Happy 2016!  Hard to believe a new year has rolled in!

We had a great trip to Texas.  We bought our tickets back in April ~ long anticipated trip ~ and when the tickets were bought, it was $200 cheaper per ticket to fly out of a nearby town an hour away.  Given the winter storms, we had no problems, but I am convinced had we driven or flown out of our town, we would have it delays.  The only delay we had was coming back.  Because of an incoming storm our flight got diverted to our home airport, instead of the airport we flew out of.  Just created a little bit of a problem, because my car was an hour away, but we were able to pick up the car the next day!

Lots of pictures.  (Probably will put them over several posts.)

This seems to always be our first stop in any airport.....

Croquet seems to always be the favorite game...glad the weather was so nice.

Meet the newest member of our family....my oldest niece is getting married this summer.  He survived a week with my boys ~ that says a lot.

Uncle Mike was not with us.  He had to fly for the first time in many years so we took this photo for him.  We crashed the neighbors lawn ornament set up.

A game of basketball on Christmas Eve.  Playing with 2 guys over 6 ft. gave all the cousins an added challenge.

Santa made an appearance, shocking all the kiddos.

All the cousins.....

We had story time with Santa...very appropriate, he read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

All the cousins decorated the cookie sweaters.  I think it was suppose to be the ugly Christmas sweater, but with some many creative females at the table, they were pretty cute.

 This is more the speed of 'ugly'.

The rest of the Christmas festivities will be in the next post.

Recently the homeschoolers had a field trip to the recycling center.  It was very interesting and great for kids to see what happens to the trash.

They even take animal hides in exchange for a new pair of gloves.  They recycle antlers and pay about $13 a pound, so there is lots of money to be on those.

I can't remember the exact number but I think this bale of aluminum cans weighs 6,000 pounds.

The magnet on the end of this crane weighs like 700 pounds and picks up anything!  Unfortunately, their car crasher was down, but they enjoyed seeing everything stacked up.

This is my resident bike mechanic.  Anytime a bike needs fixing, which is very often, he is my go to guy!

Benjamin recently had a session with his 'employer' on decorating cupcakes.  He enjoyed it a lot and if he practices, could be quite the designer.

We have a half fence in the back yard and this is Bree's favorite post.  She has not tried to jump the fence in a long time!  Of course now there is a lot more snow and she really enjoys running in it!

We head out to Texas tomorrow.  Not sure if I will be posting things or not.

The day after Thanksgiving JR and Benjamin went hunting.  Due to attitudes, the trip got off to a bad start.  They were going to end things early.  As they were driving off, they spotted some deer.  They were fortunate enough to each shoot a buck.  JR took his at 200 yards with 2 shots and Benjamin took down his buck at 194 yards with one shot.

This was Benjamin's

They went hunting on private land ~ one of JR's clients.  The plan was for them to sit in a tree stand.  HA.  That lasted about 2 minutes!  This picture was taken by the land owner.

Both Jacob and Joseph have had their Christmas programs at school.  Always fun to see all the kids. 

The countdown for Texas has begun.  We fly out in a week.  We are hoping to make a very quick trip down to Austin/San Antonio for an educational trip to the Alamo/River Walk.  Christmas is a beautiful time of the year down there.  

Bree continues her chewing!  If she was not such a cute, fun dog, she would have been gone by now.  The other day I ran her 3 different times then I felt so bad because she had done something to her front paw.  She limped and laid low for a day and a half but now is good as new. 

We don't have a Christmas tree up this year since we won't be around for 10 days.  When we came home today, there was a large Christmas tree branch in the street.  I had Benjamin pick it up and then we brought it into the house.  He put it by the front door and Bree went crazy barking.  She did not know what it was.  I held it up and was pushing it towards her and she would inch closer, only to scoot away backward, barking loudly.  The things that freak her out are hilarious.

A few appts round out the week, as well as Christmas caroling with 4H and the church Christmas program.  Last weekend I attended a ladies Christmas program at church.  About 30 of us loaded up on a hay wagon and drove around the community singing carols!

Benjamin finishes his basketball 'season' this weekend.  Hopefully I can get some pictures.  Then the other 2 start just after Christmas for a short 6 week league.  

JR is gearing up for arriving clients, with the holidays coming.  The snow has been light so far.  The last couple of days we have been in the mid 50s.  Today I washed the car without a coat on and wearing a short sleeve shirt!

Hopefully I will get one more post up before we leave for Texas!

Thanksgiving was a wonderful time.  We spent the better part of the day with some friends and all of their extended families.  The boys had a blast playing with other kids, I enjoyed lots of card playing and Jose enjoyed swapping hunting stories.

 The new principal at the elementary school is focusing on reading with the kids.  They recently held a Camp Read Alot where the whole day was spent either reading in the classroom or in the gym, which was converted into a campground.  There were tent set up everywhere, trees on the walls, fake firepit, etc.  I went up to read with the boys' classes.  Joseph's teacher snapped this picture of us.

Benjamin worked this past week with Connie ~ he was educated on splitting and stacking firewood.  He seems to be enjoying the work and the money.

A recent trip to the dentist for the boys.  Two of them were cavity free!

I brought some cereal home today and the boys were so excited ~ we have not had cereal in a while.  Anyway, it is a cereal with small pieces and they tend to make a huge mess with it because the older two refuse to put milk in it.  I told them they had to put at least a table spoon of milk in the cereal.  Lo and behold, they were actually surprised how good it was.  I have worked years for my boys to put milk in their cereal!  We are family of five and since none of us drink milk, a half gallon can go bad in our fridge.

Today I accidently left a bedroom door open.  Bree got in there.  I have small teacher gifts lined up on the floor.  She managed to sniff out the 3 that had food stuff in them.  She ate 24 Hershey kisses and 3 packs of gum.  Wrappers and all!  So far it does not seem that she is having any side effects.  I feel like I am becoming the lazy dog owner.  Although I take her to the dog park several times a week to run and run and run and play and play and play with other dogs and walk her in the field, she still has energy.  I have upped the mileage I run her with the car.  Today she ran 3.3 miles and maintained about 12 mph the entire time.

I have pictures on my phone that I am not able to get off the phone!  UGH.  One day I will be posting lots of pictures!

Thankful....
Although we live in a culture where the landscape seems to always be changing and the news is bad, I serve a God who is never changing, always the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow and fear has no place in my heart because greater is He who is in me, than he (satan) who is in the world.

Thankful that I have been able to spend 1.5 years homeschooling Benjamin, despite the many tears that have been shed over this difficult, yet rewarding job.

Thankful that all three of my boys, to some degree, enjoy hunting and can share that with their dad, who is passionate about it.

Thankful for a husband that provides so well for our family and I don't have to work.

Thankful for my local library where we can check out great books and movies for free entertainment.

Thankful for my pinochle group, who I have been playing cards with for over 8 years.

Thankful for our stairs because they help us 'run' Bree when the weather is really cold out.

Thankful for my health and that of my family.

Thankful that my 'never sit still' kid (Jacob) can spend hours sitting next to me talking as we work a puzzle.

Thankful for white, cream gravy and that my boys are learning to love it too and requesting it.

Thankful that God can restore the years the locusts have eaten.

Thankful for the bucket list items we checked off this year...attending an NFL football game and a Christian music festival.

Thankful for all the wonderful finds I have found lately at second hand stores.

Thankful for all of JR's clients, who provide amazing job security.

Thankful for the 5 years of hard work by Joseph in speech therapy and that I can carry on conversations with my youngest.

Thankful that for the first time in over 15 years, I will be spending Christmas at my mom's with my 2 siblings and their families.  (Although my boys are not sure about not having a white Christmas)

Just a few of the things I am thankful for...what about you?

We have been working a lot on the words that we speak at the house and to each other.  One morning recently I heard Jacob say to Joseph "What do you mean mom does not know anything....she knows how to cook and she knows 100 x 100."  I just had to laugh at the simplicity behind the statement and that Jacob would stick up for his momma.

Speaking of multiplying, Benjamin and I each week go into both Jacob and Joseph's classroom to help.  The kindergarten kids really like Benjamin.  When we were in Jacob's class this past week, Jacob challenged Benjamin to 'Around the World'.  Benjamin squared off with Jacob on a multiplication problem and the first one to answer moved on to challenge the next student.  Benjamin worked his way around the whole room.  The kids were in awe of how smart he was.  The teacher just kept telling them that if they practiced, they too could be that good at their math facts.

At 4H, the kids are on different committees and our boys are on the recreation committee.  At the last meeting the adult who sits on that committee told me they were very impressed with Benjamin.  He made it a point to throw out some inexpensive/free activities.  He wanted to make sure that everyone could participate.  I am so glad to see some of my frugal-ness starting to stick.

I gave both Jacob and Benjamin a clothing allowance this past year.  It has been very eye opening for all of us.  First off,  I need to give them more money this year.  Secondly, they have seen how far, or lack there of, the money goes.  Benjamin still has some left and him and I have recently hit Kohls, with coupons and sales.  He bought 2 shirts off the clearance rack and they were $1.40!  He was so proud.  He found some sweats he wanted and then quickly realized he was not willing to part with 30 bucks to buy them.

Back to our Denver trip...one of the places we visited was Red Rocks.  I never knew this huge amphitheater existed until recently.  It sits west of Denver and holds about 9600 people.  The weather was beautiful so there were lots of people there.  I was amazed at how many people go there to work out.  They would run up and down the rows, run across the rows, do jump squats up and down, do inverted push-ups.  It was crazy. Definitely a place I would love to work out!  The lighting was terrible (for pictures), but if you are ever in Denver, check it out.

Since we had never been there, I had no idea where to go or park.  I foolishly parked at the very bottom and this was the view as we started up to get to the amphitheater.

Then we got up to the amphitheater and found we were at the bottom of the amphitheater...so more stairs to get to the top.

This was a to scale model that was in the visitor center.

The view from the top with Denver out to the east.  I can only imagine the sound of concerts here!

Looks like the snow is here to stay!  I just don't like cold.  And one of the things I really don't like is having to get out early in the morning to take the other 2 to school.  We don't live that far from the school (3/4 mile) and they ride bikes when it is warm.  But since I don't like cold, I have driven the boys.  However, we have struck a compromise.  They said if they had some hot chocolate to drink on the way to school they would walk.  So, this morning I set them off with cups in hand, looking so grown up!  They were actually excited.  A pretty good trade off I think.  I get to stay in the warm house and they get some hot chocolate.

I was recently talking to a friend of mine about the boys and some of our issues.  She asked me if we knew anyone that we could hire our sons out to.  No one really came to mind and she told me she knew a couple who had been very instrumental in hiring her sons and teaching them about work, discipline, etc.  So, Benjamin and I went and met Connie the other day and they hit it off.  He had his first day (2 hours) of work with her yesterday.  He hauled some wood into the house, winterized some rose bushes ~ he was pretty impressed with that little bit of knowledge learned ~ and took out the trash.  I think he was pretty nervous going into it, but we talked a lot about looking people in the eye, asking clarifying questions if needed, not grumbling, etc.  I told him that if he does a poor job, she will not pay him his full hourly rate, which is $5 an hour.  When I went to pick him up they both had a smile on their faces.  She said she was very impressed with him.  She said for his age, he was really good at filling in the gaps ~ if she told him step A, B and C, he was able to figure out D, E and F.  I think this is going to be a great thing for him!  He will probably work 2-3 hours once a week.  I am hoping when the summer gets here that both Benjamin and Jacob can spend more hours out there working.  They have a little bit of acreage and some farm animals, so definitely being exposed to a type of lifestyle we don't have.  One of the coolest things about Connie is that she does cake decorating on the side ~ one of Benjamin's hidden passions that I have been wanting to feed.  So, they have already talked about trading services, so to speak, so he can learn more cake decorating technique.  And that my friends, is one thing I love about homeschooling.  Getting them real world training that can't be taught in the classroom.

One of the things we did during our Denver trip was visit a trampoline park.  We had never been and not real sure what to expect, but the boys had a blast.  It was during a week day, so only one other boy there.  Would have been fun to have more kids, but they all got their exercise.

In my little experience of taking pictures, I have to say an indoor trampoline park is one of the worst places.  It is dark, there is lots of fast movement and lots of glass and glare.  They had a basketball court.

The main jumping area.

A huge foam pit

A dodge ball court

Look how deep the foam is in the pit.  I got into the foam pit and thought I was never going to get out!

They loved taking flying leaps into the foam pit....just bummed I couldn't slow down shutter speed for better pictures.

They had some really cool inflatables that I had never seen before for the little kids.

This guy loved tumbling.  Just looking at some of my other blurry pictures, he just moves and runs like a gymnast.  I remember all those years of watching Mary Lou Retton running down the mat and that form just comes natural for this boy.

They also had a mechanical bull that the older two were able to ride.  They were amazed at how hard it was to stay on.  Yes, I did try it, but for obvious reasons, I am not posting those pictures...it was not pretty.

A relatively quiet weekend.  Benjamin is in the middle of a Lion's Club basketball league, so he has practice and a game.  Other than that, I am hoping to bang out some projects!

All is well here!  We had a wonderful trip recently to Denver for the football game.  Just before we left on our trip, I traded in my 'dumb' phone for a new to me smart phone.  It has been quite the learning curve and I just have not had the energy to try to get the pictures off the phone ~ I don't have too many, but still.... Hopefully I will get a Denver post up soon.

We have already had several snow falls ~ fortunately the biggest came while we were in Denver.  However, it has warmed up a bit so most of it has melted now.

Hunting season is in full swing.  We have already processed a deer, a cow elk and then another friend just today gave us his deer.  He just hunts for fun and does not want the meat.  So, several of my evenings have been committed to helping JR with that.  I think after this season, we are going to upgrade our grinder and get something better.  Benjamin is now old enough to hunt and I might hunt some, so a more efficient grinder is needed.  It sure is nice to have an almost full freezer.  We have already had burgers and JR smoked some of the meat!  Really good meat.

We have to be careful with Bree (dog) because she is just tall enough to get her front paws on the counter and if food is left too close to the edge, she helps her self.  We found out the hard way with about $8 a pound meat!!

Recently had teacher conferences at the school.  Joseph's teacher said he is well liked and sought out by friends, especially on the playground.  She also commented on his work ethic and how she appreciates his 110%.  He is still struggling with reading.  She said it is so interesting how he seems to regress at times.  I just smiled and told her that was very characteristic of his apraxia.  She said Christmas time is usually her mental deadline for kids learning their letters and sounds so she was not too concerned.  However, this is his 4th year of formal school ~ he had two years of special needs preschool and one year regular preschool.  I am hoping after the holidays that she will start some one on one with him.  I just don't get very far with him.  Jacob is rocking it at school.  As expected, she mentioned his blurting out.  He just has so much energy and has a hard time controlling himself.  Both teachers talked about how great their math minds are!

Benjamin and I continue to move along at home.  Our main emphasis has been math, with some grammar and typing.  History and science are sprinkled in because those are so enjoyed by him.  He has been going to a tutor once a week and they have started doing more computer coding.  He recently made a video game!  Coding might just be a perfect fit for him.

Off to get everyone in bed!  I am hopefully able to post some pictures later this week!!

WE ARE DENVER BOUND!!

We fly out soon and everyone is so stoked!  It is always fun to look back at things and see God's fingerprints all over your life.

Back in August we had to decide which NFL game we wanted to attend.  (Some clients were getting us tickets and gave us 6 options, based on our 2 favorite teams.)  I contacted 2 huge football friends and they both said Broncos/Packers.  So, we went with it.

God knew before we did, how much we were going to need this 4 day trip.  I have been mentally and emotionally spent....life circumstances have just been heavier than usual the last 3 weeks or so.  There was actually about 5 days where I was in such a fog ~ just always tired.  I was forgetting and misplacing things.  I even came within about 1 minute of burning down our house.  (I had put something in the toaster and set the timer wrong.  I walked outside for a few minutes and when I came back in, it was burning.  I opened up the toaster and of course that fanned the flames, which started a few pieces of paper on fire.  Benjamin jumped up and asked if he should call the fire department.  I said no and was able to carry everything over to the sink).

Needless to say, I am very excited that this trip is coming at this season of my life.  Plus, both teams are undefeated so it should be a great game.  The weather is suppose to be really nice and we happen to be in Denver the same time there are 'free' days at the zoo and children's museum ~ bonus, free entertainment!!!

We boarded Bree.  It was just easier to do that than try to juggle leaving her at the house.  She sure is a sweet dog.  Everyone that meets her comments on her coloring or her temperment.   I had to take her to the vet before boarding her for a shot.  The vet said she is a mini australian shepherd/collie mix.  So, she is pretty much full grown.  The perfect size.  Her back is just below my knee!

I have been taking her to a local dog park and we both enjoy it.  She gets tons of dog socialization and exercise and I have quiet time to solve all the worlds problems!  Win win for both of us.

That's it for now...will have pictures to post soon!

Fall is here and time is slipping away.  Only  more Fridays until Christmas ~ Eek!  Not that I do lots of shopping between now and then, but another year will be over!  Wow.

Things have been pretty quiet around here.

This is the last week for football for Jacob.  One more game on Saturday morning and we will close this chapter.  Joseph is still enjoying gymnastics on Monday afternoons.  He has speech on Tuesday mornings.  We all have Awana Wednesday afternoon/evenings and we have just started a Thursday evening Bible Study.  A very manageable schedule.  At this point, not sure that Benjamin will be doing a 4H project ~ not that he doesn't want to but there is not anything that currently meets that interests him.  (The things he was interested in did not have a volunteer leader step up to 'lead' them.)

Benjamin continues to plug along with homeschooling.  It does not matter how organized or scheduled I tend to be, life happens and things always have to be juggled.  He is enjoying the tutoring ~ a really cool college age kid who has a lot of the same interests as Benjamin.

Jacob recently got his top and bottom expanders for his mouth.  His one front tooth has finally dropped in (after being MIA for about 8 months) and it is no where close to where it should be!  He still has only lost 4 teeth, so they are all slow losing them.  Joseph is 6 and still has not lost one and does not even have a loose tooth yet!

This next weekend is when we head to Denver for the big game!  Really excited!

(I started this a few days ago and just not finishing it up.  We had Jacob's last football game today and he scored his third touchdown!  Another grab the ball and go.

I am bummed the only picture I have of Joseph with one of his speech therapists is blurry. Oh well, here she is with her dog Stella. I think I recently posted that she had dismissed Joseph from speech. She started working with him when he was 2 years, 7 months and quit when he was 6 years, 2 months...that is 3 1/2 years!!! Awesome work!  I like what his shirt happened to say on his last day of speech with Ms. Betsy.

Lots of football pics from the game last Saturday.  Jacob took the hand off and ran.

He ran towards me...yay!

And ran......

He did score a TD!!!  Coming back for the congratulatory high five!

He got the ball again....

But the last defender got him....

He also had a game this past Wednesday.  He had 2 great runs and almost had a breakaway both times.  He did have an interception, which he loved.

The boys are out of school Thursday and Friday of this week...state wide teacher workshops.  Not much planned, just enjoying some great fall weather.