I love summer, and it is just around the corner!

Caleb and Josh are spending so much more time outside having a great time. We spend last weekend making the backyard habitable, and the boys are making the best of it. Yesterday, Caleb and Josh were playing "Jellystone" in the backyard and pretending they were camping and carrying firewood to their camp. It's hilarious and makes me smile to see them playing in such an interesting, imaginative, non-messy, cooperative way. Also, it is nice to see their excitement build about the upcoming trip. It was a long hard decision to decide to spend time at the Jellystone (Yogi bear) park on the way back (cost and extra days) but I'm sooo glad that we are going to do it. It's something that I want to share from when I was a kid and camping. I wouldn't even know about it except for when I was little. Of course it dawned on me that the kids had no point of reference as to who Yogi bear was; daddy helped out with pulling some clips up on You Tube for them. Now they are in a camping/yogi bear/jellystone frenzy.
The boys are now outside with blankets in the sun relaxing and attempting to built forts. I like it when they play so peaceful with each other. I live for the quiet play that doesn't include mess after mess after mess in the house.

Joshy is in love with the swing in the backyard. He even likes to be upside down, and he is reaching for new heights and skills as he watches big brother.

This Sunday is Caleb's party... and I'm happy to say that Caleb is going to most likely have the Jumpy house out, which means I get to have and outside (thank God) party for all the little boys coming. Caleb was a little sad to say good bye to his friends on Thursday, but it really lifted his spirits to know they were coming to a party at his house. It will be a highlight of his year, I'm sure.

Well, have a great weekend. I'm sure we will, and I'll have pictures of the party too by next week.

Memorial Day Weekend! And Caleb's Birthday.

It was so nice to have Daddy home all weekend, and we were actually at home and productive.

We got all the backyard picked up. Things tossed out, reorganized, put back. Sand added to the yard to hopefully absorb the soggy ground and actually expand the usable areas of our yard. It is cleaned up and looking great. (Just in time for next weekend's party.) It was a lot of work for Daddy and Mommy (I worked on the front yard and ripped out a bunch of periwinkle, weeded and added bark, so the front yard is looking decent too.)


Mommy worked Friday, and then went out in the evening.

Saturday, Daddy had to help Uncle Brian all day with a project.

Sunday, we worked in the yard. And then Daddy went out with Uncle Brain for a little R&R.

Monday.... CALEB'S BIRTHDAY!!! We took him to Baskin Robbins and let him choose ANY ice cream in the whole store, AND put sprinkles on it. He chose something called "rock'n'swirl"... which looked like a camoflauge Barney on a cone. Purple and Swamp Green with little bits of candy in it. With Sprinkles on top. Can we say: food coloring. Captial F for Food coloring for the rest of the day. sigh. But the actual exercise of letting him choose ANYthing he wanted was a visual delight in that he was dazzled by the selection and we could watch the joy. And most likely, this won't be repeated until next year, I go back to mentioning food coloring.
We also let him choose a toy (with guidance) from the store and we decided on a rather reasonably priced on-sale $7.20 "Jazz" transformer. He's thrilled. We ended the day with picnic chicken and swimming with Grammy and Papa Dahl; Caleb loves to swim and he is getting better all the time. They surprised Caleb with HIS choice of carseat. (One we were totally on board with but had a hard time finding a way to afford). He was SO excited when Daddy was putting it together. The thing has lights for at night. It had two arm rests like adult chairs, it had dual cup holders with dual "stuff" holders. Caleb was very excited, and it was immediately put into the fleet today.

Caleb's party will be coming up and we are praying for good weather. But regardless, it appears to be a tame event that I better get on the ball and start planning/preping for. As well as finish the scrapbooking project for him.

The rest of the week is business as usual with two exceptions: Caleb has his annual pictures to be taken tomorrow. And Thursday, I work. Other than that, we are all normal here.

So that's all for now. More later.

Happy Friday. TGIF right! And a Long weekend too!

The report on Caleb's Parent-teacher conference is: First, Caleb drew a self portrait last fall that looked something like a full page catapillar (eyes questionable, if even in exsistence) but this spring he actually drew a stick figure with eyes, nose and a mouth... and a head of his best friend "sam" (his best friend changes daily). A marked and incredible improvement. Last fall he knew 1-4 and now he can recite 1-18 before skipping around. Last fall he knew a few letters, now he knows all of them and most of the sounds. (at home he's sounding out 3-letter words and writing them) His gross motor skills are phenomenal and his fine motor skills are drastically improved. He still needs help cutting on a line. He is "Very very social" and "extremely busy", but "easily re-focused" which is good because he has to be refocused alot. He is very bright despite his distracted behavior. Miss Cheryl and I talked about what he needs to work on to be ready for kindergarten, her primary suggestion is trying to give him activities at a table where he will then have to sit at for 20 minutes (and increase slowly the amount of time) because that's what they have to do in Kindergarten... more sitting less walking around to new activities. So we are going to add that to learning more numbers and lower case letters.
Overall a great report and Miss Cheryl said that the kids like Caleb grow up to be some of the most interesting people...


Speaking of interesting. Caleb announced to Daddy and I yesterday: "My weiner is so strong, it can break toilet paper!" (Daddy is horrified that I'm sharing this, I guess I could have waiting to share it at his wedding.) Then, Caleb then proceeded to climb the inside of the door casing until he could reach the ceiling. I guess I need to teach him how to jump and fall if he's going to take himself to new heights.

**** Jockey peed in the potty yesterday morning!**** We tried for over ten minutes when I finally said I was going to give him privacy and left. He tried to follow and asked for a doughnut. I told him he could have one if he peed in the potty. 20 seconds later, SUCCESS!! Great, now I know it's a matter of his will, and the proper motivation!

So that's all for now. I'm off to work and then the weekend is set aside to get projects done and the house clean for next weekend's company.

Have a great weeknd yourselves!

So how is your week going?

Ours is pretty calm. We enjoyed the weekend for all it's sunshine. As the week has progressed more and more rain has come... which is fine for the freshly planted flowers/plants.

We would have gone for a long walk to the big park, but Caleb disobeyed and procrastinated for over 2 hours to pick up his toys, which backed us into lunch and then nap time Monday... I was sad because I was hoping to get exercise in the lingering dry weather of the week. But there are consequences to not obeying.

Tuesday was school for Caleb which of course he LOVES to see and play with his friends. And he and got a chance to chat. (I even got to peek over and see Brittany and baby Emily, a rare occurrence.)

Grammy Dahl came out and got Joshy for a little one-on-one time and he excelled and was joyful about that. He of course loves his Grammy and knows that she loves him. Most nights I tell Joshy I love him, and Jesus loves him. But occassionally I ask him who loves him... Without fail Grammy is in the top 5 (which is always a jumbled order, no favorites). I should also make a side note that Tessa makes the top 5 too, with a "Tessa love me Lots!". Anyway, Grammy pulled an amazing rabbit out of the hat and came back with the report of Joshy #2's in the potty!!! This is fantastic! Great!! Preschool might actually happen for Joshy in the fall! Thank you Grammy, because we've tried and he's told us over and over that he's "too big for the potty". Maybe Grammy's potty is the just the right size for our little goldilocks boy. They finished off their day with a swim with Daddy and Papa Dahl too. During which, Josh has gotten bold enough to dive under at will for 4-5 seconds on his own. This is spectacular; a stellar result of one-on-one time.

Today is more school, grocery shopping and the mundane on this overcast drizzly day.

Tomorrow, I work, and I have Caleb's parent-teacher conference to attend to. I'm looking forward to see what he's accomplished when his parents aren't around to "focus" him. And I am hoping to hear positive feedback on his readiness for Kindergarten. Although, Miss Cheryl is wonderful and accessible for conversation and comment just about all the time, so I'm not expecting any surprises really.

With the long memorial Day weekend, I have "jobs" to do outside of the home and massive cleaning to get done inside in preparation for Caleb's party. School buddies and a Dinosaur theme. Caleb's didn't pick the theme, although he is ok with it, but rather the $-store product availablity picked it. Should be fun though. But this will be my first "drop the kids off" type of party. At least that is what I think the other parents are thinking... I didn't know that when I sent out invitations. I didn't realize that that was the "phase" we are in suddenly. But I guess we are there, and trial by boy's dinosaur party... please, pray for nice weather so we can set up the bouncy house and feed them outside! Otherwise, I'll be tempted to coat my house in saran-wrap for protection.

So that's it for now. Happy Mid-week. We're almost there to the weekend.

So how is your week going?



Ours is pretty calm. We enjoyed the weekend for all it's sunshine. As the week has progressed more and more rain has come... which is fine for the freshly planted flowers/plants.



We would have gone for a long walk to the big park, but Caleb disobeyed and procrastinated for over 2 hours to pick up his toys, which backed us into lunch and then nap time Monday... I was sad because I was hoping to get exercise in the lingering dry weather of the week. But there are consequences to not obeying.



Tuesday was school for Caleb which of course he LOVES to see and play with his friends.



Grammy Dahl came out and got Joshy for a little one-on-one time and he

Happy Weekend! And what a great forecast. Over 80 here in Monroe! WOW.

And what do we do with such nice weather... yardwork. Mike mowed. Which means that the Bouncy house could make an appearance. It's so nice to have such a great "toy" available to the kids. I feel great being able to provide something so exotic (in the kids world).

We also went and got a few plants... I told myself after thinking about this for weeks... $20, we could do that.

God is good. And after walking out of Coast to Coast with nothing (not even the raspberries, which they didn't have, but that I owe to Papa Bill and Grandma Judy from Christmas) because they had a high price on plants, but the two I wanted would have come to $20. We went to Fred Meyers. Hostas were on SALE, $3.99 (Coast to Coast, $9.99)!!! And, while we were picking out and looking at the Bleeding Heart bushes, the sales lady came by and told us that there were a few in the clearance section and told us where to find them! $9.99 at Coast to Coast, $7.99 at Fred Meyer, marked down to $4.04! WOW! I got two for less than the price of one at Coast to Coast. So I just finished planting and watering, and praying, because once they are in the ground they are on their own. But I move the fuschia, and moved some of the lily of the valley. Not all of it because, they came from my Grandma Severson, and they are doing wonderful and even blooming a charming pale pink... and I would be extremely sad if it died in the process of transplant. So they will stay where they are until very hardy and be the carpet beneath the vibrant bleeding heart bush and riotous clematis vines.

It is such great weather, I've tried to get the boys out on their bikes, which ended up as a visit to the park trip. They are jumping on the bouncy house and will into the late evening. Tomorrow, if I'm brave (two boys and a garage sale???) to get the garage sale going, we'll see. Probably a trip to the big Fryelands Park tomorrow. I don't know. If it is breezy enough, I have a kite waiting for Caleb.... all possibilities. I'm just rolling with the punches and taking my allergy meds in the mean time.

So that's the plan. Now that we have a plan for Caleb's birthday party, we have determined to get things done in the yard/house.... I have hope to complete a lot of it. But I've already started on it so I have HOPE. I'm also 75% done with the scrapbooking pages that I always do for the boys year birthday. So I'm even feeling optimistic about that.


On the down side. I COMPLETE forgot about my last MOPS. :( I looked at the clock and then the date and repeated that and then my heart kind of fell. I hope that I can still network with the moms and keep in touch over the summer. Again, I'm choosing to have hope.

Have a great weekend all.

Just a little catch up:

Mother's Day Tea. It was lovely in that they took the time to buy fresh flowers, match the plates to the flowers, made little recipe booklets, made little finger sandwiches, fruit and devonshire cream etc. The kids sang songs and presented their moms with gifts. "Thumbody loves you" was the theme. My child of course did not participate. He hid behind his neighbor, jumped up and down and stuck his tongue out... and then initiated a game with his neighbor. He was the only one not participating in the group (until he distracted his neighbor and that made two.) Then Caleb complained that we had to depart so that we could relieve Daddy's babysitting of Jockey, so that he could get to work.

At Awana, Caleb graduated from his second year of Cubbies. He was a little whirlwind, barely contained. He ran/stomped accross the stage to receive his certificate and then he talked from the stage to me and whinned that he couldn't take his bear out of the wrapper. He again, did not sing and participate with his group. Then when I was trying to register for next year, Caleb wouldn't stay where I asked, but at least he wasn't doing as Jockey did, which was crawl under all the seats up to 20-30 feet away from me. I was determined to stay in line and be the third registered, NOT the 90th! The faster I registered, the faster I could get out of there.
Pictures to follow.

We had a very nice stay over at Papa Bill's campsite at Lake Conner. Upon arrival, there were two deer bedded down in his site. We saw several more of the course of the next 24 hours. 7 in the space of 5 minutes! We toured the park, Papa Bill and Grandma Judy brought fried chicken out for dinner and we had a campfire... much to the boys insistence. Joshy asked for permission for each and every miniscule twig or weed he wanted to throw into the fire. Caleb chose to poke at it a while and then headed off to attempt to burn a hold in some canvas (luckily we stopped the little pyro in time.)

We opted to pack up and go home on Saturday evening, rather than be rushed and try to cram it all in on Sunday. And were glad we did, it poured Sunday morning at the time we would have been hooking up and unloading.

Sunday, Mother's Day, it was up and at-em' with the kids. They wanted milk, they wanted bananas, Jockey declared himself soggy. They demanded, and demanded, etc.
Mid-day, we left to go to West Seattle to see Tessa, Auntie Kristina, Uncle Ryan, GG, Grammy and Papa Dahl. The weather turned out to be beautiful sunny in between clouds, enough to enjoy the swingset and the back deck. The food was yummy and in overwhelming quanities. Though, like always, it felt too short before we had to head home.

Big news for Mother's Day. Jockey used the Potty!!!!!! (I'll be honest and admit he started then stopped on the floor) But he was placed on the potty and he used it! I hope that this bodes well for the future. We offered him a lot of praise and encouragement.


Monday, was a blessedly quiet day. Grammy was wonderful and came to take the boys for the day. They were excited and were piling hugs on her before they even got their shoes on. She took them to the club for a little running and swimming fun. A lunch visit from Papa Dahl and Daddy, Grilled Cheese lunch and naps were the afternoon. Then Daddy took them swimming again and then brought them home. It was a great day for them, they got to see their grandparents, and I got even farther along on the scrapbooking project for Caleb's birthday. Only 4 more to go... close, but with only a little over two weeks before the deadline.... I'll have to take a couple evenings and hide out in the office/scrapbook room and really get to it.

Today we are back into the routine of preschool and grocery shopping. And time to get to it. See ya soon.

Howdy.

I finally signed Jockey up for Preschool... put the $ down on it. Now I'm under the gun to really get him potty trained! Yikes. I feel like I'm racing a train to the crossing.

Caleb will be a Spark in Awana next year. And I'm trying to get a straight answer from him about which church he wants to go to. So far the best he can say is he wants to go where they will play games... like putting a ball inside a plunger and running around a circle without dropping it... HUH? Well, if that's the only criteria, why is this such a hard decision? I will have to find out costs of course. But the MAIN difference is the day they meet on; one location it's a Wednesday thing and the other it's a Thursday thing. The Wednesday place is a way smaller group, and might mean less social chances for Caleb and less Awana wide programs. But they are more low key, personable, and didn't require parent participation every month. The Thursday place is most likely more expensive, but more structure and participates/provides more activities for the Awana club, and will require me to be a parent helper. And if I put Caleb in Sparks, I'm going to be putting Jockey in the Cubbies... which means a break a break when I DON'T have to parent assist, but it could also mean I have to parent assist twice as much as I did this year (which was NEVER NEVER fun. I like my own kids most of the time, stranger's kids, not so much.) Big decisions. Jockey's excited though. And I told him that they want him potty trained too for him to go to Cubbies. It's 3 yr old blackmail, that's what it is. Potty training scheme #99b.

Tomorrow is the Mother's Day Tea for Caleb's school. He is still singing the song from last year, so we'll see what they come up with for this year. Should be good, and I'll try to remember the camera.

On a personal note. A little pat on my own back. Went grocery shopping today (in addition to yesterday's trip... savings of over $30). I went to the Albertsons today and bought $74(at the regular prices) worth of food for just $24. A $49 SAVINGS!!!! Thank you GOD, thank you special grouping discounts, thank you sales, thank you coupons, and thank you to Club Card discounts. A little happy success for Mommy and her tasks she's commissioned with for the household!

Ok, time to get on with everything else. Dinner, clutter pick up, laundry etc. Have a great night.

Welcome back from the weekend. Hope it was good for you.

We drove up Hwy 2 and checked out a couple campgrounds that might be great alternatives to driving so far that Gas becomes cost prohibitive. I think we have some great prospects just 30 miles up the highway! (Kristina, you would probably like them too, we'll talk more on Sunday about this I'm sure.) I'm excited to have found a closer, cheaper (gas) and cheaper site fee location. Although nothing will 100% replace Anacortes, this is great for variety. And on the drive we saw deer, what more could we want?!

Caleb told me today that "Mommy, my dream is to have a dog that vaccums". I said "Yeah, that's my dream too". It was so funny, I posted it on the MOPS forum, to which one lady responded she'd also like a cat that dusts.

Caleb's Awana Awards night is this Thursday at 6:30pm. If anyone cares to join Jockey and myself in attending. I can't believe that the end of the "school" year has snuck up on my so fast!

The bouncy house has made it's spring/summer debut today. I gave Caleb a choice of going to the park or setting up the bouncy house and he promptly chose the bouncy house. So much for socialization, but at least the boys are happy. They enjoyed a lunch al fresco and everything.

And after the MOPS a few weeks ago, I have been feeling guilty of the using the paper plates because they cause waste and use trees. Until today, I looked at the package and the ones we have (and typically buy) are made from recycled materials and made to be biodegradable in a home compost (so no plastic coating/treatment). Of course we don't compost it, but at least where ever they ship it off to, it will decompose. So my guilt is assuaged on this today, because we are just not a house to give up the paper plates completely. Some days, using a paper plate is priceless compared to ugly looking, labor intensive appearance of another full sink of dirty dishes. When 3 of us eat at home 3 times a day and a fourth person for dinner, plus all the prep and cooking ware/utensils, dirty dishes can get out of hand fast.

I'm looking forward to this summer. There is so much to do. And I'm going to sincerely TRY to get out of Monroe on the bus and take the kids places. I really don't want the lack of economy in gas to cave us into the 5-6 mile square radius of our city. So perhaps on the free day for the Children's Museum, we can bus our hinnys out to Everett. Or even the zoo, although, I have to think that through with packing ever scrap of food, diapers, and we still have napping boys, how that will all work. I'm going to try.

Praise report because God is so good: Our microwave broke... However, we were happy to receive a $50 rebate check we didn't remember was coming; AND while cleaning off the broken microwave, I found a promotional flyer through our phone company that said we would get $40 off our phone bill if we just made a phone call (and allow them the chance at upselling). So I made the call, and yes, we will get $10 off then next 4 MONTHs bills! So our replacement microwave cost us $7 and change! That's God's provision for you!

Well, that's all for now.

Dentist report.

We've got good news, and.... bad news.


Good news: Caleb is like the model patient. GREAT says the dentist. The Dentist is phenonminal, wonderful, enthusastic, positive, nothing is too much to over come, the location is a really fun place, kid movies in the lobby, free arcade game in the lobby, Caleb came away from it with a positive attitude bragging about all the toys/toothpaste/brushes he got. And there is a treatment plan, AND ****does NOT(yeah!!!) include putting him under general anaesthia!!!*** (I was starting to get really scared about that, it would be fine for me, but he's just too little, we don't know enough about his little body, and hello, I'd have to be awake for it.)


Bad News: I don't know all the details, it was hard to hear on the phone, and I did reach an overwhelmed point where I just couldn't take in anymore. (Did I mention I hate the general idea of going to or being at the dentist?) But, Caleb has several cavities, gingivitis, and his front tooth which has a major cavity is not just also chipped (from when he slipped getting out of the bathtub) but also dead/dying. It will take 4 separate appointments to treat him. I am not sure what caps are, but that word was mentioned. And the dying tooth will have to be pulled to prevent infection from spreading in his mouth. (I'm horrified at having him look like a jack-o-lantern until his adult tooth comes in!!!! I worry about this socially for him going into a new school in the fall etc.) And when it is all said and done, it will be roughly $1000.

His first appointment is June 5th... Daddy will take him, and I'll stay home and cry. Somethings are gratefully just a Daddy's lot in life. I breatfed and got bit and suck on into agony, Daddy has to go to the dentist.

I feel such immense guilt, self condemnation and embarrassment. At least I didn't kill the tooth myself, but why wasn't I closer when he slipped.... etc etc. I'm not in a good emotional state right now, I have to beg everyone not to make comments that might add to my self-loathing at this time. Wait until I'm over it and can just be flippant and sarcastic back, instead of morbidly crushed.

I'm going to bury myself in a hole somewhere. Caleb on the other hand is thrilled to have new things from the dentist office to take to show and tell at preschool.

On the brighter side of things, the sun is out and it didn't hail today.
I got all the cookies baked that I was requested to bring to Awana.
Joshy is cute and is taking a nap on Daddy (also sleeping) chest.
And it's almost time to get Caleb from preschool.
And Mops is tomorrow. (Maybe there I'll find some fellow compatriots to console me about the teeth issue. )

Have a great weekend.