We took our Wolf/Bear dens (+ 1 Webelo) to Wind Wolves nature preserve for some hiking yesterday.  They had fun; hiking, running, playing tag and splashing in the creek.  The first trail we took was the Mountain View Trail.  Once we reached the top the view was amazing, it was cloudy and a little overcast, but the air was clean, so we could actually see pretty far. 

Hello

I have plenty of excuses for not blogging the last couple of weeks.  I would make a pretty little list, but really all it would be is... excuses.  To be honest (Danny hates that phrase by the way, but since I am not tacking Sir on the end of it maybe it's all right) I've just been hiding.  Wanting to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head.
So... here is what we've been up to;
Baseball- Josh has pitched the last three games and done amazing.  Ryan's team is improving, I think.  He is struggling with swinging the bat.  Caleb is having a ball (haha).

 School- Lots of testing, Zachary and Ryan have both been doing those pesky state mandated tests.  This is the only time of year anyone gets "a good breakfast". Ryan is now registered for high school.  What a wierd feeling! Caleb had his spring program, even though the other boys did the same thing in kindergarten it is still so dang cute!  Josh and Caleb had the annual track meet yesterday, it was freezing!  I told Danny it was so cold there should have been snow.  He laughed at me, and I took back the "we could totally live in Alaska" statement I made a few weeks back while watching Alaska State Troopers.  Caleb took first place in both his events, the softball throw and the 60 yard dash.  Josh got first in the 70 yard dash and 4th in the 440 relay, he smiled the entire time, and I love how he kept his focus on the finish line!

Happy Birthday

Caleb is six today!  How strange that feels to say, my baby is six today...

  Caleb, you love baseball, and Spongebob, and the color green.  School is fun, especially math, but the best part of school is playing with friends.  Keeping up with your brothers is a challenge, but you never give up.   You try to pick up after yourself and you are the best at brushing your teeth.   You make us all smile, and  even though you are getting all grown up, you are still willing to snuggle on the couch, (as long as we are watching cartoons of course).  We love you!  Happy Birthday! 

Is that eye black?

Josh's baseball team has decided it is "lucky" to wear eye black ( the black stuff athletes put under their eyes) for all their games. He has been asking me to buy his own for about 3 weeks, so Saturday we left early for his game and stopped to get some. Caleb of course had to wear some too. Except he wanted it all the way across his nose and cheeks.I should have taken a picture of him! Maybe next time...
This morning Caleb and I were sitting on the couch together watching TV. He looked at me and asked if he still had eye black on. I scrubbed it off the other night, so of course there wasn't, I told him no. Then he looked at me and said, "Well you do, it's right here, and pointed from the bridge of his nose down along his eye. apparently my dark circles are pretty bad today. Must have something to do with not getting enough sleep the last few nights. Sick restless kids, and wacky dreams will do that to a gal. Josh's nose was stuffed up last night and he whimpered and cried for about 3 hours off and on. He tried sleeping sitting up on the couch... didn't help. I put him in a steamy shower at about 1 and that helped a little. He can not stand being uncomfortable, he is whiny when he is sick, and cranky on long car drives. I am not a very sympathetic mom. Although I have to say I was going to let him stay home this morning even though they started STAR testing today. He woke up about 15 minutes before we needed to leave for school and said he felt ok. He made it, just as the class was walking in.

Caleb says

A few weeks ago Caleb got a magic wand in his kid's meal at Jack-in-the-Box. He immediately turned to me and said, "Abracadabra...I make you...a nice mommy"! And I thought we had been enjoying a good day.
The other day Josh was throwing a fit because he wanted to do something and Daddy said he had to wait. When Josh complained, Caleb turned to him and in an exasperated voice, told him "Uh, Josh, rules are rules, sheesh" then shook his head.

Portraits 2010

Don't know that I should be giving them such a fancy name as "portraits" because I took them, and did all the editing myself. I have a lot to learn. Family, I will get some high resolution pics printed up, and I am planning on bringing copies out to Texas (I know you are so shocked right now, please don't pass out), when I come.

unanswerable questions

This is my sister Cynthia, and her husband Erik. They are expecting their first baby in March. They live in Texas and have been keeping those of us in California updated with weekly pictures on our mom's blog.

Caleb was standing next to me this morning when I looked at the newest post. He knows he has a new cousin coming soon (a birthday cousin would be great, don't you think?), but he would like a little more info,

He said, "Mommy how do babies get made?"

I thought...He is my fourth, I should totally have an answer for him!! I said, " You have to have a mommy and a daddy, then you can have a baby."

Caleb, "I know that, but HOW does the baby start?"

I laughed, and that upset him.

I finally told him a baby is kind of like a seed, and it's the mommy's job to make sure it grows. He accepted that, but I was not very impressed with myself. The thing is he is only four, and I am not ready for him to be spouting off the words I would have used to explain if he were a little older. Actually now that I think about it, I am not sure Josh has asked about any of that yet, and he is seven.

Caleb Can,

Caleb can ride his motorcycle, by himself. He is excited and will tell anyone and everyone. I think Danny is almost as excited as Caleb about the whole thing.

Hidden Camera

Sometimes I would just like there to be a reason crazy things happen. Sometimes (not because I love being the center of attention) I feel like there must be a hidden camera following me/us.

Today,
we were late for church. Like five minutes, so still during the opening song, but late is late. I followed Zachary into an empty pew. Where he did not sit down, instead he looked at the stand, and back at me, with really huge eyes, and said, "Oh man, I totally forgot, I am supposed to give a talk today!"
I said, "YOU WHAT!" maybe not that loud, maybe, hopefully. I don't know though.
So he walked up and sat down, and when it was his turn gave a talk. Personally I would have cried and left the room, but he is a better person than me.
Turns out he was asked TWO weeks ago, and Daddy reminded him a couple of times. Of course no one told me, because why would they? I would have hounded Zac about it every day, and possibly written it for him at the last minute. That has been known to happen.

Caleb is a goof ball, he ran up to Ryan tonight with no shirt on, lifted his arm up and exclaimed "Hello, my name is Armpit" in a squeaky voice and then ran off. We laughed.

Calebism # 413

Today in church Caleb leaned over tapped my arm and said, " I just wish you were a nice mommy". This was after I had told him a dozen times to turn around, sit down, be quiet, be nice, leave Josh alone....
We ended up in the front row at church, which is really not the best place to be with kids. There are no pews in front of you to help contain the wildness. Then when you laugh at the things your children say the person speaking at the pulpit will look at you, and probably wonder why you are laughing, and get distracted!

Santa's visit

Last night we had our Christmas party at church. Caleb had a headache and was tired and cranky. All signs that maybe he didn't feel very well. But... we missed the day Santa visited playgroup and there was no way he was missing another chance to talk with Santa. So we took him. He lay on me resting through the "Joy to the World" video and the carol singing. As soon as he saw Santa he had to get in line. Climbed up, told Santa he wants "a fake dog that he can hold and hug" (this started out as a real puppy, but mommy has talked him down). Smiled for the camera and got down. As soon as he was off Santa's lap the smile dissappeared, he walked a few steps, put his hands up to his face, and threw up. Santa better bring a really great fake dog!

The other three boys think they are too old to talk to Santa. Which is good, because I took Caleb and came home, right after I mopped the floor.

Slightly pale, but he knew he had to smile. Poor kid!

Who's your hero?

When you have a houseful of boys the answer to that question usually involves Daddy. Right??
Caleb says some very funny things... and maybe you will only see the humor in this story if you are a cop, or are married to one, or have a dad that was one, and a sister that is one, and cousins that... okay you get the picture.
Caleb: Hey Mommy, what if (this is his favorite phrase lately)... what if Daddy wanted to be a fireman?
Me: Then I guess he would be a fireman.
Caleb: Ya, but then he would have to quit being a policeman, huh?
Me: Well yes, but he likes being a policeman, why would he want to be a fireman?
Caleb: 'cuz firemen, they're HEROS!
Me: But so are police officers.
Caleb: I know, but firemen are better heros.
Me: Really? (who have you been talking to?)
Then I called Danny, who was busy being a sort of hero, at work. And I told on my four year old. Laughing. Just so you know, there are no firemen in our family, not one.

Speech Therapy

Caleb has a hard time with some letters. He is four, and I think mostly doing fine, I hardly notice it. One of those letters is the letter 'F'. We had our Primary Program today, and his part had something about families, except when he says it it comes out damlies. Anyway... We were sitting at the table tonight playing a game and Danny decided he would work with him a little. He showed him how to make the fffff sound, and then put it together with the end of the word. As in ffff eet, feet, they tried a couple other words. After a few words he started being silly and dancing around, once he started with the little booty shake he does, I knew what the next word Daddy came up with would be... any guesses? fffff art. Caleb laughed a big ol' belly laugh at that one! Ok, so did I, somethings can't be helped when you live among animals (I mean boys).

The STARE Down

Challenge this guy to a staring contest. Really, go ahead and try it. I double dog dare ya!

Caleb wanted to have staring contests with everyone in the house the other day. He will do anything to win, make funny faces or silly noises, anything. He beat me every time, and kept going until his eyes were watering so bad he had to close them for a minute.

A day in the life

Sometimes I look back over a week and wonder were the days went. Unfortunately days like today are fairly typical, at least when I write it down I can look back and realize this is why I feel like I don't do enough at home. Very simply it's because I don't!

• Caleb went back to the Dr. today for a follow up on his ear. She had to flush out the crusty blood/wax build up to get a good look. The two areas she saw last week have healed, but it looks like he did hit his ear drum, and that is not healed yet. So we are keeping up the ear drops, and still no swimming... okay yes, we cheat on that one, isn't that what ear plugs are for? We walked out of the office and got to the car. Where Josh did not want Caleb getting in the door on his side, and closed it. Really fast. With Caleb's fingers in it. I debated going back into the office for an ice pack, but decided to get one at the store because that was next on our list of things to do. Caleb stopped crying in about a minute and his fingers look okay.
• We visited the Woodruffs, the boys played and played, then when it was time to go Caleb told me to go ahead and just leave them. I was very tempted, but forced them to come home anyway.
• Zachary woke up to an empty house wondering where everyone had gone. I didn't leave him a note, he never sees them when I do. He had to text and ask us were we went.
• I felt like a pretty mean spirited person for the first 20 minutes of my drive home. We stopped for gas at the Shell on Rosedale Hwy by 99, there was a woman standing with her little boy, holding a sign asking for help. The rest of the family(dad and two more kids) were sitting in the car in the parking lot. My immediate thoughts were, "maybe I would help them, but, she is standing there smoking, if they need so much help why are they buying cigarettes? and using their son like that to play on people's sympathy, makes me sad for him but I don't want to give them anything". After I left my thoughts went a little more like this... "maybe she is smoking because she is stressed out because she has no family or friends that can help them, and maybe her little boy was just tired of sitting in the car and wanted to get out and sit in the shade. The kids were all clean, the car was older but also clean. If you get to the point you are willing to make a sign and stand out there asking for help you probably really need it. Maybe I should turn around and go give them something. Except I don't have anything, but a handful of change." So I didn't turn around. I hope if anyone else noticed them today they were more compassionate than I.

Caleb is going to make me crazy. Crazier than I already am. Scout camp outs are hazardous to his health. Yes he is only four, and yes, I should have years before I have to worry about it. I see a pattern emerging and I think I am wise to be concerned. Ryan was on a camp out the night Caleb fell and needed stitches in his cheek. Today, less than an hour after I got home from taking Zachary up to scout camp, Caleb decided he needed to use a Q-tip to clean out his ear. He came running out of my room crying and holding his ear. I asked if he poked it with something, he said he didn't know. I finally peeled his hand away and saw blood. Not a lot, but there is not supposed to be any blood in ears. I called our Doctor to try and get him in before they closed, (I hate the how soon can you get here question). They waited for us, I love Dr. Kumari, I really do. So thankfully no trip to the hospital. He didn't damage his ear drum, just cut his ear canal in two different places. He can't swim, and has ear drops to take twice a day, for a week. See?? Crazy here!

And I will not be shocked if Search and Rescue gets called to come look for lost scouts this week. But that is all I have to say about that for the moment.

We spent most of the week down at the lake about 3 minutes from home, with the Bushlings and Hansens. We camped, we fished, we played, we swam and rode the wave runner, we watched a helicopter drop water on a fire. And we could run home when we wanted or needed anything (like a shower). I am not a big fan of tent camping or lakes, but we had a lot of fun.
One of the canopies was blown over by the wind, so we lowered the other one and everyone tried to sit under it. It looked a little silly. Caleb has more patience than I even imagined possible, he stood in the lake and fished for hours. He didn't catch anything, maybe next time.
The water felt good as the days got hot (it finally feels like summer here).Ryan loves playing with babies, and Jayda loved being pulled around on the boogie board, even after Josh and Spencer tried to pick one up with her on it and dumped her on her face, she is tough, no tears.
Tayah was the only one that caught any fish, then they found some dead ones and scooped them up in the net. A little gross but entertaining.
Crazy boys!Everyone took turns riding the Wave Runner. I even got on it...twice!
There was a small fire across the lake, the helicopter flying in and scooping up water was really cool!

Caleb says...

Caleb and I had this conversation a few days ago:
Mom why am I the baby?
Because Heavenly Father wanted you to be.
Caleb: No, I didn't want to be!
Me: I'm sorry, but you are, and we love you so it's fine.
Caleb: I am the baby because Josh beat me.
Me: Beat you?
Caleb: Yeah I said let's race and Josh won, so he is older.
Me: Well he is older even if you win a race, that won't change.
Caleb: No I said let's race and he got to your tummy first, so I had to be last.

He makes me smile!

Our week

The week in pictures, because I am too tired to write very much, and hope the pictures will suffice for posterity!

Caleb has not been feeling well, he woke up from a nap one day with gum in his hair, and an entirely different kind of mess in his pants. Thus the bath.
Caleb and I had breakfast with this chipmunk. We were on one side of the window, he was on the other.
Zachary went to South Fork for the SouthFork/ Wallace Track Meet where he competed in the Tug-o-War. They placed 2nd (yes out of 2 teams). He refused the 2nd place ribbon, because 1. That is so lame! ribbons when there are only two teams, and 2. the anchor for his team gave up and walked away. Mostly he wanted to go so he could see his friends and miss school.Josh found a Lady Bug at Zac's b-ball game. Yes a Lady Bug, not a bloody sore. My focus was, I don't know where, on his other hand maybe.
Zachary had a nice hit into the outfield.Ryan waiting on 2nd base for someone to PLEASE bring him home. He waits alot.The trees at the field where Ryan and Josh play. Notice where the branches are? Can you tell which way the wind always blows?