A Tradition Lives On

Every year I take pictures of the boys with Santa hats on. We started this when Caleb was three and he is now fourteen. He still puts up with me doing this even though he doesn't love it. Joshua and Jacob still enjoy it. In fact, this year they asked when we were going to do it. Usually we take the pictures in early December. This year we didn't get them taken until Christmas Eve. I think that is the latest we have ever done it. We had a good Christmas. We got to spend time with family and now the boys are getting to spend time with friends. Caleb is staying with his friend, Kyle, for a few days. Joshua got to spend the day with his best friend, Jackson, yesterday. And today and tomorrow the boys get to spend time with their mutual friend, our neighbor Jimmy. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior. Best wishes for a happy New Year!

Pumpkin Patch

Jacob and "his" goat (Jacob Jr.)
Chillin' out with the scarecrow
So Serious!
Fun at the Pumpkin Patch


I love going to the pumpkin patch every year! It's one of my favorite things to do in the fall. Kenneth didn't get to go with us this year. He is super busy at work right now. Caleb had band rehearsal. He didn't really care that he was missing it. I think he has outgrown the pumpkin patch. The boys love climbing on the pumpkins. Jacob's favorite thing is the animals. He especially loves goats! He found one goat that he really liked a lot. He wanted to buy it and take it home. I told him that we live in the city and can't have a goat for a pet. I said that when he grows up if he lives in the country he can maybe have a goat then. He said, "But I want this goat." He even named it Jacob Jr. He had to go and say goodbye to "his" goat before we left. We had to drag him away. I swear that boy is going to end up on a farm or ranch someday. He absolutely loves animals! Joshua's favorite animal there was the emu. I didn't get any pictures of them though. They aren't exactly easy to pet.

Back to School - Finally!

The boys are finally back in school. Hooray! They started back a week later than they usually do but it seemed more like a month later. They were really tired of each other and fighting all the time. It's good when they aren't together so much. Unbelievably, my "baby" is in third grade this year. He gets to be downstairs with the big kids and even has a locker. He is enjoying school so far and hasn't gotten in trouble yet. His teacher's name is Mrs. Hair. Joshua is very excited about being in Mrs. Chandler's class. He gets to make an invention later in the year and is already trying to figure out what he will invent. He is most excited because his best friend, Jackson, is in his class for the first time. Can't believe this is his last year of elementary school! Even harder to believe is the fact that I am now the parent of a highschooler. How time flies! Caleb is actually glad to be back in school. He was very bored being at home all the time. He also enjoys getting to see all of his friends. He seems to like all of his teachers which is nice. The last couple of years he has had atleast one teacher that he couldn't stand. He is especially enjoying being a part of the Union high school band. He is getting ready to be super busy with band starting in September. We won't see a lot of him during marching season. He loves it though. I have started back to work and I am enjoying being with the little ones at the preschool. The first day was really rough but it's gotten better since then. I'm just glad to have a schedule again and I'm especially enjoying the cooler weather the past couple of days. Hurry up fall! It's my favorite season and never seems to last long enough.

Jacob and Mrs. Hair

Joshua and Mrs. Chandler

Our tall freshman

Jacob finally gets his wish

Jacob has been begging me for a very long time to take him to a skate park. He finally got his wish on Monday. We met our friends, the Coopers, at the skate park in Owasso. We took his bike and skateboard and Joshua's scooter. We were the only ones there for a while and even then only two other boys came. It was nice to have the place to ourselves. The heat was not nice however! We went in the morning hoping it wouldn't be too bad. We were still sweating like crazy. Jacob just rode his bike for awhile and then finally tried out his skateboard. He kept falling off at first so his friend, Jesse, gave him some pointers. That helped him a lot. He did great until he tried a ramp that was a little too steep. He crashed and ended up with a big scrape and bruise. It didn't stop him from trying the smaller ramps again though. He loved it! He wanted to go back the next day but I told him we needed to wait until it's a little cooler. We also need to get him some new elbow and knee pads. We discovered that the ones he has are too small.

My little BMX rider was in heaven!

Joshua enjoyed riding his scooter on the ramps.

Cool Dudes! Posing with their friend Ben.

Right before the big crash.

The Ups and Downs of Summer

Summer is always difficult for me. It's so completely different from the rest of the year. It seems like time just stops during the summer and the days are really long. I also have to adjust to having the boys home all the time - and they have to adjust to being together more (which leads to lots of fighting). We go from being super busy during school to not having much to do. This is good and bad. I am always ready for a break from the craziness. However, it's a bit too extreme opposite for me. I'm always telling Kenneth that I wish it wasn't all or nothing. Having three kids keeps us very busy during the school year and then everything just stops in the summer (all or nothing). Something in between would be nice. June has gone by pretty quickly. It helps that we have taken a couple of trips and now the boys have camp. I'm sure the last month of summer will drag by for me and I will be really ready for school to start. I am a schedule person. I like having a schedule and knowing what's going on. That's another thing that bugs me in the summer - no schedule. Kenneth likes not having a schedule. It's one way that we are different.

This week I get to have a few days just with Joshua. I'm really looking forward to that. I enjoy my boys a lot more when I get time with them by themselves. Today I even got some time to myself (which I really miss during the summer). Caleb is in Colorado at a youth conference and Jacob left this morning for camp. Joshua spent most of the day at a friend's house. Tomorrow we are going to hang out together. We are planning on going to a movie and going to the library and then he has a Scout activity tomorrow night. I'm trying to enjoy the quiet while I can. We had a noisy weekend because we had an extra boy staying with us and starting Wednesday afternoon we will have another extra boy with us for a few days. That definitely will not be quiet! We seem to always have at least one extra kid at our house - especially during the summer.

Awards and Gymnastics

Ok, I did things a little differently this time - kind of by accident. I was going to blog and also post a few pictures but I wanted to put more pictures on. So, you can look at the pictures in the last blog and read about them in this blog. You might think that Caleb would feel short- changed having only two pictures of himself. Actually, he hates having his picture taken so I was doing good to get two. His pictures are from the induction ceremony for the National Junior Honor Society. He wasn't very excited about it - or about getting awards in math and science- but we were very proud of him. Can't believe that at the end of this school day he will officially be a high schooler. How is that possible? I can't really be that old, can I? He is going to be a part of the Union High School Band - in the percussion section. So, he will be living and breathing band. It's an incredible band but that's because they practice a lot - huge time commitment and huge financial commitment. We probably won't see much of him during marching season. His life will consist of school, band, homework, church and guitar lessons. I'm sure he will try to squeeze in time with friends also.
Joshua is still doing Scouts and really enjoys it. He graduated from Webelos 1 and got a walking stick. This was his first year to get grades at school. He made the Honor Roll - all A's.
He was pretty proud and so were we. He was also the 2nd best speller from his class so he got to be in the school spelling bee. He is rapidly approaching the middle school years and I'm not ready for that. Next year he will get to do some special things since he will be in 5th grade. He will help with the school news broadcast - being a writer and possibly helping with tech stuff. He might also be in the honor choir. He is still on leadership team at church and enjoys helping with tech stuff there.
Jacob is full of energy as always. I keep hoping his energy level will decrease some as he gets older but it hasn't happened yet. The pictures of him were from gymnastics. He loves it and is really good. Starting in June he will go to a new gymnastics place that has more opportunities for boys. He thinks he might want to compete at some point. I think he is good enough to compete but he will have to choose between soccer and gymnastics at that point. He is still playing soccer.
We are taking it one season at a time. It is getting more intense already - even though he is only 8. He enjoys it though and it's a great outlet for all of his energy. He likes to play defense - sometimes as goalie. It stresses me out when he plays goalie.
I'm sure you've already figured out that I keep myself very busy just driving them to all of their activities. Summer will be a nice break. Jacob will still have gymnastics once a week and possibly some soccer stuff and Caleb will have some band practices but it won't be nearly as bad as during the school year.

2010-05-25

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The Boy of Many Scars

I am going to start calling Joshua the boy of many scars. He has three scars from stitches and two in spots where he probably could have used a stitch or two. These are all on his face. Now he has a new one to add to the group. It's on his lower abdomen - right where his appendix used to be. Two weeks ago we had friends over for dinner. The kids were playing outside and jumping on the trampoline - Joshua included. He was fine and having a great time. When he was getting ready for bed he started complaining about his stomach hurting. We didn't think a whole lot of it since he has a sensitive stomach and complains about his stomach hurting pretty frequently. We got concerned though when we were up with him most of the night. He had a hard time getting to sleep and then didn't sleep for long before he woke up again. We debated whether we should take him to the ER. In the morning he threw up and we thought maybe it was just a stomach bug. We waited a little while but the pain didn't go away. So, I took him to urgent care. To my surprise (and Joshua's) they said we needed to take him to St. Francis hospital because it might be his appendix. Joshua was very upset at urgent care because the doctor talked about the possibility of surgery. He threw up again on the way to the hospital. They took blood and a urine sample. They put an IV in and did a CAT scan. They decided from the tests that he did need to have his appendix taken out. So, at about 6:30 on Sunday he went into surgery. Thankfully his appendix had not ruptured. He got to go home by 5:00 on Monday and was back in school by Thursday. It was all really crazy! He was a real trooper. The most difficult part was when he was in the recovery room after surgery. That was not fun! He's doing well now. He's ready to be able to play outside again and jump on the trampoline but he has to wait one more week. He also can't participate in PE at school. He wasn't very happy about missing out on PE and recess. I'm just so thankful that he hasn't had any complications and he will be all better by summer break. I'm also very thankful that we have insurance!

Still Alive

Ok, I figured I should blog since it's been over two months since my last one. Life has been very busy and doesn't show signs of slowing down (it will actually probably get busier). I am enjoying my part-time job! It's only 10 hours a week. I can't imagine working more than that. It's so fun being around little ones again! I can't believe it but my "baby" will turn 8 in 3 weeks. I think that's why I enjoy being around toddlers and preschoolers again because I don't have any at home. Joshua and Jacob just finished Upward basketball. I just love that program! They both enjoyed it. Jacob tended to be a ball hog but he wasn't the only one on his team. He seems to be more aggressive with basketball than he is with soccer. Soccer has started again now. You would think that soccer and gymnastics would help Jacob get out all of his excess energy. Unfortunately, he always has too much no matter how many activities he is in. Joshua is in Cub Scouts still. He really enjoys it. He is a Webelos this year. He has a great den leader and is earning a lot of badges (they are actually pins but they are called badges). Caleb stays busy with band (percussion), guitar lessons and friends. He has always been very social but that has increased with his being a teenager now. We got him enrolled for high school next year. I can't believe I will be the mother of a highschooler. How did that happen? He is excited about being in the Union high school band next year and taking a web design class. I spend a lot of time driving them to all of their activities. I often feel like a taxi driver (except that I don't get paid).
I don't have any pictures to put on here right now. I need to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer. I will try to get that done soon so I can post some of them.