Autumn

It has been quite some time since I have been here. I hinted (ad-nauseum) that I had lost interest in writing here, and I had - - it didn't feel like fun anymore. The whole reason I started writing this blog was to chronicle our every day life so I would be able to look back and remember all of those moments that get lost in the shuffle of time. I have been missing that, so, for myself, I am going to try again. Life has continued to get busier and busier, the older the boys get, and sometimes it seems as though it is hard to remember much of anything!

October was a rough month for us, from start to finish. I love Halloween but I have to say that I was quite happy to see the month come to a close. We are starting November in style, with fever and sore throats! Camden is spending today "laying low" and I am hopeful that by tomorrow he will be back to feeling well. I have been fighting some sort of cold all week that refuses to amount to much of anything, other than being annoying. This morning, Griffin is saying his throat hurts as well. Hmmm.

I am having a bunch of trouble with Blogger this morning, but I really don't know if it is Blogger, or the laptop I am borrowing...it is very, very slow. Anyway I had typed up a good three paragraphs, which promptly disappeared, so I will have to save that for another day. Bummer.

Scout is new to our family since joining us as a 6-week old puppy in July. She is a handful, but I am confident that once she is an adult, she will calm down and be a great pup. We are already noticing her mellowing out a little. "A little" being the key words there.

Time Warp

Roy has recently taken to getting himself up onto the roof of our house, and then claiming that he has no idea how to get back down. Here, he can be seen sticking his tongue out at me, when I told him he was on his own.

It has been a long time, and a lot has happened. I would love to catch up, but I wouldn't even know where to start. The school year has ended and I think the boys and I have been breathing a sigh of relief for the past week. Maybe it has been mostly me. This past school year was very challenging for me, as a mom. The pace was frenetic at times, and it was fraught with many obstacles. I am proud of my boys. They both faced some tough times this year, but they came out better for them. They also racked up a lot of accomplishments. They are both wonderful students and hard workers. I love them both more than life itself and as hard as the past few months have been, I would do it a million times over.

Steve has been in Cambodia for the past few weeks and will be back in Idaho tomorrow. We are all missing him and wanting him back home with us.

We recently lost one of our chickens. Stella died very suddenly one morning, and I suppose we will never know what happened/why she died. We have added two new girls to our flock - - Lucy and Lola are approximately 14 weeks old, and are currently finding their place. My older hens are pretty docile, but are still keeping the younger girls on a short leash.

Our bunny is doing great. I just love her. When she moved in with us, her cage sat in our living room so that she could get use to the sounds of our house and of our voices. That was over three months ago, and she is still in the living room. Kiara is a very social bunny, and I think we are afraid she will be too lonely anywhere else. Even Steve, who doesn't really possess that warm-and-fuzzy gene when it comes to animals, has said as much. I can also report that Kiara has a strange affinity for Steve. Why is it that animals are drawn to the person who could take them or leave them? I don't get it! 

Lots of fun things happening for us this summer. 4-H camps, swimming lessons, the Cherry Festival, the Gem County Fair, among other things. I am happy to have my boys home with me. Here's to summer!

Thrift Store Score

I have mentioned here, many times before, that I love thrift stores. My mom tells me that the Idaho thrift stores are far better than the ones in Maine...I wonder why that is? Do we have better junk in Idaho? Or do Idahoans just let go of their junk, more easily than Mainers? Hmmm.

Anyway, there is a thrift store just a couple of blocks from our house, and the boys and I check it out on a regular basis. I seem to have a knack for stumbling upon the craziest thrift store finds, but that is another post in of itself. Stay tuned for that one.

So, the boys and I were out running errands the other day when we decided we would take a spin through the thrift store. So glad we did! While I was looking at dishes (the section I always go to first!) I heard Camden say, "Um, Mama? Come see this!!" Up on a top shelf was what I believed to be an interactive R2D2 robot. The boys were about coming out of their shoes. The price tag? $8.50. A bit more than I like to spend on something at a thrift store, but I knew a little bit about this particular item, as I am the mother of a couple of Star Wars Freaks, after all. I asked the clerk if it worked, and she assured me that it did. So, we made our purchase and headed home. I promptly fired up my computer and found that this little guy costs $199.95 new! Our final cost? $11.50 (after purchasing the 8 batteries it needed to operate, at the dollar store).

Now, I have to tell you that even I am amazed by this thing. It is the craziest toy I have ever seen. Essentially, it is a robot, and it understands 40+ voice commands. It struggles to understand children's voices (too high-pitched), but the boys have pretty much mastered getting it to respond. Completely hilarious!

Mom School 2012

Mom School 2012 kicked off yesterday. Last year, I used Scholastic workbooks, which I really liked. This year, I decided to go with Summer Bridge Activities books, and I am so glad I did - - they are fabulous! The books have three sections, with 20 worksheets each. Each worksheet covers more than one subject, which I think holds their interest better. These particular workbooks also put some focus on physical fitness and character, which I just love. Like last year, we are going to have "school" every weekday morning at 9:00. We are also incorporating myOn.com into this time, to make sure both boys get their reading practice in every day.

Last year, the boys would fill a sticker chart each week, and at the end of the week they got to choose a dollar store prize from my prize box at the end of each week. This year, the boys chose instead to forgo the weekly little prizes, and instead will earn a trip to Build-a-Bear Workshop at the end of the summer, when they have completed all of their work  - - something they have both wanted to do for a very long time.

We will certainly have days where Mom School will be met with groans and protest, but for the most part the boys enjoy it, and I do, too. I'd like to think that it helps keep them on track and helps them to start the school year off more smoothly. Don't worry, we definitely have lots of time for summer time fun, too!

On the Road to Health

Finally...I think we may be on our way to a healthy household. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think we have more than paid our dues in the past four weeks. The body count as of today is: Steve ~ healthy. Heather ~ healthy. Camden ~ fighting a cold, but seems to be on the upswing as of this morning. Griffin ~ Finally, FINALLY on the mend. When he wasn't getting any better, after 4 WEEKS of illness, we headed back to the pediatrician (for the third time). I don't enjoy medicating my children, but I had my fingers crossed that the doctor would prescribe something that would get this kid on the mend. With the addition of wheezing and some chest pain, the doctor prescribed an oral steroid for post-infections lung inflammation. I can already see a difference in him, and I am hoping that this will put an end to the scourge that has plagued this household since early January!

Smokey Goes to Preschool

Today, the Show & Tell letter of the week was "C". Griffin wanted to take his brother for Show & Tell, but since he had school, Smokey got the job. Smokey is truly the Best Cat Ever. Mind you, she has some bad habits that we continue to try and break her of (*ahem*, climbing on the counter tops), but she is affectionate, is full of personality, and is laid-back as all get out.

I was told to show up at Griff's school at 10:15, and when I got there, all the kids were sitting in a circle. Griffin was very official about the whole thing, and didn't waste any time letting everyone know that they needed to be quiet so they wouldn't scare his kitty. I removed her from her cat carrier and she didn't look the least bit scared, but gave everyone a once-over and jumped back into her carrier. Griff wasn't having any of that, so he reached in, lifted her out, and took her for a spin around the circle so everyone could get a closer look. As you can see, she just sort of 'hung out' and didn't protest in the least.

Soon we were told that Cookie the Dog had arrived for Show & Tell, so Smokey and I packed up and made a hasty retreat.

More of the Same

I last blogged 15 days ago, and not much has changed around here, unfortunately. After Griff's bout with the upper-respiratory junk, I caught it (no surprise there), and right about the time I started to feel human again, he started feeling poorly. It was off to the doctor yesterday to make sure his nasty cough wasn't something more serious (it wasn't), and now we are back in the juice-drinking, forced-resting mode in hopes of kicking this sickness to the curb. Poor Griff. He is a good little patient, but really, enough is enough.

As you can see from the quality of my pictures, I am still phone-blogging, which is why I haven't been blogging. Yesterday I decided to just chalk January up as one of those months that seems to evaporate before your eyes, and if someone asked you, you couldn't really tell them what you'd done all month. All of the days seemed to blur together and mostly I am just very happy that today is February 1st. It gives me that "clean slate" feeling, and the hope that health will be restored to this house. Pronto.

We have been experiencing an extremely mild winter here in Idaho. One would think that this would alleviate the 'winter blahs', and while it does help somewhat, I find myself extremely impatient for spring to just get here already. These mild days are a tease and I am just ready for the children to be playing outside and to just chalk this winter up as a bust and get on with it.

Steve's office has relocated, away from the military base he's always worked on, so this has added a good 45 minutes to his already one hour (each way) commute time every day. This means some adjusting and some changes for all of us, but mostly I just feel for Steve because really, who wants to spend 3.5 hours in a car every day? He's a trooper, that's for sure.

We have not broken the news to Smokey yet, but tomorrow is "Letter C" day at preschool, and so she will be going to visit a gaggle of hyperactive 4-year olds.

Slow Days

Griffin, convalescing, with the ever-faithful Smokey

Things have been pretty slow around here these past few days, and things haven't been going exactly as planned. That is usually the case when there is sickness in the air. The latest victim in our family is Griffin - - he seems to be fighting some sort of respiratory flu, complete with fever, chills, hacking cough, and the like. So, he is resting, and I am playing nursemaid. Days like today serve to remind me of how thankful I am to be doing what I do. I am so glad that I don't have to fret about whether or not I have sick time to use so that I can stay home from work, or that I have to send a child back to school before he is truly ready, because I can't miss another day of work. So, while I am sad that Griff is sick, I am glad that I am here with him.

The weather has turned bitter-cold here in Idaho, and the weatherman tells us that we are in for some snow. Finally! I was starting to think that maybe winter had decided to skip us all together. Unfortunately, that snow is going to be followed by a string of days of rain and gloom. At this point I think I will be happy if we get an early spring. If it is going to be cold, I'd at least like some snow to go with it.

I am currently still computer-less, and struggling to maintain this blog. I miss writing, and I've also found that since my computer died, I'm just not taking many pictures. Typically, I take pictures nearly every day, and upload them every couple of days. Steve finally uploaded pictures from my Sony camera the other day, and it still had my pictures from Christmas on it. Not sure when I will solve this problem, but I'm not thinking it will be any time soon. So, I'm hoping to come up with a plan pretty quick here.

In the meantime, I have a sick boy to tend to. Here's hoping his fever will subside and we can be done with this current round of illness!

The Waiting (is the Hardest Part)

Griffin patiently waits for his best buddy to wake up.

Being five is hard.

Bronze Star Ceremony

A few days after Steve came home, he held a little ceremony for the boys, to award them for their bravery while he was deployed. He cooked this whole thing up on his own, making up the certificates, and ordering the certificate folders and bronze star pins while he was still in Iraq.



Anyone who knows Steve won't be surprised by any of this ~ he is completely and utterly dedicated to his role as father, and he doesn't take it lightly

He missed his boys so much while he was away, and didn't waste any time at all, jumping right back into family life. He's been taking Camden to school every morning, and picking him up in the afternoon. During the day, he pretty much does whatever Griffin wants, which of course, thrills Griffin to no end!

I love seeing my three boys together, and I'm so proud that I married a man who sets such a good example for our children.

Griffin Turns Five

A certain little boy I know turned five recently. Griffin Peter has been counting the days until his birthday for about the past two months. Every morning upon waking he'd say, "Mom, how many sleeps until my birthday?"

We were really lucky that Steve made it home in time to celebrate with him. (As you can see, Steve is taking full advantage of the fact that he doesn't have to report back to work until mid-November, and therefore opting out of shaving).

Griffin wanted to put his Transformer "from Nana and Papa" on top of his birthday cake, so that is what we did. It was so big that I didn't have room to write his name. He proclaimed it his "best birthday cake EVER!"

Our dear Margaret spoiled him rotten, and he loved every minute of it.

Riley hasn't been feeling great lately, but he perked right up when he smelled birthday cake, and saw presents being opened. That dog loves a good party.


Griffin had a great time with his friends. I just can't believe my little Griff is five!

Mom School

The boys and I have been loving these Summer Express books from Scholastic this summer! All three of us do much better when we have structure to our days, so I decided that part of our summer structure this year would be "Mom School". Every morning at 9:00, the boys sit down and tackle a new worksheet for the day. The books are geared for "between" grades, so Camden is working on the "between 2nd and 3rd grade" book, while Griff has the "pre-K and Kindergarten" book. Each week has a corresponding sticker chart where they track their completed worksheets, along with their daily reading goals. I can't recommend these workbooks enough ~ they are wonderful.

My mother found some great books in the dollar section at Target ~ Junior Classics for Young Readers ~ she picked some up for Camden and so far he's read White Fang and Pinocchio. He loves these books and I hope I can come across some more titles for him. He has a reading goal of 30 minutes each day, but he usually averages at least 1.5 hours ~ I'm so proud of my little reader! Griffin's reading goal consists of him looking at books on his own, as well as me reading to him.

I'm hoping that our extra work this summer will have both boys in good shape at the start of the school year. It has been a lot of fun for all of us, and I definitely plan to do the same thing next summer.

The Agony of Defeat

I'm pretty sure this photo will become a family classic. Not exactly a clear picture, as it was taken through the screen of the boys' pup tent. As you can see, this was Griffin's reaction to Camden winning a game of Chutes and Ladders. I guess this means Griffin has officially entered the "I don't like losing" phase. Ha!

Hello, Spring? I Know You Are There...

Our weather has been kind of strange lately. I suppose it is our typical spring weather, but we keep getting a warm-weather tease (mid-to-high 60's) followed by a drastic drop in temperature. Just the other day, I got a little too much sun doing yard work, and just two days later, it was spitting snow. I'm more than ready to put this fickle weather behind me and move right into summer, frankly.

On one of our recent balmy days, the boys got right to work, burying each other in the sand box. This is something that Griff particularly enjoys, for whatever reason. I am really looking forward to days on the patio, watching the boys play. Come on, warm weather!

More Fire Station Fun

As if we didn't have enough fun this past Wednesday with Griff's field trip, our city fire station held its annual open house and chili feed yesterday, and of course we went, like we do every year. We missed having Steve with us though, and Camden mentioned he is glad that Daddy will get to come with us next year. The boys had fun climbing on all of the trucks and checking everything out. A guaranteed crowd-pleaser!

Soccer Season Has Started!

My boys officially started spring soccer season this week with their first games, and I officially started my first soccer season of having two children playing at the same time. I've seen lots of parents do it in seasons passed, and it isn't easy! Mostly, because I don't like leaving either of them during their games, but for now that is just how it is going to have to be! This means lots of running between soccer fields for me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. This is Camden's fourth soccer season, so he's an old pro by now. His favorite position is goalie, and he does a great job . Griffin has been very excited that he is finally old enough to play soccer now, although he was a little timid at his first couple of practices, but was fine once he warmed up a bit. His first game went well, although I'm not sure that he exactly grasps the concept of the game yet - - that will come in time I am sure. So, for the next few weeks, we will spend three nights per week at the soccer fields. Can't believe our next activity will be summer swimming lessons...coming right up!

A Trip to the Fire Station

I had the pleasure of being a chaperon on Griffin's school field trip to our local fire station today. The fire house was close enough to the preschool that we were all able to walk over. The Chief and one of the firefighters did a wonderful job with the children and everyone had a great time.

Griffin couldn't believe that Firefighter Todd let them sit in the fire truck. When we picked Camden up from school this afternoon, Griffin told him, "Cammy, I got to sit in the fire truck, I'm serious!"

The absolute highlight for Griff was having a turn with the fire hose. I'm pretty sure all of his classmates thought that was the best part, too.

Bunk Bed Boys

I finally bought some bunk beds for my boys today, after a long quest. I've been stalking Craigslist for months, but could never find quite what I was looking for. This afternoon, I took a random trip to my local thrift store, and these beauties were sitting there, seemingly waiting for me to walk in. They are brand new, can separate into two individual twin beds, have side rails, and a ladder - - all features I was looking for.

I must admit, I've hesitated a few times in buying bunk beds, for worry that someone would launch off the top bunk and break an arm. I'm glad I got over that, because life is just too short, and the boys were so incredibly excited to see their new beds - - they just love them! At first, there was a squabble as to who would get the top bunk, but that was settled after Griff climbed to the top bunk the first time, and decided that the bottom bunk suited him just fine.

I still need to buy an additional twin mattress for Griffin, so for now he is using his toddler mattress. He feels like such a big boy in his new bed, and I know that Camden loves having his own little private haven up above his brother.

As for the fire truck bed - - it has served its purpose. We've decided that we won't be getting rid of it, but instead it will take up residence in the storage shed until maybe someone has a little boy of their own someday.

The fire truck bed had to go somewhere, and I can tell you I had a heck of a time trying to move it to the basement, but I sure felt like a rock star when I managed to get it down there by myself, without incident!

Riley Speaks....sort of

The boys have been long-time fans of the PBS show, "Martha Speaks", and recently Griffin's been asking me to buy some Alphabet Soup to see if we could get Riley to talk (the premise behind "Martha Speaks," in case you aren't familiar with the show, is that a dog eats some alphabet soup, which gives her the ability to speak). I quickly learned that Alphabet Soup is hard to find! I don't know how many stores I looked, before I found some!

Griffin was very excited for our little "experiment" and could hardly stand the excitement.

Riley was very excited to be eating something different, out of a human dish, in the middle of the day...


As soon as Riley was done slurping up his bowl of soup, we commanded him to speak. I'm sorry to report that he only produced a normal old Riley bark. Griffin was not impressed. I'm pretty sure he stomped his feet a few times and declared that the soup "didn't work". Riley, on the other hand, wanted another bowl, which he didn't get.


The End.

Griffin's New Sweater

A few weeks ago, Camden received a new sweater in the mail, made by his Nana. Griffin immediately asked, "Where's MY sweater?!!?" So, no surprise that Nana got her knitting needles right back out and went back to work. Griffin knew his sweater was on its way to Idaho, and asked me every day for a week if his package had arrived yet.

Thank goodness it finally came, and not only did he get a lovely new sweater, but also a hat to match. Griff was excited to wear them right away, and reports that both the hat and the sweater "work good". Thanks, Nana ~ we are continually impressed with your knitting skills!