Hello.


Well, it's taken me longer to get back here than I thought, but here I am finally.



I think the meeting with Caleb's teacher went well in terms of the spirit of cooperation and teamwork. I was a little saddened by not coming up with an earth shatteringly wonderful solution, but we did try to brainstorm a bit and decipher what is going on. We talked a little about his adjustment into Kindergarten and all the new rules etc. Caleb's teacher seems to care about what is going on and based on her actions on Friday (the day after our meeting) it appears she is highly responsive to the suggestions/ideas we did come up with. I suggested that Caleb really wants to be needed and wants to be a helpful participant, anything.... Friday Caleb was very proud to annouce he had helped his teacher put the chairs up. So I think that created a positive response in Caleb and show excellent responsiveness in his teacher. Even better, Caleb did not have any "stages" (levels of discipline) for 3 whole days this last week. This is great! And Caleb is proud of himself. I try to give him verval accolaids, but also at this early phase in a hopeful "reformation" I am showing him rewards (ex: Pizza on Friday). I want to show positive response, but also not get into the habit that all good behavior deserves kudos... we should just be happy we were not bad and not in trouble.



We went to Awana on Thursday, it was also my night to stay and help in Caleb's Sparks class. He said his verse and earned "shares" with makes him eligible to buy stuff on Store night. And Joshy at the end of his class was able to get over his shyness enough to say his verse. It's the only time I have ever seen Joshy shy. If it wasn't for his verse, he would be running around happy as a lark playing with the kids and toys. Performance anxiety? Whatever, we survived.



I'm not looking forward to Oct 16th, a field trip day with all the kids in Caleb's class (which I voluteered to be a chaperone for) AND that night I have to help in the Cubbies class with the wild 3-4 yr olds. That's going to be the longest day ever. I love my kids, although some days it's tough to say I LIKE them (or more accurately, their ACTIONS)... but I don't love other people's kids and don't especially like them either. So Oct 16ths is a full day of other peoples kids. yikes and yuck. The price I pay for being a parent. This account is getting overdrawn.



We did nearly nothing yesterday except I gave all the guys hair cuts. And today, although the weather is nicer, as a result of yesterday... the Club is without power and Mike had to drive down and run things and wait for PUD to come. There is a branch on the lines that both knocked out power and caught fire. So we are on hold waiting for him and what is going to happen. I suppose I could drag two kids to the grocery store if I wanted to torture myself. And I might have to do that since Joshy is still a potty-backslider and I need to replenish the stock of Pull-ups. sigh. And I'd love to get rid of the headache that's been plagueing me for the last few days.

As for the lighter side of life. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I will again because the boys said it again. They are both loving the idea of going to heaven. They have both decided that the best part of heaven (since Jesus goes to prepare a place for each of them special) is that their house/room is going to have a bathroom in the bedroom. No more going across the hall for them, it's too far, they want potties in their bedrooms and Jesus can make it that way. Caleb also says that his friend Alan is going to stay with him for a while because it is going to take Alan's parents a while to get there. I thought that this was metaphorical, but also considerate of Caleb. Caleb's also decided that he wants a bunk bed in heaven.

Caleb and Joshy are really into having sleep overs in each other's rooms. I'm keeping that to a weekend only activity just in case they are staying up a bit later with a bit of talking. Last night I heard Poopy-head yelled for 5 minutes after I closed the door.

OK. That's enough for now.