Amelia

Amelia had her last preschool Christmas program this week. Our final preschool program; we have been going to a program now for the last 6 years in a row!
Amelia did her best job this year singing all the songs and participating. She was so sweet up there singing away.

Appreciation

Since Dad's injury these last few months I have had a lot of things to do. I got this text one afternoon while grocery shopping and getting cat liter.

Jacob

Jacob is now 9. He is already looking forward to next year when he will turn 10, double digits. I told him to slow down and enjoy 9. For his birthday we got him an electric go-kart, which he enjoys.

We also did a progressive dinner stopping at Applebees for appetizers, McDonald for fries, Frankenburger for burgers and Five Guys for milkshakes. By the time we got home no one wanted cake so we had that for breakfast the next day.

















Jacob's competitive drive has blossomed these last couple of months; he has become very competitive at school with his grades. It surprises me but I am glad he is confident in his ability to get good grades. He is still my thoughtful kind Jacob though; with a great sense of responsibility and a good work ethic.

Jack

Jack's morning jobs are:
scoop cat litter box
brush teeth
make bed
get dressed

We recently had to adjust the "getting dressed" part. Jack has started wearing the same clothes for days on end. I am ok with that as long as the pants and shirt look clean BUT I recently realized he was not changing his underwear so....

Jack's new morning jobs:
scoop cat litter box
brush teeth
make bed
change underwear
get dressed

Amelia

While driving to school today Amelia told me "that sometimes you can be a harsh mom." I told her that was my job, the world is harsh so I was getting her use to it.

Geek of the Week

School Fall Conferneces

I went to fall school conferences yesterday and they went AMAZING!

My prayers have definitely been answered for Jack. He is loving school this year. He loves his teacher. He has great kids in his class. He is succeeding and learning every day! At the beginning of the school year he was at a level 14 in reading; which is 4 below grade level. Since then with the help of his amazing classroom teacher, reading teacher and hard work at home he is now on a level 18: grade level! I was literally crying with joy; I didn't realize how nervous I was to find out his progress. He is going to continue to be pulled out for extra reading practice because his word attack skills need work but all other areas of reading are great. His math skills are excellent, along with is science and writing. I am just so pleased with his progress and the teacher's support and caring.

Jacob is doing so well in 3rd grade! Again my prayers have been answered! To start the conference his teacher showed me his MAP tests results which indicated that he is far exceeding the expectations in math while his reading is right on par. The teacher pointed out that if his test scores continue this way he will be placed in higher level content classes in middle school which will then lead to qualifying for Head Start in high school which means going to college in high school for free! I cannot express how overwhelmed I am with pride that Jacob is doing so well and also that the talk of college has already entered the picture. The rest of the conference went over pointers and areas where Jacob could improve to keep his level of academics up. His teacher said he has really bloomed into a confident outspoken leader in the class; I mean geez, how wonderful is that?!

I am so ecstatic about the boys' learning gains this year so far. I am so proud of the quality of character they are demonstrating at school. I feel so overwhelmingly blessed.

Halloween 2016

Amelia the witch

Jack the ninja

Jacob the skelton

Jack

Message from Jack's teacher:

How embarrassing! I joked with the kids to save all their chocolate for me and Jack shows up today with all his chocolate! Like I need it!

Yesterday

Well he just adores you. I could have told him not to bring you all of his  chocolate but I didn't want to discourage his thoughtfulness.

Haha! He said, well I don't like it that much anyway😇. He is soooo sweet. And oh my gosh the Dead Bird book. What is that?  Hilarious! He and I laughed and laughed!

I have no idea about the Dead Bird book but he loves it. I felt I had to keep saying, "don't ever touch anything dead, this is just a book."

Haha! He loves the funeral song. Cracks
Me up!

The S-word

Last night at Cub Scouts the leader was explaining what a chit was. (Its a word for the whittling chip that they don't use anymore) Well when he said that it sounded like he said shit. Later while brushing our teeth Jack asked what the leader was talking about. I told him I didn't know. This is the rest of the conversation:

Jack: It sounded like he said shit and that's a bad word.

Me: Yes it is a bad word. You shouldn't say it.

Jack: shit (with a giant fun grin on his face and sparkle in his eye)

Me: That may be a fun word to say and it may feel cool in your mouth but you shouldn't say it. Do you hear any of the adults that love you say it? Uppa, Dada, Justin?

Jack: No but Wesley, Javis, John, Sean and even Jacob say it!

At this point  I look over at Jacob who's face had gone white, eyes popped open.
He stutters..."uhh... Jack what?"

Me: (to Jack) That is a word makes you sound not very smart and like you have no manners. You shouldn't say that word.

Jack: (shaking his fist in the air, getting into a power stance) So I can't say Oh shit!!!!

Me: (barely keeping a straight face) No you can't and if you say that word anymore I will have to squeeze your neck. You are too young to say that word.


Geez... I thought those boys were too young for cuss words but I guess I was wrong. Well I do pray that its a short phase of exploration and that they learn when and where it is appropriate to cuss.

Fisk Fall Family Fun

Jack

Jack is quite the writer; he has lots of imagination for stories. This is a letter he wrote to Uppa and a picture to go with it.

School Update

My prayers have been answered! The kids are doing great in school.

Jack espically is loving school this year, which I am sooo happy about. He loves his teacher; says she is the best teacher ever. He is getting extra reading help this year so I am still praying his reading fluency comes up. He tells me all the time his "table" won the table points because they were so good. He actually got to move tables because a couple of the kids in his original group were disruptive to him so his teacher gave him the option of moving. I don't know if it is because there is more room in this class or what but that did not happen last year. I can see him being recognized and rewarded for his good behavior. I am very pleased with the teacher and school year this year for him so far.

Jacob is doing great in school also. His teacher said he is one of the top students in the class. Of course he is doing great in math and finds lots of confidence in that. His reading and writing is great too. His teacher commented that recently he has really come out of his shell helping other students with their work. He has been self-manger since the beginning of school: which is he can get drinks, take breaks and bathroom breaks without asking. Jacob says his teacher and I are really working him hard this year; he is feeling the difference of third grade. He is doing really well with the transition.

Amelia is doing wonderful in preschool. Of course it is not academically rigorous but she is doing the best she can. Her teachers have started having her write her middle name along with her first and last since she can write that so well. After she masters that she will start on our address and phone number. At home she is reading flash cards and little books really well. She also can add up to ten pretty well. She will definitely be ready for kindergarten by next year.

Jacob

On Jacob and I date we found a sand hill. He spent the next 20 minutes jumping and playing on the hill while I videoed his tricks. It was his date so oh well!

Amelia - preschool

Amelia is starting her last year of preschool; she was very excited to start. This year she is going 4 days a week in the afternoon, 12:30-3:00. It is definitely different for her to be in school four days a week and in the afternoon. Her first week she went three days and was pretty tired by the end of the week.
We go to work around 10:00 each day so by 12:30 she is ready to go do something other then entertain herself. She said she doesn't mind me walking her down to school but would like to be able to walk back to my office on her own. We cleared it with Teacher Brenda so now she walks herself down. She says she likes it because she is the first in her class to be excused.
I pray this year she continues to love school and learning. I want this year to prepare her for the full time job of school that awaits her next year.

Grand Finale

We had a grand finale to summer. The kids and I  took off after church one Sunday to Umma and Uppa's. Once there the kids played, we visited Nana Kim, Gramma Sharpes and went to see Josh's new house. We only stayed one day then we were off to the Oregon coast.
We camped at Cape Lookout for 4 days. It was a great camp, with beautiful sunny weather. We played on the beach, rode bikes and hung out. Dada showed up on the second day we were there to surprise us. Together we went to the Tillamook cheese factory.
After Cape Lookout we drove up to Seaside. The kids had never seen such a great place; I think Seaside is like a mini Las Vegas for kids. I took them on the Tilt a Whirl for the first time; Oh did we have fun! We did the bumper cars, looked in shops and played video games in the giant arcades.
Next we set off for Riffe Lake to meet up with Umma and Uppa. We camped with them the next 2 nights. They brought their new trailer so that was a fun time trying that out. The second night Burton and Dane stayed with us. The camp sight had a fun game of looking for little faces or figures in the trees. The kids really got into this so we spent a couple of hours looking for them. At the end they each got a necklace and a light stick. They walked around, rode bikes, played at the playground and paled around.
It was a wonderful grand finale of summer. We all came back dirty, tired and refreshed.

School Year 2016-2017

We now have a 2nd grader and 3rd grader in our family! I kept saying Jack was in 1st grade all last night on accident because it doesn't seem possible that he is in 2nd grade already!
His teacher Mrs. Klein sent him a postcard for a greeting this year, a nice touch. I am praying this year Jack enjoys school, that he improves on his reading, his class as a whole has good behavior and he finds good friends to play with.
This year Jacob's class is in one of the new portables; he is very excited about this. He has several friends in his class. I pray for Jacob this year a smooth transition to the academics of 3rd grade, that he improves his writing, and that he finds kind, good friends.
Of course I pray for both of them that they are spared the negativity and cruelty of others, that God keeps them safe and that they can continue to be who each of them is.

Coeur d'alene Adventure

This last week the kids and I took an adventure to Coeur d'alene Idaho. We called it an adventure instead of a vacation because Dad was not with us and everyone knows you can't go on vacation without Dad. :)
Anyhow it was an amazing time! We stayed in the Motel 6 about a 9 minute drive from downtown. It wasn't the fanciest place but it was clean. When we first showed up the kids were like, "this is it?" The only time we were at the motel however was to sleep. We spent the days downtown playing at the beach, swimming, playing at the park or walking around downtown. We had ice cream for dinner each night with a hamburger for dessert. Jacob commented that I was a way cooler mom on vacation because of it.
We had such a good time in fact that Dad did decide to come up for the day; which everyone was very happy about. We did the same kind of things; swimming, walking, playing. The last day we were there we met up with Kate Stone, a friend of mine. Her family has a house on the lake that we went to. The house was across the lake so we had to go by her family boat; the kids loved the ride. There we paddle boarded, swam and jumped off a water trampoline; it was a lot of fun.
We all decided we needed to go back again.

Jacob

Amelia

Amelia talking to her reflection.

Amelia

If Amelia does not fall asleep right away she does one of three things:
1. Plays imaginary games with the animals and dolls in her bed. As I walk by I can hear her jibber-jabbering some pretend story.
or
2. Read books. Many a nights on my way to bed I stop to check on her to find a pile of books by her on the bed with one in her hand; like she fell asleep while reading.
or/and
3. Sneak downstairs, peek around the corner and, then shining, her cutest smile ask for another hug and kiss.

Jack

At the Tri-City Court Club you have to be at least 8 years old to be able to swim independently. Jack was appalled to that he wasn't able to swim by himself, let alone Jacob was allowed too. Well just yesterday he was able to do a first swim test. A swim test is when a kid swims independently for some distance with a life guard watching. Well I guess Jack had tried one before and stopped half way thru but the other day he completed it! He swam like a boss; arms scooping up the water, taking breaths halfway thru! He was so proud of himself. The life guard gave him a green wrist ban so he could swim anywhere by himself! Him and Jacob immediately went to the lazy river. I was so proud and happy for him. He looked so happy to have passed the test I could tell he was nervous for. Now he does a swim test as soon as we get there to get his wrist ban.

Jack

Here are some stories Jack has written this summer, so far:

Super Cat and the Joker Cat
Super Cat was hovering over the city. The Joker Cat blasted him with a poop gun. But Super Cat blocked the blast and sent the blast back and the Joker Cat turned into a blob of poop.

The Deadly Bed
The deadly bed eats people. When you get into the bed it eats you. The deadly bed lives in the bedroom of the office.

The Torture Cat
The Torture Cat kills you. He is a flaming cat. He is also very zombified and he is made of green fire. He eats blood.

Family Vacation

We went on a week long family vacation to Sunriver Oregon this year. We went with Josh and Beth and the boys and Stephen, Beth's brother's, family. It was a wonderful time. The kids played all the time, rode bikes and mostly got along. We went swimming almost everyday and did an special thing most days. We went to Crater Lake, the High Desert Museum, paddle boarding, hiking to a waterfall and played around the house.

Jack was a great paddle boarder. He really enjoyed it and could paddle fast. Jacob, Amelia and Dan rode in canoe. Dan had a quite a time steering the thing as Jacob and Amelia tried to paddle. :)
Amelia played with Dane the whole week. The two of them palled around the whole time. Amelia was in heaven because she had someone to play with and she got to be in charge!
Jacob paired up with Silas, Stephen's boy, for the week.
The whole week was a really fun.

Jack's 7!

Jack turned 7 this year. That means he is old enough for a bb gun, which Umma and Uppa got for him. We got him a new bike, with a hand break. For his birthday we went to his favorite Mexican restaurant so he could get a hamburger. Best in town, he says! :) He wore a sombrero all dinner long, loved it. Afterward we went to Basket Robins for ice cream. He had a good birthday.
For his birthday we let him watch the "most epic birthday song ever" as many time as he wanted.

Jack is a wonderful kid. He is kind, a courageous. He loves to laugh and make other people laugh. He is my special guy who I love very much.

Amelia

Amelia turned 5!! I can't believe my little gal is five!

Jacob

Jacob went to a birthday party for a friend this weekend. We have a budget for friend's birthday gifts; just because we could spend a small fortune on toys. Dada and Jacob went shopping and came back with a Star Wars Lego set, it was really cool and obviously way over the budget. I mentioned this  to Dada; he said Jacob had agreed to mow the lawn for free to make up the difference. I thought that was a very nice thing to do. Jacob knew his friend would like this Lego set so he was willing to work extra to get it  for him.

Amelia

Amelia was done with school at the end of May. She did very well in school this year. She can write her first and last name and our phone number. She knows most of her letters, sounds and is constantly sounding out the first letter sound of each word to figure out the letter it starts with. She is very smart.
Her end of the year program was real nice. Plus Dada got to come, his first preschool program.

Cub Scouts

We officially have a new wolf and bear!

Jacob's Bear badges 

Jack's Tiger badges

Amelia

When Amelia walks next to me she automatically reaches up and grabs my hand. For the most part I am very conscious of her taking my hand; whether we are in a busy parking lot or I just want to hold her hand. I don't know how much longer she will be grabbing my hand but I do know that I will miss it when she's done because I very much love holding my little girl's hand.

Jacob

Jacob nervously approached me today about a game his friend Wesley had let him play on his ipod on the way to school. Jacob wanted to let me know about the game and ask if it was ok for him to play it. I believe his words were, "I want to make sure the game is appropriate."
I first told him how much I appreciated him coming to ask permission and that it was very mature of him. Then to make a long story short, after Dad and I checking it out we decided he could play the game. Of course Jacob is very excited and can't wait to play it.
I just have to say I love that kid! I mean, geez how easy can parenting be if your kid comes asks for permission for things like that! Here's praying it stays this easy!

Amelia

As I blog about the wonderful things the boys' teachers say about them, I now get to blog about Amelia. At preschool Amelia has a guest teacher since one of the regular teachers is gone the last month of school. Several times Teacher Janie has commented on how fun it is to teach Amelia and how smart she is.

Amelia is such a good girl!

Jack

Today I told the boys I would pick them up from school: Jacob remembered Jack did not.
After enlisting the help of Jack's teacher we determined he must had gotten on the bus. His teacher was very surprised by this, she said, "That surprises me he forgot; he usually is on top of what he needs to do. He is one of the best behaved kids in the class."
As she said this the para that works in his room, Mrs. Hansen, chimed in. "Oh ya Jack is so well behaved, a great kid."
At first I was surprised to hear he was so on top of things but then I thought about it and am not. He does what he needs to do, just at home he is usually whiny along the way or taking longer then he should. I need to appreciate that he does get his "morning jobs" done without direction, that he is on top of things he knows he needs to do.

Jacob's first official hit!

Jack's line drive up the third base line

Amelia's first t-ball hit

Amelia

Amelia is in love with the book series: Rainbow Magic; the Rainbow Fairies. We have been reading our way through the seven books of the Rainbow Fairies series. They are chapter books with some illustrations on each page. Amelia can't get enough of the adventure of the two girls in the story finding each color fairy while along the way out smarting Jack Frost's evil goblins. Usually she has looked at each book's illustration so much that she will tell me what is going to happen in the chapter before we even read it.
I like reading her the books and am glad she enjoys reading so much. I am kinda sad about how much these books are "big girl" books though. Pretty soon she will be reading them herself!

Off to School

For the last couple of weeks before the boys head off to school Jack has been having Jacob and I do a group hug. Each boy gets their own hug followed by the group hug. It is surprising how faithful Jack is on reminding us to group hug.
I love the time because the very sweet loving side of Jack just shines.

Jack

After school on Friday I picked the boys up from school. The main reason I wanted to was to meet Jack's new teacher. His old teacher had a baby before spring break so she will be gone the rest of the year on maternity leave. The new teacher Mrs. Olggeen seems like a nice lady; actually I got a much better vibe from her then I did Jack's original teacher.
I introduced myself and let her know I would like her email so that I could check in on Jack from time to time. She was a little surprised by this because in her words, "Jack is a great kid." I think because Jack is such a great kid it surprised her I would want to check on him, since usually only the naughty kids get checked on.
Jack informed me he is the third best kid in his class and that he is great at school. I have watched Jack in class before and I know how well behaved he is. I also think he is a great kid, in school and out.

StarWars

Last night we watched the new Starwars: The Force Awakens. Dad put a hold on the movie pretty much since it came out so we were on the top of the list when the DVD was finally released. While I was at the library picking up the movies Dad happened to call to tell me the Starwars movie had come in. Overhearing Dad on the speaker phone, Amelia immediately asked, "Is it the Force Awakens Starwars?" I was pretty surprised even Amelia knew the title and was excited to watch it.
When we picked the boys up from school watching the movie was all they could talk about. Jacob assured us he was the last one in his class to watch the movie, along with Jack.
That night everyone huddled around the screen for the big movie. At the end Jacob's comment was that it was sad because Han Solo died. Jack said it was kinda scary. Amelia agreed with Jacob, of course.

Jacob

With nicer weather upon us the kids and I went shopping for sandals. Amelia and Jack were easy to find; Jacob on the other hand was not. I am not sure why in his size but they have limited styles and quantity in about every store we went to.
In the past he has always wore crocs; they fit is feet well and give him good ventilation, as his feet can get kinda stinky. None of the stores had kids crocs in his size though. After 4 stores I said we are giving up and maybe the stores will start carrying crocs later on. This was met with tearful defeat on Jacob's part.
Once we got home I checked  online; turns out in crocs Jacob has moved up into men's shoe sizing. I of course could not mentally accept that my baby boy, now 8, was in men's sizes already, but the ruler doesn't lie. So we ended up buying him a size 4 men's online.
Please Jesus let them fit because buying shoes online is questionable enough let alone for a kid.
I am sure they will fit just fine and Jacob can brag away that he wears a men's size shoe.

Easter 2016

Jacob

Because I was sick I missed Jacob's spring conference. Here is what his teacher messaged me about his progress:

He is doing very well. He continues to be on-level in reading. Also, he just amazes me almost every day with his generosity of heart. We have a student who joins us for part of the day and Jacob volunteered to be his play buddy. When he came back in apparently the other student wasn't interested in playing, so in Jacob's words, they spent the time "just walking and talking." For a kid who loves to play tag I thought it was pretty generous to just go with the flow for the sake of the other student's ease. He's also been a good mentor to other kids in our class. He's just a great kid.

We feel so blessed to have such an amazing son. 

Jacob

Jacob can pull start the lawn mower all by himself now. He spent Saturday afternoon mowing our lawn ... and Mrs. Stephanie's... and Mr. Bob's.
He made 45.00 dollars plus some cookies and a root beer. Needless to say he was pretty proud of himself and felt like a man. I can see his eyes shining with anticipation of more money making opportunity of a hard day's work.

Glimmer of Hope

Today Dada told me that Jack came up to him to apologize, "Dad, I just wanted to say sorry for the way I acted last night." Dad asked him if mom had told him to do that. Jack said no, he was just sorry. Of course Dad gave him a hug and said no problem buddy.
For the record Jack thru a big screaming fit at bedtime the night before. Now it wasn't the first time he had done that but it had been a long long time since he had.
We were both pretty surprised and impressed that Jack took it upon himself to apologize for his behavior. I call it as a glimmer of humility, accountability and hope.

Jack

While listening to a new song the other day in the car Jack asks, "What are we suppose to learn from this song, mom?"
I wish every song writer and music artist could hear and remember that question when they are writing, producing and performing songs.

School Breakfast

Last year Jack would eat breakfast at school. I wasn't too happy since most of the breakfast food was cereal bars (sugar), chocolate milk (more sugar) or different breakfast breads (even more sugar), but of course Jack loved it all. We compromised by having him eat it occasionally and he didn't eat breakfast at home.

This year both boys are started eating breakfast at school. I came upon this knowledge as an accident because Jacob for some reason was trying to tell on Jack about eating breakfast. Turns out Jacob has been eating breakfast too, like all year. So basically they eat breakfast at home and then go right to school and eat another one. Now I can see Jack because he doesn't eat much for breakfast at home but Jacob will eat several bowls of cereal or a bowl of oatmeal; he really shouldn't be hungry.

Anyways I can't get them to stop. What bothers me most is that I am paying for two breakfasts. I tell them go ahead and it at school but eat the food at home then, doesn't work. I have kinda conceded this battle because I can't get them to stop. I like there to be money in their accounts because I like the convenience of them having hot lunches sometimes so until that goes away I guess it's two breakfasts.

Hanitizer

All the kids got some kind of smelly hand sanitizer for Christmas. They love to use it instead of washing their hands, that's fine. All of them call it "hanitizer" instead of sanitizer. It's pretty funny.

Jack

This morning I went to get in the car and it was locked, with the key fob in it. What? I didn't know that could happen. Of course I call Dan, "Where did you put the other key fob?" He doesn't know, is no help being at work. I look all over, can't seem to see the other key in the car.
Before I call the lock smith I think who are the kids that have been in the car? Amelia and Jack. Amelia says she has no idea where the key is: that leaves Jack.
I call the school. He is brought down to the office. I say hi and ask if he knows where the key is. I can literally hear him smile on the other side of the phone, "oh ya I know. I hid it." Bingo! Turns out he hid it under the couch in the living room. "Ok thanks Jack see you after school." "Ok mom bye."
Luckily he did hide it because the other key fob was in the car. Come to find out you can lock yourself out of car with some anti-car jacking feature I knew nothing about.

Sking

Well this President's Day weekend I took the boys skiing for the first time. We did our annual trip up to Packwood with Josh's family and Umma and Uppa so it seemed like the perfect time. Dada, Josh, and Beth still went up in the morning but once Umma and Uppa got there to watch Amelia, well an hour or so after they got there we did have to visit a bit and put together some lego kits, we headed up the mountain.

Now for a couple days we had been talking about skiing so the boys were excited. Both said they were scared, nervous and excited on the way up. I kept trying to remind them that they will fall down, a lot.

After we got all their stuff, I even let them get ski poles, we headed outside. Of course I really don't know how to teach someone how to ski but a combination of googling it, listening in on what the ski instructors were saying and a lot of confidence things went smoothly. :)
Jacob did really great. He manged to learn to stop pretty good, turn a bit and fall with control. Jack liked to point his skis down hill and go.

We kept to the free carpet zone for practice, plus Dada was suppose to meet us there. Well after about an hour or so of skiing the boys needed a break and Dada still hadn't shown up so I said we should head in for some cocoa. That worked out to be the best because as Jacob skied to the lodge Dada finally saw him. I guess he had been looking for us for an hour and half! After our warm up and snacks Dada took each boy up a bigger hill.

Overall the boys had a great time. Jacob wanted to keep skiing up the longer runs but Dada was too tired. It is something both said they would like to do again. It may turn into something that we do often.

Jack

So just after we get rid of the lice around the house I realize Jack has mulluscum contagiosum, a contiguous skin rash that causes little bumps with clear fluid in them. They are very common but we defiantly haven't had them before. I took him to the doctor to confirm my diagnose. The doctor gave us some medicine to put on them, it works sometimes. Until the rash is gone the bumps need to stay covered and he shouldn't share any blankets, towels, etc. with any of us.

Jack said he just wanted his legs cut off. He also proceeded to not listen, be defiant and whiny the rest of the day. It was not fun but it gave me an insight to Jack. Jack needed a little extra love and he also needed us to have a straight forward conversation with him about how this was making him feel. In fact Dada did have that conversation with him; asking him how he felt about it and giving him some extra love. After that conversation he was better. Expecting Jack to role with the punches is not a good strategy. He needs help processing changes, not once but over and over again.

Amelia

The dreaded phrase, "My head itches." On the way home from Jack's soccer game today Amelia tells us. Oh geez here we go.
As soon as we got home I start combing through her hair and yup its lice. The thing that upsets Amelia the most is that I call the Mitchells to tell them not to come over for dinner. Amelia was really looking forward to sharing and playing with Gabby and Cami.
Of course we drag all the bedding down, everything she has touched. Dan goes to the store for lice shampoo. It takes me about two hours to comb all the nits and lice out of her hair, its pretty bad. Amelia was great through the whole thing. She sat nice while I combed her out. Let me shampoo her hair twice after finding move live bugs.
All of us doused ourselves with the lice shampoo just in case. Here is hoping this takes care of it.

PInewood Derby

The boys had their first Pinewood Derby today. They created their cars themselves; they were very excited. Now we let them do must of the work. Uppa shaped the block of wood for them but they sanded it, colored it, hammer the wheels in and sanded the wheels. I did help by sanding the wheels a bit.

At the derby both of the cars came in last every heat they were in. The wheels wobbled, the cars weaved down the lanes. It quickly became a defeating experience. Jack was bummed he didn't win and said so several times. Jacob realized his fate by the middle of the first race and turned jokester says, "I'm dead."

As much as I wanted them to win or at least not be last it was a good learning experience: learning how to deal with disappointment; learning how to support each boy as they processed the disappointment.

Jack

Jack came downstairs and announced, "I am changing!" Ok... then Amelia comes down next and stands by Jack. Jack continues, "I am going to change. I am now going to be nice to Amelia." Amelia in turns, "Yes! Best Friends!" and then gives Jack a big hug (Jack looks shocked).
Now I am glad he has decided to change but I think it had to do with Jacob not wanting to play with him.

Amelia

The other day Amelia wanted me to play with her. Now I knew I should, and I know I should play with her more often, but playing pretend with her toys is just about the most mind numbing thing I can think of. It literally makes me want to go to sleep after about 10 minutes. But after all this said I did play with her.

This is how it went:
We started with two Barbies that lived in her new Barbie pop-up camper. The Barbies had a couple of princess pets to take care of. One Barbie (mine) was a firefighter that went to work. Then the Barbies went on a great treasure hunt to "find their destiny." We recovered several "magical musical instruments" each leading us closer to "our destiny." We then went to the ice palace to find the princess pets mom's (bigger versions of princess pets). There we use the magical mist (humidifier) to turn into fairies to fly. The Barbies had to help the mom princess pets find their babies before the moon set so they wouldn't stay humans. The Barbies then flew to "Pixie Hallow" (other side of the bed) to gain the help of Elsa the ice queen. After a show of fairy talents (Barbie's doing various tricks). We then went back to the ice palace and magic mist to rejoin the mom palace pets; followed by gathering the baby palace pets from the Barbie pop-up camper to reunited them.

The story was a continuous fable adventure that took us every few minutes to another location around and over her bed. My brain was still put into a semi-coma state but the story line was entertaining.

**Note my participation in this was basically sitting there listening and watching; following behind with my Barbie to each scene.

Jacob

The other day in the car Jacob was talking to Jack about how he wonders about how other people think or if what they see the same as him. Jack was quite there in his depth of understanding but they did start comparing the colors they saw along the road.
Jacob said he also wonders what Ginny thinks about, about what guinea pigs think about all the time.
Very curious fellow that Jacob is; I pray he continues to consider what other people see and think as he grows up.