Air Show Pictures

Last weekend we also went to the airshow, but I never blogged it so here you go! The boys had a lot of fun. It took us an hour after we got on the air force base to get to parking. There were a lot of planes flying over us while we were in line to get in. It really kept the boys entertained! Isaac was not happy with the loud planes going over head when we were in the car. When we were out and walking he did not mind it though. I think it was just that he could not see what was making the noise when we were in the car so it was scarier.

The boys enjoyed walking through the planes. They were amazed at how big they were. They don't look that big in the sky! They loved watching the planes make designs with smoke though. Caleb's favorite part was the "rocket truck." It shot flames from behind and on top and it went up to 370 mph. The truck raced an airplane, and Caleb thought it was awesome. The truck makes a lot of smoke though! Double click on the pictures to see the planes!

Bryce's New Friend

Well, Bryce has gotten a new friend since Isaac started school. He does not know what to do without a playmate so he made one. He has always loved Bear. Sleeps with him, plays with him, carries him around. Well, now he feeds him, takes him to use the potty (Bear uses the potty), clothes him, etc. It is sad and cute all at once. This is a great friendship for me though - no fighting or screaming, and Bear is the cleanest friend I have ever met. He doesn't get food everywhere, he doesn't leave toys laying around - IT IS GREAT!!

Busy Weekend

Paul got home Saturday (who knows how long for!!!). We had a busy weekend, trying to let the boys have some fun with Daddy while they can. We went to the fair Saturday, and the boys had lots of fun!! We went and saw all of the different animals and ride some rides and ate some "fair food." The boys really enjoyed being out doing something! We took lots of pictures of course!! The boys got to hold some rabbits and ducklings - they thought that was awesome! The little
ducklings were so cute. They had a house with a slide surrounded by water.

Isaac's First Day of Preschool

Well, Isaac woke up all excited about "big boy school" this morning. He was ready to walk out the door as soon as he was dressed - he did not care if anyone else was ready. Daddy called him this morning to wish him good luck and Isaac was excited about that too. When we got there, he was not so excited. He got nervous because of all of the people that were there. I introduced him to another little boy named Kyle, that was also nervous and did not want to let go of Mom. When I would ask if I could leave, he would tell me no. Finally, I took him to his teacher and gave him a hug and kiss. When I finally got Bryce pulled away from the cars he had taken over, I turned around and Isaac had a big smile on his face and was playing with the other kids. I thought "Oh boy, no fighting!" and then reality hit...Bryce threw the fit. He wanted to stay and play too, especially since they had cars (and there happened to be a firetruck in the bunch of cars). I took him out to the car with him throwing a huge temper tantrum!! I am proud of Isaac and how well he took his first day. He is growing up too fast!

Swiper No Swiping

Isaac fell and scraped his knee last night while we were outside playing. After he got out of the bath he asked for a bandaid. He asked for a Curious George bandaid on both knees. This morning when he got up he pulled up his pajama legs to show me his bandaids. Before he knew what was going on Bryce pulled off both bandaids and ran with them. Isaac got pretty mad about his bandaids being ripped off, and Bryce, well, he just ran away laughing!

COME HOME

The boys called Daddy last night (he is still in Texas City) - they have not talked to him in a while. Bryce talked to him first and told him all about the trucks he was playing with, and about falling down an scraping his knee. Isaac talked to him and told him "I miss you all the time" and told him about starting "big boy school". Caleb gets the phone and starts talking non stop - as always!! He asked Paul to come home and go to his field trip with him. He said that after the field trip he could go back if he needed too. When he was done talking and I got the phone back Caleb whispers "I am trying to find a reason for Daddy to come home for a little while!" I thought that was so sweet!

Getting Along

Caleb has never really gotten along with Isaac, SO, it is really nice to hear the way he has been with him lately. When Caleb found out that Isaac was going to "big boy school" Caleb sat down with him and told him all about it, and how much fun it is. Isaac is starting to get nervous and he is back and forth on whether he wants to go. This morning he was not wanting to go, and Caleb says very sweetly "Isaac, listen. I have been to that type of school, and you are going to love it. You get to color all the time and play outside and all kinds of cool things. Besides, just remember that my school is right behind yours. Maybe when you are outside playing you will see me." Isaac said "okay." and is back to being excited about going. Now, I have told Isaac all of this, but I guess it is different coming from your big brother who is in school!! I was so proud of Caleb for not making it scarier for him!

Excuse Me?

Caleb was standing next to me reading my last post and he burped in my ear. I gave him "the look" and he says "what." I said "you burped what do you say?" He says "I did not burp, a bubble popped in my throat", and never did say excuse me!! Apparantly he needs to work on manners!

Slow Eater

Bryce has decided that he is going to take his time eating now. Yesterday at lunch I gave him a peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheeto twisters. It took him over an hour to eat one sandwich and a handful of chips. This morning for breakfast he had a poptart and a half and a small cup of strawberry/banana smoothie. It took him over an hour to eat that. I guess he has just learned to savor the taste?

Isaac starts preschool on Monday. For the past week and a half, first thing out of his mouth everyday is "do I have big boy school today." I am glad he is so excited and I hope he remains that way. He went to the dr Thursday about his delays. They did bloodwork, which came back great, and they are going to do an MRI of his brain. They are also sending him to a Developmental Clinic at the Childrens hospital. I hear from his therapist that there is usually a six month waiting list for that though.

Bragging

One of the great things about doing a blog is that I can brag and I don't have to feel bad about it!! I had a parent - teacher conference with Caleb's teacher last week. In the past we have had a problem with talking and teaching over the teacher - disrupting the class. We no longer have that problem!!! He has an average of 95 to 100 in each subject and is reading at a 2nd grade level (he just started first grade). I got the scores for his Basic Skills test from kindergarten and he was well above average on everything. The teacher asked if I minded if he tutored other kids in his class when he was done with his work, because right now when he gets done he has to sit and wait (he reads or writes). I am very proud of the progress he has made. He loves school and comes home wanting to do more school work. I hope this will last throughout his school years!!! I just got him books 1 and 2 of the Magic Tree House series. Paul and I were not sure if he was ready for these yet, but he sat down and read all 68 pages in a matter of a couple of hours. He has not started the second one yet. There were some words that he needed help with, but most of them he was able to sound out and get!

Okay - I am done bragging on him. It just took a while to get him to the point where he would sit down and do what he was supposed to do when he was supposed to do it!!

Fall Fest and the Firetrucks

When we went to our fall fest Saturday, they had a parade. It is a pretty long route they take to the park (from the school). People were lined up all down the route, but we went ahead to the park and caught it at the end of the route. I think Bryce was hearing the firetrucks as soon as they turned on the sirens and horns. For about 20 minutes he just yelled as loud as he could "firetruck firetruck." Everyone was laughing at him and commenting how cute it was. We went where they enter the park and watched the firetrucks as they came in. We were standing right by where they went by and Bryce stood there with his mouth at the ground in ah. It was very cute, and his attention did not wander from the trucks going by. I thought he would be scared by how loud they were (since we were standing right next to them), but he did not care. They were throwing candy out to the kids, but Bryce could not take his eyes off of them long enough to get any. After the firetrucks past he did not want to see the rest of the parade. The firetrucks parked at the other side of the park and we went over to them. One of the fireman picked him up and put him in the truck, with it still running. When he got out, we stood there for about 15 minutes with him just staring at the truck. We finally got him to go play on the playground, but when he saw the trucks leaving he ran to the chain link fence and started yelling "WAIT WAIT" and waving his hands. I can't believe he is this obsessed with firetrucks at 2 years old!! He is scared to death of thunder, but he will stand and listen to firetruck sirens and horns as long as you let him!!!

Basketball

We went to our city's fall fest Saturday before the Rita hit us. They had all kinds of drawings going on and we entered quite a few. One of them was for free registration ($60) to Upwards Basketball. Upwards is done through churches and it focuses on building self esteem and confidence. The kids get equal playing time and awards after each practice and game, and then they have an awards ceremony at the end of the season. I got a phone call last night that Caleb's name was drawn for the free registration. We were going to sign him up anyway, but it is pretty cool that he gets to play for free! He will be playing basketball and when the season is over he will go back to playing soccer. Luckily they are opposite of each other so he can have a sport to play most of the year, and does not have to overdo it trying to do all of them at once.

BOYS!

I just walked into the bathroom to see what trouble the boys were getting into. I walked in to see Isaac sitting on the potty - doing his business, and Bryce standing at the side of the toilet peeing into the toilet behind Isaac. The look on Isaac's face when he realized what Bryce was doing was priceless!!!

Hurricane Rita

I sat through a tropical storm last night (what was left of Rita). I don't know how anyone would sit through a hurricane!! It got pretty scary at some points yesterday, especially last night. I had to drive Paul to his office at 9:30 last night so he could go down to Texas to the refineries in the path of the hurricane. It was raining pretty hard, but what was worse than the rain was the winds! His office is about 20 miles from our house and I think we saw about 4 cars that had gone off the road - and that was in a 5 mile stretch! I hate driving in the rain, and was not looking forward to driving home. When I got home my muscles hurt from being so tense driving! We got home about 10:15 and went to bed. Somewhere between then and midnight the electricity went out. I talked to Paul at about 4:30 am and he said he drove through town on his way to Texas and the whole town was black! There are downed trees in the neighborhood and a basketball net (the kind that you fill the base with sand) was blown over and several houses down. The roads are covered in tree limbs and leaves. There was at least on tornado that touched down, but not here, thank goodness! Luckily there was not much in the way of thundering and lightening, which is what the boys are scared of! That is as close to a hurricane as I ever care to come in contact with!!

Pictures

Sweet and Sour....and Sweet!

Okay, I finished my last post and went to the kitchen to check on the kids. Caleb let Bryce try the apple dippers and caramel. Usually Bryce will not eat the apples, but go figure, you put sugar on it and he loved it! So he took the bite with the caramel, then dipped the apple again - IN SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE (they do look the same)! The sad thing - he liked it! Now, if you have read my past post, you know how Bryce gets...well...creative at the table. He decided to mix the caramel with the sweet and sour sauce. To make things worse - or better to him I guess - he dipped his chicken nuggets, french fries and apples dippers in it! The child will not eat vegetables (or most fruits for that matter) but he likes food dipped in sweet and sour/caramel sauce!! At least he is finally trying new things?

Caramel Apples

I don't know the last time I saw Caleb this excited!! We went to McDonald's for dinner. Caleb always get the apple dippers with his meal, however usually we are in the car and he does get the caramel with it. He just found out tonight that caramel came with it! I opened it and he hesitantly dipped his apple in it. HE LOVED IT!! He was so excited and asked if we could go buy lots of the little cartons so he could eat it whenever he eats apples. I explained we could buy caramel at the store. I then explained about caramel apples - on a stick, dipped whole with caramel and nuts! Now of course he wants me to make "a whole whole bunch of them" for him! So much for a healthy treat!

Pictures

Hurricane Katrina

Parenting is definently getting more challenging! The older the boys get, the more they understand and ask questions. Hurricane Katrina hit me hard, mainly because I see all of this suffering and don't feel like I can do anything. I donated, but I still don't feel as though I am doing enough. The other reason I think it hit me so hard is because Caleb has asked so many questions about it. I don't let the boys watch the news, but Katrina coverage is on every station, so any time he turns the tv on he is bombarded with this. I answer what he asks, but try not to go into any more detail than I have too. Maybe what it is is that I have watched Caleb grow up and mature a lot in the last year. He has had so much to try to understand, and it has all hit him at once. I am so proud of him though. He asks questions and tries to understand, and then moves on. It seems as though he is six going on 20 sometimes!!

How do boys learn to be "boys" so fast. More importantly - why do boys learn to be "boys" so fast? This is a question I find myself pondering OFTEN!!

I Want My Ha Ha

Bryce is in the strip down stage. I guess from all of the time that he ran around in just his underwear, during his potty training, he decided he did not like wearing clothes. I still don't dress him until we have somewhere to go because he still waits until the last minute to tell me he needs to go. Now, as soon as we get home he starts stripping. He comes to me and says "shoes ha," so I take off his shoes. Then he sits there with his feet in my face saying "I want my ha ha!" He continues repeating this until you...take his socks off!! I probably never would have figured out what he was saying if he did not always have his sock covered feet in my face!!

Bunny FooFoo and Minnesota Moose

Isaac has a green stuffed bunny he has had for a couple of years now. His name is FooFoo. Isaac has always had to have his bunny to sleep, and when he had his surgeries, FooFoo was always there to comfort him. We have tried to find another stuffed animal he likes as much, but we have never been able too.

Recently, Paul went to Minnesota on work. He got each of the boys a small stuffed animal. Caleb got Minnesota Bear, Isaac - Minnesota Moose and Bryce Minnesota Wolf. Well, the first night Isaac had the Moose, he did not want FooFoo. I was so surprised! That did not last long - now he wants FooFoo and Moose.

Last night, when Paul and I were putting the boys to bed, I handed him FooFoo and he put his hand out and shook his head no. I was shocked! I asked in confusion why he did not want FooFoo and he handed it to me and told me to sleep with FooFoo. He then handed Moose to Paul and told him to sleep with it.

This morning he came running in and gave both of them hugs and carried them around for awhile. Tonight though, I went to put him in bed and he asked me to sleep with them again. I am not sure what is going on with Isaac!! Is this the next best thing to him sleeping in my bed or does he think I am lonely and need company? Whatever the reason, I must be someone special to Isaac if I get to sleep with Bunny FooFoo and Minnesota Moose!!

Caleb and the Phone

I have done something incredibely stupid! Caleb has been asking me for sometime to make a phonebook for him. I finally decided that he probably did need to learn some phone numbers in case of an emergency, so I made one for him. I made it last night and he immediately started trying to call people. He called Aunt Lindsay and they talked forever. Lindsay has definently met her match!! She did, however, tell me that she thought it would be cute if Caleb called whenever he wanted to talk to her. He called her again today, as soon as he finished his homework. He tried to call Daddy, but he is in New Orleans and does not have phone service. He tried to just go down the list, but I told him everyone was at work or school. He knew Lindsay was not at either, so he called her. When they got off the phone he told me he was supposed to call her back when she gets home. I asked how he would know when she got home and he said he did not know, he guessed she would have to call and tell him he can call her. He then went and got the phone and his list of numbers and tried to see who he could call. I never knew we would have to set phone limits for a six (sorry, almost seven - he does not like to be called a six year old because his birthday is almost here!!)year old!

Isaac's Big Boy Cut

The boys went this weekend and got haircuts. Caleb got "the spike" as he calls it. Of course, Isaac, being the younger brother, wanted a spikey haircut too. I told him if that is what he wanted he could get it. So he gets it and by the time we got home it was no longer spiked. It stays spiked for a couple of hours, but then he starts playing in the blankets or rolling on the floor, and it immediately goes flat. He still gets very excited every morning when he gets out of the bathtub and comes in to get his hair combed.

Isaac has started playing computer games at his therapy. Now when I pick him up the conversation goes something like, "Mom guess what!" "What?" I ask. "Today at school I got to play computer game....." He talked Daddy into buying him a computer game of his very own. He works fast!! It was nice seeing the two of them sitting at the computer, Paul patiently trying to get Isaac to understand how to do everything. Now first thing every morning I hear "Can I play computer games?" We created a monster!!

The Weak Helping the Weak

Aunt Mary (the aunt we went to see this weekend) has been sick and is pretty weak. She has little muscle left and has a hard time opening jars and bottles. Yesterday she asked Caleb to take one of the kids cups to me to open. Caleb was looking for something and did not want to be bothered. He asked why she could not open it and she said she was to weak. He looks at her and replies "Why don't you get some exercise. Then you can have muscles to open things." Aunt Mary just died laughing!

Hurricane Katrina

We spent the weekend at Paul's great aunts house, helping her do some work around the house. Unfortunately, Paul has gone down to the gulf to work with the railroads that were hit by the hurricane. It is always hard on the kids, especially Caleb because he understands better what is going on, when he goes out of town. This one has been especially hard. Caleb has heard about the hurricane, because there are so many people that have came here from it, and because that is all that is on the tv and in the papers.

When Caleb found out Paul was going, he said "Oh no - Daddy is going to drowned." Paul sat down and talked to him and said that he would be very careful and would not get in the water. When he saw that Paul had a sleeping bag he asked "are you going to float on the sleeping bag so you don't drowned?"

He understands a little better now about what he is doing, but it is still hard. This is a hard trip for me too. This is the first emergency - out of 4 1/2 years of emergencies - where we have not been able to get a hold of him whenever we want. Where he has been the last couple of nights, he has had a hotel, electricity, water and phone service. When he travels though - NOTHING! He went prepared to stay in shelters or tents - which some of the other guys have had to do. I do get calls, if not from him then from his boss, saying he is safe.

My prayers go out to those that were hit by this horrific storm, and those who lost something or everything - or someone! I know how hard it is to have my husband down there in the aftermaths, and he is being taken care of, many aren't.

The Magical Green Thumb

Everyday Caleb has been at school he brings home a "bouquet" of flowers. By the time they are fished out of the backpack - which they were put in sometime that morning - they are looking...well...DEAD! Caleb is always very proud of the flowers, so I play along and let him put them in a vase with water.

He put them in the vase - and they always end up looking like they did when they were in the ground. To hear it from Caleb, he knew that would happen. The flowers are simply sleeping until they can get some water.

Though they may not look like much more than a weed to most, to me it makes every "I hate you," and "I don't want to be a part of this family anymore" disappear, and is instead a daily reminder of how much I love my children and how glad I am to be a mother.

Brain Malfunction

Caleb came home from school today and did his homework. When he was done he asked if he could practice writing. I gave him some paper and his "toolbox" (filled with crayons, markers, scissors, pencils, glue). I went into the kitchen just now and he had out the glue. I asked what he was doing and he replied very calmly, "Oops, I think my brain is out of control." Then he put the glue away and went back to writing his name.

"Mom, Guess What"

Everyday when I pick Isaac up from therapy, as soon as we get in the car and start driving, Isaac starts this conversation: "Mom guess what." "What?" I ask. "...... and guess what." "What Isaac?" "........ and guess what." This conversation goes on the whole way home which is usually about 5 - 10 minutes. Usually he is so excited that I rarely am able to understand what he is saying. I love when he does this though, even if I don't always understand what he is so excited about, it is nice to hear the excitement in his voice.

Isaac is a very loving child, sometimes to a fault, if that is possible. When I pick him up and ask how he did, they usually respond with something along the lines of "he was really loving today." In his physical therapy he has to practice falling. His therapist told me that he will not fall on the mat, instead he falls into her arms with a hug. I would probably rather give hugs than to have to fall continuously on demand too!!!

Tinkle Tinkle Tinkle Tinkle

NO THIS IS NOT ABOUT POTTY TRAINING - this time!!

Bryce really likes to sing, but he never sings all of the words, obviously - he is only 2. I really enjoy listening to his version though. I am sitting in my room after I put Bryce to bed tonight, and I am listening to him sing Twinkle Twinkle. His version sounds more like

Tinkle tinkle tinkle star tinkle tinkle tinkle tinkle......diamond tinkle....

When he realizes you are listening he suddenly gets the cutest grin and gets shy. There are other songs he likes like London Bridge, The Wheels on the Bus (this one is really cute because he tries to do the actions that go with the song).

I think the funniest is: one day, earlier this year we were at the school waiting on Caleb to come out. Bryce was screaming and Paul plugged headphones into the car stereo and put them on Bryce. He kept changing the channel until Bryce quit crying. Paul had no idea what was playing, but when Bryce started making barking sounds and dancing we both were very curious. We unplugged the headphones and he was listening to "Who Let the Dogs Out." To this day when he hears that song, he stops what he is doing and dances and barks at the appropriate time.

Caleb's Innocence

One of the main reasons I wanted to do a blog is because I could not keep up with the innocent and goofy comments that Caleb says. I am going to add some of the comments that Caleb said before I started the blog, that I would like to remember and like him to read someday. Many of these comments and thoughts are emphasized by the expression on his face and the calmness when he says them, even though Daddy and I are trying to understand and not crack up.

We were eating at a Mexican restaurant one day and Caleb asked why there were so many piranas on the ceiling. We were pretty confused and had to look around to see what was going on. He was looking at the pinatas - which makes more sense in a Mexican restaurant!

Driving late at night down the interstate, we thought the kids were all asleep. Suddenly, Caleb pops up and says "Look at all of the 49ers!" We were looking for some miners or a football team. I happened to look over and see a rest stop with 18 wheelers stopped and lit up. That is what he was looking at!

When he was in kindergarten he was very adamant about boys only being able to sleep on the blue side of their mats, and girls the red.

Sitting at the kitchen table one night Caleb kept saying what we thought was "damn fire". I was not in the kitchen at the time - thank goodness - but I was in the hall dying of laughter. Paul kept saying "What" and Caleb would repeat it. Paul looked at me and then turned to Caleb and told him not to say that word. Caleb innocently replied "What, they come out at Halloween with big teeth." He was saying vampire. You need to know though that it was no where near Halloween!!!

Paul was playing with Caleb one night. He was tickling him and Caleb was giggling like a girl. He kept telling Paul to stop and Paul said "Say you are a baby girl and you where dresses." Caleb did and Paul stopped tickling him. Now any time you tickle Caleb for any length of time he screams "I am a baby girl and I where dresses - Please stop." We have never again told him to say that - he just remembers everything. Now we have to teach him not to say that so he does not get beat up!!!

Caleb changed up the classic version of this song by himself, and Paul and I got quite a kick from it. When it rains he sings "Rain Rain go away, Little Caleb wants to play. He never understands why we laugh when he sings it.

Caleb's Girl Troubles

This conversation happened last week, after school one day (I forgot to post it).

Caleb came home from school complaining that his hand hurt. I asked what he did to it and he responded, "Well, I kinda forgot that some flowers are not for picking. I picked some flowers that had these things in them." He pointed to his hand and it looked like he had some thorns of some kind in it. "What were you picking flowers for?" I quizzed. "My girlfriend. I don't get to see her much because she is not in my class." he said proudly. I innocently asked who is girlfriend was. His response, "Hailey! I don't know why you can never remember who my girlfriend is." Then he stormed out of my bedroom

Now, you should all know that Caleb is quite the ladies man, and already has MANY girlfriends. Not only does he have many girlfriends but he is going to marry all of them, "like you and Daddy got married" he tells me. Any place he goes on a regular basis where girls are present, he has a different girlfriend. Is this what I have to look forward to with all of the boys. I know - it will get MUCH worse!!

More Pictures of Kings River Falls

Kings River Falls

Sunday we took the kids to Kings River Falls. Paul had checked out a book on trails somewhat close to where we live, that were not too long for the kids. The trail to the falls is just over a mile round trip. It is somewhat difficult to find, and pretty rough road, but we took the Jeep, so we did not have any problem. We did not really know what we were going in to, we only saw the picture in the book before we went. Apparantly it is not too well known, because there was no one there!!

It was a fairly easy hike, Bryce was able to walk the whole way without any real problems, although he screamed and tried not to walk most of the way in because we took his walking stick away from him so he would walk.

The trail goes by the river, although there were many places where there was little water, thanks to the great drought we are having. When we got to the falls though, we had a lot of fun. The kids loved it, until it was time to go! It was beautiful and the water was crystal clear, as you can tell in the photo. This is definently somewhere we will take the kids frequently.

Bedtime at Our House

When Paul is out of town, like he was all of last week, the kids don't like going to bed. This is a typical bedtime when Paul is not home. I tell the kids after dinner to get ready for bed. They all disappear for a little while and eventually come back with their pajamas on. When I tell them it is time to get in bed, they all need to brush their teeth, potty, can't find..., or something of the sort. While I am running around the house finding teddy bears and blankets, etc, and I take them to the child they belong too, the kids are all hiding throughout the house. Usually finding them is not too hard because they all giggle when we play hide and seek, which is kind of a give-a-way.

When I get them in their beds, Caleb starts singing, Bryce starts playing, and Isaac gets into bed crying "I can't sleep". This used to be something that Isaac would pull after he had been in bed for awhile, now it is before he actually makes it in bed. I spend the next hour playing power of the wills with Isaac, who is continuously getting up and turning on his bedroom light. I open the door and slip my hand in and turn off the light without even looking at him. Eventually he gives up and falls asleep.

I go in to check on Caleb and Bryce and find Bryce's bed with a lot of toys in it. The first time I go in he has some Hot Wheels and a big tractor in his bed. I clean it off and cover him back up. A while later I go check on them again, and there is more Hot Wheels, a big tractor, and a bucket of K'Nex emptied on the bed. I dump it all on the floor and cover Bryce up again. The whole time, Bryce does not cry, smile, or even sit up. He just calmly lays there. By the next time I go check on them this is what I find:

somewhere in this mess of toys, there is a little boy that I must find! Caleb is up in his bed giggling and telling me that Bryce did it by himself - which is a dead give-a-way that Caleb had a lot to do with it! I clean off the bed, cover up Bryce and tell them to go to sleep or blah blah blah (that is what I might as well be saying). Finally they fall asleep with just a few Hot Wheels, lots of stuffed animals, and the big tractor in Bryce's bed. I clean it all off, and then I pass out.

Now when Paul is home, this is the bed time routine. It is the same up until the actual being in bed part. We get them in bed and I still have to go into Isaac's room for about 15 minutes after we turn off the light to continue turning the lights off, then he is out. I go check on Caleb and Bryce, they are both sleeping. I go into wherever Paul is and tell him that from now on when he goes out of town - THE KIDS GO WITH HIM!!!

Caleb's First Day of First Grade

Paul was out of town last week, so I was alone with all of the kids - not leaving much time to do entries in the blog!! Caleb started school Friday. He really seems to like it and his teacher. He is still very excited about everything, so that is good. He got up Friday and went straight into the shower and got dressed and ate breakfast without me saying anything to him. I wonder how long this will last - it is NICE! He even went as far as to get all of his clothes out Thursday before he went to bed!

Paul came home Friday evening and all of the boys attacked him before he made it in the house. They were even more ecstatic when they saw that he had gotten them all souveniers from Minnesota. We went out to eat when he got home and all of the boys took their bears with them. They are all being very protective over the bears and I don't know that I have ever seen them take care of anything so well. Bryce did manage to lose his at the store (it fell out of the stroller) but we were able to find it.

Saturday while we were out running errands we stopped at Arby's for lunch. Bryce acted like he was a chef or something. He had chicken strips with barbeque sauce and french fries with ketchup. He would take his ketchup and pour just a little of it into the barbeque sauce. Then he would dip the chicken in it. He did this after each bite, and he was very precise about how much ketchup he added to the sauce. It was very cute.















Isaac has started taking naps again (I am hearing angels singing as we speak!!). I guess he had stopped because Caleb was home. They are not long naps, but at least it is something!! He does much better all day, especially in the evenings when everyone is cranky and we are trying to do dinner, etc.

I have not written the last couple of days, so I thought I should do an entry. We had to take Caleb to the doctor Thursday because he broke out in a rash all over his torso. The doctor said he has scarlatina, caused by a strep infection caused by the bug bites becoming infected. He is on antibiotics and medicine kind of like Benadryl, but stronger. He actually alternates Benadryl and this other med every 3 hours. Unfortunately for me - although Benadryl and this other med usually makes kids very sleepy - it has the opposite effect on Caleb. He gets hyper!

Isaac is acting out about something - I am not sure what though. When a child has a hard time talking - it makes it difficult to know what he is thinking. He has been hiding things (food, his brother's toys, objects of Moms and Dads, etc) for awhile now. He has recently started pulling his pants down and peeing on the floor, then covering it with toys. Mom says to make him clean up the mess and ignore it, he is just trying to get attention, so that is what I am going to try. I am very glad at this point that we have a carpet shampooer! Between this and potty training it will be worth every dime we paid for it.

Bryce is doing really well at potty training. I am not saying we do not have accidents, because we do, but for him to have only been doing this for less than a month, he is doing exceptionally well. Unfortunately he is too little to sit on the big potty (and to climb onto the big potty). He stands on his step stool to pee in the big potty, but he will not sit on the little potty to take care of other business. He did it once, but that was when he was first starting and actually used the small potty. Now, since he sees everyone else use a big potty - that is all he wants to use. He is polite enough to ask for a diaper when he needs to do that business, and I try to convince him to sit on the potty, but he is not interested. You can either put the diaper on him or clean it out of his underwear. I am trying to let him do this at his pace, so I will help him with the diaper! Already though, we can take him out in underwear to do grocery shopping, or whatever, and he does not have accidents. He will use the public bathrooms if he has too. I must admit though, I think the toilets in those places are getting taller and taller. Isaac has to stand on my feet to make it in the potty in public, and poor Bryce has to be held over the toilet, which makes it kinda hard to concentrate on what you are supposed to be doing. I can tell you this, whoever designs these bathrooms do not have kids in the potty training stage. Either they have grown kids and have forgotten what it is like, or they have babies and have no idea or they have never had kids!! They could at least leave a step stool in there!

Time to get busy on housework and maybe we can find something fun to do today. We are staying away from the park for awhile - that is for sure!!

Boring Days of Summer

I took the boys to the park yesterday and we had a picnic. It is getting hard to find outings for them that don't break the bank. They really like having picnics though - it is just so hot and humid! I think their favorite outing this summer was going to the fire department. We went twice, but the best one was on Bryce's birthday. Bryce LOVES anything to do with firemen and firetrucks. He screams when he hears sirens, no matter where we are or what we are doing.



Caleb was really interested in the pole. He was upset the first time we went because the station we went to did not have one. The second one we went too did, and they also got a complete tour of the house. The captain picked Caleb up and put him as high on the pole as he could reach, then let him slide down.



Isaac was not too sure about all of it. He enjoyed it to a degree, but it really was not his cup of tea. It kind of scared him to hear the sirens and all, but he did seem to somewhat enjoy getting to see all of the different kinds of trucks - including the bomb truck, with the bomb robot.



Back to where I was before I got off on the fire station. We only have about a week and a half until school starts, and then we will not have as much time to do all of this. Between school and Isaac's classes and Bryce's naps, our days are pretty busy during the school year!

SORRY ISAAC

I realized there were not many pics of Isaac - so I am trying to make up for that. It is hard to get pictures of him because he is always grabbing for the camera. I love you Isaac!

The Bugs Bite Back

Well, we went for a walk at the local park last night. We went exploring the trails that go into the woods. Caleb was complaining about being itchy, but we were getting pretty irritated because we thought he was overreacting. He was really crying and carrying on so I took him and Bryce to the truck to wait on Daddy and Isaac. After sitting at the car for a few minutes, Caleb said that it looked like he had baby ticks all over him. When I had checked him when he first starting crying in the woods, we did not see anything. I looked really close this time and his skin was just crawling with...something. I took him to a restroom nearby and scrubbed him with some wipes and water - all I had. I was not getting anywhere doing this so I went to find Paul who was luckily on his way to the truck. We rushed home and got him in the shower.

We had to use a pumice stone to get the bugs off of him - they were already burrowing into his skin. There are places where his skin is just raw from trying to get those little boogers off of him. We spent at least two hours trying to get them off of him. It is so strange though because we were all together, but he is the only one that got them.

Caleb likes to lead when we hike. He kept walking way up ahead of us so we can only assume that he somehow got covered when he was up ahead of us. I cannot explain why no one else was covered in them, except for that. We kept telling him he needed to stay with us because we have never gone on this trail and did not know what to expect. He kept ignoring us and walking ahead anyways.

The whole way back to the truck from the bathroom at the park Caleb was crying "No wonder I could not quit itching!" Did I feel guilty - of course. To my defense - I checked him when he first started complaining and did not see anything. These things are tiny - you have to really look to see them. When we were picking them all off of him after he took a shower he kept saying "from now on when you tell me to stay with you I will - I promise!" and "I am really sorry I did not mind!"

We have yet to figure out for sure what they were. We have narrowed it down to either chiggers or mites. I don't know if chiggers burrow into your skin or not, but mites do. He got up this morning looking like he had chicken pox. He is covered in spots - I guess where they were eating him. On top of the spots he has places where his skin is just raw from using the pumice stone on him. The pictures do not do justice to how bad he looks - and this is just waist up. His legs are just as bad. This is the perfect example of why I don't like bugs. Call me girlie if you would like - but no good comes from them. Please don't leave comments telling me what good does come from them. And too those who like the bugs - THE BUGS BIT BACK!!

If You Can't Beat Em...Join Em

Well, we went yesterday and got haircuts for all of the boys in the house, including Bryce's first haircut. He was so excited about it until it was time to sit in the chair, then he decided that big boy haircuts were not for him. I sat on the floor and held his hands while he STOOD on the floor and got his haircut. The only time he moved was when he leaned forward and gave me a kiss. It was very sweet and luckily she was grabbing his hair with her hands and not the scissors when he did it! Thank goodness for us he has older brothers that get haircuts so he knows about the balloons and suckers you get after you get your haircut. That is the true motivation behind it, as it was for Isaac at the time of his first haircut.

We did not cut a lot. We just cut off the length in the back and a little length on the top. We were afraid to do too much because he is such a towhead! It was very hard for me to see his blond little curls cut off the back! It is a fact of life and more unwanted proof that he growing up too fast!

I decided that since I was the only one that was not into bugs I would make the boy a treat. I made them dirt cups. For those who do not know what dirt cups are - it is chocolate pudding topped with crumbled oreo cookies (to look like dirt). Then you bury a worm (gummy that is) in the pudding. You can leave a little bit of the worm sticking out of the dirt though. The boys did not know what I was making, just that I was making a treat for them. Paul kept telling them I was making them dirt and worms. They were pretty grossed out by the thought of eating worms!

When I gave it to them they were excited about having pudding with dirt. After they ate for awhile they found the worms. Caleb was excited about eating the worm, the other two were pretty grossed out until we showed them what it really was and then they enjoyed it. The pictures are of them eating the worms (I know they look nasty!). They really enjoyed those treats, and I did not mind touching that kind of bug! If only I could get the boys to only be interested in gummy bugs!

Boys and Bugs

It has been a busy weekend. We took the boys to the park last night to fly their new airplanes and go for a walk. It must be so great to have the energy, especially in the evenings, to chase planes all over the park. We did not get expensive planes that fly back to you once you shoot them off. Once they were shot, someone had to go get them - and it was not going to be me! It was a race everything to see who could get them first. As soon as they got them they would run them back to Daddy to shoot them again. You would think after an hour of that they would be tired, especially when you think that the plane flies about 60 feet each time and we are talking some short legs here!

After they flew the planes we walked the trail that goes around the park. The boys really enjoyed that - especially Caleb. There were fireflies EVERYWHERE! He was so upset when we were in Colorado backpacking because he never saw any. The first time he tried to catch one he actually did. I don't know who was more shocked - Daddy and I or Caleb. He decided to let that one go and wait until he got closer to the car to catch one and take home. I guess from now on we have to carry little clear jars with us! By the end of the night he had caught 5 and Daddy caught one for him. Now, Caleb has a tendency to put bugs in his pockets to bring home from wherever. Usually though, by the time he actually makes it home the bug is missing some limbs. He never understands why they don't wake up, and we just tell him that they need to be in the wild to wake up. Thank goodness, for now anyway, he buys that, and by the next day believes that the bug has flown away.

By some miracle this time the firefly made it home. Of course, I missed Firefly 101 in school and do not have any clear jars sitting around the house. I guess the boys are all of age that I need to take Firefly 101, and grasshopper 101, and rollie pollie 102 (I used to play with them, so I know some about them). I will now have to go buy 3 glass jars so all of the boys have their own bug house.

When we got home we had watermelon. We don't buy watermelon much because of the tremendous mess it makes, but it is fun to have on occasion. Isaac loves watermelon, and after cutting his into small and taking all the seeds out he decided to instead eat the rine. After several times of telling him not to eat that part, he finally decided it did not taste very good and started eating the fruit. A juicy mess later he had finished it and was asking for more.
Bryce has never had his own piece of watermelon to tend too, mostly because of fear that he would choke on the seeds. The first bite he took, he bit into a seed. It was downhill from there! He was scared to take another bite because he said it hurt. I guess it did not feel good biting into the seeds! Then he noticed the black seeds on the plate and kept saying they were bugs. He kept picking them out of the watermelon and then throwing them onto the table with some ucky faces. If he was not throwing them onto the table he was blowing on them, which is what he does if he sees a real bug. I think in the long run he decided that watermelon was not his fruit of choice. He just could not comfortably take a bite knowing that there was a possibility of there being bugs in it.

Having a house full of boys is a constant learning process for me!! I am such a girlie girl, I never thought I would be setting up bug houses and picking "bugs" out of watermelon. I already feel like a live in a boys locker room, which is really scary when you think that the oldest is only six. What is going to happen when I have a house full of teenage boys and their Daddy who still acts like a teenage boy? That is not a question that I want any responses too. Let me live with the hope that it will get better, even if it is a naive thought!

I was out of town for a few days and then when I got home I was to exhausted to do anything! I am back now though, and maybe I can get back on track with my musings!
Bryce is still doing great with potty training. I was concerned with how he would be doing when I got back home, but he is doing surprisingly well. Paul said that this weekend while I was gone they watched "The Incredibles". Mind you that Bryce has NEVER sat down and watched an entire movie, but I guess he decided that was the day to start. Paul would ask him about every 30 minutes if he needed to potty. He would yell "NO" at Paul and give some aggravated face and go back to the movie. Paul did not want to push him so he just let him watch the movie. As soon as the movie ended Bryce disappeared. Paul went searching and found him using the potty. I was impressed that he actually held it until the movie was over. Before now he would have gone wherever he happened to be standing.
Isaac is becoming too independent. He tries to dress himself, but normally changes many times before he finds the "right" mix of clothing. I am continuously having to pick up and hang up clothes. He breaks hangers continuously from pulling the clothes out of the closet. The funniest thing is that he daily puts on winter clothes, and sandals. I try to explain that it is 100+ degrees outside but he does not understand or care.
Caleb is ready to start school. He is asking daily how many more days until school starts. He starts on the 19th. I will never understand why they would start school on a Friday. He is so excited about starting 1st grade. I am hoping it will be a little more of a challenge that kindergarten was so that maybe he will not get in quite as much trouble for trying to teach the class over the teacher. We will just deal with whatever comes our way.
Schedules will start getting hectic now. Between Caleb's school, and Isaac's therapies, we will be on the go a lot. We don't mind being on the go, it just usually interferes with Bryce's naps. Isaac does not think he needs naps anymore, but Bryce definently cannot go without one. He has a temper on a good day, he goes without a nap and the temper flares with a vengeance. Not a pretty picture!!