End of the year school BBQ

At the end of the year school bbq and field day, Miss O got some help on the rock wall at the school from her soon-to-be-graduated 5th grade brother! Wow- how time flies! Hard to believe that this was the only year that these two will be at the same school!! sniff sniff!

Wordless Wednesday

Early Release Monday

I guess I loaded the "after" and "before" picture! haha!

Wow! Boys that actually are working together... don't worry - it didn't last long!

Someone is armed and dangerous with the rake! The boys left her alone as she was swinging it pretty wildly!

Today, the boys had early release at school... seems like a waste of time to send kids home 1 hour 45 minutes early... oh well! We spent a little time at Nana and Grandpa's raking some of the leaves that came down... since it was dry and not too cold!

The last hurrah before school

Yesterday I took the boys fishing for a last little hurrah before school started today! We went to Mattoon Lake. This was the 3rd time that the boys have ever fished there. The weather was beautiful and in the 80's... I got to enjoy reading a book while sitting in the sun with a whole bunch of peace and QUIET! Miss O got to spend some time with her Nana and Grandpa - so the boys could focus all their energy on fishing!

For some reason - the boys thought that they NEEDED to bring the Barbie fishing pole - though their little sister was not consulted first!

Little J shows off this "whopper" he caught with the Barbie pole... fortunately he caught this one about 10 minutes before I told them it would be time to go home....

10 minutes after the first "deadliest" catch of the day - Little J wrangled in this other huge monster (had to release it - too small!)

Both boys had a good time - there was limited arguments - mostly about who got to use the Barbie pole, of all things, and who got the "bigger" worms - etc... they had some fun together, even though Big Al caught nothing - he kept up a good attitude (for the most part)!

It was sort of the "goodbye" to summer...

The Fair - part 2

The gruesome threesome had a fun time on rides! The boys were actually more than happy to take their little sis on the "baby rides"... I wonder for how much longer!

My champion boys! Though it is Big Al's trophy - they both deserved one for working together - even though the hubby and I had to do a lot of pushing to get them to do things!

Both boys posing with Bill... Charlotte decided to sleep this one out!

Charlotte managed to get up for a picture with her ribbons and trophy!

Little J and his pig Oreo.... he was really broken up when he had to leave her at the end of Fair... I was too! She had a ton of sweet personality!

Little J and his ribbons with Sunshine! He sold Sunshine at the Auction for $4 a pound! Not too shabby!

Sunshine got to wear Miss O's crown... too cute!

Big Al and his buddy Chance! This was Chance's first year showing and he took Reserve Champion in his class... he and Big Al have been friends since Kindergarten!

Last Tournament of the year

Well, Saturday was our LAST wrestling tournament of the year - and probably the one that was the best and the worst!
The Good.... the gym was not too crowded, the school was nice, things moved pretty fast and it was really organized, oh and Big Al won 3rd place!
The Bad.... both boys had really tough competition! Including each other!
The Ugly... in the consolation round, Big Al and Little J had to wrestle each other... the winner of that match would go on to wrestle for 3rd place... I actually added video this time :) as it is both my boys - so yelling at them was justified!! haha! Actually, it was a tough match, which I think that they both enjoyed... until the end! Big Al beat Little J on points... 14-4... He was unable to pin his little brother, who did put up a fight! Both boys hugged at the end, and Little J actually was smiling before walking off the mat.. then, all Hell broke loose! Little J stormed up to his seat in the stands and was completely unconsolable for the next 45 minutes. Tears, violent rocking, kicking... it was UGLY! Not until he walked off the mat did he realize that HE was not getting a medal... he believed 100% (and still does) that his brother is 100% responsible for him not getting one! No matter how many times you tell him the FACTS, like his brother still had to wrestle again to get a medal and actually win... does not matter.. according to Little J its all his brothers fault.... oh well... whatcha gonna do? The kid is totally NOT reasonable when he gets in one of his moods.. which happened to last the whole rest of the day... argh!

Here are the two brothers getting ready to face off in the consolation round!

Big Al, sporting his bronze medal after his 3rd place win!

This video below is Big Al finishing off his 3rd place match!

I am very thankful that wrestling is OVER! No more major sports stuff until fall!! Whoo hoo! The nice thing is that next year, the boys won't have the threat of having to wrestle each other since they will be in different age brackets... what a relief!

The Aftermath of the big day! Part 1

Here are a few pictures from Christmas! I was trying to download more - but for some reason it kept kicking me out! Here is the first set!! Enjoy!

A traditional Holiday Staple.... PEZ!
Christmas

Prior to wake up of the kiddos... the cats check out all the goodies under the tree!

Christmas eve we exchanged family gifts and those from the Grandparents

Big Al was concerned about getting more clothes!

A certain Little J is ADDICTED to the Dangerous Books for Boys!

Even PJ, our beloved dog gives presents! Every year he wraps up the traditional pajamas for each kiddo!

Miss O is always VERY thankful for gifts she receives!

Little J got her a Tinkerbell puzzle - boy was she psyched!

We made gingerbreak cookies, and the left over dough made a big O - so Miss O got the "O" cookie, and she was pretty happy about that!

Outside our house on Christmas eve Day!

What's new in our world...

It's been an interesting week - to put things mildly! Sometimes, there are alot of things that you can do without as a parent! Honestly - life would be easier :) Maybe not as exciting - but easier! We have had alot of conversation regarding Ukraine this week, some with really good memories about what we were doing two years ago, and some conversations about a current event going on that affects us directly. I have a friend in Ukraine who shared some news with us that really tugged at our heart and has made a major impact on alot of things this week. We are hoping that we are going to receive some divine intervention to help us with some of this news... it is hard to make some choices and decisions when the persons you are dealing with are 5000 miles away. Needless to say, certain people in Ukraine have been in our prayers this week.

Friday night the hubby had to take Big Al to the ER... nothing too thrilling, as we have to do this once or twice a year as apparently when you eat too much paper, glue and erasers, you tend to get blocked up... he was fine about an hour after getting home.
Saturday, we spent some time outside getting stuff done and enjoying the sunshine...
Sunday, the hubby and I went to Yakima to get some early "elf work" done. We hardly got anything, we just were not in the shopping mood!
Monday, another half day for the boys being parent-teacher conferences. The boys had some friends over after school, and acted like a couple of spastics... I don't get WHY my boys feel that they have to act out so much when other kids come over... sigh....
Tuesday, the boys had school and then we all headed up to the dentist for their 6 month check ups.. 2 without any cavities.. and Big Al, the dentist wants to see back to pull a couple of permanent teeth (cha-ching)... another sigh.... I need to find a day when the hubby can take him - I am so not up for another tooth drama with him! After the dentist, we headed back to town to do our parent-teacher conferences. There was some good improvement, and well, some areas that could stand a major makeover!
And finally to today! Since it is my birthday (I won't tell you which one) the hubby gets to take me out to dinner for Mexican... I'll get to wear the big sombero and have a shot of tequila! Well, I'll probably have to bypass the shot and go with the fried ice cream so the kids can share...oh well!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Two Troublemakers!

I never in a million years dreamed that Miss O and Little J would be as close as they are! When we were in Ukraine - almost two years ago, Little J was "left behind" here with relatives, while we took Big Al to find our newest child. Little J shared with us after we got home with Miss O that he was worried that she would not like him! That statement/feeling probably lasted two days! Miss O and Little J have a very strange, very connected bond with one another. Miss O is very very very much like Little J... not only in expressions, but also personality! Both have the ability to meltdown in mere micro-seconds, the ability to do things that can drive the other nuts and the ability to both be sneaky and cute at the same time! Though they are 4 and a half years apart in age, it seems like alot less when they play (nicely) with each other! Both are very skilled at playing independently and can keep themselves entertained with almost nothing (believe me - that is an awesome thing when you have another child that absolutley CAN'T play independently!).
Little J has grown leaps and bounds, as well as matured quite a bit with the addition of a little sister! He likes being "responsible" for making sure that she is strapped into the car right, that she is playing fair with others, and for cheering her on with things like potty training! Now being the "forgotten" (yeah RIGHT!) middle child, Little J has really made his good qualities known when it comes to being a big brother, like it was always meant to happen......
Funny how things turn out!




Amy