First Hunting Season

Jacob and Jack got to go on their first hunt! They were so excited to go. Lucky for them, they got to hunt on Kory's (Uppa's cousin's husband) family property in Dayton. Uppa called to say he was on his way to pick them up and gave me a quick list of what the needed to pack. I had no other information then that but both boys had about a dozen questions each about what was happening, where they were going, and who was going to be there. 

First Uppa showed up pulling a tent trailer. We were like, where did you get the tent trailer? Turns out he bought it for hunting. Oh my what a surprise, and of course, more questions to come about how it works. While Uppa took a quick shower I headed to the store for food supplies. Prior to Uppa showing up I was trying to call Umma to see what she had already packed. She was unavailable but it worked out just fine; no one would starve. Once I got home the boys and Uppa packed up their things and were off!

The very first day Jacob got his first deer! A cute little doe. Apparently each day each boy would split up between hunting with Kory or Uppa. Jacob was with Kory that day. I can't remember who spotted the two deer but as soon as they did, Jacob said they belly crawled to a fence. Once there, Jacob set up his shot. Kory and Jacob were uphill, with the deer lower in a field. Jacob said he missed twice high but on the third shot hit the deer in the upper spine. The deer dropped where it was. Kory shot it in the head to finish it off. They then had to drag the deer quite always back to the truck.

Now Jack got his first deer on the second day. Jack got several different looks at some great deer but he wasn't either able to take a good shot or missed. Uppa and Jack snuck up on a 4 point but Jack wasn't able to get a shot in. He was really disappointed that he didn't get that deer. Later that night as the four of them were driving a couple deer jumped across the road. Who ever was driving slammed the car into park so Kory and Jack could jump out after the deer. Jack was able to shoot the deer right thru the lungs and heart, a perfect shot! The bad part was that it wasn't quite a doe, but very quickly it was made into one.

Each night the boys would call to give a report. They loved the tent trailer. I think each of the boys had to give us a tour of it. They got to eat a lot of junk food. Jack reported that lots of the guys there smoke and drank, which of course he isn't use to but was fine. Jacob told me about being charged by a bull. He had to duck under a wire fence really quick. They both told me lots about Kory and different ways he was cool. They got to ride a little motorbike around. There was a dog named Lady Bear that was super nice. It was super cold, with compact snow and ice on the road. They  told us about helping some people out of the ditch and it taking forever. Jack had to tell me all about how much adrenal was pumping thru his body each time he was about to take a shot.

Uppa and the boys brought the deer back here. We hung them in the garage so the next day we sent up a table to cut up the meat. The kids did a good job, even Amelia helped cut it up. Now our freezer is full of tender deer meat. 

Just in general it was a great memorable trip. Both boys said they wanted to go again.

Jacob

 Can I say how easy Jacob is to parent!! Although he hasn't been 100% excited about online school, he has done a great job. He does his zoom meetings and homework. He is trying his best. His attitude is good. As a reward I have bought him some stuff I normally wouldn't. I have tried to be a little more flexible with him since he is really doing so outstanding. I keep my eye out for him and tell him he can be upset if he wants/needs to be because I don't want him overshadowed by his siblings needs. As of now though, I think he is the most grownup of the household, including me. 

Jack

 

Dear Mom,

Please consider letting me out (of my room). Today mistakes were made. I promise to be good. 

With Care, Jack Fisk

Amelia

 Today Amelia showed me a kindness. I had a rough day so she decided that she would give me a spa treatment. She cut up some cucumbers, she kept calling them pickles, for me to put on my eyes. She also cut extra slices for a snack. I laid down on my bed with "pickle" slices on my eyes. She then rubbed my feet and hands with lotion. After she fed me some cucumber slices and sips of water she read to me from the Owl Dairies. It was just what I needed. I feel so loved that she would do something extra special for me. She is such a sweet girl.

Jack

 Tonight Jack told me tomorrow is going to be the best day ever! Here are his reasons:

1. No school

2. He gets to go to the Middleton Fall Festival with friends

3. He gets screen time, plus an extra 40 minutes - When he talks with his teacher during the "office hours" he gets an extra 20 minutes of screen time with a max of two teachers a week. He saved up his extra screen time for Friday.

*** I added the extra 20 minutes of screen time bonus to help entice Jack to talk with his teachers one on one. Because of the utter joke the school year is, Jack has had a hard time connecting to school, teachers and classmates. I thought at least he could get some individual time with the teachers to help make a better connection. Of course I let both of his core teachers know the plan so they have been super great about checking in with Jack academically while also exchanging some general chitchat. 

Jack

This week I let the boys watch a scary movie for the first time. I found a list of PG13 scary movies that were ok for tweens, meaning not too much gore, cussing and sex. It has several levels of scary so we picked a "not so scary" movie to start. We watched the Poltergeist (1982 version). The special effects were 80's bad and the scary stuff takes a while to get going but its still a good one. There is one jump scare in the movie that got Jack pretty bad. After the movie was over Jacob said he didn't really like scary movies, he liked comedies better. Jack thought it was great and couldn't shut up about the scary parts and how he felt at each moment of the movie.  

All was good, everyone went to bed; of course Jack had every light on in his room. Later in the night Jack said he had a nightmare about a tree eating him (a part in the movie) so he came into our room to sleep on the floor. He tried to pull it off as he was sleeping with Skipper but the wooden cross I found by his pillow gave him away. Lol With a big sheepish grin and twinkle in his eye, he admitted he was scared. Of course, he has since tried to convince that he thinks being scared by scary movies is fun and wants to watch another one! I said maybe, but he has several "levels" to go in our list of scary movies before he even gets to the "pro" level. Not sure what movie to have him watch next.

Made it thru September

 So September 1st was the first day of school and I can confidently say it was the hardest month ever. I congratulate myself for getting thru the month. Part of my strategy was taking a two week sub job that pushed the kids into independence. It worked for Amelia very well. She can now get her work done by herself. Now I don't know the quality of that work but hey I guess that is her teacher's problem. Jack needs another week or two of getting into the routine of daily tasks plus assignments. He is working on turning in quality 6th grade work. Jacob was good from the start. He just needs a reminder to breath at the beginning of each week because of the new load of assignments assigned to him. 

This distance learning is just the worst. Kids don't have the developed self-discipline or motivation or developed skills to do this. Everyone I talk says the same thing about this being so hard and stressful. I just wonder what the kids will remember about this time when they are older. I know for sure that I am so grateful to Umma and Upppa; spending time with them has really been a Godsent for the mental and emotional health of the kids.