We have arrived safely in California.

Although, about 13 hours later than we thought. Apparently they cancelled the flight in early October and just sent an email which I never got.... we found out last night in the airport. Jockey bawled that he didn't get to go to California to see "another grammy". I convinced him we'd really get to go. Lynda drove back and picked us up and we returned to have a bite to eat with Mike and Peter.
Then it was home to bed and early to rise. Had to make the most of "Black Friday". We were at Fred Meyer just after 5AM (with the other insane people). We got some really good deals and were out of the store in 20 minutes. The boys were kept busy and didn't see anything either. We struck out at Walmart... in fact, we didn't even get in the door since it was too early, too dark and too cold to wait in the line that stretched around the outside of the building. Target, we got in the door, but none of the prices were better save on two items, but even those weren't worth waiting in the hour long line just to pay. On the bright side, we browsed Petsmart and had just a fun time looking at animals. (Jockey's idea.)
We were to the airport with plenty of time, rode the "train" for a few loops and the rest was smooth. We are here now and the boys are already settled in and at home using the hallway as a running track, using the special computer Papa Bishop set up, and playing with their belated birthday gifts. Plans for the trip... the railroad museum, Chuck E. Cheese and McDonalds with Papa.
So that's the first update from California.

What would Jesus do????

A harmless question until tonight at dinner.

An incident occurred, regarding farting into the oven. The boys, being boys, thinks this is hilarious. Mommy, being mommy, does not think this is appropriate behavior and thinks we should discuss rudeness. I tried to introduce the guideline "What would Jesus do" as a standard for appropriate action. Did you ever think that you would have to say: "Do you think Jesus would fart into the oven?" Somethings you just can't say with a straight face, even when trying to teach a serious lesson.

It's getting to be that time of year.
"Season of prohibition" on buying things for yourself (or others, if it isn't going to keep until Christmas.) It was a rule growing up, buy nothing between Thanksgiving and Christmas; one year we even waited until after Christmas clearance sales to get our Christmas gifts.
However, today I was at a crossroads. Jockey and I were in the store finishing grocery shopping. He requested to visit the toys, and I said we were just looking... in fact, only looking for brother. So he looked and looked and pointed and "I want this" and "Buy me that please". He was turned away with "I'll think about it", I'll talk to Dad about it, "I don't think so", you won't use that, too many small pieces. etc. EXCEPT for one toy. Of all the games, action figures, hot wheels etc, it was a stuff (beanie babie-esque) cat. A little gray and white striped off-brand cat. I told him it was not on sale, too much, wouldn't be fair if brother didn't get one, way way too much if brother was to get one too. 10 minutes to get him out of the department after "price scanning" it twice to show him the cost. He bawled from one side of the store to the other as if I had cut off his arm. That's all he wants, nothing for Christmas. I'm hurting his heart he says. None of his other toys at home are cute now. He doesn't want to live near me when he grows up now. By now I'm feeling like the worst mother, but a decent budget hold-out. ($7 each, too much for stuffed cats!) I call Mike to be reaffirmed that I'm not cruel and unusual.
In the end, after brilliant parallel parking and a visit to St. Vincent de Paul, and negotiation there.... two stuffed cats (one IS a beanie baby), 2 mini-beanie baby bears, 1 mini-beanie baby dino, and a stashed away beanie baby (WITH TAGS) for Christmas.... $1.63 with tax. 1 christmas gift, 2 happy boys, totally affordable, and a relieved mommy in a pear tree. Jockey said in the car, "Mommy, you made my heart happy". I did have to explain to him that waiting and seeing if Mommy can find a way sometime gets better/more than the thing he cries over right NOW NOW NOW about. He understood. Lesson hopefully learned, even if I was manipulated for $1.63.
A rough but successful mom-ing day.
After last week's MOPS speaker, I'm trying to be more "intentional" in my parenting. Finding what works/lights up my child in their minds and hearts and develope that; working on first time obedience (starting to see minor improvement already, although the frequency of "consequences" has increased). We were encouraged to ask "What did you want from your Mother?" (and I've tried to include father, and want Mike to ask both questions of himself to work from that perspective.) I decided that I would ask the boys that question. Caleb understood a little better (or maybe Jockey does understand, and I don't want to understand his answer.) Caleb said he wants me to take him to the park more and sit with him more, and got to the Children's museum more. OK, Can do. JOCKEY, on the other hand... When I said what do you want out of mommy more, what more do you want from Mommy? Answer: A baby, a baby brother. I'm just closing my eyes and shaking my head. This from the boy who said he wanted to hold his baby brother by the foot/leg upside down so that it won't bite him like the rabbits!

Ok, so that's todays points of interest. Hope it was worth a chuckle.

We made it through last week. All the homework got completed, craft projects were don, school attended, MOPS attended, etc etc.

Now on to this week. Just 2 full days of "normal" until Thanksgiving craziness of packing, flying, driving, eating, Mike' working and whatever else. The boys and I fly out at 7:55 pm from Seatac. They might snag a swim at the club before we head to the airport, but other than that... I think we are going to chill at the house, pack the clothes, and eat McDonalds. I might even slurge for something that is NOT on the dollar menu to make it a "Big" meal that Thanksgiving is expected to be. And maybe a toy for the plane ride will be extra distracting from the 2 hours sitting in one plane seat without moving and (please, God) quiet! We will return Wednesday of next week, just in time to got to work and school the next day! Then MOPS and school on Friday. Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, Christmas Tree cutting on Sunday... whew, anyone exhausted yet.

Jockey is trying to learn to write his name. He's trying hard. He has J-O and E-Y. So he is a JOEY. He is suffering from an identity crisis. Joshua, Josh, Jockey, JOEY. How is he ever going to learn to write his name when he has so many! Something that he already needed to work on based on the conference with his teacher. He also has a small class party on Wednesday celebrating Thanksgiving.

Caleb had a "Celebration of Learning" today. (Does that seem Hyper (as in over the top) PC to anyone else?) I made it back from work in time to see him mumble words in front of all the parents. He really doesn't like singing in front of people. I'm wondering if I should even bother with the "around the world" (another PC terminology) December concert. He mumbled last year, and will probably do so again. I don't know whether we should go... I guess that decision is still to come. But Caleb was very happy to have someone come on his behalf.

So that's the update for now. Have a good Thanksgiving.

And a new week begins....

We've started off strong this week.
Caleb's looking over a new-to-him LEGO magazine, and my hope is that he finds he really wants to know what is being written about the LEGOs. One of his chief complaints about school is that they teach boring things... "Who cares about the rat with a pack?!" He seemed to prize the magazine and so my hope is high right now. Unfortunately, that means this afternoon I will be having to read a LEGO magazine. But that's what moms do I suppose.

Jockey is doing well at school. A little girl named Carlee really likes him, and he's indulgent. He lets her chase him. In a dog pack it's the leader who is always chased, a leader never chases. I wonder if the same is true in children?

We toured another house last week. Mike's in love. I'm reserving emotion so that I don't feel the crash of disappointment if it doesn't work out. It would have to be a series of miracles and fulfilled "Ifs" to get it... fortunately, we know and talk with the Master of Miracles, God. It would be a dream because of the size of land and square footage, and neighborhood atmosphere, and schools (basically our choice) and bus service right at the corner of the lot I think. The boys LOVE the big trees, and it comes with a tinker toys style hardy swing set. It's decorated in 1990's... mauves, purples, a poster -style picture in a set of 3 metal tubed frames (found at any value village) would fit in PERFECTLY with this house. But nothing is broken or unsafe! It's all just comes down to personal preference, which means we change it when we can afford it, use it until then. It has 4 big bedrooms, plus a large bonus upstairs, plus an "alcove/library" with built in shelves and a cushionless window set that look out over the entire backyard. It has a goat/loafing shed plumbed with water, perfect to house the rabbits or any future animals we need to breed to eat. The lot is 2.65 acres, house is 3078 sqft, with a 3 car garage. Plenty of room to plant the fruit I want, and already comes with a producing apple tree and 4 plum trees. Two downsides. 1) the taxes on 2.65 acres is obviously higher than our .12 lot; meaning we'd have to look into negotiating with the county (based on the sale price) a lower assessed value. and 2) on the back half of the lot is powerlines; not great for resale...however, at the price we are looking at, we would NEVER lose money, in fact, we'd do very well for ourselves, so that is a moot point for us. Especially since we are thinking we'll be in this house until retirement (barring disasters). So right now we are praying that we will have clear guidance for or against this house. And we are waiting on getting more information from the listing agent.
By the way, the last house I mentioned, the "treehouse", we prayed about and it was a clear no.... and I'm grateful in the end because it really was a lot to bite off and try to fix. Would have been worth it in value, but probably more headache than we should take on. The answer to prayers sometimes is no, and still is a good thing.

The rest of the week we'll just plug along on laundry, work, homework, Awana, finding something to do on Veteran's day, and I'm probably going to go help a MOPS mom with some things at her house. No big plans otherwise.

More later as it occurs.

November Already!



Fall is flying by. The boys and I experimented with dipping the beautifully colored leaves in wax to preserve them. Jockey was way more interested than Caleb. And it turned out well, the ones that were dipped in barely melted wax rather than really hot wax. I think they has just as much fun choosing leaves as doing something with them.



They are all still healthy. Me, my chest still feels like I've run a mile and hurts, and I have a deep cough. But I'm getting better.



We went to the Fall carnival at our church on Friday night for a little fun. We were there almost 2 hours. Caleb ran into his buddy Blake and they ran around with each other a bit. They both had a really good time and found success in the games that were available to play. It was fortunate that they were both in similar skill levels because then I could keep them together in each room rather than have to split them up or take turns on who gets to do things they like. The bouncy houses were of course huge fun. We ran into Emily and Brittany and Brian. Emily was just a bit too small for the bouncy houses, so I guess we'll have to make a point of inviting her over next summer for a bit of fun in our bouncy house.



Saturday we avoided the doorbell ringers by going to Maltby Assembly's Trunk-or-treat (aka, games in the back of trunks outside fun carnival). It was alot of fun. Trunks were set up as Nerf shooting galleries, fishing, hockey, shuffle board, ring toss, pin drop. The hit was a horse trailer converted to a hay maze. The boys spent over 30 minutes going in again and again. They also had a fire truck to go in and a cake walk. It was alot of fun, if a bit wet at times and cold. (not great for my cough, but they had so much fun). We ran into the boys "idol" of Wyatt and they followed him around a bit. It was a good evening and we got home late enough to only have one person to turn away from the door.

Last Thursday, Caleb had a Farm party. Everyone dressed as people or animals found on the farm. Caleb decided that he would be a cowboy. (ok.) He was very insistent that a cowboy had a brown vest with a star on it and of course a hat. So not owning this sort of outfit, he and I headed to the St. Vincents thrift store. I felt like a good mom that day when I turned a $2 girls brown shirt into a boy's cowboy vest through a little turning inside out, snipping of the arms and front, adding buttons and a star from my scrapbook stash. He was happy to be involved in the decision process and the fitting and star position deciding. He wore the outfit for 3 days!

We had conferences last week.
Caleb: Really settling in well. The first part of the year was an adjustment, but now he's in a groove. (I'm wondering if that coincided with the restriction on milk and sodium benzoate?) He's got a couple buddies he plays with, there are a lot of girls in the class though. He is "on grade" with everything, every cateogory. He is a mid to almost higher level in the reading. (WOW, great.) He is decent on number identification, but could use a little work. He is doing ok on drawing, but needs to be able to TRY to write what the pictures show. And Caleb show interest in math. That's Caleb's conference in a nutshell.

Jockey: Surprisingly good at cutting. Can identify 75% of his letters. 50% of his shapes. Plays well, talks well. Still a bit wiggly, but has certainly calmed down from last year. I suppose a class size of 5 (over last years 17) helps. He needs to get some crayon time and draw himself, maybe with hair or something more than sticks. Also, his first response is "I don't know how" or "I don't know/can't, I never learned that". He does it at home, it's a confidence thing because most of the time he can suceed in some degree if he tries. So getting him to try without doubting is a goal for us. And he is learning some sight words which is awesome and above grade for his preschool.

Now it's back into the routine of the week. Work, school etc. No parties, no "no school" days, no long school days, no conferences... Nice. I like a clean calendar. So back at it.

p.s. Mike is back from hunting. No Elk, just a wild hare which was apparently good eating especially since it loaned a break from the chili in the morning, noon and evening pattern. A nice elk-less guys camping weekend.

We are all finally healthy! I'm still a bit raspy/coughy... but definately not contagious. I'm good enough to be helping in Jockey's Awana class tomorrow night. Oh, boy do we have to work on our verses!

Jockey had a "mouse-stache" today. That's how he pronounced mustache.
The boys discussed jail today in the car. And you get to sit in box and do nothing but pray to Jesus that you get out.
I won't repeat the mundane, no sense, viciously repeated babble that they filled my ears with, just know that it was incessant and ridiculous.

Jockey and Daddy carved a pumpkin at school yesterday. Jockey's pumpkin earned the "tallest" or the "skinniest" pumkin. I forget which.

I earn the craziest "make it work" mom award turning a brown girl's shirt into a boy's cowboy vest today. Good thing I have a scrapbook etc jumble of stuff I've hoarded (not packed) in the closet. Hey, Caleb's happy that's all that matters.
We'll be popping a bunch of popcorn tonight for his harvest party tomorrow.
Friday night is the church's Fall Carnival. Indoors, lighted, warm, $2/kid, candy, activities, jumpy houses.... what more could we want! So that's our plan. Mike hunts this weekend.

House News: Patience. Probably going to rescind the offer on the "tree house" just to have a clean slate going forward. Just reduced our house by $2,000 to see what nibbles we get. Tigger lets us know anytime someone is getting a flyer. (eye rolling.) The house is difficult to keep clean, but I have hope that this experience is going to shape cleanliness and clean patterns of clutter pick up into the boys. One of the houses we've been watching, now has a lock box... which means the bank is getting ready to list it. We are watching a few other bank owned ones. Bank owned seems to be the route we will take. Simpiler and easier chance/process than auction. Banks offer good deals, which is basically our only shot. Remember, we are ONLY wanting to do this to get a bigger house, bigger lot, and smaller payments. (Although, if approved for the children's medical that I've applied for... we'll free up some cash that we are considering if it might make sense to put towards a monthly mortgage IF we get a better/long term quality of life. Still undecided though. A vastly better and great quality of life in your home environs still dwells in an unpredictable world where life tends to throw $$$ curveballs that we need to be prepared for with a little wiggle room, not same situation nicer house/yard.)
We'll see. Still refusing to get emotionally sucked into depression/despair/drama.
The boys understand why we need to keep it clean. Caleb has developed set ideas of his own criteria for the next house. Specifically in lot size... as if HE pays the taxes!

Ok, time to cook dinner.

It is so funny how life's events shape the boys. I had to smile today when Jockey picked up his toy today and said "It's a fixer." (Not that there is anything wrong with the toy). But you just know where he picked up that term. It's hilarious to see him use the term and know that he wouldn't have even had that in his vocabulary if it wasn't for this house event. I'm going to have to watch for the other things that shape the boys, and make sure that it's good stuff.

Jockey still has a low fever, but he's feeling good. He'll be fine by the end of the day. So I hope that he can go to the field trip with his school.

Well that's it for now.

Well, last week Caleb was a bit feverish and didn't attend school on Tuesday.
This week, I guess it's Jockey's turn. He was over 102 yesterday, and still hot at 3:00am, so now he's home today from school. I hope that he is better by Wednesday, that is the day of his class field trip to the pumpkin patch. It will be fun to see him do something so exciting with his friends.... if he's well.
Caleb goes to Remlinger this Friday for his field trip. That is a fun, but pricey, place.
Conferences next week, so Caleb doesn't attend school on M, W, F. But Jockey does, except on Friday when they are both out.
There is a fall carnival that weekend to have fun at, otherwise I might've thought about "camping" at the club in a trailer. But we'll make it through the weekend with enough to do I'm sure. Mike is going hunting that weekend and Monday.

So that's the update on the kids, sicky, school and schedules.

The treehouse: We got word that the agent for the other house submitted more than just our offer to the bank (contrary to the information we were told on how things are done). We were also informed that the other offer was about 25K higher than our offer and it has an escalation clause, but it had a low down where as we have 40% down. We've decided more or less to "let it ride". We can't afford to go up 25K (and possibly more with and escalation clause) with the amount of $ needed for repairs. So if we can't go in for a pound, then we can't go in for a penny to my reasoning. We'll just have to let the bank decide. In the mean time, I keep thinking about the amount of work that it will require, and to be honest it is daunting in the volume/type of work. And I wonder about our capablities and amount of time to get it completed in. (and the finished result, we were not trained in construction you know.) So we'll just have to wait and see if this is really what we should have (work included) and if not then I'm sure that we will find something even better (ie LESS work!) God's Will, will be. We are "against the odds" here so it is either a huge area for God to show His work and power, or He is priming our hearts to be endlessly grateful for the final house which ever it is. If we found bigger house, bigger lot, suitable neighborhood, SMALLER mortgage payment, AND LESS work, that would be ideal. God does work in ideals. So we wait, we watch, we pray.

I've gotta check on little buddy now.
Side note: Jockey is so talkative and smart in his deductions. His Awana teacher said he was very smart, even if he doesn't look like he's paying attention. Everything is "booaful" (beautiful). or "the worst day ever" or the "best mommy/daddy/brother/Jesus he has". He asked to be prayed for at 4Am this morning, which was sweet and nice to see he knows whose in charge. Also, Jockey really wants a little brother so that he isn't the baby.
Caleb is ATTITUDE with a capital A. And he seems to think that as a teenager you're suddenly and adult, boy is he in for a shock. He is doing markedly better with his reading though.

So that's the scoop. TTFN

October 12th.

Our house is suppose to go on the market today. (still has work to do on it. walls to wash, window sills to scour, base molding to replace, window to case, threshold thingy to put in, some molding painting, door painting to finish.) SOOO much to do, yet the house is suppose to go on the market. I've been praying for God to cultivate special grace-filled, with all the work still to be done, we'll need this quality, buyers for this house. And of course a decent to high selling price.

As for the "new" tree house, the most we know is that the sellers have signed the offer we made. They actually had to bring it back to us for slight changes (not to the deal but to who the escrow/title company would be), I actually saw their signatures on our offer! Now it goes to the bank for consideration because it is a short sale. The bank can think about it for an indetermined amount of time... two days, 6 months. They try to see if other offers will come in higher. From what I understand, any other offers would first have to go to the listing agent & sellers for signature before it would go to the bank, and they can choose to or not to sign.... whatever that means. But generally only one offer (best, not always/just the highest) is brought to the bank by the sellers/listing agent, and I think we are it right now. So it appears that we have slipped into first position and beat out the other offer for the sellers signature and submission to the bank. That's step one in this God work.

Bottom line now: Wait for the bank to give us an answer. In the mean time try to keep the house clean enough to get a screaming high offer in on this house. (and try not to sell this before we know we have the other... I don't want to be homeless... and the sad fact is that we could not afford to buy back our own house!)

This whole process is going to shape the boys. Each night we have to go through each room in the house and stand and look around for toys, shoes, shirts, dishes, etc and pick up. Each night, Each room. (sounds familiar... like from my childhood, hmmm.) I've realized my limits, and we are making one bathroom off limits for use to cut down on what I have to clean. Also the living room/ dining room is off limits. (I wasn't allowed to play in the living room dining room under normal circumstances in my childhood home either. So that feels normal to me.) I think they will appreciate the amount of work it takes to keep a house clean. Hopefully they will grow up being more participatory in the housework. It will make them better husbands I think. And I want them to feel a part of the process. This is for their life too. One of the biggest motivators for the "tree house" is the joy they have just playing in the backyard at that new house while we tromp around inside making a list of all the items that need to be done/repaired/replaced. The backyard is like being in a woods surrounded campground. (even has a former rock lined firepit).

In other notes:
Caleb is doing well in school, although not liking it in general, thinks that it's mostly a waste of time. Recess is the only worthwhile thing. He is doing great in his work though. He had got a couple dozen sight words down, and sounding out other things. His teacher visited the house, saw the rabbits/dogs/his room/ Jockey's room and they set goals for the year.

Jockey is having some squirrely issues. Each day (from any event, sunday school, awana, school) if he was bad that day he says: "It was the worst day ever. I was bad and disobeyed my teacher".... although he can't say why he did. Last week, he actually was breaking pencils on purpose. So he is going to have to replace those today. He's not looking forward to it, which means its a good thing for him to do. He is "coping a 'tude" lately on everything. I think he is just stretching his wings of independence and growing but not knowing how.

Well, there's more, but I have to get everyone ready for the day. Jockey has picture day, Caleb doesn't have school. But we are headed to a play date after school to keep the kids out of the house and not get it messy!
TTFN

It's October, and I think we've all settled into the season and the routines now.

Caleb gets dropped off a little early for school so he can burn energy and socialize before he's expected to buckle down and learn. Mrs. Adams, his teacher, is visiting the house tonight and give Caleb a chance to show her around and tell her about his interests. The house is in psuedo disaster mode due to "remodeling"/finishing but she gets what she gets. The only really bad rooms are the family/laundry room and the garage. Caleb's not sure really why she's coming. I think it's a boy thing, why does she need to know me? Well, he'll figure it out when she's here.
He actually ask, "why does she get to tell me what to do at home, I thought she only got to be the boss of me at school?"
Awana was better for Caleb last week. I'm glad he was good, because if he is leading people, he might as well lead them in a good direction not into bad actions. He really doesn't want to be responsible for others, but I'm sure he'll be ok with it as he gets older. Because that's just what he's got.

Jockey is loving school. He calls all his classmates friends, but on the other hand if he doesn't feel he plays with them enough he says they aren't his friends. So it goes both ways. He wishes that he could play longer with his friends after class, and I wish I could let him, but we always have to rush to get Caleb that he doesn't get that chance. Maybe next year when Caleb is in first grade and he is in pre-k and we don't have to rush for the brother pick up.
Awana for Jockey last week... let's just say "caught red handed" was an understatement. The teacher said he was the only one who tried to take the red stamp pad out of it's box! We washed his hands 3 times with soap, tried rubbing alcohol, and then spray and wash! And they were still pink, the funny thing was though, the teacher had stopped him by saying "oh, oh, no no no Josh" and he said "what?" as put both hands on his face (like in Home Alone). So he also had pink on his face and neck. FUN. I almost took a picture. I almost had to send him to bed with gloves on to keep everything from getting pink on it.

This last weekend. We just puttered around the house trying to get various projects done. And we attended church. Still many more projects to do. Soon we should be listing the house for sale. I did find out if the paper work closes after 10/31, then we don't have to come up with so much for taxes reserve, which is great news. Maybe by that time they'll calculate using the 2010 rates and it will be even lower! We'll see, it seems so far off and very well might be.

ok, time to start the week/day.

The boys are being real troopers with all the changes that are taking place, and the new rules that are subsequent to the changes. Basically they aren't allowed in the living room/dining room anymore. They must eat in the kitchen or downstairs with us if supervised. NO toys anywhere but in their bedroom or directly in their hands. All their legos/knex/magnets toys (small easy to scatter) have been packed up. They are having to pick up every room before bed, keep their own rooms cleaner, the backyard has been cut down to just a few outside toys.
They are focused on helping us. Jockey has decided that he is a good worker and he loves to put the "mud" wall patch on the walls. I was surprised at how much he understood and what he was capable of. I did have to go around an scrap a little of the excess off, but his comprehension was great. Jockey does seem to stand a little too close to wet paint...habitually. Caleb wants to be involved, but doesn't always stop to listen for directions. He is helpful in getting the tools or items from the house that we need to complete a project. And he is a strong and helpful lifter.
The family room has been painted and just needs crown molding. The bathroom is ready for paint and then base/case molding, vanity/sink and toilet. This is the room furthest from finished. And then we have the odds and ends and the regular cleaning. AND THE GARAGE to clean out. whew!!!! THEN we will be able to put our house up for sale.
We still don't know if our offer was signed by the owner and taken to the bank for consideration. For that matter, we don't know if the offer was driven to the agent yet. So still waiting on that account.
Caleb is doing way better in reading.
Jockey is doing better in his pen holding, and calmness at school.
Awana has started and Jockey is doing very well. He's calmed down quite a bit. Caleb, actually I got spoken to about him last time. So we had a long talk about leadership qualities and the responsibity of leading people only into good actions. He doesn't like the idea of a mantle of leadership/responsibility... well, you get what you get, that's the way God made you.
Jockey asked today how God made him...successfully dodged that with "God grew you in my tummy" to which he responded "That's so cool".

Well, it's off to painting the bathroom.

The boys are trying to be good helpers in getting work done on the house. I hope that out of this comes a skill set they can use later, or at least feel comfortable with the idea to learn more later. And I hope that they finally grasp the idea of what clean is and keeping something that way. And working for a goal because you want it bad enough. (In this case, the tree house is a BIG motivator for Caleb for the house we have in mind. Although, I thought riding the bus would be a big plus too, evidently not because they say "keep moving back" over and over again.)

I've also had to tell them that the magic tu-tu cleaning fairy has left the building and they now have to pick up after themselves to include putting away their own laundry (after I've cleaned, dried, sorted and handed it to them- still a little of the tu-tu fairy remains).

Contrary to all of my wishes and guidelines for my kids, Jockey has a tv in his room and Caleb has the computer. I never wanted these things in the children's bedrooms, but I keep telling myself that it is only temporary. I don't want the kids to isolate themselves in their rooms, and especially, I don't want it to become a habit/lifestyle. And our eat-in kitchen only sits a very tight 3 persons, and I refuse to have the boys sit in the dining room with their food, MESSY! and over carpet, I don't think so. It's bad enough that they are eating over a tablecloth! (to hide the hideousness of the craft table come eat-in table).

We are working feverishly to get it done. SOOO much to do still. The boys are fortunately gracious to allow us to work for their "tree house". We might as well call the next house the "tree house" since that's how the boys refer to it.

It is such a blessing to have beautiful days like this so late into the summer, the sheet rock would be pretty wet when we cut it outside if it wasn't so beautiful.

The boys are settling down to school. I have so many things to remeber it is ridiculous. Tomorrow is picture day, I work, we meet with the agent and actually compose the offer and have him look at our house (EEK), we are casing and basing. We have Awana on Thursday, I work that day and also at Awana that night, our anniversary is this weekend (no plans, just house). We'll have to put a toilet and vanity in the downstairs, and finish the floor, sheetrock, tape, mud, texture and paint, and moldings. All of the work I've done, and none of it is cleaning.... so vacumming, dusting, mopping, bathrooms, desperately need attention! sigh, lots to do. I better get to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNWg5DlWVa8

Well, we've decided to skydive.... in a manner of speaking.

We have decided to put an offer in on a home WITH OUT a contingent on Moday. It needs ALOT (did I mention the holes in the family room ceiling and the missing cabinets in the kitchen and the rampant stains making the carpet untouchable, and no fence?). But it has Sqft, location, schools, and a price that is great (even if it is a stretch still.) The sweat equity will be amazing.

So now we are free falling. (And with SOOOOOO much work to do here too!)

Prayers please. The nice thing is that Caleb likes the tree house in the back.

I'll be gone until tomorrow night on a MOPS retreat.

Have a great weekend yourselves.

Our first brush with poisonous plants....

I foolishly thought that we were safe from our children consuming poisonous plants. Nothing after six years.... Nope.
Yesterday we had to do a plant search on the web, and the a quick call to poison control to find out exactly what the effect would be of a single unchewed but swallowed berry of the newly discovered Climbing/Woody/Bittersweet NIGHTSHADE!!! Hello, nightshade. Why don't they call it death berry vine. Well, Jockey my mouthy son now has his name logged into the poison control system as one who tries imfamous red berries. Fortunately, he suffered no effects, but still.... We can apparently make it out of the woods alive and not eating anything wrong, but our own backyard has berries too tempting not to try to eat. Of course we didn't know this weed of a vine imported itself from somewhere. Jockey is safe and fine now though. PTL.

Jockey is obsessed with little stuffed animals. Some Beany Babies, but he really isn't particular. He loves them all. Even the ridiculous ball of "fur" called a guinea pig from McDonald's. His latest is that he found a "cage" for them and now he cages his animals to transport them because occassionally they bite and defecate in the house (so I've been told).

Also, both boys are in love with the Angel Wars cartoon. We saw the Messengers show on TV and they are hooked. I'm happy to have them introduced to a deep concept in such a way. I'll have to source the other episodes because it's worth building their understanding.

Ok, back to work.

Saturday. Garage sale day.

Doesn't it always happen that the moment you put toys out to sell, suddenly it's the most fun, most interesting, must keep toy in the world?! Well, Joshy re-fell in love with a Spiderman (missing his shooting webs). And I said, ok, yes I broke down and said he could keep it. I told him to put it in the house, came up with a good way to play with it in the back yard, etc. Well, he didn't do it, and 20 minutes later it was laying among the other toys and someone wanted/bought it. Joshy saw that and burst into tears and ran in the house. He cried and poked his head out again "I don't want to be your boy any more", the next time he poked out "you're the worst mommy in the world" and then "now we have to buy another". Well, I don't know about the last comment. But the others... I knew I'd hear them in life. And to show him that his comments were not affecting me... I laughed. If I had not expected it, it would have hurt. But I almost feel as if we've gone through a rite of passage. Of course this effected him greatly, so I made it into a lesson that if he had obeyed the toy would have been in the house, but disobedience meant that the toy got sold. I hope he learns his lesson with this small thing.
Anyway, I've been picking up toys all morning.... on my front lawn. Everytime I get them grouped together as the set they are, the boys undo all my efforts.
Caleb has been both helpful and embarrassing. He says things to people that I just want to hide under a rock when he says them. He makes comments to people about the things that they pick up and touch. "hmm, I think that you like that, maybe you should buy it." I guess he's a used car salesman in the making. Of course, when he is not doing that, he's climbing the tree above all the toys and littering leaves (and rotten plums) on everything. Thanks.
On the bright side of things, it is bright and sunny out, just perfect for having stuff all over the front yard. There is a campfire smell in the yard that smells delicious. I've unloaded a bunch of stuff. (Alot of it the bulky stuff, SOOO happy not to have to put it all back into the garage.) SOO much more to go though. I've made a decent amount. And a highlight was meeting a lady and telling her about MOPS and finding out she'd love to go, has a son to attends Jockey's school on T/Th, likes to scrapbook, etc. We exchanged #'s. Sound great. Our chatting covered a lot of topics and flowed well, I hope we have a friend in the making for both Jockey and I.
After the garage sale, we will get in touch with Grandpa and Grammy Dahl who are watching Tessa. The boys will have fun with her I think.
Mike is till away, safe and dry the last time I talked to him.
That's our weekend. Hope yours is going well.

The boys have made it through their orientation days and their first days of school.

Caleb remembers little of what he did each day... singing and recess, nothing else. I really have to ask and ask to get information. I did find out that he saw several of this buddies at recess... which is good because I was afraid that keeping him in Kindergarten when they moved to 1st would cause a divide. It is now just like they are in different classes not different grades. GREAT, and probably the best because he doesn't have in-class distractions of his friends. Caleb knows the routine this year and I have every hope and expectation that he will do fantastic. And he knows several sight words in his reading and oral math skills.

Jockey: He plunged right in. He remembered that during circle time he gets a "listening" chair. Which turned into every other kid got his own chair. With a class size of 5, the teacher was ok with it because they all paid attention for the story. His class is bonding well already. His teacher said that she could tell that he has calmed a bit, matured over last year. And I think it will get even better when the summer wiggles are worked out and his routine is found. But he trotted off with enthusiam and that was great to see.

I've worked the last two days. I've cleaned out the garage and tomorrow is the garage sale. I have to promise myself that the unsold items will NOT go back into the garage!
Mike had ridden off on the motorcycle for a camping weekend with Grandpa Bill. He comes back Sunday.

So that's the update.

Pictures finally...

Camping/crabbing at Kayak State Park mid-august with Dahls Sr. and Surfaces.

HOT day at the lake with buddies

An evening at the Children's museum... Jockey discovered he liked Rapelling down the rock wall.

Caleb attends a go-cart Birthday party.

Emily stays over night and plays with boys.

Jockey's Pool 4th Party with his great painting rocks idea

The fair, this time most of us were big enough to go on most of the rides. And painting stuff too.

My scrapbook pages, one of which won. (The one that won is the one that I was told last year that no one would want to see...)

Lastly, ROSIE the RABBIT!!!!!!!!

She looks like she's praying.... hopefully she's praying blessings on us all...

Ok, we've done it.

We have Rabbit #2 and a new-to-us (craigslist) hutch.
A female, Rex, roan colored, soft like a chinchilla rabbit.

It took longer than it should to name her, but it is finally decided to be "Rosie" (like Caillou's little sister). It's suppose to be Jockey's rabbit, and he does love Caillou (a tv show for all of you not up on your children's cartoons.) Rosie was a better name than.... "Tony Stark's (Ironman) butt crack". Which was also the boy's idea. Her rich fawn/reddish so the name fits with that too, although I wanted to call her Bambi. (Mike wanted Trixie, so we were both out voted by the boys).
As a rex breed, she'll be just like Shooter although not a mini just a standard size. She is just as soft, and will be a little bit bigger. She is coming up on 3 months old and already the same size and edging up close on being bigger than Shooter. She is getting use to being handled and the noisy-ness of our house. Once she is in our arms she immediately calms down and holds still for long term petting (until she gets a bit to warm, then she stirs.) She seems to be loving her hutch which is twice the size of Shooters and has a built in nest box. It was a great find on craigslist and was able to be pressure washed to perfection. Jockey, the less suave handler, can reach over and pick her up too. Which is really nice since we are trying to use this experience as a tool for responsibility.
WHY? I know that's the big question. Off the top of my head, here's why:
*VERY LOW cost. The whole year will be under a generous estimate of $75 for the entire year.
*LOW, LOW maintenance, especially for this breed. A quick rub backwards with a wet hand and the occasional toe nail trim. That's it.
*their cage's large volume feeders and water bottles allow us to leave for the weekends without trouble (even less problems than the dogs really).
*their droppings is sooooo few, and all in one place, and technically perfect for gardens... less troublesome/burdensome than the dogs.
*no problems meeting other dogs/people like dogs do out on a leash.
*they are available for love, and then easily put away.
*we've placed them near our back door and they can see us and actually part of our lives.

So that's it.
I'll get pictures up soon.
Yesterday, I took the boys to the skate park to use their rollerblades and scooter; Caleb had a buddy over last night, and I cleaned up the back yard a bunch.
I have to go help Auntie Brittany move into her house now.
Tomorrow is blackberry picking (again, yeah, I know.) and an ice cream social with last years school buddies.
Thursday, I work.
Nothing until Sunday, another great day at the fair.
TTFN.

Jockey's birthday was a big success. Pictures to follow. He loved having the pool party and jumpy house up. His buddy Josh (from preschool) showed up. And Cousin Tessa, and the Grammy's and Papa's too. He got his vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles and GUM for his "second treat". The morning of his party, he decided that he wanted everyone to paint rocks. So it was a rush around to get paint brushes, and a trip to the river front to get a bucket of rocks. It worked out great and the boys actually really liked it. I was surprised that something so simple was so entertaining. (Thank you Grandpa Dahl for not getting riled about the glitter we used in your party room.) The best ideas are sometimes from kids themselves.

On Jockey's actual birthday we went to Chuck E Cheese for a bit of fun and then portraits on JC Penny. Hopefully we got some good shots.

Wednesday we visited Caleb's new classroom and teacher for an Ice Cream social. He's met a couple kids from his class, specifically a Taylor. Sometimes knowing someone is a great way to feel comfortable the first day of school. Glad we got this opportunity.

I worked on Thursday and visited my Dr. Alls well in her area, but that just takes me back to my Urologist.

Friday we spent over 10 hours at the fair. We walked and walked and rode the rides to our hearts content and more than broke even on the purchase of the ride wristbands. I was shocked at how many "adult" rides Caleb (and Jockey too for that matter) was able to go with me on. And of course they were able to go on all the kids ones. The highlights were: Jockey tasted Alligator, Mike at Frog Legs, Caleb ran into his buddy Collin and then spent an hour on rides with his family, and I found out the results of my fair entries. For the Charcol drawing, a 2nd place stickered ribbon (generic grading, maybe a 2-3$, which they don't even cut checks for). The scrapbooking however did slightly better. For the first page, I got a generic 1st sticker. But for the other page: I received 2 large real ribbons! One was the Excellence Award (noted for specific creative/unique qualities) and the Class Winner Award (best in subject noted for high quality, etc). Kind of affirming and allays self-doubt of whether this is a worthwhile enterprise/hobby of mine. So while I mulled that over and looked the the competition, the boys got to paint their own ceramic horse (Jockey) and frog (Caleb).
For the rest of the day it was eating, riding, and mulling over the possiblity (the rationality vs insanity vs feasibility) of getting a second rabbit. Once a hutch, feeder, and waterer is procured, our current rabbit has cost us $32 for the last year... plus the occassional "rabbit candy" of $25 (total for the year) for a special treat. Very reasonable. It comes down to the maintence, time, space, breeder, price and what is even available. OF COURSE, the BOYS are all on board and want just anything. I guess I'm the loches/filtration on this decision with a bit more limiting criteria. I'm still thinking/working it through.

We attended the parade this morning and were fortunate to have Daddy along, every other year he's worked. And we didn't get caught in a traffic jam getting home! And it didn't rain!

Well, that's the big update.
More later, and hopefully with pictures.