Today, the car said it was 113, but the bank said 108. Either way it is HOT HOT HOT. The INSIDE of our home is 94, except our two refuges of TV and master bedrooms. We are holed up in there doing various projects and TV watching. A little mundane but way cooler.

We saw a free movie today and met up with some buddies. Then went to a playland McDonalds and stayed cool for another 2 hours. Then it's been home and hot ever since.

Tomorrow I work, and then we'll see what can be done to stay cool. I'm ready to break down and actually PAY to see a movie or Pay to go to pump it up or something inside! We'll see.

Until then, I'm getting out of the hot office.

How hot is it???

We have to be done walking by 10, done playing on the playground by 10:30, upon JOCKEY's request to go home. The boys have spent the last 3 nights sleeping in the TV room because that is the other air conditioned room in our house. I ACTUALLY got into the club pool and laster about 2 hours rather than 20 minutes. And now for the second day in a row, the spoiled rabbit comes inside during the day and stays in a crate in our air conditioned bedroom!
I saw 100 degrees today, and it's listed as 48% humidity. I never thought I'd have to visit California in July to get cooled off!

We went to the pool today and were there a very long time, and then into the AC at Grammy's motorcoah and then to dinner. At 10PM, my car still says it's 86 outside! It's sticky.

So despite being tired now, tomorrow I will be taking the boys to the movie, and then perhaps the pool again. I don't think I can even sit in the shade and watch them play at this temperature/humidity. I'd like to but I have to know my limitations.

Well, that's it for now. The office is hot and I must now retreat to the AC'd bedroom.

VBS ended with a nice picnic. The boys were entertained, Joshy more than Caleb. Caleb was very vocal on not enjoying the singing. Josh stood slumped over during the final performance, but at least he didn't sit down and face backwards the way Caleb did...
We've visted the parks several times, gone for walks.
Today we went to church and we are working on steam cleaning the carpets (I know, we nearly couldn't have chosen a hotter day to do this.) The carpets are really starting to look better. Mike's put in the majority of the work, although I've done a large amount too. I've also taken the time to wash down all the walls while the furniture is pulled away, and then cleaned the bathroom. The boys are loving visiting with Uncle Brian who stopped by, and watching Muppets in Space in the air conditioned TV room.
What's on the plate for this coming week.... we are going to try to find many ways to beat the heat. The first is going to a free movie on Wednesday in Everett. Ok, it's at 10AM before it REALLY gets hot, but it's something. And I think we will have to discover the splash parks in the area.
I work on Thursday.
Next weekend, we are trying to plan a camping trip towards the crab. I mean ocean water where putting out some crab traps is possible with good results. Cool crab around a campfire... only peel and eat shrimp/prawns beats it.
So that's the plan.
The following week: the boys are enrolled in swim lessons and will be with Peter and Lynda for 4 days. I'll be using the time to clean and work on projects to be entered into the Evergreen State Fair.
So that's the dahl nutshell.

So what happened in our weekend????

The Children's musuem was great...but as for the rest lets see.

Saturday the boys stayed home and played with Mike while I took Auntie Brittany out for her birthday. When I got back we shot out to Snohomish and saw the street fair, ate food, and watched the parade. We were home around 8:30 or so. They had a great time and we saw different things than the Anacortes fair.

Sunday, the highlight was that we drove up to Flowing Lake for a little water splashing, playground, and picnic time. Grammy and Papa Dahl drove up and joined the boys in the water. The boys had a great time, but Caleb kept thinking that any number of water animals were just waiting to snatch him under the water. He kept a keen eye out for sharks, sea turtles and fish...I don't think he understands the difference between saltwater and lake water. I don't know where he got concerned about fish nibbling his toes but he is. Fortunately, we dug out the legendary boogie boards (the ones I used in Hawaii when I was in 8th grade). They were quickly skimming the surface and trying to surf as they were towed around. It wasn't too hot out and it wasn't too cold in the water. The mosquitoes didn't bother us either. The food was good, the lake sounded cheerful and peaceful. The boys had a good time. Can't think of a better way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon/evening. The boys were worn out by the time we got home at the young hour of 7:30... we carried them into bed and that was that. Making for a calm night too!

Now, we are moments away from going to VBS. This is the first day of the next 5 days. I had forgotten that they were taking Josh too, so now I have some days with a bit of "free" time. Of course, then I look at my schedule and find I work two out of five days... so not so much "free" time after all. Well, regardless. The boys should have a lot of fun and hopefully learn a little, and maybe they will even meet up with a few familiar faces. I have hope at least, Caleb's already sad that they aren't going to have recess with soccer. But he's promised to have a good attitude. I'm crossing my fingers.

Ok, that's the update. Here we goooooo!

The puppet show Wednesday night was great. Really thought provoking, although Caleb was more interested in this buddies than the show.

Thursday, I worked and then we hung out at the house until we skipped accross the street and played baseball at the park with the neighbors. (The neighbors from behind us that Caleb has been talking to, the same ones we went to the puppet show with.)

Today, Friday, we went to MOPS in the Park for an hour and a half. It was nice to see the ladies. The boys burned off a lot of energy... but not all of it. By 4 pm we needed to get them tired again. We ended up in Everett at Forest park for a while, and then at the Everett Imagine Children's museum for their FREE admission night. What a nice way to spend a quality family Friday night. And inexpensive. What's more, one of Caleb's classmates ended up being there and instantly they were off playing and doing boy horsing around. An impromptu playdate, perfect!

We are going to tuck them into bed and then relax ourselves.
Tomorrow, I'm taking Auntie Brittany birthday bingo playing. Then in the afternoon the boys will be treated to the adventure of Snohomish's Kla-hy-ya days. Street Fair, "Taste of Snohomish" food, chalk art, chili cook off, salmon BBQ, carnival rides, and a parade at 6pm. Sounds fun.
Hope you're weekend is just as exciting. TTFN.

Just a little update.

We went to the park yesterday for about 2 hours. It was a little chilly, but it was way better than trying to keep the kids occupied in the house. We met a family that we knew from last week, and then one of my MOPS acquaintances (her son was in Caleb's Kindergarten class) stopped by. So we had and unplanned playdate.

Then today, Mike came home sick. But he took Caleb out to eat for lunch.
Jockey and I chilled at the house until they returned.
I went to work today.

Caleb has been literally hanging over the fence making friends with the boys that live behind us. Today he was invited over, in fact Josh was too. So they went over there for about an hour. This is the first time I've had a playdate that I didn't attend myself and watch them. Any others I have been at, stayed at, etc; and it's rare that anyone but Grammy (school or Auntie Brittany, briefly) watches the kids, no babysitters here. So it was a shock to feel like a new phase has begun for the boys and myself. They are getting big enough to have social lives outside of me. At least Caleb is, Jockey is still a tag-a-long. He doesn't really see a difference between himself and Caleb's age group. It's a strange feeling. There is a huge trust issue that goes along with this. Can I trust other people to act safe/appropriate with my kids? Are my kids going to behave? It's a whole letting go thing.
I did receive a good report and told they would be welcome back anytime. We were also invited to a church puppet show performance tomorrow evening. I'm planning on going since the cousins of our neighbors will be there (the ones Caleb is REALLY interested in). These cousins (at least one of them) is in Caleb's Awana. So he knows them. But the intriguing thing is that Blake has been hounding his mom to get together with Caleb too. So I'm happy to hear that other's are wishing to seek Caleb out too. I have hopes that this will lead to some good friendships. (shared faith, similar ages, similar physicial capabilities, etc.)

Tomorrow, we will swim in the morning and see cousin Tessa. A nice but all too infrequent occurrence. I won't be telling them until the morning though because I don't want to be badgered about it for the next two hours. The morning will be enough.

Thursday, I work. I don't have significant plans for the boys.
Friday, MOPS in the park in the morning, IF we are still in town. Still toying with the idea of going somewhere.

However, right now the house needs alot of attention and work. I had the boys seriously excited and enthusiastically helping clean the bathroom yesterday. I hadn't ever seen this kind of cleaning energy from them, but I suppose the 1/4 box of Q-tips I let them use to clean the crannies was a unique experience. (We are working on the deep clean areas that often get neglected in the quick punt to get the general space clean...ex: the molding ledge, perfect q-tip width.) Spraying the cleaner was also a thrill. I'm hoping to train them now that they have to be a part of the cleaning since they are part of the household inhabitants. And if I have to go through an entire box of q-tips (only $1 at $-store) to get some help... so be it!!!! And I bribed them with gum, I admit it.

So that's the week in an upshot.

TTFN

Hitting the ground running....

We got back from California, and within 12 hours of walking in our front door, we were pulling away from the house again and heading to Anacortes for the July 4th weekend.
(and of those 12 hours, we slept some, and I went to work, and loaded the trailer.)

The weekend was nice. Couldn't have had better weather. The new Off Bug repellant clip on thing seemed to do the job. We had nice campfires and delicious shrimp. The boys are slowly learning the peeling shrimp technique. Caleb's better at it, but he's had more years to learn than Jockey. We went on walks and hikes looking for deadfall firewood. We visited their parks. We met Papa and Grammy Dahl, we went to the Farmer's Market and the Parade. We watched the city's firework display from the cozy comfort of the motorcoach which had a perfect view being parked at the marina. On Sunday, we even got to visit with Grandpa Bill and Grandma Judy who drove up with their dogs.

It was a sort of quiet week trying to get the house back in order after having been gone so long. (still not their yet). We visited the park (and got stood up for a playdate) and met a new kid for Caleb to play with and perhaps befriend. Turns out Gage had Mrs. Adams for Kindergarten last year, and this coming year Gage's sister will be in Caleb's class. So it's possible that Caleb already has a "friend" (yeah, a girl, but still.... did I mention he's begun his only boys phase) for the first day of school.
I worked Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, Caleb left with Grammy and Papa Dahl and headed with GG to the Oregon Coast for the weekend. I hear all good things about the trip, though he's not back yet. Jockey and I have used the time to paint, play with play dough, finger paint, and a special treat of a movie on a TV in his room. (no fighting over the movie selection was a big treat.)

So here comes another week and we have high hopes for decent weather and good times.
Have a great week yourselves.

We're back safe!

It's late and I STILL have things to do before I can go to bed so I'll leave the update at that.

Home Safe. And we are heading to Anacortes for a camping weekend. More later!

A few pictures from California:

Chalk drawing

Just a little Goofy

Fairytale town with Liam and Charlie (Carolina's boys)

And other cute stuff

Hope this gives a snapshot of our CA experiences.

It's gettin' hotter here. Hovering around 100 (give or take) for the next week!

I've washed our clothes already so we all the tanks tops we brought available to us.

Our pictures turned out well. We pick them up on 6/30. The colors were very complimentary. The boys did start to get energetic ,crazy, silly and not exactly obedient. But it's been worse. We got group shots, boys shots, and just Caleb. And I think that overall it was a good run at it.
Afterwards Grandma and I took the boys to a park to play. This park was suppose to have a water feature... but contrary to all logic, they shut the water off from 1-5 pm, you know when it is hottest and you want to cool off. Go figure. But they had fun anyway and played and made a friend in some kid name Jacob. At home we went into the hot tub. Grandma and I were reminescing about how well the boys were swimming and contrasting that with when they were babies just bobbing about. Now they are little fish and splash-o-matics.
Later this evening, I went out and got snacks for the following day and sidewalk chalk for the patio. They thought that this was great and when they were done (mutli-colored with chalk dust), Grandma sprayed them off with the hose. Which they thought was hilarious and fun.

Yesterday, we went to Fairytale town and met my friend Carolina and her two boys. The eldest boys were best of buds from the start, Jockey did his best to tag along and Charlie being the smallest happyily pursued his own interests. The boys buzzed around the whole park running from one attraction to the next and chasing ducks and roosters in between. They climbed on things, went down all the slides, pumped water with the old pump and did it all over again and again only stopping for water or snacks. Luckily there were picnic tables in the shade that were pretty central because they were flitting so fast it would have been too much to track every step. After a few hours, we unexpectedly headed to Funderland (3 minutes away). The boys were able to go on all rides with the exception of 2 rides (one was closed for maintenance, the other they were too short for). The majority of the park was wide open for their adventure. A few times we had to coach them on which boy had to take a younger brother to meet the heights and accompaniment requirements... but mostly they were happy just to be there and having fun. We bought the wristbands and got our money's worth in just over 2 hours! Then of course, it was getting pretty hot and it was time to head home for a quick nap and back into the cool hot tub. A few turns at playing computer games on the computer Papa Bishop especially configured for them and they were ready for a wind down watching Transformers, brush teeth and into bed.

Today, Papa took the boys to the free showing of Star Wars (clone wars, animated) and then took them to McDonalds to burn off their wiggles in the air conditioning. It is getting quite hot here in the afternoons and there isn't a way for us Northwesterners who are not used to the heat or lack of humidity to play outside when it is this hot. In fact, it is nearly 7 and only starting to be tolerable to be outside... in the shade. But the boys were well behaved and old slightly figdity in the theater. They played a long long time and ate all their food. They came home for a nap and are now playing outside, blowing bubbles. We'll let them have another run at the chalk and then pop them into the hot tub for a washing.
Mom and I bummed around today, mainly at book stores looking for things we haven't read and swapping thoughts on authors/books. We went to a nice place that is a salad-made-to-order restuarant. You choose the lettuce type, the toppings, the meat if desired, and dressing. Just what you like, just as you order it. Great on a hot day! And left overs for tonight too.

The next few days we don't have a plan yet other than beat the heat. I'm toying with the idea of lots of Sunblock and visiting the Roseville Aquatics complex. 0' depth beach with a play structure in 18" of water... similar to Mose Lake's and it will be in the hundreds here. A great way to cool off.

Well that's all for now.

Hi all from California....

Before I begin to tell all about California. Please rememeber Grammy and Papa Dahl in your prayers, their home has suffered a sever house fire. It will be a long road requiring patience and lots of decisions to make, and emotional recovery. Please keep them in your prayers.

Ok, so on to the CA update.

We arrived safe, though the boys slept only 20 minutes of the flight (so I was a little worn out by their figiting.)
Grandpa turned on the sprinkers for the boys to run through. I made up beds for the boys to sleep on. They ran around and around in the backyard. Mom and I dusted after the concrete guy made gritty concrete dust in their house. Jockey ate a carrot like corn on the cob and then drooled it on my pants, and then he drooled chocolate on my capris... so while wearing my third change of clothing, I began a load of laundry. The boys played soccer in the backyard until after dark... at which point they thought that it would be a good idea to roll in the grass. They were itchy, red speckly, and bit by some bugs... so they went in for a bath and a 1/2 Benedryll. They fell asleep within a half hour and stayed asleep until 8AM the next day.

Papa made us all a French Toast breakfast. The boys ate, watch cartoons and ran around the house. Later Papa came back from Starbucks and took them to McDonalds to play and play and play. (The boys had begged to go). Mom and I went to Penney's to find coordinating clothes for pictures on Monday and then went to Grocery Outlet for boy-food (hot dogs, mac'n'cheese, apples, bananas). Papa went to a Rivercats ball game; we had mac'n'cheese for dinner and the boys played again in the backyard running around and around. I turned the hot tub on, but they didn't want to wait to go in. They got in when the temperature was 78, and got out 15-20 minutes later when it was 80. And then back to running and playing.

Yesterday, a slower morning and then we hit a splash park and the boys ran through the water and played for hours. The weather has been so temperate that it has been very nice.. not too hot. Although I think that that is changing with this week. But it was more than comfortable in the shade while watching the boys. Then it was a family dinner with my aunt and cousin and second cousin over. The second cousin in just 2 weeks younger than Josh. Mr. Phineas didn't end up coming but I have hopes that we will see him before we leave.

Today, we have an appointment for taking pictures and I hope to get good happy faces out of Caleb and Jockey and have a rather painless experience. After than we don't have a plan yet.

Tomorrow, Fairytale town where we are meeting one of my friends and her boys (near the same ages). Funny that she lives in Bellingham and we in Monroe, but we have to be in California to meet. I haven't seen her for 3 years! It's time, and hopefully Fairytale town will be exciting to keep the boys busy.

So that's the update. Pictures will have to come later.

New pictures:

Moses Lake State Park and the Aquatic Center.

Field Day and Last day of School

Cute pictures.

Friday...

It was Caleb's Class party and Field Day.

I went to the class party and saw a great slide show. I'll try to find a way to upload, link or take the pictures with Caleb and post it here.

I did not intend to stay for all of field day, but it turned out Caleb needed me to stay. The activities were well organizeds but the transition between was loosely termed a free for all, which didn't work out so great for Caleb. He turned shy and needed guidance to get from one activity to the other. I didn't mind and it was great to be a part of his school day. Although, I have to say that I left feeling like what I see on the outside of the school during pick up (appears orderly and planned) is NOT what I saw on the other side of the school doors (near chaos and how they would have ever found my child, I wonder). Well, next year he'll be that much older, faster, and use to the environment and routine so perhaps he'll have more self-confidence.

I did find out that next year Caleb will have Mrs. Adams for his kindergarten teacher. He's been in here class before for various other activities and he will meet her again during recess on Monday just to get use to her and know where she can be found this coming fall. I'm trying to decide whether to go for the 10 minutes Monday, or wait until the pre-school BBQ meet and greet. We'll see.

The count down to California has begun... counted by days left to do laundry and pack! But to my relief, the last time I checked their weather was in the mid-70s, NOT 90 something. The kids will enjoy it way more if the cars don't burn them when touched. And yet, it is still warm enough to visit the splash parks they specifically requested to visit!

So here are the pictures from the slideshow (field day ones still to come):

So the year has ended except for the Monday formality. The sun is out and it's perfectly warm but not hot. We are all healthy. The rabbit hasn't been peed on lately ( I mentioned that didn't I? I think the rabbit is traumatized here at our house.) Zuma is hanging in there, although with each day I worry. (her screw broke through the skin on just before Mother's day weekend, then it came totally OUT about 2 weeks later. Her foot is not fully stablized now, and I'm hoping/praying that the other screw don't move. She's not yet showing pain/distress, but we have her on very limited activity. ) The strawberries are starting to be picked, the tree out from is ripening plums, I got rhubarb at a garage sale for 50 cents (store value of $10) and it. The blue berries will be ripe by the time we are back from California. And my check engine light went off for some reason and hasn't returned!!! And I'm making significant progress on Caleb's annual scrapbook pages and begun Jockey's too (don't want to get behind). And I've planned out what items I'm going to enter into the fair for exhibit. VBS is in the 3rd week of July. This year Mike will be home for the Monroe Fair Day's Parade. So that's how the summer's looking. With lots of camping spiced in there. And I hope play dates too!

That's all for this update, time to get out in the sun.

The Woodpecker might have to go...



______________________________________________________________

Personal good news: Today for $1.90, I purchased: dishwasher detergent, Kid's toothpaste, Kid's plaque identifying rinse, and contact solution! Also, Free Shaving gel. (Well, it's the little things that make life exciting.)

We are back from Potholes (Mosquitoeville) State Park.

Did I mention the mosquitoes? They drove us all inside except for the mandatory dog walks. And even then we were hosed down with skin so soft and DEET 23%. The kids fared better than the rest of us. Although Jockey has a lump in the side of his head that is every bit as big as a large grape! The dogs even got eaten!
We did not make it to the water park on Saturday because of the huge storm that rolled in and offered us high winds, thunder and lightening (which state law says must shut down the pools). So we "camped" out in the rvs. Whoever said the eastside always has better weather, rap rap on the knuckles. Not true. And the storm didn't even drive/blow the mosquitoes away for longer than a hour.
Sunday, we packed up and tried again for the water park. It was a nice park and the kids had a great time. I could have been a little warmer outside or in the water, or a hot tub to warm up in... but the facility offered a good variety of activities and LOTS that were in the 2.6" deep range and great for the boys abilities.
We pit stopped in Leavenworth and then headed home. We are all unpacked and now unwinding before bed and the start of school and work this week.
Caleb has just 6 days of school left!
And we have just 12 days until we depart for California. (Hopefully there won't be any mosquitoes there! It looks like they really like Jockey.)
So that's it for now.

Mid-Week and alls Sunny!!!

It is beautiful. The breeze is going today so it's even pleasant to listen to. Most of the day it's comfortable, but we have family room and bedroom AC units to take the edge off.

The boys staying busy.
Monday evening we took them for a dip in Lake Tye. They had alot of fun and Jockey really showed off his swimming capabilities. The goggles are like instant brave juice for him, because he was in Lake Tye last Thursday without them and he didn't do quite as well. We had to learn walk out and swim in towards shore otherwise you end up over your head.

Tuesday we cleaned the house a bit, and then the boys panted and hung out the front window for Grammy. They were so excited. It was swimming and tennis day. They just love it.

Today, it's getting hot and yet we are still moving and packing for this weekend. We are off to Potholes state park for the weekend and things have to be prepared. I've had to dig out the boys shorts and sleeveless shirts so that they can acclimate. Jockey still hasn't figured out where the sleeves went, almost like the shirt is broken and missing something. Well, it should be nice weekend, good weather, Grammy and Papa Dahl are going to be there, the campground has a playground. Fun.

In case I haven't mentioned before: Jockey wants to hold baby cows when he grows up. (future Kobe beef massager?) But this morning, he found a belt that fits him and now he has decided that he wants to be a cowboy. OK, at least you don't have to waist 4 years and 50K on college for that.

Sadly, I have to ask:
Why are they bad to each other? Especially Caleb towards Jockey. Like he's got to push the little guy down to prove he's better, or gets better priority. Their often physical pushing around of each other or shoving to get ahead is getting frustrating and disheartening. I am worn out by the dissent between the two of them. They are great separate, but the fireworks fly while together. sigh.


In good news, it seems we have our request for reservations in at Kayak Pt for August. Can we possibly be planning that far out?! But on the bright side, the Surfaces have also put their request for reservations too. So hopefully we will be notified soon and get in. The boys will be thrilled about camping with Tessa and we are going to be close enough that they will be able to go back and forth. I think I will wait until August 1st to tell them about it because otherwise they will be asking and hounding me about "is it today that we...?" for the next 2 months!

Ok, so that's the scoop. Time to find a cool hidey-hole.

So we went camping for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was beautiful, the site had nice privacy and raccoon pawprints (just the prints, no actual raccoon sightings), the campground had a GREAT grassy field to play in with all the fellow campers, a loop to ride bikes on that was in full sight the whole time for the boys... (Jockey is a bit young and I pulled a lawn chair to the front of the site, Caleb on the other hand was old enough/coordinated enough that I had confidence in him; it felt like ringing in a new era of trust and activity levels and a bit nostalgic from when I was camping as a kid riding my bike everywhere fast and furious. A small heart smile occurred when I was watching him, and watching him make friends and join a pack.) We did one of our FAVORITE things... campfire and peel-n-eat shrimp! Simple perfection. The crab feed on Friday night was good, and the boys were still free! We got our value's worth, Caleb really likes King Crab. I was impressed with the varieties available; I tried 3 new types. And I discovered, I really do have a beer-budget taste for things (except for cheese), Good for Mike, because I did NOT like the lobster. Plain crab is way better! Of course, crab is a luxury too.
The City of Anacortes had put in a new and PHENOMINAL new park in town and the boys loved it! We went twice and still they wanted to go more. We went swimming at the pool. We drove to Washington Park and Jockey spotted our one and only live deer sighting.

That's the good stuff. Oh, and Caleb had a good time at the Zoo, and Jockey went to his last school days this week, one of which was at the park with impromptu swimming (jockey worn undies but 4 others turned it into a nudist beach) and I got burn crispy red ...even with sunblock.


As for the Bad stuff.... Mike came down sick Wednesday. So he did not go on Caleb's field trip. And now, BOTH boys came down with the stomach bug Friday night! BOTH, projectile you know, loose the other stuff, you know. Jockey is quite emotional about his not feeling well. He is really rather disturbed by the whole experience. Not just regretful or sad, but near fearful. Caleb started getting sick at 10PM, we got him and the house cleaned up and calmed down. I put them both to bed in their rooms. Then Jockey came to be 3 times saying he was afraid of the bad stuff that came out of brother. I thought he didn't like the smell, the chemicals used to clean it up, afraid to get the stuff on his feet etc. NO, he was feeling it come on him too. So I decided to pull something else from childhood and offer to make a bed for him in the bathroom to sleep. He seemed very confused until I said I did this when I was a little kid. So ok. We make up his bed, during which time, Caleb sprints into the bathroom for his own problems. I offer to make him up a bed too. So Jockey is on the floor on a camping pad, Caleb's on an exercise mat in the bathtub. Things are set, right... No, 30 minutes later **sounds**, and I have to investigate. Jockey has made a HUGE mess that set me to wretching. So at 12:30-1AM, I'm cleaning all parts of the bathroom (except the mirror and sick) and Jockey's bedding/pad. I get done, Jockey is crying about why this is happening to him. I offer to lay down with him. So now it's Caleb in the tub, Jockey on the floor in front of the toilet, and Me laying on a couple pillows half in the bathroom and half out to sleep for the night. Every 30 minutes one of them got up, until about 4ish AM! 6:30, Jockey had moved to on top of my blankets, and I was woken up to Mommy, I didn't make it... on top of my covers, not vomit people! OK, so clean up on aisle 6. Good morning, and back to bed.
We'll be sticking pretty close to home today... despite the beautiful sunshine!

Here are some birthday pictures from Caleb's Party. Long over due, I know.

And here are some pictures from the boy's Awana Awards nights.

Caleb was up and down really fast for his awards. Apparently he didn't get the pause for a picture memo. He was up and returning to his seat before I could get him facing forward!

And pictures from our Mother's Day weekend camping trip to Birch Bay with Papa Bill and Grandma Judy.

And Note: Boys are more interested in climbing on a fallen tree's stump than clamming!

Ok so that's a bit of the catch up on events. Still more to come, I know....

Just a quick update...

Wow the sun is out and nice.

Ok. Caleb's party went well. Of course next time, I'd say just go go in the pool boys and let the cake and presents figure themselves out later. They were chomping at the bit to get in the pool when I had thought it would be miserable to have dripping wet kids try to watch Caleb open presents. The upside, everyone had fun and there wasn't a huge mess in my house after spending hours getting it immaculate. We had 5 little boys, plus Caleb, Jockey, Tessa, and two other siblings attend. The bouncy house was a nice break from the pool, and the weather couldn't have been better. Pictures to come soon.

I had Jockey's parent teacher conference today. The short story is: He had a marked improvement over the testing the fall. He can count to 14, say most his letters, attempt his name and get 2 of the letters correct, knows the names of his peers, most of his colors, cuts well on a straight line, can conceptually draw a family portrait, etc. However, he is extremely active, difficulty sitting still, easily distracted, stubborn, defiant, and lacks focus. In the words of Daddy, "we build them the same, don't we?" Yup. And the teacher said alot of this behavior is age related, and she was fully and excitedly on board with our plan for another year of preschool and then a year of pre-k after that. She said that was an excellent idea and would benefit him well to enter Kindergarten when he is a fully 6 yrs old because he would have a chance to work through his age related/maturity issues. So he's bright, but a crazy immature loose cannon. It can only get better.

Allergies are hitting us hard here. I feel like I have a whole body flu, and Caleb isn't far behind.

We are leaving town this weekend and headed to Bayview State park nearly to Anacortes but not quite. We wanted to get a reservation and they had an opening. We look forward to good weather, stops at the park, hikes, the farmer's market, shrimp, swimming/bowling, etc. Should be a good time, and Grammy and Papa Dahl, and the Surfaces will be staying in the vicinity too.

So that's it for now because I just don't feel great enough to elaborate.
Have a great weekend.

What a week.

Caleb has gone days, weeks etc without stages. Reward: tonight, Free Pizza (I won a coupon at MOPS) and a Slurpee.

Jockey, well, he got a tiny tiny slurpee, admittedly so that he doesn't whine.

The weather was decent today, and the boys and I put the long bright evening to good use. Strawberry bed weeding. Oh my, it was THICK with weeds. Hard work and finished in the dusk, but the up shot is that the blueberry bushes have their little white bell flowers on them and several of the strawberry plants have their white flowers blooming too! The boys tried earnestly to learn what a weed vs strawberry plant looked like. In the end, they were very useful at picking up the weeds that I had pulled and tossing them into the "yucky" corner.

We had a long conversation tonight about some light and heavy topics. What eyelids and eye lashes are for, where crocodiles and Sharks live, Jesus protects us and as Jockey aptly calls it with Jesus' Blood Power, Caleb asked how come we can't see angels which lead to a "spiritual realm" discussion, we talked about angels and tonight for one of the first times I told them about demons etc. We talked about the power Jesus gives us and how we don't have to be afraid. Jockey has been seemingly bothered (or just complaining enough to try to gain permission to sleep in our room at night) about bad dreams and last night it was wolves. So we specifically prayed about trusting in Jesus to protect us from the wolves.

The boys were very good tonight about picking up their toys, blankets and gardening clothes, and pop cans, and dishes. I was surprised and relieved... I was feeling quite overwhelmed by it.

We have so much going on. A birthday party for one of Caleb's buddies tomorrow. All of Caleb's party to buy for and organize for tomorrow. Caleb's party on Sunday. Laundry to put away, and more to clean. Our vacuum cleaner has broke a belt and I have to source/install a new one so our carpets are miserable, our TV broke very suddenly and will need to be replaced somehow?! eyes rolling at this moment, Caleb will attend a zoo field trip and there is a project to complete before the event. I have a MOPS end of the year thing on Monday, days of work to complete this coming week. We are going camping for Memorial Day weekend. Caleb's actual birthday coming after that. And the list goes on and on.

The boys are just about keeping up with things, and it is remarkable to watch them grow. Caleb is taking on more responsiblity in the house and even showing initiative (which I think is huge!). Caleb has decided that he feeds the dogs, rabbit and waters the rabbit. WOW. Of course he still needs reminders, but it was self appointed to begin with. Jockey is showing willingness to clean and I'm moving him up in responsiblity to replace the things that Caleb has matured away from. I am astonished by how much they understand, talk and talk about, do and are capable of. (In a good and bad way... They can do so much constructively AND DEstructively...sigh). Caleb is getting the mail by himself now. I THINK with his birthday we will graduate out of car seats entirely (I better check that.) When I attend MOPS, both boys are eager to set out chairs, tables and supplies with me. I'm training them to clean the bathroom. Other than THEIR TOYS, THEIR CLOTHES, THEIR ROOMS and little helps... the Bathroom is going to be their big job. If a boy doesn't have 100% accuracy in that room... they should learn the results by having to clean it up.

Through it all, I'm learning that I have to TRAIN them, and that takes patience (I'm not good at this) and time which often feels like I never have enough of. Today's MOPS reminded me to SLOW DOWN my life, NOW is meant to be the time to TRAIN, TEACH, MODEL to my kids their skills for life, and of course, they weren't BORN knowing how to clean, act respectfully, kindly, perservere, how to build a relationship with God, it has to be taught. (Duh, right?!) The time spent, though long, cumbersome, patience stretching, mind boggling, and logic bending and perhaps even neverendingly boring, will not be a waste in any hindsight view, it might even be useful and valuable later. MOPS called it intentional parenting. Consciously determining goals and priorities of what you want the kids to come out knowing and then setting out to train/teach with noted effort. Intent. OK, I can do that. I tried that today. I tried to show them my relationship with God tonight in our bedtime prayers...show them how I trust God, what I'm grateful for, and asking for help in the areas I need help in. The BEST thing I came out of childhood with (thanks mom) was an enduring relationship with God. I can fail and might fail in everything else, but that one area (which ironically has eternal consequences) is one thing I feel steadfast in; Iwill seek to bring that to my boys. I knew this all before, but I feel reminded and energized to act on it with more INTENT.

However, as for this exact second, it's late and I'm headed to bed. Caleb will be roaring to go with excitement and I better get my sleep.
More later, and sorry for the ramble.