot more hogs, but that is how it goes.  JR was able to drop 2 of them and I think Jacob had 1 or 2, but they both ran off into thick brush and they were not able to follow them.  I guess there were 17 different blinds on the property and were only able to get to a few of them.

Despite few hogs, many memories were made!

Baseball season is in full swing.

And my favorite picture...

And this kid hit his 10,000 page reading goal for the school year!!!!! Sounds like the prize will be ice cream and movie with the principal.