My Boys

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Snow Day

My boys were very excited to have a snow day today! I didn't really share in their excitement. Caleb immediately wanted to go to a friend's house and Joshua and Jacob wanted to go sledding. Sledding is fun but it is also a lot of work. First, I had to get up in the attic and find the sleds (and go back a second time to search for Jacob's snowboard). Then, I had to get a box out of the garage to find their thermal underwear. Then the bundling process began. It seems to take forever to get all of us bundled up. We were finally ready to go. Jacob had a ball on his snowboard. He crashed several times after trying some jumps. He thinks he is ready to conquer a mountain now. I actually think he would love to go to a ski resort and learn how to really snowboard. He has good form and isn't afraid (he must get that from his Dad). Joshua got a little more daring this year. He doesn't want to try snowboarding but he was using his sled on some bumpy spots and was laying on his back some to go faster. Caleb missed out on sledding with us but I don't think he really cares. He would much rather spend time with friends.

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.