Summer rolls along

Not much has been going on the last week. We have been laying pretty low. Trying not to make any trips in the car. Gas is still just above $4 here! Have not even been on the bike much lately because we are having problems with the hitch on the bike trailer. I sure miss it though. One day I loaded up the kids and went across the railroad tracks to both grocery stores. We had a great time and sure was fun.
Still have not cut Jacob's hair. I did recently buy shampoo plus conditioner. It gets to be a rat's nest at times.
Hoping to do our first tent camping of the summer tomorrow. Will try to get lots of pictures!

The tables are turning

Had a pretty uneventful weekend. It stormed Friday evening so instead of our special outing, we went outside and played in the rain. The boys had fun stomping and splashing in the puddles of water.
Seems that J is starting to give B a run for his money! More than once this week B is running through the house trying to get away from J. J is armed with some kind of 'weapon' and finds it funny to hit his brother. Of course B running only encourages J more. I guess it is time for little more forceful discipline, other than the 'he is still learning what is right and wrong'. I anticipate in a few more years, despite B being bigger for a while, that J will start taking him down! I am still waiting for that first ER visit. Such a little climber and way more adventurous than B ever was at this age. I think a lot has to do with trying to keep up with his big brother but I also think some of it has to do with J's personality!!! Will be interesting to watch!

A word!!!

A word, we have a word Houston! Yesterday J said his first word. If you had not been accustomed to his communication style, you would have missed it. He was sitting in his high chair and held out his now empty peach bowl, looked at me and said "mas". "More" in Spanish. I have not heard the word since but it was a word and I let him know at the time how excited I was. Oh to be done with the whining. Okay, so I won't be done with the whining but I will be done with the whining anytime he wants something.
For B's birthday we got him 2 Nerf guns (one for him, one for dad). Upon our first shoot out, we realized that as you pumped the gun, the barrel did not fully rotate so about half the time you actually got a shot off. I was a little miffed since we had bought them at a Toys R Us, which we don't have here. So, I got online and emailed Hasbro. They told me it was discontinued but they would send us a replacement of equal value. I thought 'sure, what cheap toy will that be'.
To my amazement, the box arrived today. It was a Dart Tag Complete 2 Person Set. Too cool. Had two Nerf guns that held about a dozen bullets each, 2 safety goggles and 2 Velcro 'target' vests. Even I got excited. JR and I went at it once and boy, those little things stung a tiny bit when I got hit in the neck but I foresee lots of play time, especially this winter. Throw in the other 70 darts we had already purchased and a full on war will take place. A definite must for any boy (are you listenin' little bro? Sam has a bday coming up...). I have included a video of them at the end.
This morning we loaded up the bike trailer, complete with baseball and bat, tennis racquets (racquetball rackets for kids), soccer ball and football. Also packed lunch and plenty of liquids. We had a great time. JR was off and lots of running for the kiddos.
Hopefully the weather will hold for our fun evening planned...more on this later. It is fun trying to see how creative you can be without jumping in the car and driving someplace!!!

Camping

It has been a beautiful Montana weekend. Not a cloud in the sky. Anywhere from highs in the mid 70s to low 90s. We rented a forest service cabin this past Friday night with our pastor and his wife. The boys had a great time. J loved exploring and B loved eating all the 'junk' food. Seems like J always had something in his mouth, it was constant monitoring. B loved making the run down the hill to the outhouse!

Getting ready for another week!

Home again

Boy, is it good to be home. It has taken me 3 days to catch up. I was exhausted. I think I am getting too old to keep up with a 16 month old!Sure had a blast in Ohio but always nice to unpack and sleep in your own bed. The boys miss all the commotion of their cousin's house, but hopefully with our new schedule and routine, they will get plenty of 'social' time.

On Sunday we celebrated Bs birthday a week late with a few friends. He is now set. He got a nerf gun (dad got one too) and the laughter in the house as they chase each other is priceless. J also has a blast retrieving the bullets. B also got two super soakers - all of those toys are always more enjoyable when in pairs. His athletic ability will be sharpened with his new Jr. glove and baseball and he loves his football uniform, complete with helmet!

This morning J woke up and I thought for the first time, 'poor pitiful kid'. He looked like Albert Einstein. Hair all over the place. We just don't have the humidity for those nice tight curls. It looks nice and wavey but unkept here. So, as we were on our bikes running errands, we headed for the barber shop, camera in hand, but just could not bring myself to cut them yet. Strange how all the moms tell me not to cut it yet and all the dads are like 'boy needs a hair cut'. So, maybe in another week or two.

Trying to finally start our summer routine. Monday and Wednesday the boys head over to a babysitters house from 9-10:45 while mom works out. (Yes, I do pull them in the bike trailer over there and back, so an extra workout). One morning a week I have it set up to play tennis with a friend. Then on the long weekends (JR works 4 days a week right now) hopefully lots of hiking and camping! The summers are just too short here not to get out and enjoy.

Here is a picture of J and his bed head - just to show how long it really is when not curly. Also pic of B in his uniform - Seattle Seahawks - why Seahawks, because they are somewhat 'local' team and I liked the color with his blue eyes!

The stuff I don't miss

Not having girls or cable/satellite, I am so thankful for the things I don't have to learn about. B has gotten indoctrinated into Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Disney Channel, turning up music and dancing around, etc. I forget how much my boys are boys, until we come here. The last two days have been pretty low key. Playing around the house, swimming at the pool, going to my niece's swim meets. We went to the park yesterday and J climbed the ladder to the slide all by himself and figured out how fun it is to go down by himself (see video). He is also quite the scavenger. Every time we go to the pool he is either in the water and walking around looking for food. On more than one occasion he has crawled under the pool lounger chairs and grabbed food off the ground!
Looks like we are going to stay one extra day and fly home Saturday. They have a bike parade on the 4th so B is looking forward to that. He has not wanted to try the bike without training wheels yet, but he is learing how to let go of the handle bars as he rides.
uv7vvhgyhfgtcgrcdttijrgrijeijreihrghjtgrjjirtgijtgjtgjirrjrjrtirttjtjjrttojoaabgfnjivnmkgibhgoogknoh8
(B WANTED TO TYPE....)

Birthday and Baseball

Yesterday was a very low key day as we celebrated Bs 4th birthday. Did some running around and then for dinner we had his requested meal of spaghetti. Then had cake and ice cream and presents. The superheros seemed to be the theme of the night. Batman, Superman, Spiderman...

Today we went to a minor league baseball game. The Lake County Captains. They lost by one run. Not a bad game. There was a little bit of excitement as both benches cleared as a batter got hit. We were feet from a foul ball and a bat broke as contact was made and flew into the stands not far from us. At the end of the game all the kids were invited out on the field to run the bases. I was nervous that B would run off course but he did great. I tried to get pics of him but did not turn out very well. The blue stuff in the pics dripping off of J is cotton candy...thanks to Aunt Kelly!!!!

Cedar Point

Cedar Point

This part of the country is beautiful. So many trees. They have a great Parks and Recreation Department with lots of huge parks, trails, swimming pools, etc.

We spent all day at Cedar Point, known as the roller coaster capital of the world. The park sits on a penisula on Lake Erie. Beautiful. It was pretty hot and humid until about 4pm when things cooled off, the wind picked up a bit and the clouds moved in. I think the longest wait we had was 20 minutes. They have 14 roller coasters! I am glad I don't live close to an amusement park because I love the rides but having equilibrium problems is not good. I rode a twisty, loopy roller coaster with my nieces and that just about did me in. Then later in the day I rode a small roller coaster with B and then the swings (that go around in a circle) and that sidelined me for the rest of the day. B had a blast. There were 2 different roller coasters he went on. He rode the tilt a whirl (I almost got sick watching it spin), did the bumper cars and bumper boats and rode several other kid rides. J got on his first ride with his older cousin and loved it. I think he had the best time though playing with the chains that are used to rope off entrances and exits. We were at the park 10 hours and both boys did really well, despite J only taking a 30 minute nap.

There was one ride/roller coaster there that I could not get over. It is called the Dragster. It lasts probably 1 minute, if that. You go from 0 to 120 in 3 seconds and you climb straight up 420 feet, loop over the top and come back down. I have enclosed a pic of it in the slide show.

Several of you have asked about leaving comments on the blog. I think I have fixed it so that you don't need to log in. Just hit the word comments at the end, then type your comment, hit name/url and enter your name. Then just publish the post. For those that want to leave a message, hopefully this will work.

Tomorrow is B's 4th birthday! Hard to believe!

Bowling

We had a pretty laid back day. We anticipated rain but it did not happen until later in the day. So our plan had been to take B bowling. He had never been bowling and had a great time. I got a few pictures and just as I was starting the video, they turned off the light and turned on the flourescent lights. Will have to try to go again to catch it on video. J had fun getting chased all over the place. He sure feels like he has to do whatever his brother does - only natural huh? He kept trying to pull the balls of the rack and picking them up.

Off to Cedar Point, an amusement park on the shores of Lake Erie, from what I hear.

Pictures from Cleveland

I wish I could get the formatting down, but atleast I got a slide show. Lots and lots of Sun. We are having a lot of fun. We have quiet mornings, playing out in the front yard. Eat lunch and then tend to head to the pool for at least part of the afternoon. J is going to bed easier and easier every night, can you say exhaustion. The more he is out in the sun, the less he looks like me. Although I don't know when the last time was I saw so many freckles on me. B is getting quite a few freckles on his nose but seems to be tanning nicely. We plan on spending all afternoon at the pool tomorrow. B loves the little kid area. The water is about chest deep and he takes off for the water before I get my shoes off. I have even been able to swim some laps the last two days. We have two amusement parks in the next couple of days, plus some trampoline time, making snow cones and gearing up for their July 4th celebrations, which last most of next week.

Ohio

We are here and the boys are enjoying their cousins. My neices are 4, 7, 13 and 16 so lots of activity. Yesterday we went to the park and swimming pool. The city has a program where they offer arts and crafts throughout the summer at the park - pretty cool set up. Then the pool has a baby area, a toddler area and then a big swimming pool, with swimming lanes. There is a separate area for the two water slides and then a separate fenced area for the diving boards. I went down the big, long twisty slide, the speed slide and the high dive. Hopefully I can get videos of it next time!
J is enjoying all the new cabinets and drawers to explore. Today he got into the cereal cabinet and made a huge mess. As I was vacuuming up the mess he grabbed another box of cereal. He was ready to make another mess when I took it away from him. As I was putting the cereal up, he walked over to the wall and tried to unplug the vacuum. What a squirt!
B is enjoying playing Wii, he is pretty good at golf. He has discovered their 'dress up' box and loves the spiderman costume. Both boys are getting plenty of activity and are sleeping very well at night!!!
More later!

Life is Crazy

Tuesday afternoon I finally found some flights to head out to my sisters house in Ohio. Have been watching the frequent flyer flights and nothing was available. The only downside was I needed to leave pretty quickly. So the boys and I are headed out today and will return on the 4th of July. Will be cool to see the fireworks from the air!
I know I will have more time and access to a computer so promise to do better with the blog.
Lots to do before our 11:15 departure.

We are home

Okay, I can't figure out how to place the pictures and text....so it is all jumbled up.

B at the pool...........J at the beach..............

J playing soccer with the guys

These two are of us at the zoo!!

(Lets try this again. My first blog did not happen because my computer froze up and shut down before I could save it.)

We are home and had a great trip. Always great to go but always great to get back home. The boys loved getting reacquainted with JR's family. J is definitely going to be our water baby. He loves playing in water. B enjoyed it but spent more time in the sand digging. He also befriended people everytime we were there. We enjoyed the Miami Zoo, shopping in downtown Miami, the beach 3 times and Bs favorite memory - Chuck E Cheeses! The weather was really nice, especially when I heard that it rained/snowed back home the whole time we were gone. They said the sun did not shine the whole time we were gone! B spent one night with his cousins and watched endless tv! He got to see Diego at the Miami Zoo. Probably the worst part of the trip was the tired boys - we got some endless whining and arguing at times!

I give up with messing with these pictures. I will download a few more tomorrow along with a video or two. (I realized am not in a lot of these because I was behind the camera....)

The water is great

Yesterday we had a good time swimming and playing. I am pleased to announce after two days of sun, no sunburns for anyone! I enjoyed a lot of fun on the trampoline and realized I still could pull a lot of the old tricks out of the hat, although I could not nail the landing on the flip. I did impress B though! J loved the water, his first time in a swimming pool.
Still enjoying all the 'cultural foods'. Last night we had chicaronnes, which are the real pork rinds. Lets just say I liked them so much I ate more than I should have. I knew it would come back to get me and at 4am, I was up this morning for several hours. Everything finally cleared the system. The good news in this, if there is good news, is that at one point in my life my body would not have been bothered by all that greasy food, but it sure was this time around.
We managed to go to the beach today where B loved digging in the sand. We then went to a really cool 'garden' that had an perfectly sized splash park! I was excited when B wore his bathing suit this time around.
Tomorrow JR and I are headed into downtown Miami to have a day off.
Still having problems downloading pics or video but will keep trying.

We are here!

Before we left for Florida, JR called the state to find out about his test. He made an 82. He was a little bummed, he was hoping for better but then his boss reminded him that some people fail the test the first time and he made it through the book in 4 months and the average is 6 months.
We are in Florida. Both legs of the flight were okay. Jacob slept a fair amount. A lot of turbulence, especially just outside Miami. To the point that I grabbed the 'motion discomfort' bag. I had a headache for several hours after. Miami - what can I say: palm trees, humidity, Abuelo (grandpa), traffic (why do I complain about traffic back home in a town of 8,000), Prima (cousin) Gabby, lots of concrete, playing soccer with Tio (uncle) Roland0, crazy drivers, homemade tortillas, sweat, Miami Zoo. I don't recall ever seeing B sweat before but both days he has. I loves running with his cousins and chasing Abuelo. We went to Miami Zoo today. B is so funny, in the past when we went to a water park he would never take his shirt off. So, today we got to the Splash park at the zoo and what did he do, he wanted to take his shirt and shorts off. My kid was the only one in his underwear and then he wanted to wear his tennis shoes. I was mortified but figured I would never see any of these people again. Of course he was not wearing any of his cute little boxers that could pass for a swimming suit but he was wearing whitey tighties. Now picture those on a kid that is fairly pale to begin with (this is the first time his stomach has seen sun) running with all the hispanic kids. And for some reason, he kept his arms crossed across his chest the whole time. Too bad the battery on the video camera was dead.
Having a hard time finding a good computer connection but will try to post photos or videos later.
Tomorrow we are hanging out at JR's cousin's house - swimming pool, play scape and trampoline with BBQ. Should be fun!

Test was great

We are busy trying to get everything ready for the trip to Florida.
Jose took his test Monday at lunch. There were 50 questions and he said it took him about 10 minutes. He felt like he had either a low A or high B. Will know results next week.

Will email more from Florida!

Gymnastics

We have had a good weekend. JR is preparing to take his test Monday evening (he won't know the results for a week or so). Nate joined us Thursday and the boys are really enjoying having another person around to play with. We drive to Billings on Wed and fly out for Florida early Thursday. Hope to post lots of pics and videos during the trip.
Friday was the last day of gymnastics for B. A few short video clips are attached of him 'performing' or lack of performing. (I wish I knew how to cut and paste the videos into one longer video).
I have decided that our first ER visit is going to be because of J. He is way more adventurous than his older brother.
Yesterday we went garage sale-ing and B found some rescue heros at his friends house. There were 7-8 of them and I was prepared to buy them all (they were a great deal). He said he only wanted 3 of them. Imagine that. Then later that day I was scooping him some of his dairy free ice cream and after the third small spoonful he said 'mom, that is way too much and will hurt my stomach.' So he made me put one spoonful back. Everyday it is something different that just makes me laugh. This morning at church I met a guy that had been watching B that morning and he commented that he was an elementary ed major and had never seen a 3 yr old with his extensive vocabulary!
B is begging me right now to type so I will let him and then attach the videos.
I am so glad that one of you (mom!) has figured out how to leave a comment. It was beginning to look like Pinky was the only one reading my blog, although I know others of you do.
fhdfnfncj fvjkfv kfdjqwjrfmjkfemki (from B)
B is obviously in the green shirt!

What a heart

I hope no one gets tired of reading 'boy stories'. If nothing else, it is a great way for the grandparents to keep up.
Today I was getting lunch ready and B was going to have some of his special chips. He drug the bar stool over to the counter and proceeded to sit down. He said "Mom, don't watch me." In return I replied, "Why not?" "Mom just don't watch me." "Are you wanting to stand on that bar stool and get your chips down?" "Yes, just don't watch me." I don't know how many times I have told him not to stand on the bar stools, just waiting for the first Emergency Room visit. I was glad to see he was thinking this through, or maybe he was just stopping to think because I was in the room. I saw a teaching moment and told him that regardless of whether I was watching or not, he needed to do the right thing. I asked him what the right thing was. He proceeded to get off of the bar stool.
One of my prayers for the kids is that they will have a heart that will seek out good. They will desire to do what is right, regardless of who, if anyone, might be watching.
Later in the day I walked up stairs and caught B hiding something in his hands. I asked him what he was hiding and he told me it was his "B" (little blanket). I proceeded to walk on by because I thought nothing of him hiding his B. Then he said "Just don't look inside my B." Of course that stopped me. After a few prompts, he told me he had some money in his B. This is a no no because he loves to play with coins and invariably leaves them laying around and J enjoys putting them in his mouth.
Again, after I walked away from this encounter I was amazed at him. He did not even know it but he 'ratted' himself out. Again, how thankful I was that even at this young age, he might not always strive to do what is right but when he does something that is questionable or wrong, he can't hide behind it for long.
If it were only that way with us and our sin nature! May my heart become more like that of a child.
The following are two video clips of the boys outside. A little random fact. Ever wonder why small kids walk/run so awkwardly? They are not born with knee caps and don't grow them until 3-5 years!

Thinking on God's goodness again

The last 6 days I have thought so often of the Chapman family and their tragedy. For those not aware, Steven Curtis Chapman is one of my favorite Christian artists. Last week their youngest adopted daughter, Maria Sue age 5, was accidently run over in their driveway by her teen-age brother. Once again, tragedy strikes and does not seem to make any sense through our eyes. However, the circumstances does not change God's goodness. I had read a quote by one of the Chapman's pastor, Mike Smith. A very profound statement - "You should hold on to what you know in the midst of a crisis, because the temptation is to hold on to what you don't know - to ask 'why did this happen?' " Below is a link to one of his newer videos entitled "Cinderella". I really like the video but what I like more is the story behind the video. (It follows the video.) Just what a wonderful reminder for anyone to look at priorities - where do your kids fall on your 'to-do' list. I know it has certainly made me look at all of their 'interruptions' differently.

I have not yet figured out how to embed the video on my blog (yes, I have read the instructions several times but just not getting it). However, you can follow this link if you are not familiar with Cinderella and hear it. The whole thing is 9 minutes. If nothing else, listen to the last 4 1/2 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLYxtuC0oRk#

More milestones

We had a great weekend. Our cousin came up from Idaho and the boys loved hanging out with him for 2 days. It has been cool and wet the whole weekend. We actually had a small mudslide in one part of town and the river is cresting at places. The rafting companies will probably not be running rafts down the river this week unless the levels drop. So, lots of wet, wet weather but come July and August, we will be thankful for that.
J is now up on his feet, everywhere. Gone are the days of him clopping on the floor with all fours. I already miss that sound. He is navigating the spoon/fork better. He is finally starting to use some of the sign language. For some reason, he has been very slow in the communication area, other than honking and squealing. He is also blowing his nose - quite the feat. No more pinning him down with the bulb syringe. Yesterday we were fixing breakfast and J got a bowl out of the drawer, went and found the cereal and tried his best to pour a bowl but could not get the container open.
B does not know it but after our trip to Florida (and his 4th b-day) I am going to try to start him on a 'chore' schedule. Won't he think that is fun. Although he did enjoy helping me wash the floor the other night. He also enjoys loading the washer/dryer. He has even had the patience once or twice to learn to fold the clothes. We will see about that.
Have a glorious day!

Treated like a queen!

I received breakfast in bed again this morning! JR was off today and B talked him in to fixing a hot breakfast for me. This time around J actually woke up in time to join us in bed for breakfast. He thought it was pretty cool to sit on the bed with lots of bowls of food to choose from. He actually got the fork to his mouth for his first bite of food using utensils! I was commenting that we are going to need to find a bigger tv tray! B even had really dirty hands and although I encouraged him to use a napkin, in my next breath I told him I did not mind if the sheets got dirty and stained. We were working on making memories and in my book, that far surpasses clean, nice looking sheets!
All I hear around town is that it is Memorial Day weekend and no one is surprised of the cool, wet weather. Puts a real damper on camping!
We have a guy next week that is going to be staying with us for an undetermined amount of time. A co-worker of JRs needs a place to land for a bit until he can get settled on his own. So, he is only anticipating on 2-3 nights but there is a part of me that hopes it will be a little longer so the boys will have one more adult around to climb on, chase, tackle, kick the soccer ball, run trucks down the hallway, dig in the sandbox, etc. With the anticipation of his arrival, I have been cleaning and organizing like mad. Which reminds me of a website I thought I would tell you all called freecycle.org. They are in quite a few cities across the nation. We are a group of people that try to keep things out of the landfills. Everything that is posted on the website (you sign up for your local area) is free. The first one to respond that they want an item, gets it. I have seen things like gaming systems for kids, entertainment centers, lots of clothes, etc. You can also posted "In search of" ads. I have not been quick enough yet to pick up anything other than the classic red tricycle for J. It sure is fun though to see what others have and how you can meet some of those needs.
I am on a roll so back to more organizing...just wanted to say have a blessed Memorial Day weekend. We have no specific plans yet!

Cows and books

It has been fun to watch the boys as they observe the cows behind our house. (We back up to a large empty field - that will someday be developed - but every spring the cows come graze for a couple of weeks.) J likes to stand up in his crib and watch all the activity outside and B loves to sit on the bed and moo at the cows. Interesting how often the cows 'moo back'.

JR is busy studying. He is almost half way through his electrical apprenticeship. The book he is currently on normally takes people 6 months to get through but he has finished it in about 4 months. He wanted to give one last push now so he could take it a little easier this summer. Anyway, he has submitted all of his chapter tests and is hoping to take the book test Monday, June 2nd. He has 600 questions he is studying with the hopes that 60 of them will make up the test. Sure will be nice for him to get this behind him and for him to be 'in between' books while on our trip to Florida.

Here are two random videos I took of J walking! (For some reason when I preview them in the blog I can't get them to play...hopefully you can have better luck with it)

My Precious B

We have had a good weekend. The kind of weather that reminds you why you endure the long winters here. Beautiful, in the 70s, slight breeze!

I have another B story. The kid just amazes me.

Friday morning he woke up before I did. I was having a hard time getting out of bed so as I rolled back over I thought "B will go downstairs and play". At some point I heard "Oh no, my juice spilled. Oh no, my juice really spilled". At this point I am laying in bed trying my hardest not to come flying out of the bed upset with him because he tried to pour himself a glass of Orange Juice. As I finally sit up in bed, I see B walking through the door carrying a TV tray with 2 bowls of cereal and 2 glasses of juice. He was bringing mom breakfast in bed, all by himself. He so blessed my heart. He told me about the juice spilling as he carried (all 3 years of him) the tray up the flight of stairs. I headed down to the kitchen to get him so more juice and expected to see a mess. Quite the contrary, he had poured the juice and put it away. He had put the cereal away after pouring it. He had totally cleaned up after himself. I might just get spoiled.

Friday at the park and Sunday after church he picked flowers for me. He was so proud as he handed me the two bouquets of Dandelions. Again, seeing life through the eyes of a child. They are not weeds, but pretty yellow flowers for mom. Needless to say I have gently encouraged Dad to keep it up because his boys are watching him!

J is getting better and better on his feet. How fun it will be to go to the park when he can actually get up and chase us around!

A First!!

B and I took our first bike ride together. In the past he has either ridden in the tandom trailer while I biked or I walked while he biked. But he is getting better with his training wheels so now we can ride together! Unfortunately the last time they rode in the trailer, Dad rode beside us and made the boys laugh by weaving all over the road. Guess who kept trying to mimic his dad's antics!

It was a beautiful day here and we should hit mid 70s this weekend! The boys and dad might even pitch a tent in the backyard this weekend for a warm up to the camping season that is fast approaching.

We ended up in the backyard. J discovered the waterhose and had a great time getting all wet. Then he proceeded to climb in to the sandbox. Needless to say, all the clothes and diaper full of sand quickly came off of him.

The following is a short clip of the two of them horsing around and being silly. We are planning on getting lots of sun while in Miami and I am very curious as to see what color J's hair will turn.

What's up

I know living where we do that we should not be surprised with the weather, but we will have 1 or 2 really nice days and then 2-3 cool days. Sure makes putting the winter clothes away really hard. B did get in an afternoon playdate, while mom played cards! He is at that age where he needs about 2 or 3 naps a week and when he plays hard, it sure makes for a long day. He is just tuckered out. J is up on his feet now just about as much as he is crawling. I keep trying to catch it on video, but whenever he sees the camera, he gets excited and drops to all four and hurries my way.
Yesterday JR and I celebrated 7 years. Hard to believe. On one hand it feels like yesterday and there are other times it feels much longer! We had a good day though. Nothing exciting. Dad and B make a flower run while I waitied in the car. They were trying to be very secretive carrying the flowers back out to the car. B had me close my eyes (something he really likes these days). I opened my eyes and thanked him. I asked him what they were for and he looked at dad and said "I forgot the word...." So precious.
Well, looks like we are headed to Florida. JR had mentioned taking the boys to Florida for a week to see his parents who will be visiting from Honduras. So, I checked online, really thinking that maybe I could have a week to myself (oh, what would I do?!?!?!). I found such an incredible deal that JR said he wanted me to come. So, we are going down there June 5-12. The boys will be old enough to enjoy the beach this trip - yeah!!
Lately, I have been thinking over a lot of different circumstances in my life and the life of others and have come back to the same conclusion...my circumstances does not change God's goodness. I have heard it said many ways but it always comes down to the same thing, God is good. Regardless. So, enjoy God's goodness today, whatever the circumstances.

Mother's Day!

Despite the chill in the wind and the occasional rain, we had a good day! B was up before 7 and came in to our room and laid on the floor beside Dad's side of the bed. JR asked what he was doing and he replied "Dad, we forgot to fix mom's breakfast in bed!". About 10 minutes later I was treated to cereal and juice in bed (I had told Dad nothing fancy, just go simple). B loved sitting in bed next to me as we both ate our cereal.
I have gotten a new seat for the bike (I don't know why bikes are sold with hard, uncomfortable seats). But now I am ready to start working toward my 9 mile route to visit a neighborhood with lots of church friends.
I have a prayer request. Last weekend one of my niece's friends (who is 7) became sick last Sunday. This past Thursday she died. She had a very, very rare blood platelet disease. The visitation is tomorrow (12th) and the funeral on Tuesday. The whole community is very shocked and really having a hard time with Stephie's death. Please pray for them the next couple of days, as they will be very difficult. I don't know anything about the family or their faith.

Is it this easy??

This is pretty cool!
What better way to communicate what is going on than this?
J has started stringing 4-5 steps together and is so proud of himself. J has a much more daring side to him than B ever had. I have walked in to the bathroom twice now and found J on the step-stool, with the drawer pulled out. However, the step stool somehow managed to slide out from under his feet and there he is, hanging on for dear life to the drawer (chin just above it) and his feet are dangling in the air. If I was not concerned for his safety, I would grab the camera. I have learned to come running when I hear his grunting. J has also figured out how to come down the stairs backwards. He loves to play chase, all you gotta do is say "I'm gonna get you..". He takes off crawling and laughing the whole way. B loves to crawl up behind him and tackle him - sending both of them into hysterical laughter.
B is continuing to amaze us with his coordination, memory and language skills. He has learned, not sure from whom (!), how to string negotiations together. Almost to the point of becoming a problem! He will not take no for an answer until he has exhausted all possibilities. I can't wait to see what line of work he will end up in. The little things that excite him makes me smile. He is on a restrictive diet because of some allergies and he gets so happy when I buy him any special foods. Today it was corn tortillas. Oh to always see life through the eyes of a child! Have a great weekend!!!

B and J

As I write this, I can't tell if it is snowing or hailing outside. Winter just won't seem to loosen its grip this spring. We are sure ready for some warmer weather. So we can hit the sandbox and eat popsicles! I am trying to take as many pictures of J's curls as I can, cause the day is coming when I will have to cut his hair.

Today B and his daddy suprised me with a new bike! A Mother's Day and anniversary gift. The boys love riding in our 'cart' that goes behind the bike. B is getting good enough on his bike though that it won't be long before he can ride beside me.

Can I do this?

I have a couple of blogs that I check out regularly so thought it would be fun to see if I can do this. There is always so much happening on this end, that it should not be too hard to find something to write about. Maybe it will be more of having the time to write something! Let's see how it goes!!!