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

Flag football season is here!!

I love how easy he is to spot in pictures.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



The bunk house!!

A vehicle that had the blind up top.

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

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

The lone fish JR caught.

Sitting and waiting for the hogs.

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

Despite few hogs, many memories were made!

Baseball season is in full swing.

And my favorite picture...

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

Last weekend I was in North Dakota, on edge of Theodore Roosevelt National Park at a women's retreat with some ND friends!!  Met up with one friend Thursday afternoon and we kicked around and then Friday morning visited an amazing creation/dinosaur museum.  The retreat was Friday eve through Sun morning and the speaker was really dynamic!!  Great time away.  Would have loved one more evening to decompress, but have it on my calendar for next year.

While there we took a short hike.  We followed a trail for a bit and then as we came over a small hill, saw a Buffalo laying down right in the middle of the trail.  We decided it was time to turn around.  We also saw some wild horses!  I wished they had been doing something wild, like running on a bluff, but they were just grazing right off the road.

Benjamin is registered for his high school classes....what, how did that happen!!!  I can't remember what he plans on taking in the fall, but should be great semester.  The school has said 8th graders can go to the high school gym and start working out for fall sports.  He is considering heading there at 6:15 in the mornings.  I think it would be great for him.  The football coaches told him he has a great build for lineman, if he put on some muscle.  Hopefully the encouragement will spark some motivation.  (I am just so ready to see him throw himself towards something other than video games!)

JR and Jacob made it to Texas in his 1985 Toyota pickup.  He loves that truck and has put a lot of work/money into it.  They will head to a ranch south of San Antonio to hunt hogs for the week.

You know you are a budget nerd, when the high light of your day is figuring out how to print these!

These are my budget envelopes and I finally took time to figure out how to print a ledger on the outside of them!!!

This morning we woke up and saw this outside the bedroom window.  So cool and there was also a second one.  Usually they fly east, but for some reason they were over us.

All last summer we had a kiddie pool out in the backyard for Bree, but she never used it.  We filled it up for the first time today.  We had been in the back field, in the sun, throwing the ball.  She was so hot and tired, she immediately got in the pool.  I think she is hooked now.  It will be one of her favorite places to hang.  The downside, then she is wet and that does not go well when she wants to come in.....hum!

She gets cooled off and then runs into the field and feverishly digs for gophers.

See to the left of Bree, the orange pill bottle...that has been target practice lately!!  I guess those days will soon be gone!

The other day I took Bree running with the car.  At one point the river ran close to the side of the road.  She took off for it and I knew trouble was coming.  She obviously cannot determine depth or swiftness of the river so she ran in, thinking it was shallow.  She was trying so hard to get back out and could not. Her tail end had gotten downstream and she was doing all she could to stay afloat.  I jumped out of the car and ran to river's edge.  It was not rapids, but moving quickly.  Since we were in the country and not a lot of houses around, I had decided running to her that I would not go into the water to get her.  (I was not concerned about going under, but more about ending up wet and cold in the middle of nowhere when I finally got to the bank).  I ran through the thorns.  The back of her head was pushed against a branch, otherwise she would have quickly floated downriver.  I had to grab her collar and literally lift her out.   She was really scared.  Hopefully she won't be so quick to run into moving water.  We certainly have to watch her this time of year with all the snow melt.

Here is progress behind our house :-(.  That fire hydrant is shoulder height and the hydrant that is just behind where I was standing is waist high.  I am assuming the road will have a slight incline to it??

Literally ground moving equipment.  It is cool though to be so close to construction that you can see all the steps involved!!

We took Bree out back this evening, with the chuck it and the ball.

It was comical, Ben had the camera.  He was acting like paparazzi with Kristine (my niece).  He was continuously taking pictures and rotating the camera for all kinds of weird angles.  This was one of her "stop it now" pictures.  When she saw this picture, she said it summed up her time staying with us.  (She sadly moves into her new place this week)

Ben is currently taking a Family Consumer Science class, where he is learning to sew, etc.  He made a really, really cool pencil pouch, that honestly, looks better than anything I could sew.  In his woodworking class he made this really nice box, with a tight fitting lid!

Our quiet little corner of the world is no longer quiet.....

There has been activity in our field for a couple of weeks, but last week they started putting in a road.  Look how close other houses/multi family units are going to be!!  Sad.  I think when the entire field is built out, there will be close to 600 units/houses. At least it will be a great place to officially walk Bree in weekends/evenings. 

As you can also see in the picture, it was just beginning to snow.  We got several inches early April and again last week.  The weather is quickly changing day to day.  I am ready to be able to put up our winter stuff.

Joseph has his first baseball game tomorrow.  He plays every Tues and Thurs for the next 5 weeks.  About the time his season ends, Jacob's flag football season will be starting.

JR and Jacob are heading to Texas in about 10 days to do some hunting.  It is gonna be a long drive for them, as they are taking JR's beloved little truck, but it doesn't max out at 80 mph.

Benjamin heads to DC on his 8th grade trip in 3 weeks.  Before long, summer will be here!

We are still watching the housing market.  Not much has come up that would work for us.  Not sure how all the new building will affect housing prices.

I am still working, and it looks like there is a handful of us that will continue working and not take a break between contracts!  I have enjoyed only working 8 hours a week, versus 15-20.  I am focusing on a few other projects around the house!

Not much else happening.  Been quiet, minus the wild and crazy weather!!

We all survived Spring Break last week! We had a great mix of down time and getting out and being active.

We hit the local slopes! For some reason, Joseph is the only one that was really around long enough for pictures.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day!!!

The resort totally redid their beginner area and it is so nice!!  They even have another tunnel and lift up top, so lots of room for beginners.

I decided to hang out in the lodge.  At one point I looked up and saw a ski patroller walking in with Joseph.  My heart skipped a beat.  Turns out that Joseph, Jacob and our neighbor were skiing down a run, everyone doing great.  Then, they came to the top of a hill that Joseph remembered from last ski outing.  Him and his cousin Kenna got stuck on the hill and could not come down.  Joseph kind of freaked and refused to try it.  They ended up calling the ski patrol to give him a snow mobile ride down.  Next time I need to make sure I go up with him and get him to conquer his fears.  Oh the mind games we play.

We took an outing with a bunch of friends to an indoor nerf arena.  The boys had a blast and I enjoyed sitting in the quiet with the other adults talking!  We also hit the hot springs.  I joined the kids and we had a great time swimming and hanging out.

We also celebrated Jacob's 11th bday.  Pretty low key (no party) but he did get in lots of friend time!

Jacob is working out with 3 other boys for a 3-on-3 basketball tournament!  Sure love his enthusiasm and dedication to basketball.  Now that the snow is melted, I love hearing the boys out in the driveway playing!

Joseph decided last minute he wanted to play baseball.  So got him signed up and one of the options is to sell $1 candy bars...240 of them!  He was all excited to get out and sell, so why stifle his fire!  I was getting ready to go out walking with him.  At the same time niece Kristine came by to get Jacob for a grocery store run.  Right after they left, I walked out to catch up with Joseph and could not find him...it had only been 1 min, so assumed that he had jumped in the car with Kristine and Jacob.  A bit later, Kristine texted me about I mentioned Joseph.  She told me Joseph was not with her.  Oh boy!  It was about 45 minutes until dark and Joseph was walking the streets somewhere with chocolate and money.  We started driving around and I knocked on a few doors.  Identified one house where he had been, but no one else on the street had seen him.  I asked a few friends to help look.  We had probably 10 out looking.  I was starting to panic a bit and wonder if a 911 call needed to be made.  I had just decided to call 911 when Jacob called in, telling me he was home (I had just been home, so thought it odd I did not pass him).  When I got home, there was a sheriff's car. 

I just assumed when he was going out to sell, that he was going door to door.  But instead, he decided he was only going to knock where he knew people lived.  Therefore, he had gone much farther, much quicker than any of us anticipated.  The sheriff had happened to pass him a bit before and stopped him.  They bought some chocolate from him and kept going.  I guess a bit later, they decided they should check back with him.  They stopped him a second time and asked him if he had sold all his chocolate.  He told them no but he did not want to go home until he did.  They bought a few more bars.  Joseph told them he was gonna head back home and they offered to give him a ride.  Turns out he had gotten all the way to a friend's house, who lived about 1 1/2 miles.  I never would have looked that far for him.  When I got home the sheriff said in the future not to wait to call them.  It is easier to call people off than bring in more to continue a search after some time has passed.  I hope I never have to go through that fear again!

The snow is melting...yay!  We are starting to reach the 50s!!  So excited for dry roads and hiking trails to dry out!  Another quiet weekend ahead!

Spring Break starts today!!!  It is suppose to be a beautiful week and looks like sun most of the weekend!  We have had a gloomy, cloudy winter!  So ready for some sun and shorts.  Yes, we tend to pull out the shorts when it hits 40 and sunny!!

What has happened the last month....a lot of the same stuff.  Living life!

Benjamin has finished all of his official 'DC fundraising' and I am so excited.  The trip is paid for, now he is working towards his spending money!  Details are coming together for his 8th grade graduation.  Hard to believe in a month or two they will start registering for high school classes!  I am ready for the responsibility, hopefully, that will come with high school.  Benjamin is one of the youngest in his class, so he will not be old enough to drive until after his sophomore year!  I have told him he better really enjoy this summer, because next year, he will be old enough to get a real job, so this will be the last truly free summer he has.

Jacob recently was asked to play in a 5-on-5 basketball tournament with some friends from school.  Just the opportunity I was hoping he would get.  The tournament was last weekend.  While they played good, they went 0-4.  Since it was a new team, they had only practiced for 4 hours, where some of the other teams had been playing together for 3 years.  Quite the humbling experience!  The first game they played (which was against the team that ended up winning the tournament) was 46-7, the half time score was 28-0!  Every game they did a little better and there is talk of continuing on and trying to find some more tournaments.  He really enjoys the coach too!  I was proud of him and how well he handled the losses.  He is by far the most competitive one I have.

Speaking of, a very interesting dynamic appeared recently.  The older two were doing Kids CrossFit classes.  The first month it consisted of the 2 of them and 2 of Jacob's friends.  The second month, Jacob's friends did not participate, so it was just Benjamin and Jacob.  They were on the fence about just the two of them in class, but continued throughout the month of February.  The last class of February, things got weird.  The two of them were doing a particular lift with a barbell.  Benjamin had great form and the weight was pretty light for him.  So the coach suggested he add on more weight.  As she was putting more weight on Benjamin's bar, Jacob piped in that he wanted more weight.  The coach told him no and it did not make Jacob happy to see his brother get ahead of him.  At that point, Benjamin's form took a nose dive.  The coach later commented to me that it was crazy to watch how Benjamin chose to miss his lifts because he did not want to deal with competitive nature of Jacob.  After class Jacob was really upset and I decided then that things were gonna stop.  The coaches are encouraging Benjamin to try an adult class...hoping he will go with me next week to an 11am class.  Jacob is taking a mandatory break.

Sweet little Joseph recently got braces.  In two days his teeth have already come together.  He is plugging away at his 10,000 page reading goal.  We are close to 7,500!  I am hoping by end of spring break we will be at 8,500!  We have until early May to finish!  Not hard to do if you are just consistent with 3 books a night!  He recently wanted to try bananas in his cereal, which was huge, and he liked it.  Now if he would learn to eat eggs again, it would make breakfasts much better.  His school is having a first annual science fair later in March.  I am glad he wanted to participate.  We are going to nail down his project next week.  I think it might be as simple as making putty or slime, but will be fun to watch him pull it all together.  Hopefully this will spur him on to desire more stuff like this. 

Several nights this past week, Bree has woken us up several times with what I describe as dry heaving.  It was only getting worse so took her to the vet.  How embarrassed I was when the vet told me it was a cough.  I guess I never heard a dog cough.  Anyway, some medication later and looks like things are getting better.  She is really ready for the snow to melt..then it won't be so muddy and we can get out and get more running in.

This past week I have not done any dishes.  I finally came up with a plan that seems to be working.  I got tired of the boys leaving plates at the table and on the counter.  They did not seem to understand the concept that even rinsing the dishes makes it easier to wash them later.  (We have never had a good working dishwasher so always did them by hand)  So, each boy took one day and they had to do all the dishes from that day.  Even the dishes I dirtied while they were at school.  Before they went to bed that night, every dish had to be clean, dried and put away and counters and table wiped down or they got another day of dish duty.  Basically a totally clean, to mom's standard, kitchen. They balked early on but the older two have finally learned what a clean kitchen looks like and rocks it.  Hoping to continue things for another week and then we might see if everyone can take care of their own dishes or the boys continue with the whole day. 

I have told them we are just warming up to lots of responsibilities this summer.  I am hoping to ramp up my work at home stuff and try to do 20 hours most weeks.  If I do that, they are taking more of the house responsibilities.  We have had many conversations about what things would look like if everyone just took care of their own stuff, immediately and were responsible with all areas of their lives.  I told them....imagine a house with no rules....because everyone was capable of managing all of their stuff and responsibilities.  Hopefully we can pull some of that off.

Things for JR are slowing down a bit, because the snow has tapered off.  He is itching to get out onto the trails and do some hiking and camping.

We are still casually watching the housing market.  Seen a few things that could work for us, but none that just really grabbed me, except that one house.  Every thing I am seeing on line says they have a pending offer.  A part of me wishes it would go back on market and they would lower the price a little.  God knows what He has for us....I just need patience!

A quiet weekend ahead.  Hopefully I can get some pictures next week and post before another month passes.

We are in the middle of some cold temps!  The good news, it is almost mid February, so it won't last long.

Jacob is in the middle of his YMCA basketball season.  It has been a huge learning experience for him.  The league is for 4th-6th grade.  When the Y put the teams together, they did not ask playing experience or anything.  Jacob is the only 5th grader on his team of 4th graders.  A lot of his teammates do not have much experience.  I told him instead of being frustrated and upset that all of his friends are on another team and his team is the youngest, that this is his opportunity to shine as a leader.  As the oldest he can set the tone on the court.  He has stepped up and done that the last 2 games!  So proud of my boy.

Benjamin is coming to the end of his DC fundraising.  He has stepped it up and done well.  I still think bagging groceries has been his favorite.  It is always fun to see him in situations where he rises to the occasion.  He is so personable and quickly turning into a young man.  High School is just around the corner!!

The other night at 2:45 am, we were both woken up by a knock at the door.  I instantly realized what was going on.  Bree had been put outside at 10:30 before we went to bed and no one let her back in.  A neighbor knocked on our door because she finally started barking about 2 am.  Poor dog.  I don't think I have ever seen her run upstairs to her bed so fast.

We all found a house we really liked!  All of us could see us in the house and had several conversations about where things would go, etc.  However, there is not a peace to make an offer on this house.  I don't understand it, but we will wait.  Maybe it will come together later or another/better house will come our way.  There is quite a bit of building that will happen this summer, two huge subdivisions, so maybe to our advantage to wait. 

Plans are underway for some upcoming travel adn summer plans.  Can't believe it is time for that!

Basketball season is upon us yet again.  Jacob started practice this week with a YMCA team.  Only a 5 week game season.  So, it should take us up into early Spring!  Yay!!! 

I don't like winter, so thankful that the last half of January has been little snow and milder temperatures.  Once again, hopefully we have made it through the roughest part of the winter.

All three of the boys are doing Cross Fit kids.  Joseph has been participating but they finally got a few more older boys so Benjamin and Jacob have been going.  I sure love to see them push themselves and struggle with finish a workout.  I think Benjamin really surprised himself with his capabilities.  I was asking the coach what her first impressions of the boys were.  She said Joseph is so aware of his space and body and he moves like a gymnast.  Jacob is very well rounded.  With Benjamin she said that most people think of athletes and quick and agile.  However, she said Benjamin is really strong.  I don't think he would ever get involved in the weight lifting side, but I think he would do very well.  They were doing an exercise recently where you had to turn sideways and throw a heavy ball across your body to your partner.  The coach commented that Benjamin has a perfect golf swing!  Now, there is a sport a never considered for any of the boys, probably because it has never been anything I have done, other than very random, once every 8 year outings.

I am still plugging away on my work from home stuff.  Every week, I think they are going to cut us off, but they don't.  Hard not to make hay when the sun is shining.  Last year we took a 4 month break, between contracts, but they indicated to me that the break would probably be pretty short this time around!

We have been busy around the house!  We have all been to look at a house about 2 miles away and everyone really liked it.  It is a lot of what I have always hoped for.  It is a for sale by owner and has been on the market over 2 months, which is very weird for this area.a  Maybe the Lord has blinded others to the house until we discovered it.  We have not yet put an offer on it, but will be making some phone calls in the next 2 days to see what we can figure out.  We technically will qualify, but it always makes me nervous stretching things.  It is 3100 square feet, 4 bedroom with office and partially unfinished basement, 3 1/2 baths.  Perfect location for JRs work stuff and directly across the street from a park, with lots of football and soccer room.  Just exciting to think about the possibility.  By the end of the week, hopefully we will have some answers!  In the mean time, we are boxing up things and de-cluttering so that our house will be close to 'show ready'.

We recently finished up the 2nd quarter, so officially half way through the school year!  Hard to believe.  Pretty soon we will be planning Jacob's 11th birthday.  He has had a recently growth spurt, as has Joseph.  Joseph now comes up to my shoulders!!

Off to get some more done..just wanted to check back in!

We have enjoyed a reprieve from the cold weather.  Amazing how warm 25 feels when it has been below zero!   We are due to get some snow tonight and then not much precipitation the next 10 days or so.

I recently won, in my opinion, a huge victory on the home front!!  I am trying to make small changes in what we eat.  If the changes are too drastic, someone will balk.  However, the other morning I made waffles that everyone loved and even got upset when we ran out of them.  The 2 main ingredients....cottage cheese and cream cheese!  And then the syrup, they all went for the cream cheese frosting.  Yay.  I just have to remember to keep the recipe out of sight, or they will for sure declare them no good.

We hit the ice rink last weekend.  Went for a moonlit skate.  Our Friday night dinner group moved the weekly meeting to the outdoor ice rink.  It was a beautiful night.  We had a fire pit, s'mores, hot chocolate.  I always enjoy those nights when we have way more kids than adults.  All of the kids, with the exception of one, is between the ages of 8 and 16.  So fun to watch them all.  I think the most rad out on the ice was a 14 year old girl...she put everyone to shame!  None of my boys had skates...I think they got put in storage and I don't even know if we had appropriate sizes.  (My intention is to always buy next size up, so eventually we will have them all, but it never seems to happen.)   Today I went and bought them all hockey skates and hockey sticks.  I know what our weekends will be spent doing!

JR and I went and looked at a house recently.  The location and price were amazing, but there was a reason that only 1 of the 4 bedrooms was pictures online.  We both liked it and saw the potential, but it did not fully grab either one of us.  Will be curious, with the work it needs, to see how long it stays on the market.  I am going to look at another one on Friday.  I am still not sure if we are quite ready to buy, but just praying when the right house comes along, it will be obvious to both of us.

All three of the boys are currently doing CrossFit Kids classes (it is month by month, so depending on other extra curricular stuff, they may not participate.  They really enjoy it.  I think Benjamin surprised himself with how well he did.  Jacob stars YMCA basketball in a few weeks. 

One of the things I really enjoy about winter, is the early bedtimes around here.  Since it is dark so early, the boys are usually home pretty early.  I think one night they were all asleep by 7:30!  Sure love the time to read and get to sleep early myself.  The last 24 hours I have felt a huge head cold coming on.  So I have turned to my standby.  A mixture of honey, minced garlic and cayenne pepper.  It has kept it at bay so far.  (Because I know my sister will want the recipe :-), it is tablespoon of honey, tablespoon of garlic and then as much cayenne as you can tolerate!  Oh, I love it and eat it by the spoonful.

A quiet weekend on the horizon.  I am hoping to do lunch and a movie with Kristine (niece) on Saturday and church on Sunday!!

Happy 2018!

My sister finally asked me if I was ever going to update my blog, so guess it is time. 

My first thought is to apologize for being silent, then I catch myself.  Why do I feel like I have to apologize?  This blog has always been a place for me to keep a written record of my boys' growing up.  I just invited some of you along for the ride!  Don't get me wrong, I love keeping everyone informed and since I don't do Facebook, this is an easy way.  I just don't want it to ever feel like something I HAVE to do, but something I enjoy doing.  And I guess the past 6 weeks (actually all through summer and fall), it has felt more like a HAVE to.  I am in a season of life right now that is hard.  Just life stuff...dealing with stresses, difficult decisions, kid issues and I guess I am tired of keeping up appearances.  I don't want to 'adult' some days.  I don't want to put on a happy face and pretend all is well in my corner of the world...whether online or if I see someone in the grocery store.  Sometimes life just gets you down and all you can do is keep your head down and plug away, day by day.  So, maybe that is why I have been silent, just not feeling like I had much to share or not sure what to share...I just feel like I am an observer and not a participant in my life right now.  (However, someone on Facebook put up a post to write one word that they could carry into 2018 and it had to start with the first letter of your name.....I wrote 'strength'....a great reminder for me that I will persevere...so thankful for my faith!

But life with 3 crazy active boys does not stop, so neither will I.

We have made it through Christmas Break and the boys went back to school today.  We had 6 1/2 school days off, that is it.  The weather was cold, bitter cold some days.  My mom was here for 5 days and my niece stayed with us the whole time.  Sure was fun having the extra family here.  Aside from church and Christmas Eve service, we stayed home.  Just hung out, worked puzzles, watched movies, drank hot chocolate and played games.  Christmas morning has moved beyond all the craziness and chaos of young kids, to controlled, thought out time.  All the packages were numbered and there was a scavenger hunt to find clues that would lead us to the master package list.  Then we opened things one at a time.  Sure is fun to actually see and enjoy what others received.

Next week we will be springing into winter basketball through the YMCA.  Jacob is wanting to play.  There is a Crossfit class starting for middle school kids, so hoping that Jacob and Benjamin will get in on some of the action.  (Both of the boys finished up their basketball seasons before Christmas.  Our friend took lots of pictures, but he has not passed any of them along yet, so none to post yet.)

I will be wrapping up my home assembly job in next week or two, then we take a break before another contract is started, sometime in the spring.  I am researching the option to drive for Uber.  Seems super flexible and a great way to meet people.  I would hopefully be able to pick up rides up the mountain (which is about 2 hrs round trip).  I think I would enjoy the longer rides better than lots of short rides across town.  All I need to do is upload my driver's license and download the app.  If I decide to do it, hopefully my first ride will be in the next week or so.

One of the things I have been watching for the last year of so is the real estate market.  We are just busting at the seams in our place and my goal has always been to be in a house by the time Benjamin turns 15.  Well, that is 18 months away!  The time to get serious is now.  We have our punch list on the fridge of all the repairs we want to make and hopefully by early spring we will have made a good dent in the list.  I have also had an initial contact with a realtor and I am now getting weekly emails with new listings.  This week I will be calling the bank to get an idea of what we would qualify for.   I would love to think we would move quickly, but I think we are probably looking at another year. 

We are somewhat specific what we are looking for.  Because JR drops/picks up a lot of cars at the airport, we would like to stay within 1 mile of airport, so that if he or I need to walk/bike there, it is not too long.  I really want space for the boys.  Growing up we had a double car garage that we turned into a game room (complete with astroturf!).  Oh the memories.  I so want that for the boys.  A place that they want to hang out with their friends.  It would be nice to find at least a 4 bedroom house and a double car garage/workshop/shed.  And parking.  We currently only have room for 2 cars at our place and with added drivers coming on and JR's client cars, we need more parking options.

The housing market right now is crazy though.  Yes we will get good price for our place, we will also pay a pretty penny for another place.  Rentals right now are renting for about a dollar a square foot and houses are selling for close to $1.50 a square foot.  Seems overwhelming if we want to sell our place before buying something else, or can we make it work to keep our place as a rental and buy something else, or should we be considering a totally different layout in the event that JR's parents want to move here and live with us ( :-0 ).  Oh, God will definitely have to take care of the details/logistics of this.  I just need to be patient and wait, but also preparing ourselves. 

One good thing in all this, we have had conversations about how the house needs to always look show ready.  So we are starting to practice.  Every night before bed we walk through the house and see what needs to be done before bed.  Oh, the purging (yay!).  Not that we have tons, but every little thing we can get rid of makes me happy!  My plan is to spend a week on each room.  Touching every item in that room and asking the importance of the item.  I just need to allow myself to get rid of anything that does not bring me/anyone in the family joy.  Why hold on to things??

So, that is where we are at the end of 2017!  And what we are looking towards as we start 2018.

Thankful 2017

Thankful for the older ages of my boys (they can cook, get themselves to and from school, do laundry) which results in me being able to focus on other things when I need to.
Thankful that we are approaching Christmas, where we celebrate the miraculous birth of the one who saves us from our own wicked selves.
Thankful for a job that I can do from home, on my own timetable.
Thankful for a quiet, safe neighborhood.
Thankful for Family Dollar and Dominos being so close that my boys can get there and back. Perfect for those times when I just need one thing from the store or I am gone for dinner and they can go eat.
Thankful that my niece is living her now and my boys get to experience life with family close by.
Thankful for Alexa...a device that plays music when you ask her to. She has an extensive playlist and it is wonderful for Joseph, who still struggles with his speech at times. By her not being able to understand him, it helps him to self-correct/hear his errors.
Thankful that this place is not my home.  I have absolute assurance of an eternal home.
Thankful for the winter, which means puzzles, earlier bedtimes, hot chocolate and snow ice cream.
Thankful for JR's work ethic and his amazing clients who never fail to pay their bills.
Thankful for the elementary principal who issues reading challenges. Joseph and I decided to shoot for the 10,000 pages and it means lots of together time with him.
Thankful for recent trip I took with my mom, sister and brother. (Having older kids means hopefully more trips in the future)
Thankful for good health and the ability to do what I do at Crossfit.
Thankful for a God that is in control, despite how much our world and culture seem to be spinning out of control.

So much to be thankful for....hope you stop and consider all you are blessed with, big and small.

A relatively quiet weekend going on. Ben has been doing some DC fundraising this weekend...bagging groceries. He put in 4 hours this morning and with 4 kids participating, they each walked away with $70 each. Amazing how supportive people are and how every dollar adds up.

Ben is now on the hunt for khaki shorts! (Picking my mouth up off the floor) He said he is ready to quit wearing his athletic shorts every day. I was tempted to ask him what her name was, but refrained :-). He also told me he wants sweat pants. Again...what??? Even when it is zero outside, he wears shorts every day!

We recently had teacher conferences. I again heard from teachers in all three grades about how my boys are chatter boxes! One of the middle school math teachers was telling me how on the last test he gave he allowed students to bring in a cheat sheet. One piece of paper, front and back with any notes, etc on it. There were 105 kids who took the test and only 22 of them brought in cheat sheets. That just floors me. I am assuming none of them wanted to put in the work to do up the cheat sheet.

I have given notification at Joseph's hip hop place. He does not want to continue. He loves it. I can't quite figure it out. However, thinking it over, this is the third, long term extra-curricular he has started and quit within 6 months. He has enjoyed all of them, but I think he struggles with something every week. He is great with like a 6 week football commitment and then the season is over, but he really struggles with long term, week after week stuff. He has totally gotten back into playing by himself, with legos, cars, etc. It is so fun to sit and listen to all of his conversations by himself.

After a 3 week Crossfit hiatus, I am back at it. Great to have a break but really good to get back. They have a Sunday 5pm class open to the public and Benjamin has expressed interest in joining me. Would be fun to see what he thinks about it.

I have never shopped at Neiman Marcus but am very impressed with their fraud department. I happened to recently pull up my credit card account online. I found a $595 Neiman Marcus charge but it was also credited back the same day. Curious, I made a phone call. An online purchase was made. NM told me that they have an extensive fraud department. So, somewhere between when the order was placed and before it was shipped, they determined that the card account holder did not place the order. Very impressed. I called the credit card company and they cancelled the card and I have already received new ones. Still have no idea how someone got a hold of my card number. Who knows. My information was recently hacked in the Equifax breech. Not sure if they are connected or not. Have security freezes and fraud alerts on my credit accounts.

We are still at 4 deer, at some point in the processing. JR came across a great jalapeno summer sausage recipe. It was a huge hit, even with the boys!

The skies will be quiet (no snow) for next couple of days. Would be nice to get a little bit though. The place we go to for thanksgiving every year, is ready to pull out the snow mobiles and pull kids behind it on sleds. Would be a lot of fun if there is plenty of snow!

That is the latest and greatest around our house!

We are not even half way through November and have already had a foot of snow and hit below zero degrees! Awfully early, but the good news, it is warming back up and should be fairly nice and clear the next 14 days.

Bree is loving the snow. She just amazes me. She will get out there and run in it for 2-3 miles. When I stop the car to try to get her in, she looks at me like I am nuts!

I continue my home assembly job. I thought we would be done early December and was planning on my huge to-do lists. I found out we will probably be going into January. Can't complain about the money, but I have been taking home so much, I don't have much time for other stuff that I enjoy. I have great plans of clearing out and taking lots of trips to Goodwill!

The police have been giving warning tickets to those in our building. We have a sidewalk that runs across our short driveways and for some reason, after 11 years, they have decided they don't want us parking across them. I get that it is a law, but the sidewalk runs in front of 4 townhouse buildings and it ends at our building. It is not even a continuous sidewalk! So now, not only do we have to shovel our sidewalks, but we have to shovel across the street so we can park there too. Just irritating. The parking was not well thought out!

I got away recently for a four day weekend in Vegas. Wow, what a place. Some parts of it just amazed me and other parts of it made me really sad. Saw 2 shows...Mat Franco and Elvis Impersonator. Both phenomenal. Also visited Hoover Dam. What a place!

Basketball is in full swing! Benjamin is 2-2 I believe and Jacob does intramural type basketball with other 5th graders. At Ben's last game, he made a beautiful 3 point basket. I know before he took the shot that it was going in. He was so focused, planted his feet and swish! One happy momma. It was neat to hear the others cheering because they knew it was his first basket of the season. I just wish I had my video running. I just told him he will have to make another one!

Thanksgiving plans are set. My niece, Kristine, and I are running in Huffing for Stuffing. A 5/10k race Thanksgiving morning. We opted for the 5k (3.1 miles). I really hope the weather holds and it is not real wet or cold.

Benjamin has not gotten a deer yet and looks like he will pass on the rest of the season. Jacob got a second deer.

It is hunting season!!!  (Pictures of the animals harvested...so if you don't like pictures of dead animals, then read no further)

Jacob got his first buck.  It was the second day out!  Meat for the freezer.

Every early morning hunt is followed up by breakfast.  This kids eyes were definitely bigger than his stomach!

JR got his first deer of the season.

Benjamin is hoping to get out there soon and see what he can find.

All things random~

Benjamin has started basketball practice. He requested and got, the early morning team that practices at 6:30 every weekday morning. I really like our basketball routine. Our mornings flow really well and I have a great excuse to run Bree, since I am up anyway. His games start this Thursday! So excited to watch him play. He has grown so much since last season and I think the awkwardness of early teen years is passing and he is really excelling as an athlete.

Jacob starts basketball this next week. Since it is 5th grade, they don't play official games. It is more like a few weeks of practices and drills. He is really excited!

The first quarter ends tomorrow. Hard to believe. I pay the boys for their grades. I want them to learn money management skills and without money, it is hard to learn that. We don't do allowances or pay for chores (which we have tried and it did not go well). We see school as their job and thus pay. It looks like this quarter I will get off pretty light. Not that the boys are doing bad, but not a lot of As, which bring in the most money. I think Jacob was a little shocked how much more intense middle school is than elementary school.

I was walking Bree the other day at a fenced in dog park and thought this was amazing.

What a great use of old used tennis balls.

The other day we headed out to a local hay maze.  I managed to complete the maze, with the 4 required stamps in 43 minutes!  When it all looks the same, how easy it is to get lost and repeat your steps over and over and over.  This was the only picture I got...of Benjamin and his friends on the 'train'.

For the first time since I left Texas...in 1996...I have family that will now be living close! My niece that graduated from college in May is moving out here this week. She found a job and is house sitting for the winter. I am so pumped to have her here!!!!!

The other night the boys and I were trying to find a hay maze. I was on an unfamiliar road and it was dark. I had a headlight out, which I knew. I had bought a headlight, just not yet put it in. I was in an intense conversation with the boys. Before I knew it, I saw lights behind me. I got pulled over going 20 miles over the speed limit. Oops! I was very honest with the officer and told him I did not have a reason to speed and that I knew I had a burned out head light but had the bulb just not replaced it yet. He walked away and quickly came back and said he was giving me a verbal warning and no ticket! I was so excited. I am not sure his reasons for not ticketing me going 20 mph over speed limit, but I took the opportunity to talk with the boys about how I was honest, did not make excuses and owned my mistake and apologized. Hopefully lesson was learned by them and me!