Weekend winds down

The gal I was suppose to play in the finals decided she needed to get back home so defaulted the match (she lived 2 hours away).
JR went out hunting this morning and nada. Said he thinks the area has been picked over pretty good. He also recently took another book test towards his electrical apprenticeship and he made an 85.
Headed up to put both boys down for a nap and then do some grocery shopping.

Itching

The itching started last night. Still not too bad. He just did not sleep well. Made a grocery store run at 5am. The Aveeno bath treatments seem to help. As you can tell from the pictures, the back is the worst. A few spots on his face (huge one on his eyebrow).
I won my match today, although I had to work for some of the points. The lady I played just started playing in June and was very good. I guess that is what happens when you take lessons 3 times a week! I play the Consolation Finals Sunday afternoon.

It is always something

Well, J has the chicken pox. Have no idea where he got them from. None of our friends have them. Fortunately, at least at this point, they are not too bad. He does not itch at all and is not really acting sick. He does have them all over his trunk though and sprinkled on the rest of his body.
I was able to find someone without kids to come watch the boys while I played tennis. I lost, but same old story, should have won. I was quite impressed with how well I moved on the court though. Just wish my timing would come back. Last week when I practiced last I broke a string. I forgot to get my racquet restrung so I played with a back-up racquet. One I have used for more than an hour in the last 20 years (your old Wilson Prostaff Scott). Did not do too bad, but hopefully with my other racquet I can finally score a win in the consolation bracket Sat morning.
A night of cards with the gals...will be a nice break!

Mid week

JR cooked up some of the backstraps from his buck and they were very good and tender.
B has been exhausted the last couple of days. He has been getting up before 6 the last couple of days and someone just mentioned that the daylight savings time is messing him up. I had never even made the connect. Fortunately J slept in until normal time this morning. It sure makes for a long day when they are both up that early and B does not have a nap.
I play my first tennis match at noon on Friday. Up against the number 2 seed.
J had speech therapy today. I left him (woo hoo - 45 minutes to myself once a week and it is too short of a time to go home and do anything productive - hot chocolate with a book just might become the norm!). When I went back to get him the therapist said she heard a lot more sounds from him than last time. She was able to identify 15 or so different sounds/noises so that was good. She said he 'growled' about 30 times. How do you teach a little boy not to growl. It does seem that since we have found out that he 'has a delay' that he is whining more and we are not encouraging the words like we were. She also said he was pretty stubborn with using some of his sign language until he realized he was not going to get what he wanted until he made the sign. After we left I read through her Evaluation. I did not know whether to laugh or cry when I read the following: "An open mouth posture and drooling were evident during play. Jacob was not aware of his drooling and made no attempt to manage oral secretions or wipe his chin." That sounds so pitiful but the truth. He just drools away and his shirt gets wet, etc. She did mention that he seemed to be drooling a lot more today than her evalutation.
One positive note, last week we all in the car and out of the blue he started making the 't' sound and JR and I both looked at each other and said 'that's new'.
Off to take a hot bath, the days are getting colder and the mountain snow is starting to fall.
Here's 2 pictures of J's attempt to get himself dressed. His shirts turn out to be skirts. Oh, he is also starting to show some interest in the potty. He has several friends that were potty trained before they were two (they are boys), how nice would that be - not that I am holding my breath!

Firsts

JR has gotten his first buck of the season. Nice big body, small 3x3 rack. It is currently hanging in the garage and it will make it's way to our kitchen probably tonight! Not my most favorite but at least it is meat for the freezer and we have disinfectant. He will also be voting for the first time in his life this evening. Interesting to see what he thinks of it all. I have tried to tell him it is not just the presidential election, but other local elections and issues. I don't know that he is very prepared for the other stuff.
We did go see the movie Fireproof. If you did not receive an email from me about it, it is worth the time and money. Just a phenomenal message, very good, clean movie. Two action scenes, quite a few bust out laughing scenes, just a very good all-around movie. One that we need to support and send a message to Hollywood that good family movies will be supported. Kirk Cameron did not even receive a salary for his leading role (however, the film company made a contribution to the camp him and his wife run). Another interesting note about the movie, there is one scene where Kirk kisses his on screen wife. He has made a commitment not to kiss anyone but his actual wife, so they flew his wife in just for this one shot and she was the stand in. Way to go Kirk, standing up for your values! I will get off my Fireproof soap box. Go check it out. It will be the first 'non kid' movie I have purchased in probably over 5 years.
Dad says it is just about time for another haircut, what do you think?

Halloween

We survived the weekend and mom has somehow stayed away from the 10 plus pounds of candy that I think we came home with. We had Spiderman and a cute little green frog this year. JR and I took the boys downtown to all the stores. Crazy. They do it from 3-6 and in years past it was nice because none of the older kids made it until 4pm because of school. But for some reason there was early release so it was a mad house. I would be willing to bet that businesses spend over $100 on candy because a lot of them hand out chocolate. J mostly stayed in the stroller, much easier to keep up with him. Then we headed to a few friends houses. B had the best time running with the other kids. He was not as concerned about the candy as he was with being able to keep up with Indiana Jones, the fireman, the police man, spiderman 2, etc. When we came home JR put J to bed and I went around the neighborhood with B. Poor kid, he would just mope about how his legs hurt, how tired he was, etc. Then, off in the distance, I would see shadows of kids and off he would run to catch them. Seeing him run in the spiderman costume, with his spiderman snow boots (despite having no snow) he just looked so funny. Next year I am gonna have to be sure and line up other kids to go with cause mom just is not fun enough.
J had an appointment with a naturopath doctor on Friday. We are hoping to get the allergy testing kit from the lab and have the bloodwork done up late this week. The Dr. was also wondering if he has some GI issues going on.
JR has not been out hunting this week but hoping to hit a private ranch tomorrow for a deer or two.
I just registered for a tennis tournament this weekend. Seems odd to schedule a tournament this time of year with only 4 indoor courts. I just signed up for singles. Hopefully I will have a little better showing this time around than last time.
We are off to see the movie Fireproof this afternoon. Suppose to be a very good movie!
Here are some pictures from B's Harvest party at the preschool and from Friday night.

Therapy update

Just a quick update. Had the meeting to get us going with the government program and appears with J's delay we qualify for services up until his 3rd birthday. We contacted a local speech therapist and she had an opening today so we took it! She too said the same thing, he is way, way behind on his expressive language. She actually said the testing tool she was using often overcompensates things so if she had been using another tool, he probably would have tested much lower on the expressive. They all say every other area is right on or above average. So, we will have our first real session next Wed. The only potential bad thing is that I don't know if insurance will cover it. There is a clause in our policy that states speech therapy will only be covered if it is due to trauma or an illness. The gal at the therapy place said sometimes she has seen Blue Cross cover it and sometimes she has seen them not cover it. So, worst case scenario, Family Outreach will cover about 2/3 and we will have to pick up the other 1/3 or best case scenario, Insurance will cover 2/3 and Family Services will pick up the other 1/3. Either way, we are sure hoping to get him talking soon so the whining will stop. He gets his allergy testing on Friday. (One of the nice things about living in a lesser populated area, seems that the waits for docs are not very long - my dermatologist has been the only exception).
On another note, JR has not been feeling well lately, losing weight, just vague symptoms, etc but I finally convinced him to go to a doc for a check up. The first check up he has had since we got married. The doc called today and said all the bloodwork, etc was perfect and he has the insides of an 18 year old. That is wonderful news but it just blows me a way that an almost 40 year old man can quit working out, eat lots of bread, ice cream etc and still lose weight. It is just not fair. He looks at workout equipment and loses weight, I look at food and gain weight. Oh well, atleast he is healthy with no signs of trouble on the horizon.
No mountain snow predicted for the next week or so, bad for hunters. Our fridge is empty.
B has his Harvest Party tomorrow at preschool, hope to download some pictures tomorrow.

Nada

Nothing. JR saw nothing out on the trail today. The elk and deer were pretty elusive. There is no snow on the ground and until the snow comes they will stay pretty high up. He said when he started hiking there was a guy in front of him with a dog. How irritating. Who takes a dog with them on opening day of rifle season. Hoepfully next weekend will be a little more productive, although it is not going to cool off too much.
I woke up this morning to B counting....twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, twenty ten, thirty. I had to laugh quietly.
When we had the 3 middle school guys with us last week, I moved J's crib out of their room and in to the computer room. Decided to not put it back and see if we could get J to sleep on a mattress on the floor. So far so good. Some days he loves his freedom and will stay up and play in the room, but on those days he is almost begging to go to sleep by 7pm. Several nights ago he woke up and sat on the mattress whining. I came to check on him and he settled himself back down but forgot to lay back down. I laughed at him as he went to sleep sitting up swaying.
Was tempted to grab the camera but he laid down before I could.

Speech Therapy here we come

I was very impressed with the appt for J this morning. They observed him in several different settings and environments. At one point they even watched him and another little boy interact. It was odd seeing about 8 adults standing around watching the boys play.
His coordination and fine motor skills are great. He is also a great communicator just not with words. I don't recall all the technical lingo but basically he does have issues going on. They determined that by several different factors.
He often holds his mouth open and his tongue out. He drools alot. He retracts his tongue quite a bit. He stuffs his face with food. His receptive language age is 15-18 months and his expressive language is 6-9 months. Bottom line is, he has low muscle tone in his mouth/jaw area and is orally aware. There were a couple of times they could tell he wanted to talk, but just could not get the words out.
Because of this evaluation, we qualify for services through some kind of county program. Someone will come out next week to do a home study and then let us know our options for speech therapists. They said an occupational therapist would work too, but using a speech therapist he will also get additional help with his language. They were pretty optimistic that once he realizes what his mouth can do and increases the muscle tone that he will begin to talk.
They also strongly recommended getting him tested for food allergies. They said his tonsils are not huge but definitely enlarged and that can affect how the tongue lays. Given B's allergies, it is very possible that J has them too. So, have another new doc to try out for the allergy testing (most docs don't like to do allergy testing on kids this young).
I am just thankful that it is nothing serious that cannot be overcome.
It was interesting when we were talking about the food allergies and how they can affect the body. The speech therapist told me of a child who was diagnosed as autistic. They did allergy testing on him and he had an peanut allergy. As soon as they cut out peanuts, it was like night and day. He started talking, interacting, etc.
Heading out to play tennis in a bit and cards (Pinochle) later on tonight!

Distractions!

This past Monday and Tuesday night we hosted (3) 14 year old boys that were in town for the Annual State Student Council Association. They were all from a town 1 hour west of here and just a lot of fun. I imagined what it would be like in 10 years when B is 14. They did not have much down time but what little they had B loved chasing them around and "gettin' 'em". We have been staying pretty close to home this week. The crisp cool days have been nice but after about 10 minutes the nose is very cold. Plus I have been thinking a lot recently about how busy everyone is - even us stay at home moms. There are so many good things to get involved with but what do all of those things take us away from. My hope is as the snow starts falling, that I will be diligent enough to get work around the house done in small pockets of time and use the other time to get on the floor and play, paint pictures with the boys, etc. I am just really starting to see how so many 'good' things in my life crowd out the best things. That is probably why I have not been on the computer as much lately. Seems like I save my big chunks of computer time for when the boys are in bed, but by the time everything is clean and I have made it to the gym and back, I am tired. Just unbelievable the society we live in (the instantaneousness of it) and how easy it is for us to get distracted and how Satan loves pulling us away from the important things and it opens us up to being more vulnerable. We take J in for his evaluation on Friday and I guess I am feeling like the last couple of weeks I have not spent as much time with him as I would have liked, trying to encourage words. It will all come in due time. The more I watch him though, I am pretty sure that his not speaking is a large part of his stubborness but we will see. J sure has his own opinions. Today we were heading to bible study and J had put on B's dress shoes. I attempted to take them off and he screamed until I quit. We tried to leave the house without his coat and he screamed until I put it on. He was sitting at the table eating snack and I grabbed a small bite. He screamed until I went and got him another bite of snack from the counter. He can now turn door knobs and climb on top of the bar stools. Any given point during the day you can see him pushing a chair, step stool etc across the room because he wants something. B is still enjoying preschool. We have started restricting foods again and it has made some difference in him - I just really miss the convenience foods (crackers with cheese, pasta, nachos, mac-n-cheese, yogurt) that are quick and no brainer to whip up. He has also started digging his little heels in. Today I found myself starting to get drawn into an argument with him. I finally stopped the car and turned around and told him to watch the attitude. He stared me down, let out a really deep sigh and started to roll his eyes. I don't know why some of his expressions just crack me up, but they do. I somehow managed to hold off the snicker and think I made my point, atleast for the moment. JR heads out to the mountains this weekend as rifle season opens up. We also have some gift certificates to the local hardware store so hoping to finally agree on a few colors to paint the downstairs and try to knock it out this weekend. JRs dad has started checking in on the blog. Since he can't read the text I am going to try to start having more pics and videos, so here is one of them roughhousing.

Warmer weather

As this past week progressed, we did get warmer. I think we were in the 70s today. This is the time of year where you just never know. You need coat and gloves in the morning and shorts for the afternoon.
Been a quite week. I have a cold, so have not been online much.
JR is anticipating the opening of rifle season next Sunday, so he went out today to sight in the rifle. Got a shot or two of B.
B has started snoring, so it is probably 100% the allergies. So, we have backed way off the allergy foods again. This time next week he should be better, not to mention having kleenex all over the floor. Who taught him to blow his nose and just throw the Kleenex on the floor?
J still diggin his heels in with talking. He has added a few 'words' although not recognizable to anyone but me. We take him this coming Friday to the other appt I scheduled a month ago. We will see what they say.
Off to put them in bed.

Miscellaneous

The bad news is, it is snowing. The good news is, we were forcasted to get up to 10 inches in the valley but I don't think we have accumulated an inch yet. I am not quite ready for Ol Man Winter to come and stay, so hopefully it will warm back up a bit.
Have not made much headway with J and his words. Either we get busy and forget or run out of time after 20 minutes. One of the words we are working with him on is 'down'. Down from crib, down from chair, downstairs, etc. The first time I tried to get him to say it, he said 'da' (different inflection than word for dad). I got excited and started clapping my hands and then immediately got him out of his bed. Well, the other day I walked into his room and the second he saw me he started clapping. So, he now thinks down means to clap. He has started using his tongue to make clicking noises and making a popping noise with his lips. So, he can use his lips and tongue. I think he is a stubborn little guy!
Whenever B is looking through a magazine or sees something in the store, he is always saying 'hey mom, look, Ike has this movie (or Tristan has this car or Evan has this book, etc). I was starting to think that he just likes to hear himself talk. So, the other day he saw a movie in a magazine and told me Colter had that movie. Now, we had been at Colter's house about 6 weeks ago and I had personally been through all the movies several times. J kept pulling them up and I kept cleaning them up, matching movie to case, etc. So, I knew that Colter did not have that movie. I told B that he did not have that movie. He said yes he does mom. I told him no, he said yes. I said, okay, do you want me to call Colter's mom. He said sure. I knew Colter's mom would not think I was nuts wanting to prove B wrong. (I have been working with him on lying and not just saying things to say them.) Well, she told me they did have that movie. She had told me that the case had been up in Colter's room behind his bedroom door for the longest time. I had to apologize to B. I just cannot believe his memory. I am sure amidst all the toys he had found the case, remembered the man and dinosaur on it, studied it and then went on playing. I know he did not watch it over there. Not only does he remember stuff, he remembers the details behind it.
Today I was making a cake and he was helping me. I had him smell the vanilla and he immediately said 'oh, that smells great'. I was so excited. The first confirmation I have gotten that he appears to smell. His congestion has gotten a little better but we still have him eating some of his allergic foods. While I was making the cake, I had creamed the butter and sugar and added the 6 eggs. He really wanted to try it. After telling him no, that he would not like it, he insisted. So, I figured why not. At some point he will have to start trusting mom. He took a small spoonful. I watched him and said 'is it good'? He nodded his head as he smacked his lips and muttered 'it is really good'. I kept looking at him like 'whatever' and he looked at me very matter of fact and said 'i am really serious'. I don't know where he gets all the grown up talk. Oh, they are such joys and blessings. Here is a short video clip of the monkey at the park the other day.

First Field Trip

B's preschool class went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. They had a great time, despite the cold wind. They took a hayride to the pumpkin patch and found pumpkins. They all brought apples and got to put them in the grinder and press to make apple 'cider'. There were about 60 apples and it made over a gallon of drink. It was cool to see them make the connection that what they were drinking had been the big apples they brought. Then they played in the hay bales. J had a great time and will have to post a video of him climbing in the hay soon. He took lots of face plants as he would hit a hole or soft spot and fall. I was prepared for hay in the pants but not in the mouth. Rocky Creek Farms (the pumpkin patch) has a huge tree with 8 or so tire swings, etc. A really neat place to go with the kids and let them run wild for a few hours.
They say snow is heading our way, at least for a day or two and then I think it is suppose to warm back up.
When the pics are rolling, if you move your cursor over the pic, a caption should pop up. The bottom left corner is how you can speed up or slow down the pace (with the + and - buttons.

day to day

Just a 3 minute video showing you the day to day life around here.....

Little J's words

One thing I have been watching the last couple of months is J and his speech. So, when he finally hit 18 months I decided it was time to get him evaluated. Not that I was really concerned but not having ANY words at 18 months is not the norm. He is very social and communicates a lot, just not with words. I made an appt for the end of Oct through a program I saw advertized at the docs office. Seems there is a group that comes in once a month from a neighboring town to evaluate kids. They can be parent referred. So, we have an appt in about 3 weeks. Meanwhile, this past week the local schools were offering a free child screening for kids up to 5 years old. Decided to make an appointment and take both boys.
B did really well and passed his hearing (so that makes it selective hearing). The most interesting observation they made about him is that when he writes or colors, he does not put his elbow or pinky side of his hand on the table. So, they really encouraged us to help him with this so as to increase the amount of control he has. They also noticed that he does not skip, how have I forgotten how to teach him to skip? Not sure what skipping shows, other than coordination or the movements across the line of the body. They said he was also not able to problem solve - they asked him 'what do you do when you are thirsty', 'what do you do when it is dark', etc. Assuming it was him just being shy, we started asking him questions. He picked up on it immediately and always answered "I don't know". Once I asked the 'what do you do with candy', he immediately answered and finally figured out how the game worked.
With J, of course my biggest thing was his speech. They observed him for a while and through some questions, determined he was at about 14 month level for communicating (at this point he should have at least 10 recognizable words). She said it was not a concern at this point but said she would give him 2 months. If by the end of two months he does not have words, then we would probably get referred out for services. They observed that most of the sounds he makes are from the back of the throat and he is not using his lips or tongue. So, our main homework assignment is to try to force him to speak. When he is in his crib, keep repeating 'up' until he says it. So, we tried it this morning. After about 10 minutes of wailing, he finally said 'uuu'. I immediately picked him up. However, when we tried it later that morning he dug his heels in until we were on a time crunch and had to get on with the morning, so he won. They told us to expect lots of meltdowns the first couple of days! There was not anyone to assess his hearing but there will be at the end of the month appointment. Will be curious to see what kind of progress he makes between now and then.
A cool, overcast day. Expecting some mountain snow showers tonight. So glad we don't live in the mountains anymore!

The Kleenex are flying

Well, seems like the runny nose is starting with B and I heard him snoring a little last night. Not sure if it is a cold or his body starting to react to the foods we were reintroducing. It the past the perpetual runny nose and snoring were the strongest indicators for his allergies. The chiropractor has finished the general stuff for his allergies and is now starting with the specific vials. Still not sure how it is all suppose to work, but we will see. Every week we go I inquire about more success stories he is having with his laser. He said he is seeing remarkable results for those with carpal tunnel.
One thing I love (among other things) about B's age is his exploration of the English language and how it all works. He is getting really good at using verbs in the past tense. However, instead of "I jumped" it is more like "I jump-ped" - making it two syllables and stressing the -ed ending. Yesterday he was watching a Charlie Brown movie. (Which by the way I had never watched Charlie Brown from a parent standpoint, but could not believe how negative and rude everyone was to C.B. I took the teaching moment about how not to treat friends and call them stupid, insecure, etc.)Anyway, during the movie Schroeder sat down to play the piano. I said "oh, he is playing so nicely" to which B replied "no mom, he is not playing nicely, he is playing naughty"
J has now figured out how to climb on the bathroom counter and bypass stepping on the toilet paper holder. He just climbs on top of the tank and leans across. The kid is way more adventurous than his older brother. Our day in the ER is coming....
Not much on the docket for the weekend. Looks like the weather will get a little cooler but as long as no snow in the forecast, I can deal with it!

An Awesome September

As we near the end of September, I think there has been one, maybe two days this month that have not been gorgeous. Fall is becoming my favorite season. I still like spring because it signals the coming of warmer weather but fall takes it for me. Just can't seem to get enough of the beautiful weather. Today I took a nap on the bed as the sun was streaming in through the open window!
More photos enjoying the weather!

First Fish

Attached are pics/video of B catching his first fish. So begins the long standing race. B - 2, JR - 0

Oreo Cookie

I'm not sure who had more fun...J enjoying an Oreo cookie or B taking the pictures all by himself!

Boy stories

A friend asked me for a new B story. Seems like I always have something to retell regarding B and his articulation. I hear myself in him more and more. I did not think that was suppose to happen at 4 years old.
He was in his room for a quiet time and I was at the computer. I don't remember what he came out to 'talk' to me about but as he was going off, I had to cover my mouth to conceal my huge smile - he was just cracking me up. He looked at me and said "Do you think that is funny? Do you really think that is funny? Why do you think that is funny?" I finally said, "Yes I do" and then he began to smile. The last time I was updating the blog B and J were in the shower. B called me in there and I told him to hold on. He proceeded to call me a few more times but I was trying to get the pictures downloaded. Finally he appeared in the bathroom doorway and said "Mom, I have told you to come in here 3 times now and you have not come in here. Why have you not done what I asked you to? I have told you 3 times."
Today some friends were over with their kids. As everyone was getting ready to leave one mom was picking up a few last minute toys that the kids had missed. As B sat on the couch watching this, he turned to my friend and said very matter of factly "Beth, there are some over here", which was right next to where he was sitting! That got a big smile out of all of us.
J on the other hand. Time to shut the bathroom doors. He can now, standing on his tippy toes, just barely reach into the bathroom drawers and pull everything out. Funny he has not figured out how to put it all back. He also figured out how to climb on top of the bathroom counter. I asked him to show me how he did it and with a huge smile he did. The bad part is, he stands on the toilet paper holder, which I know will soon break. That will be a bad fall and he will get wedged in between the toilet and the counter. But the look of accomplishment on his face is precious. Too bad this is one stunt I have to put the kabosh on!
My healthy great niece made it into the world on Monday morning. All are well and we are awaiting pictures!
Gearing up for some more tennis and bike riding tomorrow. The days are cooling off and the snow will eventually be here!

Billings

Had a great time in Billings at the Beth Moore conference. Forgot how nice it was to get away with other women and leave the kiddos behind for a while. The verses from the weekend were Isaiah 32:1-8, but we focused on verse 8. "A noble man makes noble plans and by his noble deeds he stands." A very interesting passage that I had not every looked at in depth. It was an encouragement for us to be noble (a "willing volunteer" is the meaning of the original hebrew word)and be a benefit for others.
Some quotes from the weekend that I really liked were:
1-Until we are in the kindgom, the kingdom is within us
2-We are not left here to be good but to be good for someone (if you are still alive-God is not done with you)
3-Enjoy the simple victories
4-We can't plan our circumstances but we can plan our faithfulness
5-Not everybody is called to be a speaker, but we are all called to speak
6-Are we going to be whimps or warriors for the army of God.
I could go on. She was really great speaker, very animated, witty, authentic. She only does about 10 events a year and she does a different talk for each one. She did not even know what she was going to talk about until God showed her this verse 3 weeks ago.
The boys and dad survived without me! But of course they were so glad to have me back home.
Tomorrow is suppose to be B's last 'treatment' with the chiropractor for his allergies. I still don't understand how it works but supposedly he has been resetting the nervous system. The Chiro has had some remarkable results with some other patients using the laser treatment for other things. So, I guess in the next couple of days we will reintroduce cheese and see how it goes. The hard thing is that he has such a delayed reaction to foods that it takes a week or two before you even symptoms (mainly congestion, snoring at night, etc).
Here are some pictures taken over the weekend! The boys looked so cute. In their khakis, denim shirts and jeans.
Oh, I just got a call - within the next 2-3 hours I should be a great aunt! I am not old enough to be a great anything. Jose's 15 yr old niece recently found out she was having a little girl!

More fun

Hard to believe it is already mid week! The past 3 or 4 days we had a tent set up in the boys room and they loved it. The best part, J loved being able to get up in the morning by himself, instead of waiting for me to get him out of his crib. One morning I sent both boys downstairs to get breakfast while I stayed in bed. I had one huge mess to clean up when I finally made it downstairs.
AWANA is back on, they found a director - yeah! Looking forward to doing the books with Benjamin.
Played tennis on Monday and Wednesday. I am not sure how I will fill the afternoon time (while B is in preschool) once snow is on the ground! I sure love my time on the tennis court and the bike with J. On Monday I have invited all the preschool moms over - would like to get to know them better. I don't think there will be too many that come over but should be fun.
I am headed to Billings this weekend (Friday -Sat) for a Beth Moore conference with some women at the church. Will be nice to get away!
Not much else. Will try to post some more video soon!

Time marchs on

We are in the middle of another quiet weekend. Lots of outside time with the boys and their bikes and helmets.
The bedtime routine is working wonderfully and probably 8 out of 10 times the boys are both asleep by 8. I have actually brought the sewing machine out and am working on finishing up some long overdue projects. Oh to have time each evening to read, sew or I even watched a little bit of tv last week.
Last week I took B to see a Live Veggie Tales Show. He loves Veggie Tales and it is not often these kinds of venues come close to us. We were both so excited. The church was packed, the stage was set, there was a buzz in the room. The lights go out and B sits on the floor. We are sitting in pews and before I realized what had happened, he is laying underneath the pew in front of me. My child was scared and did not want to come out. I tried coaxing him with lollipops, no such luck. He stayed on the floor the whole first half (40 minutes). At one point I thought he had gone to sleep. Then at intermission I got him out and he loved the second half, up dancing, singing, etc. It was a really, really good show. I did not know what to expected but this far exceeded my expectations!
His AWANA has been cancelled. Seems they can't find a director for the Cubbies, so until one is found, no AWANA. Was really bummed because he enjoyed it so much. But he still has his preschool. I am hoping to invite all the moms over to the house soon to get to know them. Would love to have playdates with some non-church friends!
Off to run errands, just wanted to check in!

Man Cave and bikes

J climbed on B's bike today and low and behold, he can reach the pedals! B climbed on the big wheel we gave him when he turned 2 and was finally able to reach the pedals to comfortably ride it! J seems a lot longer, at least in the stride, than B was. Here are two pics.

Here is a video that I finally remembered to post.....

Veggies!!!!!

Weather is great

A beautiful fall day here. The high was about 65, with a slight breeze. Last night the temp dropped to about 35. The aspen trees are starting to change colors.
Loaded the boys up in the bike trailer and headed to B's preschool. Then J got some park time in and I got an hour of playing tennis! He was so good and sat on the sidelines about half the time watching us (okay, he was eating his lunch too) but we were both very impressed how much he entertained himself. J and I found a 5 mile loop on the bike that does not require lots of intersections or stop signs! Just a perfect day for outdoor exercise.
Headed to the chiropractor. He is getting some new kind of laser on Friday that he is excited to use on the boys. Can really help with the allergies for B and should be able to run some testing on J. Was talking to him about B's allergies and he said an egg allergy is most likely a deficiency in Vitamin A. So, will be interesting to see how the boys respond!
Here are three pictures from the last week!

Tennis anyone...

I am sure the tennis tournament director is glad the weekend is over. There were 180 people that signed up to play, 52 more than last year. At the college they only have 4 indoor courts and 8 outside courts (with no lights). There was a rain delay all three days of the tournament. I had a lot of fun and learned that I don't move as fast as I use to and that my timing does not come back as quickly. I lost both my singles and doubles matches but certainly made my opponents work for a lot of the points. Because of the rain delays, the consolation matches (which were suppose to take place) ended up being cancelled. So, I am ready to get geared up for another tournament in Nov. Maybe then more of my game will be falling into place. I hope to also figure out my weekly schedule and sign up for a winter league. With winter being 6 months out of the year, sure wish they had more indoor courts. Because of the high demand, courts for non-members are $30 an hour! Year memberships are $550, not too much less than a season ski pass!
The boys are doing well. I think I have deciphered another of J's words. Whenever he wants something I hear a very high pitched "mine" of sorts. Not exactly one of the first words I want him to learn.
B is excited about another day of preschool. He is really getting into the mode of having conversations while he is playing by himself. It is so funny to listen to him and the things he says. Maybe sometime this week I can listen more closely and share them.
Off to get them ready for bed!

The Fall Schedule has begun

B had a great first day of preschool and Awana. His comment over and over after preschool was "I had so much fun". It is nice because we are not real crafty at home and now he will be bringing home lots of papers, etc for his keepsake box. I hope to post some pictures soon.
After we dropped off B, J and I headed to the park. He played and I enjoyed some time in the grass. We then headed to the tennis courts, hit some balls. Just so nice not to be rushed. I sat for a while and watched J chase tennis balls. Then I went for a 30 minute bike ride. Just a beautiful fall day here!
I just checked the draw for the tennis tournament. My first doubles match is 8:30 Friday night and my first Singles match is 6pm on Saturday. Very strange schedule. I saw were some matches were starting at 10:30 Friday night. I guess they had lots more entrants than they anticipated. Just goes to show that maybe Bozeman needs a few more tennis courts in town.

Quiet Labor Day

We had a great time at our friends's house. It was nice to get away and enjoy some peace and quiet - however much peace and quiet you can have with 4 boys. They live on 20 acres and far enough away from the highway that you get no road noise. When we went to bed it was cool to see all the stars outside as we laid in bed. We don't get those views anymore
Not much happened over the weekend. I had planned on playing lots of tennis but waking up to 40 degree temps and rain did not allow for any tennis. Yes, we actually got snow in the surrounding mountains. Seems a little early, but it is September.
Tonight we head to B's school to see how classroom and teacher. Then it is off to school tomorrow. I think he is excited!
Other than that, not much going on this week. Trying to stay close to home as the gas is still high - 3.89. When it was at it's highest of 4.19, some friends from Bozeman went on a road trip. They said a town just a few hours from us had gas for 4.00. Not sure the difference but it does not seem to be dropping as fast around here.