On Saturday the boys and I headed out to camp. We always have a favorite spot, because it is a little out of the way, not as well known, potential for lots of wild life, a water supply and free camping! Sure enough, we scored on the wildlife. This spot is 8 miles back and you reach it through an easement on private property. The private property is home to lots of buffalo, it is just that the land is massive and you never know where the buffalo will be. Not only did we get a close view of the buffalo, we had to stop in the middle of the road so they could pass in front of us. I did not even need to 'zoom' on the pictures.

We actually saw a wolf too...a black wolf at that. JR was quite impressed and sorry he missed it. (He met us out there a few hours later)

 

 Here are the boys goofing around at our 'lunch spot'

 

 The view from our campground. There was not a cloud in the sky in the temps were in the 90s. Rather hot for us. Fortunately there are mountains on both sides of us, so shade came sooner for us.

JB walking across a bridge....The 'no railing' on one side made me nervous, but he did great.

The boys trying to pump water from the well.  They were not quite big enough so mom got her workout.

JR brought the BB guns.  He cut off the stock on one of them so it fits Jbird perfectly.  They set up wood with aluminum cans on them.  It took Jbird quite a while to get it, but B did awesome.  He even got to where he could stand up and scoot back and still hit the can.  One time he was even messing around and using only one hand and it the can.

The boys have been wanting to play baseball.  Jbird had a couple of really big hits where the ball actually hit cars.  Fortunately it was a tennis ball and no damage was done.  This was right after he clobbered one that hit a car.

Their first experience with true mountain biking.  They were not real crazy about the rocks, but hopefully in time they will get the hang of it.  (Mom does not do mountain biking...I have come off too many bikes.)

Of course every camping trip has to have s'mores.  Our chocolate got too soft, so we just stuck with marshmallows.

(I sure wish I could remember what he was laughing at...I love his expression.)

 

 As evening wore on, B began asking about church the next day.  He did not want to miss church.  He was adamant about that.  So, after dinner, he and I packed up and headed home so we could go to church.  JR hung out with the other two.  I can't say I was too disappointed since it meant I could sleep in my bed versus on the ground!

Just a few short sentences.

 B has started two different math 'classes' at the local library. One is called Math Whiz and the other is Biz Kids. Both classes are for grades 3 and up. The Math Whiz they play math games, that B said was kind of hard. The Biz Kids class is more about teaching them basic money skills with an entrepreneurial bent. After the first Biz Kids he came home and wanted to open an account at a bank. He has asked several times since then. Maybe with some of his birthday money, I can go help him open an account.

 The boys are wanting to do a lemonade stand and I have finally found an incredible lemonade recipe. It is just the recipe off the bottle of lemon juice (the name escapes me right now). But if you substitute some of the lemon juice with key lime juice....amazing. We can go through a gallon of it in a day! Can't wait to pair it with some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...just have to find a good warm day to do it.

Tomorrow is the last day of soccer for B.  He sure has improved this season.  JB is even getting into the action.  He loves to head butt the ball.  Jbird has practiced a few times with the team and certainly holds his own with the older kids.  Will be interesting to see Jbird play in the fall.  B finished up a baseball camp this past week.  He really enjoyed it and it has reignited his fire for baseball.  The last day of camp they got to go on a local 'big' field, with stands, etc.  The boys played the dads.  All of them got one 'at bat'.  It took him several swings before he hit the ball, but he made it to first.  He sure did look really small on that big ol' field.

I think I am getting too much sun.  With all the swimming and other activities, I am wiped at the end of the day.  The last several days I have been out in the sun, I have noticed an 'angry' looking rash on my arms.  I thought it was maybe the chlorine at the pool, but noticed the rash after I had not been in the pool.  Not sure what that is about, whether it is something I am using that is reacting to the sun or all this sun exposure is too much for my body.  I know the kids love it.  JB keeps getting darker and his hair lighter.  So glad they at least have the 'olive' gene in their DNA.

An amazing display of God's glory recently. One of the most vivid double rainbows I have ever seen. The color difference above, between and below the rainbows was amazing. The bottom rainbow was so bright and I don't know that I have ever seen such a 'line' between the colors. Usually you can't tell where one color stops and the other starts. Plus several 'lines' of the rainbow were duplicated. We recently saw JR off to work and about 30 minutes later kept hearing a noise by the front door. Then the door opened and shut. We were all eating breakfast so I knew it was not one of the boys. Turns out it was a neighborhood kid wanting to play at 7:30 in the morning! I don't know if I was more shocked that he was at the door or that his mom let him out of the house at that time. I have finally started reprimanding JB for some of the words he says. Not bad words but words I don't appreciate the other two saying. So, the gauntlet starts to fall with him too.

This past weekend B had a 2 day Cub Scout Camp. I helped out on the first day. There were 200 boys there from all places near and far. My job was to help out with our Pack's Activity Station, which was the rain gutter regatta. The boys made ships and then raced them along rain gutters filled with water. They could not touch the ship, just blow through a straw. We quickly found out that it did not take 30 minutes to make a ship (most everything was precut, they just had to assemble) and they got bored racing for 30 minutes. So I put myself in charge of the games when they finished. I took them to the side and entertained them for 10-15 minutes with Shipwrecked and Elbow Tag. I am glad to say that I was still able to chase those kids down and tag them. The theme of the camp was something to do with pirates. They brought home all kinds of arts and crafts. Amazing how you can come up with so many different stations based on just one theme. One of the stations was face painting and B happily showed off his face.

Here is a random picture of my oldest and youngest sleeping. I could not resist this. (yes, dirty faces again....)

We are still enjoying the pool. We found 4 local families that have joined with us, so the boys have friends to play with. Between the 5 families, we have 14 boys and the lone girl is almost 1! Yesterday Jbird took off his life jacket and played around in the pool. Did not go in deep water but another step forward. Trusting himself enough to be in the water without a life jacket or float. (I am sure having his friends not using floats helped). JB on the other hand. He would kick and paddle around by himself in the water with the life jacket on. I thought I was going to get away with not having to get in with him. No such luck. He took his life jacket off for snack and did not put it back on after snack. He headed to the pool. He, very quickly, got to the bottom of the steps and went under. I happened to turn around just after it happened. He was still vertical but fully underwater. I jumped in for him. He came up and did not sputter, cough, cry, nothing. He just clung to me. Based on his reaction when I brought him up, he did not take in any water. It was a huge reminder of how quickly something can happen. There were 6 moms within 20 feet of the steps and probably 4 kids within 3 feet of him, yet no one saw him go under. I am always telling the older two that the worst thing you can do when you do under water is to freak out. You need to stay calm or you can take on more water. Appears JB stayed pretty calm. This week B is doing a Mission Baseball camp. It is offered through a church from 9-12. Learning about baseball and God - great combination. The advertisement said kids 8 years and older. However, when we got there, they were allowing kids 5 and up. I was so excited, just knowing J would love it. However, when I asked him if he wanted to participate, he said no. JB is doing well with therapy. He now says, anytime he sees a small white car, "peace off er". They are very.deliberate.syllables. Omitting the same sounds every time. B lost yet another tooth. He will turn 8 next week and still debating on what to do. He has his guest list made up, but just can't decide what activity would be best. Seems the older they get, the harder it is to find birthday type activities for them.

Guess who went fishing this weekend.....
 A 14 inch trout......Pretty impressive. Needless to say he was excited. He also got to go help JR with a side job over the weekend - replacing some fencing. He loved his 'paycheck'. $7! I love how little it takes to impress kids this age!

We recently spent an afternoon....5 hours to be exact, at a local pond. There were 6 or 7 other families that joined us. One family brought several kayaks and two families brought rafts. The boys had a blast! I got lots of adult conversations in. We were all tired from all the sun and fun.

Here is JB...when we got there he had first ridden his bike and after that refused to take his helmet off.
When B first climbed into this kayak, I 100% expected him to get about 30 yards out, get frustrated that he could not control the kayak and freak out. Much to my amazement, he spent probably close to an hour paddling around the pond. Thursday we headed back to the pool. We were there for over 3 hours (lots of sun this week). The boys did amazing. Jbird now is very comfortable in the water with just a life jacket and he will kick/swim around the whole pool. B is comfortably swimming the width of the pool. JB killed it on the slide. He went down it no less than 25 times back to back - all the while with a life jacket on. Towards the very end, I would catch him and then quickly put him under water on the count of three. He handled it very well. Then I started letting him go down the slide and would not grab him until he came back up from underwater. I would simply grab him, turn him around and tell him to swim to the side. He would kick towards the side and then wait for me to help him out of the water. He also loved kicking off the side of the pool and swimming 5 yards, then he would flip onto his back and kick back to the wall and start all over again. We are on our way to mission accomplished...having three swimmers in the family! I think the boys are excited for JR to join us some day so they can show him what they have been doing.

**For some reason, some days I am able to format and do paragraphs and other days I do the same thing but it runs it all together as one LONG paragraph (as the post before this). Sorry if this makes it difficult to read.** A recent outing to the pool. As we headed out there it was 73 degrees and sunny. When we arrived it was 63, overcast and slight breeze. Did not know if we were going to freeze or not, but the boys wanted to give it a try. By the time we got all changed, it was sunny and nice. We had the pool to ourselves.

Caught B as he was coming off the slide!

Jbird cracks me up...he won't take the arm floats off yet, but he also loves to wear the ring...so he does both...

Just random stuff.... B lost another tooth. We are at 5 and almost 8 years old. They keep telling me the slower they come out, the better. He has another appointment this week with the orthodontist to see if his 6 year molars are in enough to look at an palate expander. I don't realize how tight his teeth are until I see other kids with huge gaps and plenty of room for teeth to come in. JB has turned into a jumping maniac. He will get on the back of the couch and somersault onto the cushions and then the floor. Then he will just start jumping around, being crazy. Maybe the kid needs some gymnastics! The other night he woke up and was in bed saying 'wa Mom'. I went to get him water. As I left the room I told him good night and he replied 'ni Mom'. Almost brought tears to my eyes! His cute little language where he drops off the beginning and end of words. This morning I heard B say "J, give me your face...I won't hurt you" Not sure what that was all about but they were doing some kind of wrestling. One thing I am really working on the older two with is thinking before they speak and not feeling like they have to be sneaky/deceitful to get what they want. They are so quick to answer a question and end up not giving a truthful answer or hands will get into things without asking. The other day one of them spoke without thinking it through and ended up 'telling' a lie. I sent them to their room for the day! I figured it was getting to be more consistent and punishments needed to be painful (not physical). We had a birthday party for that afternoon and figured it was not fair for their punishment to get in the way. So we went to the party (in the country) and left said child in the car, listening to the radio. Was he ever upset when we left an hour later and had not invited him inside. I was impressed though, I think the consequence was working because normally he would have climbed out of the car several times to come ask when he could come in. Today something happened and B decided nobody liked him and he was just going to leave home and be on his own. I thought, this will be good. A few minutes later he stood by the door and told Jbird that he was going to find a new home. I asked him if he thought about where he was going to live, he said no and I said 'that is sad...you should know where you are going to live' ('love and logic' training there...). He proceeded to walk out the door. Jbird followed him out and a few seconds later Jbird came back inside hysterical and crying...."Mom B just left and he is going to find another home. He started walking down the street" Poor kid was just sobbing. I casually walked outside to just watch what direction he was headed. He had gotten a house away and then turned back and passed by going the other way (as if he was strolling around waiting for someone to come rescue him). He only had a magazine in his hand. Jbird was still hysterical, so B turned back toward the house and trying to hide his smirk and his 'if i have to stay look', said 'Okay J I will give you one more chance.' I had to turn away to keep from laughing. The other day at speech therapy the older two had gone into the side parking lot to kick the soccer ball around. There is a drainage ditch out front so I told them to be careful. I watched them from inside. In a few minutes I saw a commotion outside and saw B run toward the ditch and J run toward the building. I guessed right, the ball was in the ditch! I went out there, I could not let the ball I paid money for float away and through town. I got far enough downstream that I saw the ball headed my way. Not real sure how to stop it or grab it, I stepped down into the ditch. It was only about shin deep. However the water was fast enough and the bottom of the ditch rocky enough that I lost my balance. I was able to throw myself forward to my knees as I was desperately grabbing the tall grass on the side - not much help it was. Then I looked up and there was the ball. I grabbed it and then slowly worked my way out. I can only hope no one I knew was driving by in those 30 seconds. Fortunately I had on shorts, so my clothes were not too wet. It sure was cold and fast flowing though. Then a few days later, I had run into the grocery store to grab a two things. I was in a hurry and walking fast. I had on sandals whose soles are just about worn out. I was right in front of customer service and fell. Dropped my wallet, the items I was carrying, etc. Silly me, I did not see the water on the floor and with my fast pace and pitiful sandals, I slipped big time. Of course everyone hustled to find the water trail and get it all cleaned up. They offered for me to fill out an incident report but I declined. I was fine. A little humiliated but all I could think was that I was thankful it was me that found the water and not an frail customer who could have been seriously hurt. Adios!!!

I like this little pool...I think I am going to like it a lot.

One of my goals this summer is to get Jbird comfortable in the water and swimming without any assistance. He loves hanging out in the blow up rings and will occasionally want the arm floats on. So, we checked out this pool yesterday. It was exactly what I had been hoping for. It ranges from 3-5 feet, has a small slide. Big enough to move around but not so big you lose kids in it. You can tell by the hillside in the back, it sits on top of a bluff. The people that work there are so incredibly nice and accomodating. The boys had a lot of fun. They were in the water about 2 hours. There were probably 12 other kids. It is just wide enough that it challenges B right now swimming all the way across the width of it. My hope is by the end of the summer he will be swimming the length of it. Jbird has been my challenging one but I got him to go like 2 kicks by himself. He does not have a problem with his face in the water, just the fear of sinking. JB was crazy in the water. He would sit in a float and kick all around the pool. When I was holding him, he would lay on his stomach, kick his legs and move his arms. He will even lay on his back and kick. Just not quite ready to put his face in the water. However, hopefully with this new, little pool all of that will change. The pool is open until mid October, which is about 6 weeks longer than any other outdoor pool around. Did I mention I like this little pool?

This past weekend I bought another bountiful basket and a tropical pack add on. It came complete with lettuce, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, bananas, oranges, coconut, nectarines, plantain, lemons, mangos, lychee, 2 pineapple, fresh ginger, mint leaves and vanilla beans. I got online and figured out what lychee was - interesting fruit. It is not very appealing to the eye but sweet. When frozen and then peeled, tastes a little like sorbet. I chopped some mint leaves and then soaked them in milk for a day. Then used the milk and some chopped chocolate to make mint chocolate chip milkshakes. Very, very tasty. I really nice subtle mint flavor. Every morning I have been making banana, strawberry, pineapple, lychee, nectarine, lemon smoothies. I never realized how a little lemon can change the taste of something. JR will enjoy the plantain and coconut. He has also told me how they use to take rind of pineapple and turn it into juice...so interesting to see how that goes. I had never had nectarines before, so the bountiful baskets have been good for me. The boys at times will even try a small bite. The tropical pack contained a note that listed everything in it and where it was from. The countries listed were Mexico, Ecuador, USA, Hawaii and Uganda. I need to figure out what to do with vanilla beans and I might try making a small batch of tomato sauce with the tomatoes.


Here is a random picture from a few weeks ago. The place where JB goes for daycare once a week (for socialization) took these and then made them into a card.

Can you guess what one of our recent outings was......

Jbird was on the move so had a hard time getting him to sit still. The boys loved feeding/chasing the ducks. Could not get any of them to eat out of our hand though. I have a summer schedule going! Mondays we head into town and I have a list of special town things that one of the boys picks. Tuesdays are our park days. After several conversations with some other moms, it was decided we wanted a park day once a week, so everyone can stay connected during the summer. Tuesdays are those days. Wednesday is our hang low, get things done around the house day. Thursdays are our play date days and fun bike trips around town, and Friday is hopefully going to be heading out to camp or hike. I have a list of play date friends and a tub of 'surprises' I can pull out when needed. Hopefully no more of the 'we don't know what to do' blues. A parent told me yesterday about a local pool that is small, has a slide, not well known and heated. (In our state, that is huge...most outdoor pools are pretty cold - especially for little ones and the indoor pools are cold for the lap swimmers.) Anyway this pool is kept at 85 degrees and they offer summer family passes for $75 a family. SCORE. It is a little bit of a drive, but by far a great deal and they are open 7 days a week from 12-6. But I can add weekly swimming to my boys life! Maybe by summers end Jbird will be totally proficient in the water. He has told me he does not want to take swimming lessons but wants Mom to teach him! We are already 'in town' twice a week, so we can add swimming to our stop. Nothing wears out a child quicker than being in the sun and swimming.

Look what my little boy can do.

He has finally figured out how to pedal a bike. He goes fast...faster than I can jog.  He loves his bike!

Yesterday was the last day of school!  B woke up that morning and cooked breakfast all by himself.  No one was allowed downstairs.  He got out the griddle, made up some pancakes.  Then he cracked the eggs and was in the process of scrambling them when he ran into problems.  He told me the eggs were not cooking because he could not get the oven to 350.  Panic set in.  I store things inside my oven.  Not sure what he was talking about, I tear off down the stairs.  The pancakes looked perfect on the griddle, toast was in the toaster oven and the oven was set to 550.  Fortunately, he alerted me soon enough and I got down there before the few plastic items had melted.  I then took the opportunity to tell him the about the different nobs on the stove.  I think he gets it now the difference between the burners and the oven.

Jbird insisted on helping but B said no.  So we compromised and Jbird made waffles that evening for dinner.  Amazed at how those little hands can perfectly crack eggs!

B ended up getting the coveted perfect attendance sweatshirt.  I think there were about 14 kids.  When you think about staying healthy for 185 days, that is a lot of days!  So thankful for good immune systems.  It is certainly not because we wash our hands before every meal.

One of my favorite sayings of JB's right now is 'otay Mom'.  The other word he says all the time, whenever he sees them, is 'peace' for police.  This past week we had his preschool meeting.  We met with the head of special education, the special ed teacher, physical therapist and two speech therapists.  No big surprises.  He tested normal in all areas except language.  There is some concern about his social interactions among peers.  He chooses more solitary play and I am sure it is because he cannot communicate with his peers.  It was interesting because they did not classify him as developmentally delayed.  At one point the director asked why everyone was requesting the preschool setting instead of continuing with private speech.  They simply explained that they did not label him developmental delayed but if you look at his standard deviations, he is at a minus two, which would qualify him for the program.  They really feel that the social interaction is very, very key, along with therapy, to progress the language.  So, he is officially accepted into the program.  He will be going 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hours.  They are also curious to get to know him more because they observed other peculiar things about him.  Things like when he would put the sheep's head on the sheep's body, he would put it on crooked, consistently, instead of putting it on the right way.  They were not sure if it was some other learning thing going on or just quirky.  I think quirky describes him perfect.  I know that he is so smart that sometimes he manipulates things just because he does not want to give you what you want.  I love that kid...always keeping us on his toes.  He has hit another milestone that I will try to get a picture of soon and post next time......one that I am very excited about!

Until then....