the last time I posted was the day we had ‘the talk’ with Max. Not the birds/bees, but Santa! He’d asked me a month or so ago if the Easter Bunny really gave candy to all the kids in the world, or did parents just do that? I asked him what he thought and we talked a bit, and Santa’s name came up. Then it was time to get out of the truck so I kinda ended the conversation. He asked again a few weeks later with about the same results. I texted Tj at work and told him that that night at supper (he was working late that night) I was going to explain it all to Max. Tj said he wished he could be there, and I really wanted this to be something we did together. Since he had the following Wednesday off we all went out to eat at Dixie Cafe and had ‘the talk’. He took it really well…I think he really knew. We made sure to tell him not to be the one telling his friends about it because their families would handle that with them. Tj made sure to mention that St. Nicholas was trying to please God with what he did, and so when we carry on this tradition we’re also pleasing to God. I thought that was a pretty good connection.

This morning I was playing Pie Jesu by Sarah Brightman while Jack was eating breakfast, I looked over at him and he had tears streaming down his face! I think that song was too sad for him! Poor, sweet baby!

Grandmom’s coming into town today and it’s J’s last day of Wee Care plus his WC finale. We have a lot going on so I’d better wrap this up.

Life is just rocking along. Just a general update:

I’ve been making Max pull weeds when he has a bad attitude or otherwise needs some correction. I think he actually enjoys it for the most part…I guess it’s better than having to do schoolwork. Anyway, I’ve told him he can’t pull just the tops, he has to get the roots, too. He’s doing better now, and the other day after he’d pulled a big weed with long roots he said “Now, that’s some quality weed right there!”!! I laughed out loud.

Jack is still going on the potty, but mostly when he wants to play the iPad. I think he’s understanding more about pottying on the toilet than he did last year, but he still doesn’t hesitate to do it in his diaper if that’s more convenient. He still talks about it more than he does it. He definitely takes longer than other boys to process info, maybe that’s part of the problem. No big rush. It’ll come.

We started Hooked on Phonics with him last Thursday. He mostly knows what sound each letter makes. Sometimes he misses one or two, but he’s learning. The crazy thing is is that he still hasn’t made the connection that because that letter makes that sound then all words with that letter at the beginning make that sound at the beginning. I’ll say “Mmmmm Mama, Mmmmmmm Max” and he’ll then say “Mmmmmm Daddy!”. Again, it’ll come when it comes.

Tj is shopping for an RV. I think we’re really gonna buy one. Now it’s just finding one we like in our price range.

Of course now that we’ve made that decision the dentist is starting to talk about orthotics for Max. Ugh.

Tj told Jack to do something the other night and he saluted Tj when he said ‘yes, sir’.

So we started ‘Friday Fundays’. We’ll do school 4 days a week and Fridays will be reserved for science experiments, art or music with our friend Amy and her 3 boys. Our first one was here last Friday and we had a blast. She has an art program she’s been wanting to do so we’re learning how to draw. I talked to her tonight and think we’ll add in an experiment or some cooking after the art lesson each week.

I joined a CSA and picked up our first batch of produce last Thursday, and now I’ll go weekly on Tuesdays. Since Tuesday is already grocery shopping day (with Jack in Wee Care that morning it’s nice to go shopping with just one boy), then we pick up Jack and head home for 45 minutes of PT, then lunch, and now we’ll have to drive 30 mins away for this produce I decided we’d do math and grammar on Friday morning and no school on Tuesday. Max hated to give up his ‘school-free’ Friday, so he asked if we could double up our math and grammar on another day so we have 2 school-free days. We did it this week and it worked out well. We did 2 maths on Monday along with our regular school, then nothing on Tuesday, then 2 grammars today so we’re right on target! This will be nice

I planned on attempting potty training with Jack again this summer. I envisioned days spent outdoors with Jack in a shirt and underwear, a little potty chair in the shade, and lots of hard work. I really never put any more thought into it than that. Last Thursday (a week and a day ago) Steph-B was here and Jack said something to her about the toilet. He’s done that before, and I’ve told her that he talks about the toilet, has even gone to it and opened it and pulled his pants down, but never actually wants to sit on it. If he makes it to the toilet with pants down I do make him sit a minute, but nothing happens except moaning on his part the entire time. But since he said toilet, she asked him a couple of times if he wanted to go sit, and he answered his usual ‘yes’, so I felt guilted into putting him on the toilet. The same thing happened. But then I realized that if we were gonna start working on him in the summer he should at least be used to having to sit on the toilet without fussing or nothing would be accomplished. The first time or two that I tried to train him I gave him every toy under the sun to play with while he was on the toilet, but none of them amused him there. The only thing he did the whole time he was on the little potty was moan and gripe about the potty guard. Well, I’m not gonna let him sit on there unguarded! That was non-negotiable. So Friday I got the little potty out again and put him on it with the iPad for him to play with, and let me tell you, that boy loves him some iPad! He’s now started asking to sit on the toilet, and has pooped 5 times in 8 days! Twice today! Wow! I think we may be on to something here.

I’ve been burned with him so much in the past that I really don’t have a clear idea of how long I think this will take. I’d like to think he’ll be done with daytime potty training by the end of this year, but that may be too much to ask. I’m just along for the ride.

Along those lines, I always have trouble figuring out how much he understands. He was standing near the kitchen table, I was at the stove cooking supper. I pointed and told him to pick up that piece of paper (8.5×11 and about 2′ away) off the floor and throw it in the trash. He walked all the way to the other end of the table, got a piece of paper off my desk, and started walking to me. Now, he’s carried out 3-step commands before, I know he could handle my request. But watching him I just immediately go to ‘he doesn’t understand’. I really don’t think it was lack of focus; I had to break this command down to tiny steps before he could/would comply. I try hard not to underestimate his abilities, but that boy is hard to read!

In other news, today in the truck out of the blue Max said I really need to learn how to set a booby trap. You know, the ones where two ropes go opposite directions and loop up to some hooks… Yeah, that’s what he really needs to learn He’s such a fun boy!

Jack calls his therapist Steph-B instead of Stephie Sometimes she’s Beff-B.

He’s recently changed Gicky Mouse to Mickey Mouse w/o any prodding on our part.

He has said Thank you two times, instead of Bank you.

Max wants to save his money for a real Ninja sword. He said with a real one he could cut a pig in half! I asked him if he’s seen many of them wandering around our neighborhood…and then said he shouldn’t just be cutting any ole pigs he finds in half, they likely belong to someone who would be upset that he killed them!

This is what I get when I’m working around the house:

I was flying in my X-wing fighter that could turn into a Z-5 Headhunter that has a hidden hydron torpedo and a rapid fire heavy duty machine gun that destroys silver in about two seconds and lazer wingtips that can destroy gold. And I picked up on my radar that Nebuchadnezzar was trying to fight the king so I put on my speed burst and got there as fast as lightening. And I shot those guys!!!

When I was planning our school year I thought briefly about the public school calendar, and then I forgot to follow through and get one so I could plan our off days to be the same as theirs. I like Max to be able to go out and play with his friends (Noah, Austin, Aidan and Jaxon) when they’re off. Mom and Papa told me they would come the week before last, and it turned out to be spring break so that worked out great!

The got here Monday afternoon after driving all day. We had such a relaxing visit the whole week…it was very enjoyable. Tj was bored, he didn’t enjoy sitting around talking with my parents, but at least they get along well.

I had a couple of small chores for Papa. Our bathroom light switch has stopped working well twice in the 5 years (!) we’ve been here so he replaced it with a higher-load switch. I also asked him to change our kitchen bathroom switch to operate the fan and light at the same time with either switch. Then I talked to mom about redoing some shelving in the pantry. I decided to just clean it out, and then Papa asked me what we were talking about and I asked him to add some shelving. Goober! He did such a great job, too! My pantry’s very organized now. He had some scrap shelving boards so he added two shelves in Tj’s shoe closet. Yay!

During our talking times I asked him how St. Amant Baptist got started. I’d thought they went to high school with Bro. Ronnie, but only Papa did. We talked about that for a while and then I asked him to tell me how he got saved. It was cool to hear that story again. I was glad to have Max hear it, too. Mom told her story and it was pretty much the same as mine! I didn’t remember that, and she didn’t remember that they were the same either. I asked Max to tell us his story too, but he was pretty nervous. When I told him he only had to say a couple of sentences he told about how when Tj came back from deployment he took Max to 5 Guys Burgers and asked him some questions (to confirm to us that he fully understood what he had done). If I haven’t written it before what Max has told me at least three times now is that one afternoon while Tj was deployed, Max and I had taken a nap. I left him in our bed sleeping. After he woke up but before he came out of the room he asked God to save him. So last week Max told the second half of his story, but not the first half.

Now that I’ve sat on this several days I guess I should give up on remembering any more that happened that week.

Jack has been doing well with his sight words. He’s up to 43 today! Two days ago I showed him his first word which was ‘big’, but he didn’t want to do words. He looked at it and said ‘little’!!! Smart aleck! When Gran and Pawpaw were here last week Paw held his words up to Jack with the blank side forward (I think the first time it was an accident) and Jack read all his words like that! I think some words Paw even put upside down and Jack got them! I think he’s ready for school, and a full day won’t be bad for him either. His words are: Paw Paw, Gran, Mama, Daddy, Max, Jack, off, on, bed, cat, can, to, at, his, is, big, dog, yes, no, not, you, be, I, milk, with, eat, that, and, a/the (both said two ways), see, hot, all, go, now, for, of, it, or, we, up, try, was. For a while ‘was’ was his favorite word. He thinks the word ‘we’ is the ‘wii’ and often says ‘play wii’ when I hold that card up. Sweet kid. I think I may start adding in two words a day again, or at least sometimes.

Yesterday I told Jack his oatmeal was a little hot. I guess he was feeling ornery because he then said “big hot”.

When I was changing Jack’s diaper Max said his (J’s) bellybutton looked like a smile with one tooth in it.

When he pulled the homeschool cart out Max told me “I think when you tried to awesomize these wheels you destructimized them.”

Yesterday Max told me again (like he has several times) that he wants a little sister. I told him that we probably won’t be having any more babies in our family. I reminded him that Sara from the Bible said she couldn’t have any children because she was too old, and told him that not many women have babies after 40. He said ‘Aw, man! If only you’d had a baby last year!’ Then he said we could adopt a little sister. I told him he should pray about it, tell God what he wants, but not to forget to ask for God’s will. He said is that some sort of secret password? I want your will God!

We haven’t said anything to Max about Jack going to public school, and honestly I’ve been a little worried that when it happened he would be jealous. This morning out of the blue Max asked me point blank about Jack going to PS, and I told him he would go. Max said ‘Aw, man! I wish he could go to homeschool with us!’ I was so glad to hear that.

Need to go finish up the Beef and Broccoli I’m cooking.

One breakfast on the cruise Max saw one of those emergency boxes near us and asked why breaking that glass would help any emergency. Quicker than anything Tj said you break that glass and spread it on the ground and then you get to the lifeboats faster because it slows everyone else down! Our conversation quickly dissolved into how spreading broken glass on the ground would also help you get to the buffet/bacon faster, but no one seems to remember that but me. Whatever!

I really try not to do that, especially about Jack. Max doesn’t need me to fill his head with all the worries that flit through my head about Jack, anyway…

At lunch we were watching a video from a blog I read that features a grown woman, her grown sister with Down syndrome, her newborn and her toddler with DS whom she adopted. The grown DS girl was extremely hard to understand, so for the first time I explained to Max that Jack may be hard to understand when he’s grown, especially to people outside our family, but that we would work hard so everyone could understand him. Max matter-of-factly said “Well, I’ll be there with Jack to interpret what he says”. I couldn’t talk, I just started crying. Then I was laughing too, at the absurdity of the situation, and then crying again. I felt bad because Max hasn’t ever seen me like that and I didn’t want to scare him, but what a wonderful thing to say! I’m so glad Jack has such a great big brother!

Cruise stuff: One thing I forgot to mention about our trip to Tulum. All along I’d thought it would be super hot when we went to Tulum. I dread that, really. I hate having to put sunblock on both the boys and me, but it’s a necessary evil, and I had getting sunburned more. So I packed everything sun related and slathered it wherever I could reach during our bus ride; but because of the storm that day it was lovely and overcast the whole time! Not great for pictures, but it was nice to be able to enjoy our whole time walking around the ruins and not even break a sweat.

Parenting stuff: I’m finally getting better about waking the boys up with a kiss instead of immediately going into fussing mode when I see that Jack has torn another book or Max isn’t ready to come down with chores done by 7am. I got really convicted last year, but it’s taken some time to change that bad habit. It really makes thing easier and nicer when we can start out right.

Max stuff: Some people might not see this as an advantage, but one of the reasons we wanted to homeschool was to keep our boys from growing up so fast. We’ve definitely already been looking ahead at our goals of independence for the boys, but it just seems like kids these days (how old do I sound when I say that?!) are introduced to so much at a younger age. I don’t want our boys to be childish when they’re not children, but I also don’t want them to be thinking about having girlfriends now, or about school shootings, or drugs/weapons at school, etc. I want to give them a little bit of an old-fashioned upbringing. All that aside, it really made me smile last year when we’d bring Jack to Wee Care and Max would try to fly using his umbrella, jumping off of all the curbs and anything else he could find. It’s fun seeing his imagination at work. He also cracks me up with all the questions. He asked me the other day if he put that toy rocket ship launch-balloon-thing under water could he use it to breathe under water.

Grandmom stuff: Gmom handmade us a Ducky MoMo!!! The boys love it, but I love it more She’s so sweet to do that for us.

Jack stuff: Apparently Jack knows the 10 commandments! Three weeks ago as we left church on a Wednesday night he said 7-8 times while holding out his little fat hand with all 5 fingers outstretched “Obey your mom and dad!” I thought that was cute, but had no idea who taught him that. Then last Wednesday his Awana teacher Mrs. Terena told me he knows all the commandments and which number they are! He’s been talking more, but we haven’t necessarily been understanding him more (poor bug!), and I guess that’s what he’s been saying! Now that we’re looking for it I can hear him say something about the Sabbath day, too, but that’s about it. I’ve asked Mrs. Terena to please email me exactly what she says so we can recognize/reinforce this. He sings ‘Deep and Wide’ well, I think anyone can understand what he’s singing. He also sings ‘Yes, Lord’ with some hand motions, but I don’t think that song’s as well known as ‘Deep and Wide’.

He and Max still share a room, and aren’t allowed to come downstairs until 7am. But on vacations we often share a room so we’re subject to Jack’s usual waking time of anywhere between 5-6am. I make him get in the bed with me and he usually then will sleep until we’re all ready to get up. If only Max would be awake enough to put his arm over Jack every morning to keep him in the bed I really think he’d sleep a lot more. Max is just such a sound sleeper still that Jack usually gets up and plays and Max never wakes up.