B had two t-ball games this week. As was expected, it has been windy and cold...not my idea of t-ball weather. (I can now just begin to appreciate the time my mom and dad spent out in the cold watching me play my sports. It is great when it is warm, but overcast, cold, windy and some rain and snow.....you want to be moving around, not sitting.) B is having a good time!




My week with 2 extra kids started catching up to me today. The last 2 days I have had a third child (while his mom worked) during the days. Crazy stuff. We have all survived and every morning everyone sleeps in a little longer. Marquis had baseball games opposite days from B, so between getting home from school, doing homework, getting everyone fed and then out the door to baseball, there is not much time for anything else. Sure gives me a taste of what it will be like next year if both boys play - one in t-ball and one in rookie. Their mom is suppose to be back by the end of the school day on Friday (unless a snow storm delays them...yes, spring up north).
I did somehow manage to keep the house somewhat clean!!

I am going to be helping a friend of a friend out this summer with some catering events. She puts the crew together and hopefully there will be some parties, etc to work most weekends. I have my first 'gig' this Saturday night for a few hours. Not tons of hours but enough to get me out of the house. Sounds like it will be a lot of setting up, serving, refilling, etc...just up my alley.

Other than a t-ball game and a few hours of work, a quiet weekend. I am ready.

The boys got small kites for Easter. (JB got one too, he was just sleeping when this one was taken).


We first took them out into the field behind our house. Then we loaded up the bikes and bike trailer and all headed to the Middle School. The boys had a blast. The older two have learned how to start their own kite, which cuts down on my work. The boys would let out about 10-20 feet worth of string and just run and run and run.

JB and JR decided it was much easier to just lay back and watch it.....

B got smart at one point and jumped on his bike while holding the kite. That was fine until he lost his wind and the string got all tangled up in the bike.

JB loved holding the string and regardless of how close you were to him, when he let the string go, you knew it. He would scream and jump up and down. I would tell him to run after it and he would bend down to try to grab it and the wind would push it further along. There were several times I picked him up as I ran to get it and he laughed pretty hard at that.

Since they were not a huge investment, they don't hold up real well. I will definitely buy a few more to last us the summer. No better way to burn energy than running up and down a field as Mom can sit back and watch.

Easter weekend was beautiful!!! On Saturday we rode our bikes to a local park where a church had an egg hunt. My favorite hunt because they conclude with the resurrection story told with the Resurrection Eggs.

I taught Children's Church on Easter and the kids did a short Easter Presentation. Afterwards we came home and had a snacky lunch. I have decided it is too much work to cook the all out Easter dinner. Especially given my boys do not yet appreciate it! Maybe one of these days they will eat ham, creamy potatoes and green bean casserole. (Anytime we have the 'traditional' meal, they eat rolls and dessert.)
A friend from church was having a neighborhood egg hunt, so went over there. It was the most organized thing I have ever seen. Kids had very specific colored eggs they were looking for. All the eggs were stuffed accordingly based on ages. Each kid found 10 eggs. Poor JB got so confused. He would find an egg and put it in his basket. I would tell him it is the wrong color and then I would take it out of his basket. Then he would find the right color, I would put it in his basket and then he would take it out.

I spent the better part of Easter evening cleaning the playroom carpet. JR painted some pictures on the climbing wall for our Super Hero loving boys.

Somebody did not put the paint away. Little hands got into the washable green paint! There was a spot about 2 feet x 2 feet on our carpet - it was saturated. It took me about 1.5 hours with our small steam spot cleaner to get it up. The verdict is still out. There is still a slight green tint, but sure blends better now than it did before all of my elbow grease.

We picked up the two boys today that will be staying with us for the week. Looking forward to having them.

Probably my most favorite song at Easter.....The CROSS - just one of the many things that says LOVE - God's unconditional love! Of course thankful for the cross, but also thankful for the EMPTY TOMB and the victory it brings!

ON A HILL FAR AWAY
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain:
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary.
(Refrain)

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
a wondrous beauty I see,
for 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
to pardon and sanctify me.
(Refrain)

To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,
its shame and reproach gladly bear;
then he'll call me some day to my home far away,
where his glory forever I'll share.
(Refrain)

JB did great on Wednesday with the ear tubes. The ENT said there was quite a bit of fluid behind his right ear. My guess is, his first tube only stayed in for a week and then came out. Everyone at the hospital was amazed how well he did. The anesthesiologist took JB from me and walked off. JB did cry a little later when he accidently saw me down the hallway. I did remember the camera this time!





He has been to speech twice since his surgery and both times he has had an awesome session. The first one she heard over 30 imitation sounds, more than any previous session. Let's hope things continue on!

B is out of school Friday and Monday. Therefore his class had their Easter egg hunt yesterday. Every child was to bring in 1 doz filled plastic eggs. She needed volunteers to hide them, so I volunteered. I headed out with 26 doz. eggs. I did not know of any others helping, so I called a friend who met me over at the park. We ran around like crazy for 15 minutes hiding eggs all of this park. About the time the kids were to show up, my phone rang. It was the teacher and I was at the wrong park. Yes, I had hid 26 doz eggs and now I needed to go gather them all up. It was a big park/area, but fortunately, not a lot of really good hiding places. Most eggs were very easy to see as you got close. I recruited two other people and we got them all gathered up in about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, the kids happily played in the light rain at the other park. When I showed up, some parents were humored and some not so much. Oh well. We got them all 'hid' on a baseball field and the kids did not seem to mind a bit. They were just excited to be out running and finding stuff. (To my credit, I came back home and pulled out both of the notes the teacher had sent home about the egg hunt. The first one said it was at the fire dept park. The second one said it was at the ballfield park. I guess when that first note came home I just put it in my head it was at the fire dept park and never thought about it again.) Needless to say, I think in the coming years, I will volunteer to help hide eggs but I will not be the parent that shows up with them!

Monday is the first t-ball game. Monday is also the day the other two boys will come and stay the week with us. Should be pretty low key (commitment/meeting) week but lots of running around town, picking up kids, doing therapies, baseball, homework, etc.

FINALLY got a good family photo - of course before haircuts.

This kiddo needs a haircut.

So does this kiddo.

(Although his hair always look ragtag when he has slept on it because he loses his curls.)

I had said I would not give either a haircut until something happens. Well, IT finally happened.


B finally lost his first tooth. Once he lost that first tooth, the one right next to it was loose. B wanted the other tooth out, so dad grabbed the pliers. By the end of the day, he had lost 2 teeth!



He finally got to use this, a gift for his 6th birthday from his Granny.



So, as much as I did not want to, I did IT.





The two of them watching Beauty and the Beast. JB did awesome. Did not utter a word and did not move much at all.



He looks like such a big boy and amazed how narrow his face looks. I actually see some of B in him.

In other news, JB went back to ENT. Now the PA on Friday told us his ears were clear and it looked like the tube was in but protruding out. Today, the doc said there is fluid in the ear and the tube is laying (stuck to) the eardrum. The tube has come out. It happens in about 1% of the cases and in this case, our child is in the 1% category. So, they had a cancellation for Wed, so we are going back in to have them redone. At least this time around it should be even shorter because it is the gas mask and not general anesthesia. Last time when we got to the hospital I was kicking myself that I did not have my camera. I guess I get a second chance to take pictures of him in his little hospital gown.

Took JB to the ENT yesterday. As I pulled into the parking lot, I remembered Fridays are his surgery days, so knew we would be seeing the Physician's Assistant. After looking in his ears, she had no explanation why the right ear is still testing as a normal ear drum (as opposed to one that has a hole/tube in it). She said it looked like it was starting to pull out a little bit (like what you would expect 9 months after insertion), but that it still appeared to be through the ear drum. She and I went back and forth. I told her I have done 2 rounds of the ear drops and he always let me willingly put them in, so I did not feel like it was a matter of them not getting in. She kept saying the only explanation she had was the tube was plugged with fluid. She suggested we do another round of ear drops and come back in 2 weeks. Fine. Then as I was checking out, she stepped out and said, can you come back on Monday and let the Doc look at it. I would feel better if he looked at it. Sure. So, I guess on Monday the Doc can put a puff of air in his ear (the PA was not very good at this procedure she said so she did not try it) and see what the ear drum does. Either way, it does not seem to bother JB. JB actually has some upper respritory stuff right now and neither of his ears are fluid filled or infected, so probably a good sign. It just bothers me that there does not seem to be an explanation to this problem (other than they think I am not putting drops in).

Last night was our homemade pizza for dinner night. The boys did really well helping this time.
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlrOf9M2ZGaESHTfHipTHb8IHhfuUuqmS4UgDPftl5rGivjKIJ-l3Sgn-jYGj2t3gQ0ZMUftcI9dHpjdqwXXeCWwUUg_dFKdmZQKrhIBgIJpzpvzcONodx47AypqhybSkSqBhCOoIlw/s1600/pizza+and+crib+007.jpg">
It is nice that they are getting old enough to actually be productive help with certain tasks.

This morning I turned them loose on the old CD player. We have probably taken about 25 screws out and they are amazed how many more screws there are. Jbird has decided while B works on the CD player, that he will go and take off all the lightswitch plates. All I know is they are entertained and working on those fine motor skills. Would be nice if in a couple of years they were able to make sense of it all and build things.

B has never eaten a hot lunch at school. He always takes his lunch from home. I usually send a sandwich, chips and then one or two other fun things (granola bar, cookie, etc). I have always been able to monitor how much he eats cause his trash always came back home. I guess he got tired of me commenting about how he does not eat all of his sandwich but eats everything else. So he has gotten smart and throws all his trash away at school. I can only hope he is eating everything and not throwing things away. As for eating and Jbird, he is my messy eater. He no longer asks for napkins but goes straight for a wet washcloth.

Marquis, the friend we take to AWANA and Sunday School, and his 3 year old brother are going to be spending 4 nights (school nights) with us. Their mom has the opportunity to take a trip with her parents, so we are taking the kids. We will have t-ball/baseball every night, have 5 kids to get out the door by 8am, do homework and take two kids to therapy appts twice a week. It will be very chaotic, but really looking forward to having them in our home. They come the Monday after Easter through that Friday.

Off to see what damage has been done with screwdrivers.

We have finally pulled out all the bikes and put up most of the winter gear. (It is never safe to put it all away, as we can get snow 12 months out of the year.) These were taken on a recent nice day.

I love the tongue in the next picture.

JB was down yesterday with a fever and has another cold.

JR and B both went to the eye doctor yesterday. B has no problems with his eyes, but JR needs bi-focals. JR is quick to tell me that I am older than him but now I have one more way in which to tell him that I may be older in years, but my body certainly thinks it is younger.

Had first t-ball practice. Went pretty well. The team appears divided, as far as boys and girls. Will be interesting to see how B does this year, being one of the older ones. Hopefully the leader in him will emerge.

Took JB back to the audiologist to test his right ear. She is still getting the same reading, indicating that there is something wrong with the tube (either it is not actually in or still plugged - not likely it is still plugged because we are still doing ear drops). We have a post op appt with ENT on Friday.

On Sunday afternoon we had a scout outing with our Den. We went to visit the local University's Research and Teaching Farm. I had always known it was there but had not a clue what they do. Now I do. They have horses, sheep and cows. We got to meet two of their very special 'science' cows. These 2 cows have a canula inserted into them. It is about as big as a frisbee, with two identical sides, kind of put together. In the middle is a plug that can be popped out. One side of the canula is sewn into the cow's hide and the other side of the canula is sewn into the stomach wall. Yep, you guessed it. You pop the ol' plug out and you can see directly into the cow's stomach. Some of the scouts donned shoulder length gloves and reached on in. My boys could not bring themselves to do that, so of course, mom did not want to show them up, so I declined too. Everyone kept saying how warm (it's about 100 degrees inside their stomach) and squishy it was. Just looked like lots of watered down hay. The two cows are so big, 1800 pounds, that a few days before our arrival one of them got stuck in the walkway on the way to the chute. So, the lady showing us around had not fed the cow we saw in about 24 hours. Amazing how much stuff was still in her stomach. There are several different ways these science cows are used. If a rancher has a cow that has some stomach issues (diahrrea), the rancher can bring a thermos to the University farm and get a thermos full of good gut material to take back and inject into his sick cow's stomach. They will also take these 2 science cows, empty out their stomaches, then send them out to pasture with different grains. Then after a few hours, bring them back in to see which grains were preferred. They also use them to test minerals, etc. It was all very interesting. We went and saw the sheep too. They each have a numbered electronic tag in their left ear. Their feed is set up so that it sits on a scale and only one can eat at a time. So, anytime one eats, the number of the animal, the amount eaten and how quickly, all pop up immediately on a computer screen. Here are a few pictures. Here is all the kids standing in the chute. This is where the animal is contained for testing or for them to weigh them before giving meds. Here is a side view of the canula. Here is a kid sticking his hand inside the cow. Here is a close up of the canula. Could not really get a good shot of the cows showing there size.... The only time that B puts on his uniform is for a scout event. So, he does not wear it often. There have been a few times though, either before or after an event, that we were out in public. The comments we get from people when they see his uniform is amazing. Almost similar to what I would expect a military person to receive. So many of the comments are along the lines of 'good for you', 'stick with it', 'what an honor to wear that uniform', 'hope you make Eagle someday', 'takes a special person to wear that uniform'. It makes me proud to see him wearing it. He has decided to continue on next year. I am very glad for this.

A quiet week!

JB has made some breakthroughs with speech. This week he started twice a week. The therapist is hearing more and different sounds, just not on demand - which is the goal. He is babbling a lot more at home too. This past week he mastered the 'f' sound while trying to blow out a candle. As the therapist said, he needs to realize that sounds come from air moving out, so we are getting baby steps. Still he does not have any intentional words, although we are getting a few intentional sounds.

Several weeks ago I noticed JB was pooping so decided to put him on the toilet. He loves sitting on the potty now. I don't know that we have timed things right yet for him to be productive, but he is getting the concept down. Hopefully running around without a diaper this spring/summer will help. Ready to be done with the expense of diapers - although I have been supplementing with some of the diaper covers/pads.

I have been doing some more purging. I tend to think we don't have much more to purge, but I always seem to find another bag to fill. We have a few empty kitchen drawers, cabinet space under all the sinks and empty shelves in all the closets. Still trying to decide if I want to have a garage sale in May or just give everything away. I have a few more weeks of the weight loss challenge. Have not been doing as well as I had hoped, but still losing every week. I am hoping in another 4-6 weeks I will have to do some clothes shopping.

JR has been busy working. With the end of the ski season though, the after 5pm work should slow down considerable. He is hoping to go out next weekend camping somewhere in the woods. Hopefully it will be the first of several weekends getting out this camping season.

I anticipate May will be a month of milestones, as several things are in the works with the kids! We have a wall upstairs where we measure the kids and mark it on the wall. In the last 5 months, B and JB have grown 3/4 of inch and Jbird has grown 1/2 an inch.

Yesterday we went bowling with the cub scouts then walked to a park to pick up trash. Had a really good time. The cub scouts sure know how to put on an activity. The adults even had a good time and I had a pretty good score, thanks to the bumpers they put up.



JB had his hearing tested last week. He passed with flying colors. However, she noticed that one ear gave her a reading that she would expect with a hole in the ear drum (ie a tube). The other ear gave her a reading that she would expect in a normal ear (ie no tube or hole in the eardrum). The ENT seems to think that maybe one of the tubes is plugged from some of the fluid draining. We did ear drops for 10 days to prevent that, so not sure what is exactly going on. The ENT would like another hearing test in 10 days, just prior to our 1 month post op appt.

One thing that I love about this time of year is all the fresh fruit and that the prices come down on a lot of it. We were at Costco yesterday and bought 4 pounds of strawberries. The boys finished them in less than 24 hours. (How can I say no to them wanting more fruit.) We also buy the 3 pounds of frozen mixed berries. We polish those off in about a week. While shopping at Costco I always like to watch the Vita-mix demonstrations. JR was with us, so the five of us stood there for about 10 minutes and sampled several things. The fruit juice drink was good, as was the black bean soup (that was made in about 3 minutes) but what really impressed me was the cabbage, spinach and lemon sorbet. Jbird and JB licked their samples clean. B hardly tried it. It was really pretty good and a great way to get their veggies in them. Will have to consider getting one. I think JR was even impressed with what it can do. (Anybody have one and if so, would love to know what you think...)

Going to enjoy the last quiet week. T-ball starts in a week and then the craziness begins until school gets out.

Yesterday B wanted to audition for a Pinocchio play. This is put on by a traveling pair with a children's theatre. The students audition on Monday, practice all week and then perform on Saturday. I had several conversations with B about all the kids that will be there and he will need to focus during auditions if he really wants to participate. I went to pick him up after auditions (last year he wanted me to stay and I did and he ended up not auditioning, so figured he would do better if I was not there, plus, did not know how I would entertain the other 2 for those 2 hours). I could tell the second I saw his face he was not chosen. He looked sad and dejected. I knew he was watching for my reaction, so tried to not play to his emotions too much. He did not want to talk about it and told me he would not talk to me about it until he was in second grade. Fortunately, some sleep helped to change his mind. We did talk about it today. After talking with a parent that was there for the audition, she said B and another kid had a hard time sitting still and listening, so obviously that is why he was not chosen. During the audition I prayed that God would allow whatever He wanted. I was not 100% convinced that he was ready for that time commitment and I was right. It was a good lesson for B in following directions and that 'life is not fair' and you can't have everything you want. I still think he has some great acting skills and with time, he just might get to use them.

B has found a science experiment book that I bought a while back. He has had fun learning. Tonight he wanted to try his own experiment. He was curious what would happen if you mix vinegar, flour and sugar and then freeze it. (Guess we will find out in the morning.) Sure hate to squash those learning tendencies. He is also expressing an interest in taking things (old electronics, locks, appliances) apart. Sure is fun to see how their minds grow and learn and things we can do as parents to encourage that. B is having his vision checked next week. Seems there have been several different situations recently where he has mentioned not being able to see the classroom board well.

Jbird spent part of the weekend throwing up. Just a 6 hour thing, thankfully. But not feeling too hot today, although he has kept everything down so far. He actually was playing at John's house today and John's mom called me to come pick him up. She told me she had never seen him so mellow.

JB has a hearing test tomorrow. At his age they can't do a full on test but will be interesting to see if anything is picked up on that might have been missed earlier. He is babbling more and I am hearing a few new sounds.

Had a great time of worship and teaching at church on Sunday. Still mulling some of it over, but one thing that struck me was during the song "I exalt Thee". It is referring to God/Christ and one of the worship leaders spoke about what it means to exalt. It is simply lifting up. We were challenged about whether we lift up Christ higher than our problems, or we allow our problems to exalt over Him. Very timely words for me given some things I am working through right now. Amazing how a slight shift in your perspective can change things 180 degrees.

We have a few speech appts this week and I am heading up to the school Thursday to look at some curriculum the counselor will be presenting to the kids about touching, etc. Sad it has to be addressed but so thankful that they are in a school that encourages and invites parents to preview material so that we can work along side it. (I was very impressed with how the kindergarten material was presented last year.) Also will be helping out in the classroom on Friday. B informed me that only 46 more days of school. Saturday is a spring activity with the boy scouts. Not too much going on, just enough to get us out of the house and hopefully enjoying the warmer weather.

JB just amazes me. Every morning and evening I tell him we need to put his ear drops in. He lays down and turns his head to one side and then to the other. He just does not bat an eye. I sure hope someday soon I can catch his laugh on video. It is the most hilarious thing. We will be in the car riding and he will be babbling and laughing - when I open the door to take him out of his carseat, he will hide his face. Jbird use to do that and I always would say 'where is Jbird' and then start looking all over the car. Astounds me the things kids pick up.

The older two boys are at the age where they are starting to annoy each other, just to get a reaction. So we do the 'you know it is not right' talk and then the 'just ignore them' talk and they will stop. Today Jbird and his friend John were in the car with me. Jbird was singing some song that John did not like. John asked him to stop, to which Jbird said 'but I am ignoring myself'. (Neither Jbird or B fully get the pronunciation of ignore so we all say anoring around here.)

Jbird was getting ready to ride his bike and was putting on the helmet and knee/elbow pads. He brought them to me and asked me to put the pads on his arm pits.

B and I were talking today about his extra curricular activities. He is not sure what he thinks about cub scouts. I was trying to explain to him that if he stays with scouts throughout his school years, how respected eagle scouts are. Jbird listened intently and then just went off on supporting me. "B, that is right, you should listen to mom, it is really true....' He said it with such certainty, like he had just finished a book on the greatest eagle scouts of all times.

Often times as we are walking out the door I will give a consequence to one of the boys. The intention is that when we get to our destination or back home, they will have a time out etc. I am finding the boys saying more often 'what if you don't remember?' Guess I need to start making huge mental notes of things like that, or maybe hang a memo board up about what consequences need to be carried through. Fortunately, they often remember and carry it out anyways, or the other one will remind me! Maybe I am just too flippant about saying things like that and then forgetting. Good thing for kids to keep me on my toes.

We have two milestones that are bound to happen in the next couple of months, so have tried to hold out for both of them, since, in my opinion, they are two of the biggest things that change the appearance of a child - first haircut and losing the first tooth. So, I am going to try to wait for JB's first haircut until after B loses his first tooth. (I have cut JB's bangs once - as for the back of his hair, I don't think it is even on the collar yet, so it grows slows at this point)

Today was early release, the end of the third quarter. Hard to believe. We have the t-ball meeting, so twice a week practices/games are just around the corner. Sure hope the weather stays nice.

Jbird had a good time at his birthday party. He had five friends over. We did pizza and the typical birthday fare. 2 hours is the perfect length of time. The weather did warm up just before the party so we were able to get outside and run around.

JB is doing fine. Would never know he had surgery on Friday.

Yesterday we picked B up at school. There was no snow on the ground. So nice to let the kids run in the grass and JB got in on the action. Today we woke up to snow! Welcome to spring in the north! The third quarter ends this week, hard to believe we are down to about 10 weeks left of school. B continues to do well and I think is settling down more. As his reading improves and math skills, homework is not such a chore. It is still weird to hear him read a book by himself.

Despite wanting to yell at the scale (I know I should just get rid of it), my clothes are telling me a different story. I put on a pair of jeans after they had been washed. They easily slipped on. Yeah! I am still able to get to the gym usually once a day, often times twice a day. I have also started a quest I found on hundredpushups.com. My brother had told me about it and then saw it in a magazine. You work up to 100 push ups in a day over a 6 week period. Since I am not doing much strength training at the gym, mostly cardio, figured this and a few other things at home would be good.

JB's procedure went well. The doc said there was quite a bit of glue like fluid in both ears that looked like it had been there a while. His adenoids were also rather large, creating more problems. I am sure it is coincidental, only time will tell, but when we got home, I asked him to make a certain sound and he did it twice, on demand. I was quite excited, so will see if I can get more sounds out of him this weekend. Maybe with him feeling better, there will be more of a desire to work on things.

Took the kids to the public library today. My boys just love the handicap button that automatically opens the doors. I don't like them pushing it, telling them it is not a toy but sometimes it happens before I can stop them. Well, the front entry way to the library is pretty small, with not much room between the inner set and outer set of doors. Jbird pushed the button before I could stop him. Then I saw it coming and could do nothing about it. In the little entry way is a bookshelp where people can leave read magazines. There was an older lady looking through the magazines. She did not realize the handicap doors were opening. She did not move in time and got squished between the bookshelf and the door. I was mortified. I felt so bad. I can still see her face, she did not know what had happened. I was very apologetic and Jbird also apologized. Sure am glad she was not hurt, I can just see the headline now.....

Took the bus Thursday to the mall with some friends. Her two boys are close in age to B and Jbird, so it was a lot of fun. With the price of gas, I envision lots of bus trips this spring and fall. It is so easy to make a day of it and hit all the major stops.

Nothing on the agenda for the weekend except Jbird's party tomorrow. I purposefully kept the weekend clear in case JB was not feeling well. I don't think the surgery will slow him down a bit. (I guess it is the tonsils that knock people back a few days...his ears or removal of adenoids seems to be causing no problems. Have not even given him tylenol.

Another birthday has rolled around. Happy 4th bday to Jbird! Oh the joys you bring to our lives.

Your enthusiasm makes me smile. Your excitement with how well you stay in the lines when you color. The way you say YYUUMMMMMMMMMMMM when you eat something for the first time and like it. The fervor with which you try to help around the house. The way you jump up and down and say 'are you serious' when I tell you something fun we are going to do.

You keep me on my toes more than any other. I can't leave you alone in the shower with a bottle of anything, otherwise it becomes suds. You crack me up how you dig holes in the bar of soaps - took me a while to figure out why there were perfect little holes in soap that I had just opened a few days prior. The numerous candy wrappers I have found stashed behind the couch. The way you love to sneak into the refridgerator.

The things you do that just make me laugh. Playing hide and go seek with you and listening to your little laugh as I get close to finding you and listening to you count to 20 as you skip various numbers. Watching you ride your scooter and bike and all the tricks you (try) to perform. I never know what foods you will like that day, or what clothes you are going to want to wear. The fun you have playing with all the kids as we wait for B to get out of school. Your bursts of energy.

How adventurous you are. Jumping between objects, jumping off of objects, all without fear. Careening head first down the stairs. The things you will stand on top of. The hills you will sled down or ride your bike down.

What a blessing God provided in you!

He recently broke out into spontaneous song and I got it on video. As you can tell, in some regards it is Christmas all year long at our house. (When I try to test play the video, it shows an error - hopefully it will work once posted - if not check back)


In other news, took JB to the ENT. Seems that he needs little tubes in his ears, they are just not draining on their own. His adenoids are creating some problems so those will be removed. All of this will be about a 15 minute procedure on Friday.

Saturday is when we are having a few friends over for Jbirds birthday. It sure is hard to get a 4 year old to understand the difference between his real birthday and when it is celebrated. He is so excited that this morning is his birthday - just not quite getting it that the whole day is his birthday.

Friday started spring break. Since the local kids' museum has free admission on Friday nights, decided to take the boys there. They loved it! Lots of hands on playing with things.

Had a quiet Saturday. The weather over the weekend was sunny! Yeah! We have officially pulled the boys' bikes out. Sunday after church we headed to a local hotel for one night. I had never been to the hotel but heard great things. It was the coolest. The interior was kind of like what you would see in Cabela stores. The big large rocks and boulders and animals mounted on them. They had 4 individual hot tubs amongst the rocks, a waterfall and fish. The pool area had another hot tub and kid pool. We ended up seeing some of our friends, who had the same idea we did. B had a blast playing in the pool with them last night and for about 4 hours this morning. Jbird and I floated between the hot tub and pool and JB loved just throwing the tennis balls into the water. The boys were up until 10pm. Had an awesome breakfast buffet. They were so exhausted when we got home today all three of them took a nap! Hopefully we can do it more often!

Tomorrow we have several different appts and hopefully weather in the mid 50s!

Took JB back to the doctor. His ears are no better and they have referred us to an ENT. Also thought to take him to my chiropractor. He (chiro) said that his tubes felt pretty bad and gave me two different things to do with his neck and ears in hopes of opening them up. His speech therapist said that he dug his heels in unlike any time before. Poor kid, we all seem to be ganging up on him, trying to get him better and talking. We are checking into the insurance, but hopefully JB can get approved for twice a week therapy. The therapist really feels he could benefit from more frequent sessions.

It has been warmer the last two days, so getting out for some walks. Jbird has taken a nap the last two days!!! That usually means a nap for me. He is enjoying his bike and JB loves the stroller. Although a couple inches of snow are expected tonight, it will be gone soon and the shorts will be here to stay!

Hoping to get a video downloaded in the next day or two.

Seems a sinus infection has somehow crept into my little head. Where does all that junk (snot) come from??? Did not sleep well last night but after some ibuprofen, feeling better. Got outside for about an hour while the boys rode bikes. I just sat in the sun. Probably one of the favoritest times of the year. People start coming up, you can start shedding layers and daylight savings time - this weekend! Yikes.



Our little Jbird will be turning 4 next week! Hard to believe and hard to imagine our lives without him. We will probably invite a few friends over for pizza, cake and ice cream. Next week is also spring break and I am committing myself to getting a schedule for our 5 days off. Not a strict schedule, but at least a 1-3 hour something every day (ride the city bus, children's museum, play date, park, etc). We are planning on taking the boys to a local hotel on Sunday. Something close and not too expensive, yet helped us feel like we got 'out of town' and did something for spring break. Will be fun to swim, grab all the not good for you snacks and just be crazy.

B put on a pair of jeans this past Sunday for church and he looked so tall. Really losing that baby look. Will only intensify when he finally loses a tooth. JBird seems to be coming quite the jumper. I am amazed what he will jump off of or jump from one thing to another. JB has discovered a new game. He gets all of his sippy cups out of the drawer and throws them all in the air. He just cracks up laughing when he hears them hit the ground. I just wish he was as enthusiastic about picking them up. I will be taking him back to the doctor tomorrow. I think he is better, but I don't think anywhere close to 100%. Will see what they say.

Hoping for a good workout tonight, as I just scooped up way too much white rice with corn chips (how good the carbs tasted though). One of those days with the boys, putting out fires from sun up to sun down - oh, it it not sun down yet!

JB is still sick. Took him back to the doctor and his ears are not any better and still the nasty cough and congestion. They did comment on how much better he looked than the previous week though. He has been on antibiotics for 10 days. They want to see him back early next week. He is starting round two of meds. Not sure what the plan is if he is not better. Just wish I knew why his body was not kicking this or responding to meds.

He went to therapy yesterday. The therapist comes out laughing and says I got a few more sounds out of him. I looked at her and told her she gets more in 45 minutes then I get in 168 hours. She told me I will not get this stuff at home. He only has 45 minutes with her and he knows he has to perform to get something. (Made me feel good for her to validate that the sounds will come last at home) So far her therapy sessions have been divided. The first half she battles the will and the second half he will use some signs. This past week, he started giving her (after the will battle) single sounds for things. B for ball. So starting next week, she is not going to allow him to use many signs but push him for single sounds for things. So there is progress, although I don't see it at home. The whining the past couple of days has been horrible, to the point of where I put him in his crib because I can't listen to it any more.

My niece ended up coming out for a few days. She is a freshman in college and decided to spend part of her spring break with us (how privaleged we feel). The weather did not really cooperate - too warm to sled, ice skate, ski but too wet to get out and hike. One day we dropped B off at school and JB off at a day care and she and I took Jbird to an indoor climbing place. Kelster ended up doing way more climbing than I did - I did most of the belaying. My arm strength needs some work. Jbird loved climbing up about 4 feet (to the same spot) and then wanting to come down (ie float/swing in the air like spiderman......) Here are some pictures that we took.

Since I was on the other end of the rope, Jbird took the Kelster pics. They were either blurry or the totally unflattering shot from right behind her.

Not sure why but this one cracks me up!

Later that day we picked up B and all headed to the mall. My intent was to play indoor mini golf (it really is mini). I had some coupons and figured we would have one adult and one child play. That way we could swap out every other hole - assuming their attention span would not be that long. It was a disaster. One kid kept whining cause he could not play, one was throwing golf balls and hitting people because he was mad and the other was moving so fast through the course no one could keep up, much less switch out clubs. Then we raced cars on this electric track they had. Other than the cars kept coming off the track because they did not grasp the concept of slowing down around turns, they enjoyed it.

The next day we hit some of the local downtown stores. The boys were great until we walked into the stores. No matter how hard I try to get them to use inside voices, my boys are just loud! Their voices carry!

Here is a picture taken of all of them reading one night.

I weighed in tonight. To date I have lost 8 pounds and 5 inches (4 of those pounds were this week). I will take it. Of course I want a 10 pound weight loss one week, but that is not practical. That is the bad thing of watching the Biggest Loser. I have to remember they work out 8, 10, 12 hour days and in a very controlled environment. If I can keep it up at averaging 2 pounds per week, I will be thrilled. I think one thing that is helping is getting to the gym 2 times a day, even if each time is 30 minutes. Gets the metabolism going first thing and just before bed. The first couple of weeks were sluggish but I think I am getting in a good groove!

Off to bed..seems like I have acquired JB's cold and I am wiped out!